Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture is an extraordinary video. I enjoyed it a lot. It is not the first time I've seen the video but I didn't quite remember everything from the first time I watched it. Mr. Pausch gave an exceptional speech for somebody who had ten tumors in his liver and knew he was dying. I appreciated the way he was honest and spoke to the audience as though he already knew them. Mr. Pausch hit many of what he calls 'brick walls' throughout his life. He states that these walls are not there to stop people, but rather to see who wants something bad enough to work for it.
He overcomes many obstacles. Some of these are being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, winning stuffed animals at the fair, and being a Disney imagineer. He never did get to play in the National Football League but Mr. Pausch states that he probably learned more from not reaching this goal than he did from all the accomplishments he did achieve.
Mr. Pausch teaching methods could be termed 'hands-on'. He allows his students to do things using the technology they have access to. He says they will not read a single book in his class. People learn through experience and his methods prove this. Students in his class were allowed to make their own programs and test them. Everything they did in his classes were hands on and allowed the students to explore their realms of creativity. Too few teachers use this method of teaching. I wish there were more.
Randy Pausch is an exceptional speaker in this video. He maintains a professional demeanor while in a time in his life that most people would be more morose over. I enjoyed the way he made you think he's talking to the audience until the very end when he says the second 'head fake' is that the speech is actually for his children. He seems to be an exceptional person, teacher, father, husband, and coworker. I wish there were more people like him today.
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