Blog #7

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch was inspiring. First of all, I really can't say I wrote down dreams as a child. As awful as that sounds, I think my one and only "dream"-if that's what you call it-included sports. For him to be able to achieve all of his dreams in one or another makes me wish I had some sort of list. I jotted down notes on a piece of paper my daughter was drawing on and they are all spread out and in no particular order-probably not smart since I should start at the beginning at the lecture-but I'll try and tell you what I gathered in the best way possible.
Dr. Pausch has achieved so much it's hard to start at one place. First off, his quote, "The brick wall is there for a reason, to stop people who don't want it badly enough." This should be in every classroom, office or gym. This is what people should aspire to reach. The ability to look at the brick wall and say I can beat you. In the Building Virtual Reality class he taught at CMU there were groups of five students and you through out the semester you had the ability to work with about 15-20 people. At the end of each project he gave the students surveys and asked them to fill them out about the other students they worked with. He then put all of it into a spreadsheet and displayed it for all students to see where they stand. It allowed to students to see where they stood with other classmates. It allowed the students to see what other students thought of them. He gave these students the knowledge and the importance of feedback-giving and receiving. This course also gave the students the opportunity to show their projects to the school/community and gave them the excitement of learning.
     The excitement of learning. Having fun. These are things you only hope for when going into a school or classroom. His whole philosophy was pushing students to do better, setting the bar higher and higher and most importantly having fun. His classes focused on group efforts and getting students to become self-reflective. He believes in his students and his work. Some other quotes he mentioned were to focus on others and not yourself. This should be the mission statement of all educators. Isn't that what this job is supposed to be about? Pausch also states the importance of your dreams, how to enable someone else's dreams and the lesson learned from reaching or still going after your dreams. There are many people who play a part in your dreams and successes. People like teachers, mentors, parents and most of all the students whose lives you touch.
     Going back to my goal. As I said I never had a list. I always had one thing and it was sports. In seventh grade I started playing volleyball. Keep in mind, I started playing basketball when I was five. My dad coached girls basketball and my childhood memories involve being at practice or games with him. I also started swimming, playing tennis and dabbled in a little golf but I liked having teammates and not just myself. As I was saying though, I started playing volleyball in seventh grade. It was the basic bump back over the net, three players in the front and three players in the back. Nothing at all special about it. But I remember the feeling I got playing. I have never played this sport before. I had never even touched the ball before. But it was this feeling of this it is. Like Pausch said, "When you know the exact moment that your life changed that's a big deal." This was one of those moments. From that moment on volleyball was what I wanted. I kept up with basketball through Junior year of high school then quit to focus solely on volleyball. I knew whatever I did in life I wanted to be like my dad. Anyone who has read one of my blogs knows how much my dad is respected around this community. Growing up in the gym with him and seeing now all the girls and boys he has coached and taught it's amazing. He is still their favorite. I want that. I want to make that difference. I want to make a difference in education and in volleyball. I am confidant I can do that in volleyball. I have to work on my confidence to do that in Physical Education. Luckily, at South, there are great teachers that I feel will one day be my mentor.
     As Pausch has stated, give people the chance to impress you no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it. What a wonderful saying. There is good in so many kids. Take for instance my best friend. She is a teacher at an inner city school with kids who have no home life and no respect for adults. She treats them like adults and they have come to trust her. It takes a long time to get these kids to respect you and to understand you. She was patient with these kids. Eventually they showed her the type of person they knew they were but didn't know how to show it.
     He leaves this world as a respected, fun and dream-seeking teacher. More than that he leaves a legacy. He leaves a program that is teaching students to learn without making them feel like they are learning. I feel you don't have to be a child to have dreams. I have dreams. I have dreams every night about my future. I wonder am I doing this good enough? Did I put enough into this assignment? Would my parents be proud of me? Most importantly will my daughter be proud of me? As his last lecture, Dr. Pausch gave a "head fake". This lecture was for his children. I only hope to be have half the wisdom and knowledge he has to share with my daughter. Rest in Peace Dr. Pausch.