The Last Lecture

Describe what obstacles the main character has encountered in achieving their goal.

How did they overcome these obstacles? 

Would you be able apply this experience to your own life?  

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch

206 pages

Little Randy Pausch, Dreaming

Randy Pausch had many childhood dreams.

• Being in zero gravity
• Playing in the NFL
• Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia
• Being Captain Kirk
• Winning stuffed animals
• Being a Disney Imagineer

The first dream on the list is being in zero gravity. To achieve that childhood dream, he had to overcome some obstacles.

In NASA, there is a plane to help the astronauts get used to zero gravity, called "The Weightless Wonder" or "the Vomit Comet". Randy and his students of Virtual Reality team won the competition and they were invited to ride the plane. Randy was very excited. But NASA didn't allow any faculty advisers to fly with their students. There was Randy's "Brick Wall". He says that brick walls are there to prove to us how badly we want things. He wanted to reach his childhood dream badly. So he carefully read through the literature about the program. Randy found his way around the brick wall, because "NASA, always eager for good publicity, would allow a journalist from the students' hometown to come along for the ride" (Pausch 32) so he applied again as a journalist. He achieved one of his childhood dreams over the brick wall, and he achieved the rest of the dreams, overcoming obstacles, except for playing in the National Football League (NFL).

I think I can't apply this to me because I am still in my childhood and still have some time to dream as a child. But this part of the book made me think that I should have dreams because if I want them badly like Randy Pausch and it doesn't matter if I do or do not achieve the dream, it will make my life more meaningful and fun.