Randy Pausch Last Lecture

Randy Pausch


Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

One of the first things that struck me as I began to watch the last lecture was Randy Pausch's physical appearance. Since we had discussed a little about the video in class, I was expecting to see a sickly looking man, possibly sitting to give his last lecture. Obviously, that was not the case with Randy Pausch. He looked so healthy and even discussed how well he felt. He told the audience that he was probably in better shape than most of them, as her performed push ups on stage. He briefly discussed his illness and showed some MRI photo's of his tumors to show us how sick he really was.

The next thing that touched me in the video was Randy Pausch's attitude. I could only hope that if I am ever in Randy's position that I could be as positive as he was. I think he felt as if he didn't want to dwell on the negative aspects of what was happening to him, out of fear of losing the time he left with his family. He showed photo's of himself as a child and talked about how he was always smiling. He had such a happy childhood and really thought that his parents had been a big part of who he had become.

Randy listed his childhood dreams for the audience and went through each one of them. Some of the goals he had achieved, others he felt that even though he didn't get exactly what he wanted, he had experienced something close to it and felt satisfied with the result. He talked about how he had dreamed of playing in the NFL. He never accomplished that goal, but he did play football as a youth. He felt that football, the rules of the game, and the coaches had played for, had played a huge role in his life. Other goals, such as experiencing weightlessness and becoming a Disney Imagineer he had been able to achieve. With each of these goals he was originally turned down, but he didn't take no for an answer. He continued to work toward those goals and eventually got to reach them. He talked about the lessons he learned from originally being told no, rather than getting what he wanted right away.

Randy Pausch was so successful in his field. He pioneered classes in computer science and virtual reality at Carnegie Mellon University. He felt that the best part of being an educator was making his students think that they were having "fun" instead of learning. Evidenced by the number of people that poured through his classroom he was successful with his teaching. He also discussed several times the importance of giving back and some of the humanitarian efforts he had been a part of over the years.

After watching the original video, I watched a few more video's on Randy Pausch. It appears as if he was diagnosed in 2006 and only given a four to six months to live. In the end, he didn't die until July 2008, outliving the expectation of his doctors by many months. I feel as if his positive attitude probably contributed to his lifespan. I'm sure he fought as hard as possible to win his battle against cancer. He revealed at the end of his speech that he had not made the lecture for the people that were sitting in the room. He had made the video as a legacy for his young children to know how to achieve their goals.