Lauren Grella

MNGT 5560 – 002

#5 The Last Lecture

10 March 2024

Randy Pausch is a perfect example of someone who believes it is possible to live life to

the absolute fullest in a short amount of time and to always chase your dreams – but keep them

specific dreams. In the introduction of his lecture, he said “we cannot change the cards we are

dealt, just how we play the hand” and that stuck with me because it’s important to know that

there will always be things that we have no control over, but in order to live life to the fullest and

in the best way, we need to approach it with a positive, strong attitude. In my life, there are

certain circumstances that I can’t control – for example, paying my own rent, instead of

complaining that it’s unfair or comparing that to other people’s situation, I need to remain

positive to focus on better things coming ahead to be able to continue to follow my dreams.

This leads me to my next big takeaway; he stressed the importance of having specific

dreams and how brick walls are always there for a reason. In life, tenacity and perseverance is

crucial to continue to move on past the setbacks (brick walls) and to continue to grow. These

“brick walls” are always there for a reason to prove to ourselves just how badly we want to

succeed and are there to stop the other people who don’t want it badly enough. I can apply this to

my own life from when I was looking for internships. If I gave up every time, I didn’t get an

interview or couldn’t find an opportunity, then I wouldn’t be where I am today – approaching

graduation with a full-time job waiting for me afterwards with an amazing company. With this, I

learned that treating everything in your life as an opportunity to learn in turn becomes an
experience from not getting what you wanted when it doesn’t work out. For example, when I

didn’t get into my dream college, I knew there was a hidden meaning and that it would teach me

something. I chose to come to my second choice, Auburn, and it has been the greatest blessing in

my life, and I can confidently say I would be a completely different person if I didn’t get the

opportunity to come here.

My third key takeaway is the importance of knowledge. Pausch said “give the gift of

knowledge, not stuff.” And he mentioned the example of his parents gifting him with different

world books instead of buying luxury materialistic items. As I have gotten older, I have truly

realized how important it is to expand your knowledge and always be learning. I wouldn’t value

education like I do today, if it wasn’t for my grandma always making us journal our days/what

we learned, read various books, count money/coins, etc. Pausch also mentioned the importance

behind getting the fundamentals down, otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work. “When

you’re screwing up and nobody is saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up.

Your critics are the ones that love you and care.” Personally, I love feedback – your critiques are

always your biggest supporters. In my life, this looks like taking the time to learn each step

before trying to complete the whole project at once. I am a very detail-oriented person, so I value

the fundamentals and the basics. When I started doing reformer Pilates, if I tried to start in the

most advance classes, I wouldn’t have learned that technique and form is so important. Now that

I stuck in the lower-level classes and totally learned the fundamentals, I can safely excel in the

most advance classes and get the most out of my workouts.

My last takeaway also goes hand in hand with my third one, “most of what we learn, we

learn indirectly. Or head fake” His example was how parents put their kids in sports—it is not to

learn how to play the sport, but more importantly to learn the important things such as teamwork,
sportsmanship, perseverance. This type of learning is found everywhere. For myself, this is

juggling all my responsibilities at once—being financially independent from my parents, paying

my own rent, tuition, expenses, working 30+ hour work weeks while balancing 15+ credit hours

of school, making time for friends and much more. While doing all of this it has taught me the

importance of hard work, how to have a work-life balance, grit, and so much more.