Randy Pausch Last Interview

Wow, honestly, Wow, this was my favorite video thus far. I feel guilty for this but when i first read the assignment for this week i was not looking forward to it. I thought to myself .."wow how am I going to sit and listen to a lecture about technology for over an hour?" After watching this lecture however, I can honestly say that I am beyond moved. By the end of the lecture I was tearing up.
Not only did I learn a little about virtual reality and the imagination behind it, but I gained valuable insight about life from a man who has based his life around hard work and dedication. As I was watching the video I wrote down the quotes and insights that meant the most to me and were the most inspirational. By the end of the video I had two pages worth of quotes, front and back!
From start to finish this video was full of advice for me. I think everyone can learn something that will benefit them in some way, not only in their career but in life. For instance, at the beginning of video before he began talking about his childhood dreams, he spoke about his cancer in a nonchallant manner that fascinated me, partly because he prefaced it with "whenever there is an elephant in the room, intorduce it." It set the stage for the rest of the presentation. It was his way of giving us permission to still see him as a professor and not just a cancer patient. It was very moving from the start. He also talked about wanting to enable the dreams of others..i personally think our goal as teachers should be to enable dreams and to make sure, as mr. pausch put it, that our students "never lose their sense of wonder" and that we as adults know that we still have "permission to dream."
He also talked about his experiences with coaches and mentors that made him who he is today. I can relate to a specific instance he spoke of. "When you screw up and no one notices or tells you, then you should worry because that means they gave up." I heard that from a coach of mine and from then on i appreciated constructive criticism. I also valued another piece of insight i received from Dr. Pausch, " experience is what you get when you dont get the results you wanted." he didnt mean this in a negative sense but was speakig of the indirect lessons learned from mistakes or achievements (like those seen in sports or orgaized activities) such as teamwork, responsibility, or perserverance that are equally as important as the goal itself.
There are a few insights that will benefit me in my career and personal life as well . For example , he spoke of the obstacles he encountered and said "brick walls are there for a reason, to keep out the people who dont want it bad enough. Brick walls are there to test our dedication and perserverance." Wow. if you arent inspiree by that comment you are just inexcusably lazy. He also spoke of karma and the help he received from others. I personally believe that you cant get anywhere in life without help or motivation from some where. he also spoke of personal attitudes and the privelege of being an educator. We get to inspire people and if we can getsomeone to be self reflective we have given them the best gift an educator can give. My goal as ateacher is one that he put into the perfect words, I want "millions of kids to have fun while learning something hard." I also want to be an earnest person like the ones he spoke so highly of .
Of all the quotes I wrote down the two that meant the most to me were at the end of the presentationk, "Are you a tigger or an Eyore?" it is so easy to get boggeddown with the negatives in life but we really should strive to be encouraging and excited about life which brings me to my next quote, perhaps the most moving of all "Have fun because Im dying and I'm having fun!" that quote really put into perspective how short life really is ..its too short to not be happy or satisfied with your life like Dr. Pausch.