tLast week, the class was treated to a viewing of “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch and tasked with reflecting on the contents of said lecture.

First things first, WOW!
When the lecture first began playing, I was put off by how outdated it looked. I presumed it was going to be a lecture pertaining to Computer Science (this is CS 4100 after all) and seeing how old the video was worried me – usually old lectures are about old technologies which are harder to relate to/get engaged in.

Boy, was I wrong. Pausch did an incredible job at delivering timeless advice in a charming, simple way. His anecedotes about chasing your dreams and particularly about the difficulties therein were very powerful messages. I resonated strongly with his belief that;

Brick walls are only there for you to prove how badly you want it.

aka, obstacles exist only as a means of proving you’re motivated to accomplish your goal no matter what. Obstacles exist to separate those who aren’t willing to truly strive for a goal from those who will stop at nothing to be successful.

That can-do, unstoppable attitude really made me reconsider some of my experience with obstacles and solidified the ideaology that I can do anything if I set my mind to it and work my butt off to succeed.

That being said, the lecture was inspiring, heartfelt, and deceptively simple – I would recommend checking it out on youtube whenever you find yourself in a particularly dificult time in your life and are in need of some positive encouragement.