The Last Lecture By Randy Pausch

Dreams are very important and are something that everyone should care about. Not the dreams from sleep, but the goals people have in life. Dreams are things like wanting to have a child, wanting to be a movie producer, or simply wanting to eat cereal for dinner. The Last Lecture, David Pfaltzgraff, Langston Hughes, and Caleb Harris prove that it is worth it to dream. The Last Lecture proves that it is worth it to dream. Dr. Randy Pausch was dying of Pancreatic Cancer and had just a couple of months to live. He worked at Carnegie Mellon University as a professor. The last lecture was his last lecture that he gave to his students. He talked about childhood dreams and to never let them go. One of Randy’s childhood dreams was to be a disney
imagineer. “ I worked hard and worked hard, and I became a junior faculty member and I specialized in doing certain kinds of research--and I developed a skill that was valuable to Disney”.
No one said it was going to be easy to achieve your dreams because it’s not true. I took Randy years just to get an acceptance letter then when he did get one it took him 15 years just to create Aladdin’s carpet ride. He accomplished one of his dreams, even when he was rejected more than once. Dr. Pausch overcame his obstacles to prove that it is worth it dream, but he’s not the only one. A friend of mine named David Pfaltzgraff show that it is worth it to dream. David was married for two years with his wife Anna and they wanted to have a child. They became pregnant and were so excited. They just bought the baby crib and told their families all about the baby. January 27, 2013 2 a.m. in the morning and something isn't right. They get to the hospital and it turns out to be a miscarriage. In May they get pregnant again, But right before they leave to go to a family reunion in June they started
having problems with the baby and it dies. David and Anna had 2 miscarriages. They didn't get pregnant for another year worried to lose another child. January 27, 2015 Anna starts to have issues with the baby they go to the hospital and see if the baby is okay. A baby's heart rate should be at 130 during this time in pregnancy. “ They began to check the baby's heart rate as it said 130, I thought I could finally breath till it started to drop one by one every second, I felt as if I was getting smaller and smaller the lower the heart rate went.” (-David Phaltsgraf )David was just about to lose his third kid when they did an emergency surgery. On January 27 John was born only weighing 2 lbs. David almost lost his wife and a third child that day. Three months later they were discharged from the hospital with John weighing 7lbs. “I can't say or write down that joy when I see john's face smiling” (-David Pfalzgraf). What should get out of this is to never stop dreaming. David and Anna could have gave up and they wouldn't have a kid that just turned 1. It wasn't easy for them to follow their dreams but they did because it was gonna be worth it when they would be able to see their kid smiling at them. When they put their dreams on the back burner they still were gonna try, so what does happen to dreams that are deferred?
Langston Hughes shows that it is worth it to dream.
Langston Hughes was a poet in the early 1900’s. He was an African American poet which during this time his was discriminated by the color of his skin. His poem dreams deferred is obviously about his dreams to be free. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” If they gave up their dream of equality the wouldn't be where they are today, they would lose all life and passion they had left. “Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?” This dream that Langston Hughes had of equality wouldn't just become better if they didn't try. If African Americans back then gave up and said it wasn't worth it to dream, it wouldn't just become better just because they tried. Dreams are hard to achieve sometimes, but quitting doesn't get you closer to achieving it than hard work. Many people work so hard just to accomplish a dream just like this next
person.
Caleb Harris is a great example of dreams being deferred, yet still accomplished his dream. For nine years Caleb had, had the same dream to make a movie.He got a scholarship to a film school in L.A California but he had to turn it down to stay home with his mother. Calebs mother has bipolar and When I asked his mother how she was doing. she said she just got her realty license. Calebs mother didn't hold jobs very long so to hear her say this it showed she accomplished her own dreams. “ Caleb showed me how to fight”. Caleb practically took care of his mom and helped her through her problems, even when it means putting his own dreams on the back burner. Many people said that it was stupid and it was unrealistic for him to be a movie producer, and that he needed to get a serious job. Caleb wouldn't take that, he spent days filming in high temperatures, that their makeup was sweating off their face. Caleb could had said you know let's just do it tomorrow it's too hot today, but he toughened up. “You got to make choices and sacrifices then keep going.”(-Caleb Harris). Caleb turned down a scholarship, did dead end jobs, and spent days and nights working on this movie. He said to me “not everyone is going to support your dream, they will tell you its stupid and that you need to give up, but don't listen keep pushing through”. His movie Missouri Tippin was in theaters January 24, 2016. This movie isn't very well known, but that's how dreams start. You start with little dreams and they just build up. You got lots of room for failure.
Dreams are forever, it's as simple as that. Dreams can be dropped and forgotten or just left because people are told that it's not worth it, but dreams don't disappear. Even if you're an 80-year old that had a dream as a kid to be an actor, you can still achieve those dreams because they are worth it and no one can tell you otherwise.