"The Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but he was determined not to let it slow him down. He lived by his own saying which is, "You can't help the cards you are dealt, but how you play the hand." He was invtied to Carnigie Melonie to deliver a speech. This was going to be his last lecture before his death, and he was determined to make it the best. When he arrived to give the speech, the auditorium was packed, and millions tuned in on video. He was successful in making it a great speech, and he has left behind a legacy. Not only was his speech an amazing one, but he wrote a book titled "The Last Lecture" which has become a best seller.

He had named his speech "How to Achieve your Childhood Dreams", and he told the audience a few of his childhood dreams. He wanted to be Captain Kirk, to play pro-football, be a disney imagineer, to win a big stuffed animal, and a few more. Although he did not fully achieve some of his dreams, he does touch base with most of them. Of course, Randy could not BE Captain Kirk, but he was allowed to meet him. Actually, Captain Kirk came to Randy for the meeting. He did mentioned that he came to a few "Brick Walls" along the way to conquering his dreams, but he never stop him from finding another way to achieve them. Randy Pausch stated that brick walls aren't there to stop someone from acheiving something. They are there to show dedication and how bad something is wanted.

Randy Pausch talked about his schooling and teaching years. He told about his experience with his students and coulleges. He told a story about one of the classes he taught was giving an assignment. When they submitted the assignment, he was blown away by the creativy and originality of his students. During the next class meeting, instead of boasting on his students he did what he called "Raising the Bar". He told his students that he was impressed, but he believed they could do better on the assignment. He talked about never giving up on people and believing in the students. I agree with this. If the educators do not believe in the students, who will? I talked about one thing he liked to do during teaching which is called a " head fake". He believed the best way to educate students was to teach them material without knowing they are learning the content.

He discussed some exkperiences with his coulleges and bosses. He gave advice that he learned through working with them. He told his aduience to listen to critisim. He said it is the best way to improve your work. When given a task, Randy said do not complain just work harder. He also talked about everyone needs to be good at something. It is very awarding to be able to offer something to the table and have something that seperates you from everyone else.

Randy Pausch's idea that touched me the most was to focus on others and not yourself. Once he stated that I began to think back through his entire lecture. I realized that even though this was his last lecture, he focused mostly on others. Even though he was stating how they helped him along his journey through life. During the lecture, he brought out a birthday cake and had the audience sing his wife happy birthday. The greatest thing about the lecture was his head fakes. Even though he mentioned head fakes earlier, I did not think he was actually doing not one, but two, head fakes during his lecture. The first was the title of the lecture. The lecture was not trully about how to achieve your childhood dreams, but how to live your life. The second head fake was the lecture was not for the audience. It was for his children. He wanted to leave something to help them through life. I think when his children are older, he will teach them and touch their hearts in many way through this lecture. I know he has already does this with so many others, including myself.