Blog 7- Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch started his lecture by giving a brief history of what was going on his life. He was battled cancerous tumors that have taken over the majority of his body. He goes on to talk about what they are going to discuss in this lecture. Three things he mentions are his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of other and lessons learned.
Mr. Pausch talks about his childhood dreams. On his Power-point presentation he gives a list of his childhood dreams. Pausch states that it is very important to have specific dreams. He emphasizes fundamentals by telling a story about his experience with a football coach. Randy makes a very powerful statement “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” This is very true and a great way to put it. Randy also tells his audience about the side effects of doing team sports, not only do we learn how to play a sport but also we learn about team work, good sportsmanship and many other great qualities that are necessary as a child grows up into an adult. Randy makes a very good point about brick walls. He says “Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things”.
The second part of his lecture is talking about how to enable other’s childhood dreams. Always be open to see children’s dreams. Not only dreams but a person can help one another achieve their own dreams but listening and helping. Always be encouraging to others.
The third part of the lecture is Lesson Learned. It is a part of the parent’s role to help encourage and help the children through life. There are several other people that help us in our journey of life. He mentions four others: teachers, mentors, friends, and colleagues. He advises to never lose the
“childhood wonder”. I think this is a wonderful statement because we should always keep a little bit of a child’s spirit it will help us get through the rough patches. He also talks about loyalty being a two way street. Never give up is another piece of advice Randy gave us, and it is a wonderful piece for everyone to follow. Every person needs help. Randy also suggests focusing on others, always apologizing when you are wrong. Randy also suggested always find your critics and listen to them. Always show gratitude for the people that you work with. Never complain. Be good at something, find the good side of people, be patient, and be prepared.
I clicked on the link to tour Randy’s childhood bedroom. I found it very interesting. Randy was interested in many things and had a wonderful imagination. I think that this imagination help build his career in virtual reality.
Towards the end of the video he says another great quote by Steve “Don’t bail; the best gold is a the bottom of barrels of crap”. This is awesome! When things are not going the way I intended them to go, this statement lets in a little light and makes it not so bad.
The entire lecture is about living your life the right way and Randy basically dedicated this lecture to his three kids. This lecture was done in the fall of 2007 not knowing he would not be around in a years’ time. This video was both emotional and very informative. I hope that I can take some of the things he talked about and implement them in my life not only as a student and a future teacher but as a wife and as a mother of two beautiful girls.