During the first part of his speech, Pausch talks about the dreams he held as a child and how either did or did not achieve those goals. He first stresses the importance of celebrating brick walls. The obstacles that are faced on our journey to achieve our dreams are set in place to show us how badly we want something and weed out those who do not hold a deep desire for a particular dream. With each of his childhood dreams, Pausch recalls the brick walls he hit with each and every one of them. These road blocks had a purpose in his own personal development. I am reminded of the old adage, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. This is precisely what Randy Pausch did in order to make his dreams of experiencing zero gravity. When told he was not allowed to join his students on NASA's Weightless Wonder (aka The Vomit Comet) as a faculty member, he instead acquired press credentials and resubmitted his application as the official photographer of the trip. When brick walls are placed in your way, do not give up on the first attempt, try and find other avenues around them. Another factor to remember when striving to reach childhood dreams is that some dreams are not always meant to be fulfilled. This was the case in Randy Pausch's desire to play in the National Football League. Although he never had to opportunity to play professional football, the learned a tremendous amount more on his way to this goal than he would have had he actually made it all the way. He reminds the audience that "experience is what we get when we don't get what we want" and that "most of what we learn is learned indirectly." It is hard not to feel like a failure when our dreams are not played out, however it is always important to stop and reflect on the situation to realize we have really gained instead. Pausch also emphasizes the need to understand that some dreams are just fantasies that cannot logically be met as well as providing ways to prove your legitimacy about goals met to cynics who will undoubtedly question your credibility. Finally, Pausch accentuates the importance of patience when striving to make your dreams come true. When trying to meet his dream of becoming a Disney Imagineer, legalities and other minor details were not working out to his benefit. He was told that if he waits long enough, people would surprise him and it would work out in the end. Achievements are not made over night, the process takes time with a lot of hard work and persistence.
During the second part of the lecture, Pausch turns away from focusing on his dreams and more towards how you can enable others achieve their own dreams. When he started the class Building Virtual Worlds, he really had no idea exactly what to expect from his students. When the groups returned after two weeks with material that should have taken them a semester to finish, Pausch did not overly praise the students; rather he encouraged them that they could do better and did not "set a bar" to guide them. As a result of not restricting his students, they took the limit to the sky and produced phenomenal projects. It is also important to keep in mind that when you learn to focus on people and learn to work in groups the impossible can be achieved. Pausch uses his experience with the Entertainment Technology Center as an example of how team work leads to self reflection and allows the dreams of many people to come true. Finally, this biggest tool to use in order to help others achieve their goals is a mind game Pausch likes to call a "head fake". This occurs when skills or information is learned without knowing it was learned while accomplishing something else.
During the third part of Pausch's speech, he highlights the important lessons he learned that helped him reach his dreams. Perhaps the most important fact to remember while striving to reach your goals is to recognize and appreciate what lets you get to achieve your dreams. For Randy, this was his parents. The best example Pausch provides is the moment he and his mother discovered shortly after his father's death that he had been awarded the Bronze Star for Valor during World War II; an achievement that is certainly boast worthy. However, Pausch states that arrogance limits what you can accomplish. A sense of humility must be required when reaching for the starts. This is a possible reason is father chose not to divulge this remarkable accomplishment to his family.
Finally, Pausch offers a few more pieces of advice to help dreams become reality. He states that you can not get to your dreams by yourself and will require the help of others. The way to get people to help you is to always tell the truth, be earnest in your endeavors, own up to your mistakes and apologize for them, and focus on others, not yourself. Once you have a support system in place and ready to take on your dreams, Pausch reminds the audience to celebrate brick walls and to never bail or give up. Integrity is a requirement when pursuing our dreams. He emphasis that when the right thing is done, good things happen to you. And most importantly, do not complain; just work harder. Pausch users the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson as an example of this ideal. Despite battling racial segregation and pressures of prejudices seen in the 1940's, Robinson continued to marvel in the sport of professional baseball and even broke down numerous boundaries; no excuses were ever made by him. But perhaps the greatest example Pausch could have used to exemplify hard work with excuses is himself. Dealing with a terminal illness and a grim prognosis knowing he had only a few months left to spend with his family, he continued to push forward to make his last dream a reality, to still be able to play a vital role in his children's lives with the lecture he had just given.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteGood job with this post! Randy Pausch is an amazing man, and definitely knows how to make his presentations interesting! I think his focus on teamwork is a key idea that any teacher needs to keep in mind!
Thanks,
Rebekah