Randy Pausch: Last Lecture

Randy Pausch's last lecture was entitled, "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. I was a little apprehensive about watching this lecture because of the length and the fact that it was a lecture, but i became instantly interested. Randy Pausch is an amazing man, professor, educator, and creator. His expectations for his students, projects, co-workers, and life in general were set extremely high and always achieved.
There were a couple of quotes throughout Randy Pausch's presentation that connected with me and my philosophy in some way or form. The first quote was that "you can get more out of not achieving a dream than you can if you do achieve it." I agree with this in someways. It is not always the accomplishment of achieving a goal but rather the journey you travel when attempting to accomplish it. I feel that they experiences and hurdles that you come across can better educate someone rather than just the opportunity to say, "I accomplished this."
The second quote in Randy Pausch's lecture that really touched me was, "Wait long enough and people will surprise you." This particular quote was actually stated by a man named John Snoddy whom had worked with Randy Pausch, and this quote inspired Randy as well. I feel that this quote is absolutely true. If you just act patient with students or other people in general, even though your expectations for that persons life or work are not set very high, if you are patient they just might surprise you. Sometimes people need to be pushed to their limit before they begin to realize their potential in life. They need someone to be willing to be patient for them in order for them to thrive as students, coworkers, peers in general.
There are a ton of things that Randy Pausch said in his last lecture and their are a ton of points and concepts that he touched base on that have really touched me or made me think in a different light. I encourage everyone to watch this lecture....you can definately connect with professor Pausch right off the bat. He seemed like an inspirational, motivational, and intelligent man and I am lucky to have watched this video. If you would like to see this inspiration for yourself, just click here.