Often times in physical therapy school, when prompted with a research article, blog post or book, I tend to relate it back directly to my future in physical therapy practice. When reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, I felt it would be better suited to write this paper about life as a whole, rather than just one aspect of my own. I initially chose to read this book because my grandmother died of the same cause that Randy did, pancreatic cancer. Much like Randy, the doctors found her cancer had spread too much for them to be able to treat, so she knew she only had a limited time left on Earth. The Last Lecture speaks on the lecture that Randy gave at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the same college at which Randy went to graduate school and later became a professor in computer science, programming and specifically virtual reality. Lectures …show more content…
“The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.” Randy used this quote often throughout the book to remind the reader that your dreams won’t come to you; you have to chase them and show people that you genuinely care about achieving them. Some of the dreams he had were to float in zero gravity, which he did with the help of a NASA program where students could propose experiments on a plane that would go high up in the air then plummet towards Earth for a short time to simulate zero gravity. This opportunity was only for students, so he had to find a loophole. He contacted NASA saying that he would be resigning as professor and coming with the students as a “member of the media”. The NASA employee found this to be quite transparent, but Randy notes, “Have something to bring to the table, it will make you more welcome.” Randy then promised to get information out to more mainstream media outlets, making it a win-win for the two sides. He had found his way over the brick
In the book, The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch is dying from pancreatic cancer and is only given a few months to live. With the time he has left, he makes it his priority to spend it wisely. Pausch states that he has an engineering problem and he’s going to do his best with his limited resources. His engineering problem is his health. Even though his body is failing him, he is going to push through and overcome the new obstacles he is facing in life. Pausch is also faced with “brick walls” but he doesn’t give up when things get tough. He uses the brick walls as an opportunity to show how badly he wants whatever is blocking his path. My “engineering problem” is being able to afford college for as long as I can. I’d say that my “brick walls”
My first experience observing a physical therapist, commenced in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was given the opportunity to observe a physical therapist named Jennifer Moreland. Throughout my time observing her, I began to recognize she was not just a physical therapist with her patients. Many times, she took on the role of a consoler, cheerleader, friend and supporter for her patients. Reflecting back on this, I am able to see that the primary reason she has succeeded as a physical therapist; is due to her amiable, encouraging and empathetic nature. These character traits have allowed her to do more than heal patients' musculoskeletal problems. She has also been able to heal hearts, souls and minds by cheering, supporting, listening
“Hypothetically, if you knew you were going to die and you had one last lecture, what would you say to your students?” That is how Professor Randy Pausch, from Carnegie Mellon, began his last lecture, a speech entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” while in fact he was dying of Pancreatic Cancer. He knew he only had months left to live and put together this last lecture to read to his students. His lecture focuses in on points such as the importance of: making sincere apologies, not whining, being gracious and being humble. To stress his thoughts and views on life and following one’s dreams, Randy Pausch used a great amount of repetition, metaphors, allusion, humor, ethos, and pathos in his last lecture.
In Randy Pausch 's "Last Lecture," Randy discusses how he achieved all of his childhood dreams throughout his life and how he helped others achieve their dreams. Often times, childhood dreams are forgotten due to life stressors, other opportunities and interests that come along and, ultimately, believing that those childhood dreams are unachievable. However, this was not the case for Randy Pausch. Randy created a list of things that he desired to experience throughout his lifetime, and through persistency, acceptance and some modification, he was able to complete his list. Similar to many children 's "being an astronaut" dream, Randy had a couple dreams that seemed impossible. These seemingly impossible dreams on Randy 's list included: "being in zero gravity," "playing in the NFL," and "being Captain Kirk." While Randy never received the opportunity to play football for the NFL, his understanding and lessons learned from his football experiences made up for this shortcoming. Nonetheless, Randy was able to conquer all of his other dreams. With each dream Randy discusses, he explains each "brick wall" he hit along his way and what he did to get around these walls.
You would think a man dying of cancer would not be so happy and willing to spend the last few months of his life giving a lecture. But, Randy Pausch, who has 10 tumors in his liver, does not want people to pity him for having cancer. Rather, he wants to teach people how to follow their childhood dreams. Looking at the seven elements of communication we see how he is so effective in his last lecture.
Life can change in a split second when an unanticipated injury or disease hinders someone’s normal daily life. Modern medicine, physicians and families can only do so much but physical therapy can help recoup the life many of us take for granted. It often isn’t until we lose something that we as humans realize what we had such as the value of our body’s ability to take us through each day. A physical therapist is the person who stays with a patient for the duration of the rehabilitation process. A physical therapist leads the patient through the process of regaining physical strength and helps the patient regain control of their future. Much like many careers that involve interaction with individuals, physical therapy reaches beyond
What would you do if you had limited time left to live? Many people take life for granted but when their life is suddenly compressed into a matter of weeks left, they soon realize the beauty of life and how they lived it. In response to his restricted time left caused by pancreatic cancer, writer Randy Pausch argues that life should be lived to the fullest in his book The Last Lecture.He effectively builds his claim through the use of pathos, allusions to literature, and metaphors.
Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” was given on September 18th, 2007, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. Randy made his goal of the speech not more than five minutes in, stating the importance of achieving your childhood dreams. The language he is using is very formal, and he appeals to the audience by making several references to common things such as movies, and a humorous quote after he states his current condition, “I’m in better shape than most of you!” as he proceeds doing pushups on stage. In various points in his speech, he is speaking to certain individuals in the audience about things pertaining to his story, and how he achieved some of his childhood dreams with the help of others. Randy really hit it off with everybody, and made the speech untimely, so that anybody at any point in time can view his speech and wonder “is this still relevant?” Near the closing of his speech, he states that he wasn’t giving to speech for everybody in the audience; he was giving the speech for his children, as he wouldn’t be around for them growing up. At several points in his speech he makes references to common things and statistics, such as MacBook’s and how few people have one. At other points he referenced things such as Steve Jobs + Wozniak in their garage, as him and his team build his VR setup for under $5,000.
In the novel, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow, Pausch recalls painting his bedroom walls after the permission of his parents. If my parents gave me permission to paint my bedroom walls, I would first paint on my favorite quotes on one wall. They could be quotes from my favorite books, movies, or important historical figures. For example, Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” is a quote that I have to remember to follow when I am afraid to become a leader and change what needs to be changed in life. Basically, the quotes would be up on the wall just so I can look at them everyday for inspiration, or when I need them when I hit rock bottom. In addition, I would paint on all the ideas and hobbies
“Brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” This was the mantra Randy Pausch lived by in his terminating life. In his book, which I learned the quote from, he talked about many challenges he overcame throughout his life. The largest obstacle I have had to overcome is the challenge of being a part of many extracurricular activities while maintaining above average grades in my rigorous schedule throughout the years.
A seminar series titled “The Last Lecture” took place at Carnegie Mellon University. Professors were prompted to deliver lectures as if it was their last, while containing a “message of a lifetime”. Professor Randy Pausch delivered his speech titled “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” as a part of this seminar on September 18th, 2007, a time in which had just been given life-threatening news. It had recently been estimated by doctors that this was the last three to six months of his life. Instead of speaking as if he was hypothetically dying like his fellow professors, Pausch was in an extremely ironic situation, as for in his case he really was dying, of pancreatic
Although this specific program will likely not become available to average consumers, the same foundations for the simulation will be available on the marketplace while being affordable at the same time. In time, applied use of virtual reality such as the Oculus Rift will become mainstream and accepted in everyday life not only due its entertainment value, but also due to its affordability for consumers everywhere. Thoughts of virtual reality often resemble fantastical scenarios reminiscent of scenes in movies with similar themes like Gamer, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Inception. After one delves into the VR technology in products such as the Oculus Rift, one will begin to believe, and he or she will brace themselves for the tidal wave that is the paradigm shift of virtual reality.
I believe that my personal and professional growth and behavior as a physical therapist is of utmost importance. I base this firstly on my strong connection to those in society who are disadvantaged when it comes to physical therapy, and also on the movement system, movement being “the key to optimal living and quality of life for all people that extends beyond health to every person’s ability to participate in and contribute to society” (American Physical Therapy Association, 2013). This perspective, I believe, is aligned perfectly with the vision statement for the physical therapy profession – to transform society through optimization of movement to improve the human experience (APTA, 2013). After reviewing the vision statement, I strongly believe it will act as my guide by strengthening compassion, reinforcing advocacy, improving quality of service, and strengthening cohesion.
The Last Lecture began as a good-bye speech, made by Randy Pausch, a 47 year old professor diagnosed with terminal cancer. His speech at Carnegie Melon University became an Internet phenomenon. It has also been published as a book. I really thoroughly enjoyed his Last Lecture speech. He had a lot of good talking points and brought up some new perspectives, or ways of looking at life situations that got me thinking. He talked a lot about his dreams when he was a child and was very humorous and inspirational throughout his speech. He also had a lot of quotes that I really enjoyed and they are what I want to focus on.
To discuss Lanier’s keen views and anticipations regarding Virtual Reality back in the mid 1980s, it would be useful to first cover exactly how far Virtual Reality has progressed up until today. This essay will begin by discussing the history of Virtual Reality and the usage trends. That discussion will then be used to preface a discussion about Lanier’s views that were expressed in A Vintage Virtual Reality Interview. The essay will then finish off by looking at particularly interesting views held by some of today’s futurists and these views will be related back to Lanier’s original exuberant view of Virtual