The Last Lecture

If I had made a list of my child hood dreams, I admit, it wouldn’t be very impressive. I never wanted to be a firefighter or a policeman. I never had the urge to be a millionaire, and I never even thought of being a G.I Joe or Army Man. If you could see my list, you would see only two words scribbled down in that chicken scratch hand writing of mine. But only one of those words would follow me out of that first grade class room and stick with me to this present day.

By now, curiosity must be coursing through your veins, just to know what my child hood dream is. Don’t worry, I would like to inform the reader that if they have their hopes up for some amazing - world changing- job, then don’t get to excited. I want to be a chef, or as I wrote it so many years ago, a cook. Later I learned that there is a subtle difference between the two and changed the title, but that’s not important. What is important is why I chose that as my dream, when there are so many other professions out there that can make me more money and provide a better life for my self. I just find cooking relaxing and comforting, but the best thing about cooking is the reaction you get from when people taste and enjoy your food, The look of pure satisfaction as they take the first bite. That is what I love about cooking. Bringing joy to the people who eat your food. I do know that I wont be making much money but it is something that I have a passion for. I don’t want to amass a huge fortune then just sit on it for years, never spending a penny, until I die. To me that sounds, well, boring. You could say I was determined to cook.

Determination -noun, the ace of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose. I would say determination has the biggest effect...

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...y Pausch lived an amazing life full of determination, resiliency and empathy. When you look at everything he did and all the things that had happened to him, I makes you wonder what your life would be like if you approached every situation that way Pausch did. He kept an open heart and always asked questions. I see his book as a guideline to success to following your dreams. I know I will take some of his life lessons to heart. The tells us that if you have a dream, you should do all you can to accomplish that dream, and that nothing is to far out of reach and Sometimes to only thing you need is a little help. Randy Pausch teaches us that you will have to be determined to reach your dream, be resilient when your path crosses with disaster, and be empathetic of those around you because in the end they might be all you that’s left standing between you and your dream.