Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch's Last Lesson


This video is really inspiring and heartwarming. To me, Randy was a very inspiring person who touched a lot of people's lives. He gave a lot of advice that will stick with me for life. One of the first lessons is that fundamentals and hard work are keys to achieving your goals in life. The bar chart method of feedback for his students really gave them an edge because if you see yourself on the bottom of the graph, you want to stride to become a better group partner. Also, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted" and that is because you have to work hard to get what you wanted and if it does not come, you gained experience in that particular task at hand. Then there is the "head fake", which is what you learn indirectly. Learning something indirectly means you have clear understanding of the subject and it is what people actually learn, not what you get taught directly.

"Brick walls are there to show you how bad you want something". I strongly believe in this statement because without obstacles or brick walls, you don't learn what to do and not to do. They are there to show your dedication to what you want to reach in life. There are also major points that he addresses that will help you in life and that is to share, have fun while working hard, and lead you life in the best way possible. Without these key points, you will probably not succeed in what you want to accomplish in life or you will dislike what you do for a living. I believe in having fun while working hard, it makes the task go a lot more smoothly and you won't get as aggravated with it. Also, if you have to hand something over like your leadership in a project or your position at a job, hand it over to someone better than you. When you do this, you know you are leaving your project or job in better hands instead of someone who is less qualified than you. When he was a professor in the ETC program, it was absolutely astounding what he accomplished and what his students gained in the program. What he allowed his students to do and create was amazing and when you see some of the examples he had on the screen, you knew his students were having fun while working hard in the class.

When you receive feedback, it means that someone does care about what you are doing. When they deny you that criticism, they have given up on you and that is never good because once someone gives up on you, you have done enough to keep their attention on you and what you are doing. When you receive feedback, you always listen to it because feedback is very important. No matter if it is good or bad, you listen because even if it is bad, you know where you are messing up. That is what you need to know the most because if you don't know when you are messing up, you don't know what to fix. If you screw up, apologize and fix it. Always apologize for things you did wrong and stride to not let it happen again. Also, you always want to find the best in everyone because everyone is not completely bad, it just takes more time to see the good in people who seem that way.

When you work hard, you don't complain. You just move forward and have as much fun as possible while doing it. Also, focus on others and not yourself all the time because helping other is another key point in life. When you help others achieve their goals, you are subliminally helping yourself achieve little goals you made for yourself and it makes you feel good while possibly learning something new yourself. Also, loyalty is a two way street and if you try and make it a one way street and ignore that fact, you will not succeed in many of Randy Pausch's key points of helping others. Admit when you are wrong and apologize for it, learning new lessons in life that pertain to you and others around you, and always listen to feedback.

Receiving help and giving help are always key factors in being loyal, especially in group work. If you don't do your part, no one will want to work with you and this pertains to the bar graph of feedback. When people see you are not loyal, they do not want to work with you. So, learn from your feedback, be loyal, and always admit when you are wrong and apologize for it. Also, once you are good at something, you become valuable, but always remember that you cannot get anywhere in life alone. You never want to lose the child like wonder and that is where your parents and teacher play a role in your life. There are always people willing to help you, so take their help and always be truthful to them and anyone else. Randy Pausch relates himself to Tigger and not an Eeyore and that is because he is so energetic and willing to help, while Eeyore is depressed and sees everything as a burden and never wants to help. I see myself as a Tigger also, what do you see yourself as, Tigger or Eeyore?