Blog Post #7

What Can We Learn About Teaching And Learning From Randy Pausch?

This week for our blog we were told to watch Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Mr. Pausch opened up this speech with, what he calls "introducing the elephant in the room". He has cancer and wanted to tell his audience that. He also told him that he only has 5 months to live. When telling his audience this, he was not depressed or upset what so ever. He didn't want his audience to feel bad for him. He explained that he shouldn't live his life in sadness and regret, but that he should rather live the rest of what life he has left, living to the fullest. That right there immediately gave me respect for Randy. Not many people would, or could, have that outlook on his situation. The main question behind this blog post is "what can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?" Randy discusses that how when he was a child himself, that he had goals of his own and how they either happened or something positive came from it. He has no negative words or advice from his own perspective. One thing I learned from Randy Pausch is that when you make a goal, stick with it. No matter how hard, or how outrageous the goal the is, never let that goal fade away. A goal can be reached as long as the time and effort is put into it. Another thing I learned from watching his video is that, he is a very determined man and very dedicated to what he does. He loves what he does. He is truly a very inspiring man, in general. Despite the cancer he is faced with, he makes the best of life and is living it to the best of his ability. I think this video should seen by all Education majors. The moral of Randy Pausch's story is; live life to the fullest and when you have a goal set, do everything in your power to make that goal happen. Don't give up!