Post 14: The Last Lecture

I had the pleasure of reading Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" when it was first published and loved it, but when I watched the video I was reminded how much I truly enjoyed his lecture! He had a way of helping people to not only leave his presence thinking positively, but the ability to make you think about what he said for days to come. I love how he wanted to teach his children that dreams do come true, but it takes you working at them to make it happen. After I pondered thoughts about his lecture while I lay wide awake in my bed last night, I decided to write a blog about my own childhood dreams on my personal blog, "The Wonder Years".

I would have loved to have met him and learned from him as a teacher. He seemed to be such a caring person who truly cared about the people around him whether he knew them or not. He taught others to keep on even when the going got tough. There were a few quotes that stood out to me in his lecture: "Don't complain- just work harder," and "Be good at something- it makes you valuable." These are true to live by: complaining get you nowhere, but if you work harder you can move forward on to something better and finding something that you are good at does absolutely make you more valuable.

Randy was a hard worker and pushed others to be the same and work towards their goals even if they seemed so far out of reach. I thought the quote he used from a friend of his, "Don't bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap," was hilarious but seriously true. That's how Randy lived.. when things got rough and seemed impossible, he kept digging for that gold and he eventually struck rich.

I think these methods should be brought to all classrooms- teachers should care enough to push their students along to bigger and better things. Teachers should not let students settle for average grades- they should help them exhale because they believe in them and anything is possible if you keep trying. His quote, "Loyalty is a two-way street," can be looked at as.. if you are a good teacher and believe in your students and take time to help them , they too in return will believe in themselves eventually and try harder to achieve their goals. It takes both.