Post #7

Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"



In Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture", I became very aware after the first two minutes that this hour long video would NOT be a drag. The instant he explained about his condition with cancer, it was like he created an immediate bond with his audience and any viewer of his video. He used humor in his talk which I love because it always keeps attention. He spoke of his childhood and explained some childhood dreams of his. In his talk, he explained how to keep your childhood dreams. He also explains how we have to play the cards that we are dealt and talks about how his condition is inevitable but will not bring him down. Its amazing to me that with 5 months to live, he was so happy and in the best of health and seeing him like this is so inspiring.
Throughout this video, I actually wrote down a few quotes that the mentioned. These quotes made me stop and think about their meaning and I realized that they implied to me as well. One quote was, "Brick walls are there for a reason - they let us prove how badly we want things". Now that is a great quote for a classroom because everyone hits a brick wall every once and a while. It encourages us to keep looking up and to work harder. Another quote is, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted". This is for those childhood dreams that you didn't exactly achieve but got just as much experience from working for it. I like the one, "Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you", that is quoted from Jon Snoddy.
He talks about so many lessons and ways to live life, work with others, and succeed. One topic that he explains is, 'Never lose childlike wonder', because it drives you to what you really want. He advocated heavily on helping others. I believe this too because you never know when you might need that extra hand with something someday from a person that you have helped before. He believes in karma and so do I. I strongly believe in karma and was brought up on it so when he talks about helping others, doing good for others, thinking about others, I understand what he means because it really pays off in the end. He says to 'Never give up', which is another very strong piece of advice. If you are a teacher, leading your students to success, you want to push them with this saying so that they don't have the option to give up.
I absolutely love this video and plan on sharing it with family members that are going through rough times and have been striving for their childhood dreams. His presentation gives advice to so many age groups and personalities. He is an inspiration to all students because every student is striving for a goal no matter what it is. I will use some of his quotes as inspiration and I will remember this video for future reference either in the classroom or with friends or family. His enthusiasm on life and helping others as a way to reaching goals is a great leaning tool for generations to come. I honestly dreaded watching this video when I saw that it was over an hour long, but believed that directions when they said, "it is well worth the time", and I am so glad that I did.