A Carnegie Mellon alumnus, Randy Pausch, who pioneered the development of virtual reality, gives his very last lecture because he is dying from pancreatic cancer. Standing before a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon, his lecture is titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Pausch reflects on what is really important in life. This lecture has many descriptive words. Inspirational, humorous, reflective, and tearful. I will cut to the chase and say this lecture was directed to his children and how he would guide them as they grow. He wanted to say the things he would not get to say as they grew because he would not be there. Because I am an older student with a young daughter, I understood what he was saying. I am able to think about things I did when I was younger and have wished I had done somethings a little better or totally different. But experiences make us who we are. Because there are no do-overs, we try to teach our children how to avoid the bumps in the road because we have already hit them.
I will list some of the many points that he made in his lecture.
Brick walls are there for a specific reason. To give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
Got to have fundamentals.
Seeing yourself screw up and no one says anything is a bad thing.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly.
A lot to learn by watching people.
Have something to bring to the table.
Quote from a colleague,"Wait long enough and people will impress you."
The best gift an educator can give is to be self reflective.
Have fun while learning something hard.
There are so many more points of which I have three pages of notes. I realized I needed to just put a few but choosing which ones was difficult because they were all so true. One really has to watch the lecture and reflect. It really hits home. I know I have a story for every one of Pausch's directives. I hope the younger crowd who saw this lecture will truly take it to heart. It's much easier to avoid the bumps in the road if someone has already scouted them out.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteRandy Pausch's lecture was a powerful one. My heart just broke for his children as I listened to what he was going through. I think the lessons that he left for his children are valuable ones and he did this out of love. I got a sense that he was still trying to protect them in preparing them for things ahead. That also applies to us as educators. We are in the business of preparing our students for the future. You mentioned that he said, "The best gift an educator can give is to be self reflective." Wow! This really got me thinking. I believe that this is something that Dr. Strange is trying to convey to us; that we should take a deep look at ourselves and be willing to get better.
Your post was great! You really nailed the highlights of his lecture. I have also enjoyed looking at your blog. As mothers, I'm glad that we can continue to encourage each other.
Great job!
Deana