Randy Pausch Essay

This research paper is based on the actions of the serial killer named Randy Kraft. This paper will contain three separate theories that will be used to describe and possibly answer reasons why he did what he did. The three theories that will be included are rational choice and routine activities from the Choice Theory, the social strain theory from the Social Structure Theory and the social control theories from the Social Process Theory.

“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.

     David Berkowitz was one of the most feared killers in New York City in the 1970's. His crimes caused the death of six people, and the injuries to seven others. His crimes became legendary because of the bizarre content in the letters that he wrote to the police and the media and his reasons for committing the attacks. David Berkowitz, better known as Son of Sam, is a man with a troubled childhood and upbringing. From his many “Parental Figures” to believing that dogs were telling him to kill. During his reign of killing the police felt the pressure to catch David. "Operation Omega" was formed, which was comprised of over 200 detectives – all working on finding the Son of Sam before he killed again.

1. In the novel, The Last Lecture, the main character Randy Pausch explains how he is able to change or grow depending on the situation in his life. He says “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” What he means by this is that a negative situation can be reversed into something positive depending on how you look at it. He also says “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” This quote means that you will face many challenges in your life, but if you want something bad enough you can get it. A third quote that shows how Randy Pausch is able to grow or change is “If I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can’t do today.” This quote shows that if you try as hard as you can for something, it can be done.

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.

“For a lot of people, life is a series of day by day decisions, living each day trying to do the best we can, and where we end up in life is not always where we would have predicted when we were

I think this is a life lesson many people learn sooner or later. Obstacles are thrown at people everyday, and it takes a strong person to overcome them. Some brick walls are higher and tougher than others, meaning some obstacles can be more challenging than others. I also think this passage is inspiring, and Pausch is inspiring in general, because he overcomes so many different obstacles in his life, yet he never gives up. Not once in this book did Pausch give up on anything. He always continues to achieve his dreams and work towards his

did not keep him down, but gave him the desire to make use of his

One of the passages in The Last Lecture that stuck with me the most would be that a bad apology is worse than no apology. This resonated with me because it made so much sense. It made me realize that sincerity was just as important as vulnerability. One has to be vulnerable to apologize to someone, but just because they are being vulnerable does not mean that they can ignore being sincere. A good apology involves being sincere to show the person who you are apologizing to that you actually meant it.

I will enhance my oratory and social skills by joining the associations in the university and also conducting weekly meetings with friends and discussing the current trends and news with them.

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.

Randy Pausch was an extremely smart man who managed to achieve his childhood dreams. He was professor at Carnegie Mellon for computer science and other technology related subjects. For example, he is the creator of Alice which is a famous software program that is still used to this day. Pausch also worked at Disney by helping research virtual reality technology. Randy finally settled down with his wife, Jai, and was happily married with three kids.