Blog Assignment 7

Randy Paush Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams



First of all, this lecture was absolutely amazing. Randy Paush has such a great presence and style of speaking that I actually wanted to hear more. I felt like an active listener, and I think that's important as an educator: enabling your students to feel like they are involved in the lesson, even if it's just by listening. I, like many people in the audience, also laughed at his joke about a 'deathbed conversion': "I just bought a Macintosh." Also, I thought he organized his lecture very well, separating -and simultaneously connecting- his topics into My Childhood Dreams, Enabling Others Dreams, and Lessons Learned.

I really liked one of Randy Paush's quotes, which was "The inspiration and permission to dream is huge." Even just hearing him speak these words inspired something within me. Basically, the only person who can set limits for yourself is you. To quote Randy Paush again, "The brick walls are there for a reason - they let us prove how badly we want things." So, something (that something being people, sometimes) may try to prevent you from reaching your goal, but you can't let them. It's just like Christopher Robin said to Pooh Bear, "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." The trick is believing in yourself and knowing that no matter what obstacles you face, you can ultimately prevail. Randy Paush gave a good example of this to his students when he persevered to ride the "vomit comet" and experience zero gravity.

By playing football from an early age, Randy Paush discovered that "you have to learn the fundamentals before you can do the fancy stuff". This is such a great lesson to teach your students because they must have a basic understanding of whatever they're studying in order to achieve higher learning. And another lesson Randy Paush learned from football is that "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." Everyday, people are making mistakes (especially in the academic world). These experiences are what help us learn. If you never mess up, then how do you expect to improve? Also, in meeting William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Randy Paush was able to work with his childhood role model. Captain Kirk was Randy Paush's role model for leadership, and it's very clear in this video that Randy Paush most certainly became a role model for many people as well.

Randy Paush learned a lot from his Imagineer experience. Many of these lessons were instilled in his lecture and, I'm sure, in the hearts and minds of many students. He learned that "If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you." There's no doubt that Randy Paush experienced the same sentiment while teaching. As he said, it's a great feeling to realize that you've made someone else happy and helped them make their dream a reality. Also, I think Randy Paush taught his students an incredible lesson in the 'Building Virtual Worlds' course. It's clear that Randy Paush expressed high/positive expectations for his students. As his mentor, Andy van Dam, said: "You are only doing your students a disservice by setting the bar somewhere."