In Tragedy Comes Authentic Strength

I think it is human to have struggled with being your authentic self, especially when you experience true tragedy.
Yesterday, kids I grew up with were tragically killed in a fatal car crash. I knew each and every one of them and their brothers and sisters, parents, and so did everyone else. My entire hometown of Minerva is grieving for the loss of our young people. Many of times in my life I have felt the need to distance myself as far away as possible from that place, but I can say after that fatal event I have never felt prouder.
The community is truly amazing, providing the strength for anyone who needs it. It is hard to be strong alone, but when you can rely on those around you it can make the journey more bearable.   http://tnl-news.com/local%20news/2014/11/23/communities-mourn-the-loss-of-three-teens#.VHKks8ZzPHA.facebook

Introverts and Leadership

Susan Cain made a good point about the leadership process, I can admit to being bias to this phenomenon.  Being an extrovert myself, I have encouraged people to work together to create the best possible outcomes in a group setting. I believe we do encourage introverts to act as extroverts because as extroverts we believe in the single story that collaborating will produce the best outcomes for projects, tasks, and programs, but just as Susan Cain presented this way of thinking is not always true. Although I do not agree with everything she said, “…introverts actually get better grades and are more knowledgeable” (Susan Cain, 5:52-5:55) it resonated with me.

If introverts were permitted to express introversion in a group setting, then the group benefit from the deep and analytic thoughts about the particular subject of discussion. These thoughts as introverts more than likely would be not only strategic, but be well thought out to cover the pros and cons of the specific solution. If there are no true introverts in a group the group may miss potential creative problem solving solutions because extroverts may have a tendency to only understand one particular method of thinking about the problem. The best solutions and ideas are created when each individual involved may offer a different perspective to the process.

Suppressing any member of the group in Tuckman’s Developmental Stages model may affect the stages that the group must go through in order to be successful because not all introverts feel it is necessary to take an official public role in the organization to create change and inspire others. Rather introverts may close attention to the details and may contain the modesty necessary to balance the group’s dynamics.

There is a way to incorporate both collaboration and autonomy in teamwork. If we have members of the group prepare for a meeting, maybe by giving individuals prompts, scenarios, or case studies to stimulate creative thought, then introverts may think freely in solitude to create the best outcomes. Once all stakeholders involved construct what he or she believes to be the best solution or idea to a given issue, the group may come together and voice their opinions to avoid conforming to one idea. I am going to try to directly apply this information to my management position that everyone may develop their own styles and methods of problem solving.  I will follow up to let you all know how it goes! Thanks for reading my reflection!

Dead Poets Society and Integrity

As a leader, I believe it important to have integrity. In Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating not only stays true to his own values and beliefs as a teacher, but also encourages his students to do so as well.
We experience ethical dilemma's everyday, it is difficult to not conform to society's norms and rules, for instances, recall the Milgram Obedience Experiment. Although, the subjects knew and contested what they were condoning was wrong they did not disobey.

As future leaders, we must practice integrity in all aspects of our lives. It is our responsibility to not only encourage among others integrity, but to also be approachable, so others feel comfortable to come forward and challenge ethical dilemmas.
 

Single Stories

The single story is very dangerous in society today. Our culture at large runs on single stories, specifically in 2014, where everything you want and more is available to you at hand. So negative and/or limiting single stories have a strong effect on the subject at large. A single story is dynamic and varies in subject matter. For instances a single story can be about, human physical appearance, cognitive abilities, international bias, etc. The consequences of single stories can vary from minimal to extremely damaging. A single story that results in minimal damage could hurt someones feelings, but extreme damage could lead to a young girl's anorexia. The media's affects the likelihood of a single story solidifying and becoming imbued into our cognition. Today, our technology exceeds the past, as we can communicate with others across the world adding to the damage a single story can cause. One example of this is that majority of websites on the web are in English, unable to be accessed by those of minority culture. Through globalization the majority culture's influence over communication barriers has limited websites to minorities based on design and language availability.
In the future, I believe our generation as a whole will be more open minded as our education was based off of the scientific method. For this reason, our generation considers if the resource is credible and reliable. Our generation investigates issues and continues to develop formal operations thinking. Although we are not perfect, majority of us strive and continue to influence younger generations.

Before moving to Columbus, I had never encountered such poverty and homeless people. Honestly, I thought that homeless were not very common beside the statistics. In my hometown, not everyone is rich, but they are for the most part pretty well off. Not saying there wasn't poor families, but they could afford the essentials for basic survival. Majority of my hometown inhabitants are considered working class or lower middle class with few being higher-middle class.Before I came to college I was sheltered and although I knew about poverty and homeless people I had never experienced it. As soon as I met a true homeless person did I experienced culture shock. Now, I often sympathize for homeless youth. Not only is this an extremely damaging issue to individuals, families, and culture at large, but we learned from the single story that if we don't see it, it doesn't exist.
It is cowardly, but it is this that I have hope. More emerging adults, from my peers at Ohio State, that I have talked to have at least meet individuals of different culture, ethnicity, race, SES, etc. and/or have traveled abroad. We are receiving a more informed and global view of the world from through our own experiences diminishing the power of the single story.

"Hollywood Here We Come"

Although as strange as this may sound, I believe celebrities can be influential leaders. One celebrity I believe is a leader is Macklemore. Not only because he made thrift clothes cool and trendy, but because of his stance on drugs and gay rights. Through his popularity and his music, he is raising awareness. Below are two videos that I believe to be an example of his leadership.

I know what you may be thinking, these songs mean nothing and that there only purpose was for publicity, but honestly, that isn’t what I believe.

While these issues are controversial, I believe a leader should stick to their morals. It takes bravery to speak out and admit to having a problem knowing you have to give up your life as you know it and begin again. Either if you are coming out or coming clean it requires courage.

Being a leader requires selflessness and I believe Macklemore can be an influential leader on the war on drugs and civil rights. Everyone is created equal and Macklemore is showing his support for both issues.  

Do you really wanna know?

How do you explain who you are in 250 words? You would assume that it would be easy; I mean, you are the only one who knows you better than anyone, right?

Other than the basics, how do you put into words who you are? Do you explain specific life-changing experiences? Or describe your personal beliefs and ideas on how the world turns? Not only is this not an easy task, but if you are like me, you’ll worry about how your peers will perceive your personal description of yourself. You wouldn’t want to come across as simple and prosaic, rather you would like to come across as unique without sounding too grandiloquent. Can you tell I have been studying for the GRE vocabulary for the last couple of hours?

I believe it is important for you to know who you are for your own personal success and development. You don’t owe anybody an explanation of who you are because, in the end, it does not matter what people think about you.  

You may agree that the insignificant rant above gave you, the reader, a better understanding of who I am and a greater insight into my thought process. Plus it was more entertaining than me simply explaining to you that I am a cheesy, opinionated individual who enjoys being different. I probably sound like a hipster, but doesn’t everyone go through a hipster phase? Yes? Maybe? No, Okay.

From my experience while in college, I’ve learned that once you become comfortable with yourself everything else falls into place.  My aspirations, resilience, and the support from my family and everyone I hold close to my heart are responsible for inspiring me to continue chasing my ever changing dreams. I am a helper and hope to empower people to develop into the best he or she can be. My goal is to change someone’s life every day. That can be as easy as flashing someone a quick smile or thank you, or as difficult as giving constructive criticism (usually sugar coated). Although I am not involved with many extracurricular activities outside of school, working in student life is how I enjoy spending my time. As weird as that sounds, it has lead me to those life changing experiences I mentioned above and helped shaped me into whom I am today.