Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was born on October 23, 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland. He became a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he also received his Ph.D. He learned he had pancreatic cancer in September of 2006 and was given three to six months of good health. Randy Pausch said he is not in denial and not depressed about his condition, "We cannot changed the cards we are dealt but how we play the hand".

Randy Pausch had many dreams, a couple are: playing in the NFL and being an Imagineer. He talks about the brick walls he had encountered in his life but says, "Brick walls let us prove how bad we want things". This makes a lot of sense because if I want to accomplish my dreams then I cannot let an obstacle keep me away from my goal. Dr. Pausch may not have become an NFL player but he learned valuable lessons from his experience in playing football as a child; those lessons are fundamentals and hardwork. Randy Pausch says, " Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you want". Even when you do not fully accomplish your dreams, you always take back with you the time you put in and the experience you gain. He and a colleague of his Don Marinelli created the Entertainment Technology Center for students to be incorporate art and technology. Dr. Pausch is also the founder of Alice, an interactive software that helps students learn computer programming.

Enable the Childhood Dreams of Others
Randy Pausch started a course Carnegie Mellon University titled Building Virtual Worlds. This was a Master's Degree Program and over a semester students worked in groups on several projects to create their own virtual world. Dr. Pausch always pushed the bar for his students, even when he was impressed by their work. His class used no books, it was project based, and he took his class on field trips. He focused on the hands on experience of learning and to work in groups. Every two weeks students received feedback. On thing I think is helpful in his teaching style is the "head fake". He explained the head fake is when someone is taught a deeper meaning while in disguise they are learning something simple. Randy Pausch always liked to have fun so he wanted his students to have fun while creating virtual worlds.

Lessons Learned

Randy Pausch learned many life lessons he passed on to his students. Andy von Dam, a mentor of Randy Pausch, told Dr. Pausch he is a great salesman and that he should sale the one thing that is worth selling and that is education. He believes in life you can either be Tigger or Eeyore, meaning you can have fun and enjoy life or you can be depressed about life's obstacles. Dr. Pausch values loyalty because you should never turn your back people. A person should never give up because persistence can take you far in life. I believe in never giving up because once you give up opportunity comes and you missed out in capitalizing. Dr. Randy Pausch died July 25, 2008 from pancreatic cancer but his legacy will forever live on because he has changed so many people's lives and was a true innovator of his time.