Blog Post 7

In “Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” the late, great Randy Pausch discusses ways to achieve your childhood dreams. The first step he makes in teaching us how to do this is by listing his own dreams. He told of attempts he made to achieve his goals, whether or not he succeeded in reaching his goals and why he was or wasn’t successful. Mr. Pausch made major points about life lessons in his lecture. One that stood out for me was that “Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.” I know from experience that reaching a goal can be overwhelming, but I continue because of how important I believe my goal is. The brick wall also separates the ones who really want their dreams to come true and those who don’t.

The virtual reality video of the bunnies made by Mr. Pausch's students was incredible! You can see it took a lot of work, skill and creativity to put that course together. The fact that it is growing globally shows that this is important technology to learn. It was of great importance to Mr. Pausch. He said, “I will live on in Alice.”

Pausch talks next about the role of parents, fellow classmates and friends, mentors and colleagues. We need these people in our lives to help support, encourage and inspire us to achieve and build upon our goals. They are there to help us and vice versa. Also, they are loyal to us, and as Pausch said, “Loyalty is a two-way street.” They need us and we need them in our lives to help achieve our dreams. Another extremely valuable piece of information he shared was “How to Get People to Help You.”

On achieving your childhood dreams, Pausch reiterates his main points. First, brick walls are challenges purposely put in your path to prove your own dedication to yourself and to your dreams. Next, do not grow weary in achieving your dreams. You may have to go through a lot of unwanted stress to get to where you need to be. Then, listen to your peers, to feedback, to criticism and use it and appreciate it. He goes on to give other important advice and he ends the speech with a compelling thought. He says that it’s not about how to achieve your dreams, but how to lead your life - by being honest and trying to do the right in everything you do. Lastly, he informs us, his audience, that this talk was not for us at all, but for his kids. Rest in peace, Randy Pausch.