Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Essay Example.

Randy Pausch began his speech by telling the listeners that he had been detected with pancreatic cancer would die in a few months. Randy opted to start with the issue to encourage his audience to deal with those matters distracting them sooner rather than wait for time to pass. Randy emphasized that individuals have face those issues that they are encountering because they can change the future. Moreover, he claimed that individuals should not feel depressed because of what is happening in their lives (Carnegie Mellon University, 2017). Instead, they should enjoy the time left while handling every circumstance positively.

Randy claimed that he only had six months to live and this encourages him to spend more of his time with his family members rather than worry about the future. He used various techniques to inspire the audience. For example, Randy created a sense of humor in his speech by using smiles, jokes, and laughs instead of feeling sad and depressed. He opted not to discuss his cancer, wife and his children because the audience would become emotional.

Randy tries to give the speech as if it is not personal but contains personal lessons from the life experiences. He first addressed his childhood dreams showing that he was a smelling child and always looked happy around his parents. Randy claimed that his parents permitted him to decorate his room as a way of expressing his creativity. He always dreamt of landing on the moon by becoming an astronaut (Carnegie Mellon University, 2017). When he learned that NASA had initiated a competition where college scholars would undertake an assignment and winners taken into the air, he works hard to ensure that his students win. After his students won, the faculty did not allow its members to join in the activity. According to Randy, this acted like a brick wall in his life which enable an individual to prove how serious they want things. He did not give up because he faked as a reporter because they were permitted on the plane.

Furthermore, Randy shared the team of being a professional footballer and play for the national team which he did not accomplished. His school coach made him do extra pushups, and practice. He thought that he was made to practice more because he was not good enough until someone told him that an individual gives up when there is no one to correct them when they screw up (Carnegie Mellon University, 2017). Randy told his audience that although he did not make it play as a professional footballer, he still wore football jackets and played football during his free time. Randy claimed that individuals indirectly learn almost all things. For instance, he said that when children are sent to play football, they are sent to learn specific skills such as sportsmanship and teamwork.

Furthermore, Randy talked about his dream of sharing information with other people. He achieved this when he was nominated to write a piece on the Wikipedia. Randy emphasized that one needs to share their knowledge with others to be able to learn more. Moreover, he talked about his dream of becoming an Imagineer (Carnegie Mellon University, 2017). He claimed that he said "I want to make stuff like that instead of saying "I want to experience this" during his first visit to Disney Land. This experience taught Randy to give other people a second chance to impress after they are pissed off by them for the first time. He claimed that we are all human beings and are prone to make mistakes.

Moreover, he claimed that people should not get distressed with their loved ones because they are never sure when they will die. Randy eventually became an Imagineer and planned the game of Alice and Aladdin in Wonderland. The experience taught Randy that one needs to enjoy good things as much as they can because all good things come to an end. At the end of the speech, Randy claimed that the speech was intended for his children rather than the audience. Randy expected his children to follow these childhood dreams and lessons so that they can be successful in life.

In my opinion, although Randy made efforts to hide his emotions during the speech, the talk was to some point touching to the listeners. The point that he gave a speech about achieving dreams and yet he was to die in few months was emotional to the listeners. I think the speech would not have been successful if it was given by another person who was not ill. In addition to the skillful techniques that Randy used, listeners would not have been moved by a different individual using the exact words. This is because the audience felt the psychological need to pay attention to Randy because he was dying. This showed that they were sorry for Randy. In conclusion, I think that this is the reason why he was recorded as an influential individual in the world.

Reference

Carnegie Mellon University, (2017). Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&list=PLF75A4178A6676E1F&index=12