Blog Post #7

The Last Lecture was a very heartwarming and inspirational speech. What inspired me the most about Randy Pausch was his positive outlook on everything. Even with just a few months to live Dr. Pausch stayed positive about his illness and the short time he had with his loved ones. Dr. Pausch says in his speech “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, we can just play the hand”. I knew within five minutes into this video that if a man in his condition can see the positive side of things, I should have no problem becoming more positive and optimistic in my own life.

In his lecture Dr. Pausch talks about his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons learned. One of Dr. Pausch’s quotes was “Never lose the child like wonders, it’s just way to important, it’s what drives us”. By having this mentality and drive Dr. Pausch was able to accomplish many of his goals. Other advices he had to give were; never give up, stay loyal, have fun with whatever you do, show gratitude, don’t complain, and listen to people’s feedback. Dr.Pausch said some of the best advice he ever heard was from his football coach who told him “When you’re screwing up and no one’s saying anything then that’s a bad thing, it means they don’t care about you”. This makes total sense, and personally I feel that this is some of the best advice anyone can receive.

He then goes on to talk about enabling the dreams of others. Dr. Pausch was a tremendous role model and inspiration to so many people. Even as he was dying he was still determined to teach anyone who was willing to learn. He was told at one point by one of his mentors, “you are a great sales person so why not sale something that’s important, sale education.” Dr. Pausch didn’t have any fancy way of teaching; he taught the same way he learned. He wanted his students to know that to get ahead in life it was all about being a good person. He said all it took to get ahead was to work hard, never give up, be prepared, and be good at something. To be good at something makes you valuable and that’s all that matters.

One of Dr. Pausch’s greatest lessons learned was to find the best in people. “Wait”, is what he said, “Just keep waiting not matter how long it may take for someone to show you their better side”. Lead a good life and karma will take care of you and as a result your dreams will come. In the end Dr. Pausch reveals that his speech was not about how to achieve your dreams but how to lead your life. “Head fake” is what he called it. Head fake is teaching something to someone while making them think their learning something else. Lastly his second head fake was that his speech was for his children, this was not a last lecture for the audience of five hundred but his last lecture for his children. Although his lecture was dedicated to his kids it doesn’t mean we should not listen to all the great advice he has given us. If anything Dr. Pausch was truly a great inspiration to all and a man who truly lived to the fullest, until the very end.