Randy Pausch “last lecture” titled; “really achieving your childhood dreams,” elaborates on his achievements and the lessons he learnt during his lifetime. In his presentation, he hopes to inspire other people to fulfill their dreams through his “last lecture,” which has largely been inspired by his experience of having cancer. A lot of people sympathize with him since he has six months to live because of his disease.
Instead of giving up and allowing people to sympathize with him, he continues to do his daily routine. He believes that everyone is responsible for their actions and choices. In any situation, the steps people take after this situation occurred determine the outcomes. For people to succeed, one must have a positive attitude and determination to tackle the challenges.
According to Pausch, there are four important points that people need to do to succeed in life. Pausch expects people to: “bring something to the table, hit brick walls which show you how badly you want something, wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you and don’t bail; the best gold is at the bottom of the barrel of crap” (Carnegie Mellon University, 2007). His “go getter” attitude with military like focus and determination enables him to fulfill most of his dreams.
A knee injury on my seventh grade disrupted my childhood dream of playing in the MSL. The injury became a brick wall in the quest to fulfill my childhood dreams. The injury kept on recurring which forced me to quit soccer.
Mentors and other people whom we interact with help us develop the right fundamentals needed in life. Football coach Jim Graham taught Pausch about fundamentals, and how to use them to meet various goals. Anyone who wants to succeed has to get his fundamentals right. Without fundamentals, it becomes very hard to meet goals and fulfill dreams.
Pausch believes that, “experience is what you get when you did not get what you wanted“ (Pausch, 2007). His competitive spirit made him win a lot of stuffed animals at the country fair. Winning is my passion. Ever since my childhood up to my ninth year, I have won a lot of stuffed animals at the country fair. After my tenth birthday, my passion for stuffed animals reduced drastically.
Pausch believes that everybody “has childhood dreams; such as, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people do not meet theirs, and I think that’s a shame” (Pausch, 2007). His positive attitude and philosophies made him fulfill most of his childhood dreams.
Anybody who accomplishes their dream gets a feeling of satisfaction, especially if these are childhood dreams. Most people who do not try to fulfill their childhood dreams end up not achieving their future goals. So far, Pausch has not achieved the dream of playing in the NFL, but he has created a platform at the Carnegie Mellon University where students fulfill their dreams.
At Carnegie Mellon University, Pausch has created Alice, a platform where students are able to do hard assignments using virtual world. A virtual world integrates teamwork and fun to finish hard task. Climate change is a subject that is largely ignored by many, yet we are all experiencing the changes in weather patterns. A virtual world demonstrates how human activities degrade the environment, and it will enable people appreciate and strive to protect the environment. An example of calamity caused by climate change is super storm Sandy.
Pausch’s positive attitude to everything he does highlights the most important part of his presentation. He faces challenges and takes the required measures to solve the problem. In his lecture, he acknowledges that he has terminal cancer and has a few months to live. He also shares his experiences and successes with the world as a way of inspiring people to fulfill their dreams. He continues to inspire people through his videos and books even though he is dead.
References
Carnegie Mellon University. (2007a). Randy Pausch’s Lecture on Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Web.
Pausch, R. (2007b). Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Carnegie Mellon. Web.