Reggie Cobbins

Professor Brown
UWRT 1102
21 March 2016
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
On September 18th, 2007, a professor by the name of Dr. Randy Pausch gave his final
lecture at Carnegie Mellon University titled, Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Although
Pausch gave numerous talks after his September lecture, his Last Lecture details the ultimate
words of wisdom a professor would like to impart to their students and for Dr. Pausch he would
have to impart these words earlier than he hoped as he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Although his title and lecture appear simple and childlike, his stories are surrounded by points of
wisdom that he believed he learned why trying to physically achieve his childhood dreams. His
lecture was adapted into a book titled The Last Lecture, edited by Jeffery Zaslow and published
April 8th, 2008, a few months before Dr. Pauschs death in July. Although his lecture and
subsequent book center on many points of wisdom, his points can be categorized into three: why
obstacles, or brick walls, are important, remaining positive through gratitude, and the constant
recognition of the value of people and togetherness over material objects.
As Dr. Pausch discusses some his childhood dreams such as floating or playing in the
NFL, he remarks how important hitting brick walls are. He remarks, the brick walls are there
for a reason. Theyre not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to
show how badly we want something, (Pausch 59). He begins by informing the audience and
readers how important it is to have specific dreams and the brick walls are there so we have to
work harder than others to achieve those dreams. At an early age, he wanted to work for NASA

but NASA does not take anyone who wants to wear glasses so although he was not physically
able to work for them, he held onto his childhood dream of floating and achieved it when he
learned of a program in which college students could experience being in Zero Gravity. After he
was told he would not be able to join them as faculty advisor he found another way of joining
his students, by acting as the journalist. Dr. Pausch consistently hit brick walls for this
childhood dream because he was not in perfect health due to his eye sight but he found other
avenues to achieve the dream of floating. Part of getting through brick walls is first
understanding the fundamentals. Youve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise
the fancy stuff is not going to work, (Pausch 43). Dr. Pausch played football as a kid and his
hope was that he would play in the NFL but he values his perseverance as a child to get to the
NFL. His coach would get on him about doing things wrong and Pausch would be forced to work
harder consequently building self-esteem and determination by giving students something they
cannot do and working hard until they can. His main point is that if someone is bothering to help
an individual achieve their dream, they have not giving up on you and that is something to be
grateful for. For Dr. Pausch, doing something over and over again until one achieves their goal,
either big or small, is crucial to the learning process. It was not learning to play football that
proved the most important thing on the field but the indirect learning of, teamwork,
perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity, (Pausch
46). These head fakes, as he call them, go beyond the game of football and into adulthood. To
sum up, the brick walls are vital for success, they show the individual how bad he or she would
endure to get something, they are great for teaching the fundamentals, or those foundational
skills one needs to achieve a goal, and you gain the indirect learning of perseverance by failing to
achieve until you do. And even if one does not get through the brick wall, Experience is what

you get when you didnt get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing
you have to offer, (Pausch 158).
Dr. Pausch remarks that showing gratitude and remaining positive go a long way.
Although he is dying, he remains positive and even more grateful for his experience and his
achievement of childhood dreams. He tells his audiences, that there are respectful, considerate
things that can be done in life that will be appreciated by the recipient, and that only good things
can result, (Pausch 161). He tells of the story of an applicant who, although almost denied, was
accepted because she hand-wrote a thank you note to a non-faculty support staffer. Beyond her
credentials was gratitude and that was appealing to Dr. Pausch. He shows his gratitude to his
parents at the beginning of his book as they gave him a great childhood and as his father inspired
creativity. Gratitude is also witnessed in being positive and not complaining. He writes, Ive
always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to
solving the problem, youd be surprised by how well things can work out, (Pausch 144). He
discusses his landlord Sandy Blatt against African American baseball player, Jackie Robinson.
Jackie faced adversity because of the color of his skin and still managed to achieve something
nearly impossible in his time. Whining abo tur disadvantages does not help us achieve our goals,
if anything, it hinders us and does not make us happier. He acknowledges that remaining positive
is difficult but much of that comes from wondering what people think. Ignoring what people
think of us, he reasons, wed all be 33 percent more effective in our lives and on our jobs, and
subsequently, wed be happier with our lives (Pausch 149). He compares being positive to
characters in a kid cartoon called Winnie the Pooh. Dr. Pausch reasons, we could either be
Tigger, in which we are fun-loving in every situation, or an Eeyore, in which we see the
downside of every situation. My personal take on optimism is that as a mental state, it can enable

you to do tangible things to improve your physical state, (Pausch 199). There is nothing to lose
in being optimistic about situations. For a person who has pancreatic cancer and is as optimistic
as he is, he aims for readers to understand that there is something to always be grateful for. So
how do we remain positive and grateful? Simple thank you notes go a long way, more than
people expect. Not complaining like an Eeyore but seeing the fun in every situation like a Tigger.
And by remaining optimistic, some good has to come out of it.
Dr. Pausch talks about how individuals can get caught up on material things in trying to
make a nice life to themselves and fail to acknowledge the value of the people in life who, unlike
material objects, are not replaceable. After getting his new convertible, his niece and nephew
were allowed to ride and warned to not mess anything up or get the car dirty. In an effort to show
that, people are more important than things. A carwas just a thing, Pausch took a can of soda
and poured it on the cloth seats (Pausch 77). This relieved the pressure for his niece and nephew
as his nephew later threw up in the backseat a few days after. He writes of his time with his nice
and nephew more than his new convertible car. He instructs his audience to value the small
experiences and adventures with people because you hold onto those more than the material
objects. Dr. Pausch writes of his relationship with Disney Imagineer, Jon Snoody who informed
him, If you wait long enoughpeople will surprise and impress you, (Pausch 153). No one is
all good or all evil, everyone has a good side. He urges that we must give people time to see their
good side. By seeing the good in everyone, we learn patience within ourselves. As a professor,
Dr. Pausch urges teamwork among his students. In an effort to inspire a togetherness within his
students, he assigned two week projects in which 3 students would have to create a virtual world.
He aimed to discover, How far could these students go? Could they fulfill their dreams? The
only sure answer I had for that one was, In this course, you cant do it alone, (Pausch 128). He

inspired freedom and teamwork that allowed students to supersede their own expectations in
which students were being hired by companies before graduation. The lesson to be learned here
is that no one can achieve their dreams alone, it requires help from peers, parents, professors, etc.
One must be willing to work with others to go farther than he or she expects. Although Dr.
Pausch is unable to see the dreams of his students into fruition, he knows he has giving them the
tools to enter the Promised land and achieve their dreams.