Sunday, March 6, 2011

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch
The Last Lecture
Carnegie Mellon University
man

I thought that Randy Pausch was an exceptional professor, speaker, and person. Although I was never a student in his class and during part of the lecture it was kind of hard to get into because I'm not that familiar or interested in Virtual Reality, my attention was held the entire time and his inspiration and spunk and desire to live was so meaningful.

I'm sure he was a great professor, but I would label him more as a life coach. I was amazed at how he remembered all of his childhood dreams and during his life he was able to achieve them. Did he plan his life around those goals/dreams? He must have. I don't think I even had dreams as a child, and if I did they were crazy ones like wanting to be a clown, etc. Haha! He really is the epitome of wanting something in life and going after it. He said that brick walls are created to stop the people who don't want it bad enough; they are there for a reason and to show us how bad we want something. When he said that, I thought back on my own life and saw that I didn't persevere through the brick walls and I let them stop me. I hope I'm never like that again.

His main way of teaching to college students was by creating a "head fake." He said that the best way to teach somebody is to think that they're learning something else. Most of what we learn we learn indirectly. He gave the example of football. Learning how to play the game of football isn't the most important thing that kids learn when they first learn the game; they learn about teamwork, perseverance, etc. He also said when teaching his students in the ETC program, they were just having fun learning to make movies and games, but they were really learning how to program. I really like that way of teaching. He also said that if kids have fun while learning something hard, then they will do it.  That's such a profound statement that I think so many teachers don't care to understand or think about. At the end of the day, if I can make math fun for my students even if they are learning something hard, then they will want to learn, and I have done my job. Life and learning is all about fun and so many people lose that.

Randy seemed like such a fun person. He said to never lose the child-like wonder. That is one thing that I know I have not lost. People think that I act like a kid or laugh too much, but I think that EVERYTHING in life is meant to be laughed at.  I think it's very easy for people to not take me seriously, but frankly, I think they are being too serious. I shouldn't have to be serious at all. I can have fun and get things done....and being serious is just boring.  In the video Randy said, "I'm dying and I'm having fun!" That's amazing that he was able to stay so positive and be happy during such a horrible time in his life. But it's also horrible to think that it takes death for someone to really loosen up and have fun with life and not be so serious. I think Randy was a fun person all his life, gauging from his personality. But I think that sometimes it takes a crisis for people to really begin to find joy in life. I refuse to live like that. I find joy in daily living and I will always try to be fun and laugh until my last day on earth.

These are the things he said towards the end of his speech that stuck out to me:

Being perceived as a jerk will limit you as what you will be able to accomplish in life
Respect authority while questioning it
Help others
Decide whether you're a Tigger or an Eeyore (I'm a Tigger! He was always my favorite anyways)
You can't get there alone
Tell the truth
Be earnest
Apologize when you screw up
Focus on others and not yourself
If people give you criticism take it and cherish it
Don't complain, just work harder
Be good at something; it makes you valuable
Find the best in everybody (way too hard to do)
It's not about achieving your dreams, it's about living your life! (Love it!)

2 comments:

  1. Hey Jessica!
    Like you, I was amazed at just how positive someone could be when facing something so tragic. I also added his kep points at the end of my blog post because I thought they were good values to live by. I also believe he must have been a fun going guy all his life to be so outgoing now. My favorite part of the entire movie was when he sang Happy Birthday to his wife and his 2nd head-fake at the end.....This lecture was not for us, but for his three children. How AWESOME was that? I too got lost a little in the middle because of my lack of interest in virtual technology. I would have loved to have seen him in person just talking about living life. I hope that each of us take his advise and not let brick walls stop us, but motivate us to really reach our goals.

    Also, you should never feel bad about having fun with everything you do, I think that is what keeps people young at heart! :)

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  2. Well done! Randy Pauch's Last Speech truly is an inspiration and a great guide in how to be a good educator.

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