Blog Assignment #6

Randy Pausch is an amazing motivational speaker. Even though he was dying inside, he still makes the time to give his “Last Lecture”. At the beginning, he discusses his childhood dreams and how he accomplished them. Most of them were so out there that they didn’t even seem like they could be accomplished. Because he has much motivation and determination, he was able to succeed at everything on his list. One of his dreams was to become a Disney Imagineer. After he graduated, he applied for a job there twice but was turned down. He had the chance to have lunch with Jon Snoddy, and got the chance to write a paper about the Aladdin Project which let him complete his dream.

One lessons I learned from this video is never set the bar for your students. When Pausch was teaching Building Virtual Worlds, his students were presenting really amazing projects. So Pausch went to his mentor, Andy Van Dam, for advice and he said “Tell your class guys, that was pretty good, but I know you can do better”. Andy told him that he obviously didn’t know where to set the bar, and it would only be a disservice if you put it anywhere. This will be useful in my teaching because I want my students to give me their all at all times. Setting the bar will only limit their work and I may not get their full potential.

Another lesson I learned is to remember to have fun. One of Pausch’s bosses named President Cohon gave him this advice. Pausch felt like the advice was like a fish discussing the importance of water because he is always having fun. His personal advice is to decide if you want to be a Tigger or Eeyore. He also told us to never lose your child like wonder because it’s very important and it drives us. This will help me when teaching because having fun is very important when it comes to learning. It have to be enjoyable or else the students are not going to want to learn.

Toward the end of the speech, Randy Pausch gives a lot of advice to his audience about how to get people to help you. He says to tell the truth, be earnest, and apologize when you are wrong. When going through my life journey, this advice will be very useful to me because I will need as much help as I can get. The things he says to do are not difficult at all. It will just be a challenge to remember to do them. Randy Pausch opened my eyes to being successful, being determined, and having fun while do so. He is such an inspiration, and I know everyone that knew him personally or was taught by him are all very proud.