Randy Paush's Last Lecture

Writing my blog on Randy Paush’s Last Lecture has been the hardest one for me to write so far. Randy Paush’s philosophy on life and his impending death reminded me of my husband’s view on life and death. The lecture was so similar with my husband’s viewpoints that I found myself questioning why God takes such great men too quickly. At the end of the lecture, I realized that God has used Randy Paush’s lecture to reach out to all of us with a very special message just as he used my husband’s voice.

Randy Paush had three major thoughts to pass on to us. The first one was “Always follow your childhood dreams”, they may change but valuable lessons are to be learned along the way. By achieving these dreams Randy talks about how you will be face with brick walls but you can’t allow them to stop you from achieving you dreams. You should never give up because when one door closes another door will open for you.

His second words of wisdom were “Enable Childhood Dreams of Others.” One of the ways Randy achieve this belief with his students was through a class he taught called Building Virtual World. The first project his fifty students did was so good that it blew him away and he couldn’t imagine how they would ever be able to top it. His mentor advised him to tell his students that the project was pretty good but he knew that they could do better. Another one of his classes was The Dream Fulfillment Factory of the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). The key to ETC success was the freedom it gave it students to create and to become self reflective.

The last thought Randy shares with us is “Lessons Learned.” The roles our parents, mentors, teachers, friends, colleagues all have an impact on our lives. They can be good or bad or positive and negative but we need to respect authority while questioning it. Learn from each other and have fun learning. Never lose your childlike wonder. Never give up and always help others. Be earnest with people. Tell the truth. Focus on others and if you do screw up always apologize. Show gratitude to others. Don’t complain; just work harder. Be good at something, it makes you valuable. Last but not least find the best in everyone.

Randy Paush’s Last Lecture on how to lead your life was a talk he was actually leaving to his children and God got a hold of it and share it with all of us and on that note I will close and shed some more tears for these great men that have left us far too soon but will never be forgotten because their messages live on in all of us.