STARS 11

“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it.

Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.” ―J. Sidlow Baxter

After thinking about this quote I've come to the conclusion that Baxter is telling us that we can turn an obstacle into an opportunity and vise versa. We should be positive people to be able to turn any obstacle into an opportunity. With doing that we can feel more motivated to accomplish something. For example, I had the opportunity to apply to be a desk receptionist for the residence halls. The difficulty was going through an interview. I decided to turn that difficulty into an opportunity by think, "Well even if I don't get the job, I could use this interview as good practice for a future job" With thinking that I went in and did my best in the interview. 

10 Commandments of Good Leadership

I enjoyed the article. I agreed with all her commandments, especially with empower through modeled behavior. I believe this might be the key commandment because it coexists with all the other mentioned commandments. If one shows modeled behavior to the group they are leading then the group will follow their leadership and follow the same path. If the leader does not model good behavior and only tells and expect their group to follow instructions, they will never achieve positive results. Why should a group communicate effectively within themselves or be supportive of each other if their leader does not show those qualities towards them? I believe this is the most key commandment of Schlacter's list, and I hope I able able to demonstrate it next time I lead a group. 

Skills I do believe I have and demonstrate effectively are self-awareness, ability to give recognition and support, and to always listen to the members of the group. I do hope I am able to gain a greater sense of the other skills through future experience, because I believe they will be beneficially for when I go out into my future career field. 

Reconnect with Your Authentic Self Instead of Denying Your Feelings

After reading the article and reflecting on it I've decided that everything the author, McAuley, can pertain to anyone, depressed or not. To have a health mindset one should be in tune with their feelings, instead of bottling it all inside.

I believe this article does relate to social justice and leadership. It relates to leadership because as a leader you need to know what your goal is and need be in tune with your inner self to be able to lead a group to reach a goal. As a leader one has to know how to deal with hard times and be able to see self worth. The article related to social justice because in order to tackle social justice a person should be in tune with their feelings. Knowing how you feel helps you have a clearer view of what the injustices. McAuley says, "witness your reactions to get to the core reasons behind your emotion." In regards to social justice, I believe if we are aware of our reactions we will be able to see what we are passionate about doing and motivate us to continue doing our work. Because in my experience working with social justice issues tigers emotions.


Family Matters

Today was our last day with at Family Matters. I was sad leaving because I did enjoy going over to help and seeing how Ashaki ran Family Matter. I thought I had built a relationship with Giselle, my mentee, but today I felt that it had all been thrown away. For the first time since I've known her she was rude and gave people attitude. It shocked me and I didn't know how to react to it. Nisha and Roshni came in with their mentor the room they were in and they asked if they could come in. And my mentee automatically yelled no and said to get out. I was shocked she had never behaved that way. She was then upset because a girl she didn't get along with was also coming in to work in the same room. I had to explain to her to be nice and that they were both working on separate projects so they would not interact. I felt that we left in a bad note, and wished we could have talked about why she was acting out. She then ran off to play with her friends in the park, and I didn't like the way she was acting. I think it might have to do with her wanting to seem mature because she's at that age where boys start to matter and where girls just want to be grown up. After seeing that I wished that I was able to volunteer at family matters longer. 

STARS 10

“Pain is not a sign of weakness, but bearing it alone is a choice to grow weak.” ~Lori Deschene

I believe the quote is saying we can either take pain and hardship and let it break us or we can convert that into motivation. I believe this is a good quote to live life by because it motivates one to convert stress to help you succeed. This can be helpful for us college students, since we always feel like we alway have a load of stress on our shoulders.


Family Matter.

If felt weird going back to Family Matters after not going for two weeks. I felt my mentee was distant from me, and it took me awhile while to get my mentee talking again. But even when I did finally did get her to talk she didn't talk as much as she should had. I did feel frustrated with her because we were working on a goal sheet and I tried to get her to think of a serious goal. Her goal was to get a suger rush. I asked her to think of something school related so she then said get straight A's. But throught out the worksheet she kept referring to her sugar rush goal, so I decided to just let her pursue her goal through the worksheet. This frustrated me because I felt she was being goofy in order to avoid thinking about realistic goals. I thought if I let her play along with her sugar rush goal she would then forget about it, but she did not. She continued to refer back to it. That is something that frustrated me, and I need to find a way have her think about her education a little more seriously.

Goals.
So far most of my goals are being fulfilled. One goal I have been slacking on is working out. I really need to start working out to help me relieve stress especially in the next few weeks.

A way I have began to achieve my school goals is by making a check list. Now that I use a checklist I know what to finish and it feels nice to be able to check something off.

Leadership Development.
I feel that my leadership has developed by learning to communicate and influences others. For example, when I have to talk with my mentee sometimes I have to influence her do her homework or to make better decisions. I usually don't like group work but after being in LEAD I have begun to enjoy it.

Article.
The article was comforting especially because I do not have an internship. When I came to college I had planned to have one for my sophomore year fall semester but I've discovered that I'm busier than I would have thought. I thought the suggestion to stay on campus and make connection was a good idea, and is something I plan to do next summer. The one I thought would be hard do is the last suggestion to learn a new skill. That is usually my summer goal for every year but I have always failed. I especially liked the study abroad suggestion because it is what I will be doing this summer. I have enroll in the Political Science class in Tunisia and I am pretty excited to explore a new culture and experience things I never have before. I am also be excited to see the U.S Embassy in a foreign country.