Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Ending Thoughts
I enjoyed this book a lot. I learned a lot about Randy and I even learned a lot about myself. It made me realize who I am, and where I want to go with my life, what I need to do to get there. I think a lot of people would get a lot out of this book. Even the millennials! If I get the chance later in life, I'm sure I would read this book again. It just has so much to offer. Randy definitely lived his life to the fullest, even before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I think more people need to live their life without finding out bad news first.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Dream Big
Every person has dreams in their life. It's up to you whether you make them come true or not. Randy Pausch had many childhood dreams: to be in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, to authorize an article in the World Book encyclopedia, being captain kirk, winning stuffed animals, and being a Disney Imagineer.
Randy knew from the beginning that being in zero gravity wasn't a likely thing for him. In college he heard about a program where college students could submit proposals for experiments on the plane. They proposed something using virtual reality and they were chosen. He then found out that faculty couldn't fly with students. He found a loophole and he applied to be a member of the media and he got to be in zero gravity.
Although Randy never made it to the NFL, he learned some valuable life lessons from being in football. His coach was a coach you could compare to Coach McLean. The assistant coach asked him one day if Coach Graham was riding him hard during practice, that made Randy very nervous, but the assistant coach replied with, "That's a good thing. When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." Randy never forgot that important conversation with his coach and he used it later in life on his students.
Randy's parents had purchased many different volumes of the World Book Encyclopedias for their kids to read. Randy never read every word in the books but he did enjoy reading them very much. He made it his dream to contribute to the World Book Encyclopedia. One day they called him and asked him to make an entry for virtual reality. It was many years later but he still got to fulfill his dream!
Randy never did become Captain Kirk. That was just a dream that was never going to happen. He did meet Captain Kirk (William Shatner) though. Randy's students built a virtual reality world that resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. Shatner was in awe and asked questions for hours. When Shatner found out that Randy was diagnosed with cancer he sent him an autographed picture of Captain Kirk with a very inspirational message. How cool is that?
Randy wanted to collect stuffed animals, but he did more than that! He collected giant stuffed animals. He never bought them at a store or from someone else. He won them on his own, he might have leaned a little on the ring toss but he never cheated.
On Randy's family trip when he was 8 years old he was "just in awe of the place." He wasn't as excited about the rides than getting to make this stuff when he was older. Two decades later he sent an application letter to the Imagineers and they sent him back a "go-to-hell letter." He didn't give up though. He later heard that Disney Imagineering was working on a virtual reality project and he called them telling them about his skills in virtual reality. He was persistant and had lunch with a guy on the team and Randy was more than prepared for the meeting. He wowed the guy and he got to work there for 6 months on a sabbatical. He lived his dream!
Randy knew from the beginning that being in zero gravity wasn't a likely thing for him. In college he heard about a program where college students could submit proposals for experiments on the plane. They proposed something using virtual reality and they were chosen. He then found out that faculty couldn't fly with students. He found a loophole and he applied to be a member of the media and he got to be in zero gravity.
Although Randy never made it to the NFL, he learned some valuable life lessons from being in football. His coach was a coach you could compare to Coach McLean. The assistant coach asked him one day if Coach Graham was riding him hard during practice, that made Randy very nervous, but the assistant coach replied with, "That's a good thing. When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." Randy never forgot that important conversation with his coach and he used it later in life on his students.
Randy's parents had purchased many different volumes of the World Book Encyclopedias for their kids to read. Randy never read every word in the books but he did enjoy reading them very much. He made it his dream to contribute to the World Book Encyclopedia. One day they called him and asked him to make an entry for virtual reality. It was many years later but he still got to fulfill his dream!
Randy never did become Captain Kirk. That was just a dream that was never going to happen. He did meet Captain Kirk (William Shatner) though. Randy's students built a virtual reality world that resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. Shatner was in awe and asked questions for hours. When Shatner found out that Randy was diagnosed with cancer he sent him an autographed picture of Captain Kirk with a very inspirational message. How cool is that?
Randy wanted to collect stuffed animals, but he did more than that! He collected giant stuffed animals. He never bought them at a store or from someone else. He won them on his own, he might have leaned a little on the ring toss but he never cheated.
On Randy's family trip when he was 8 years old he was "just in awe of the place." He wasn't as excited about the rides than getting to make this stuff when he was older. Two decades later he sent an application letter to the Imagineers and they sent him back a "go-to-hell letter." He didn't give up though. He later heard that Disney Imagineering was working on a virtual reality project and he called them telling them about his skills in virtual reality. He was persistant and had lunch with a guy on the team and Randy was more than prepared for the meeting. He wowed the guy and he got to work there for 6 months on a sabbatical. He lived his dream!
Summary
The Last Lecture was a lecture given by Randy Pausch. It later became a book, describing the reasons for giving the lecture and important parts from the lecture. Randy was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and was given 3-6 months to live. In those months, he could have spent all of his time being negative, instead, he spent his time preparing his family for their life without them. He also did everything he could to make sure his family remembers him when he is gone. He tells his hopes and dreams through his lecture, and he hopes that some of his life knowledge rubs off on us.
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