Playing Cinderella

It is absolutely necessary to be creative because it allows novel ideas and approaches for problem solving as well as day-to-day activities. On Easter, I spent the day at my roommate’s house in Cleveland, where we “played” with her younger cousins. We pretended to be the characters in Cinderella. I was nominated by one of the cousins to be the evil step mom. Although I had seen the movie many times and knew the basis of this pretending game, I was nervous to commit to character. Looking back, I think I was honestly nervous to disappoint the girls we were playing with. It was also kind of weird telling this 5-year-old Cinderella to clean the floors, etc. I began playing my part hesitantly, speaking gently when asking “Cinderella” to scrub. She quickly scolded me, telling me to add sass to my voice. Before long we were playing, being consumed as she reminded me of one of my favorite Disney movies. An hour flew by and we escalated the story farther than the movie ever had. I had not crawled on the floor, pretending this much in years.

1.   My perspective on creativity was revamped after the workshop Wednesday because I have began thinking that creativity and creative thinking was correlated with intense thinking and although it can involve elevated thinking, I think this workshop reminded me that you can also be creative when with all tasks. I don’t know if my idea changed or if I was just reminded of how creative I was as a 5 year-old.

2.   I think that the activity reminded me that creativity doesn’t have to come in only in business/ professional forms. It was interesting to be reverted into scrambling on the ground and having time fly past, as we got lost in our activities. I think that this activity reminded me to remember the simplicity of play. It is important to keep that in mind when tackling daily activities. An example would be to reinvent ways of doing routine tasks. Finding a new way to clean, a more effective way to study or a fun, new path to class all encourage creative thinking on a daily business. 

3.   Creativity has been important in this challenge because it has helped our team determine a new way to approach it. Last semester my team reached out to companies through emails and phone calls and did not receive any feedback. This challenge we reached out to Alumni and senior BLF members to gain new perspectives on the challenge as well as contacting potential companies. We have been creative by reaching out to people we could make connections with.

Making the golf course was so much fun, mainly because it was the first time in years I scrambled around, crafting, being innovative as well as creative throughout this challenge that was inspired by Caine, a 9 year-old boy.

  

Taking Initiative

Part I
Define initiative.  What does it look like in action?  Why do we prioritize it as a BLF Area of Focus?
Initiative is the ability to step up and make things happen. It is the responsibility involved in following through with plans and getting things done. Initiative is seen when ideas and plans happen and the brain-storming becomes reality. I believe that it is an area of focus in BLF because initiative is an extremely important aspect of a strong leader. Having the ability to get a task accomplished is impressive in any work setting, as discussed by the panelist. I enjoyed how they all agreed with one another that the size of the task didn't matter when taking an initiative, rather the execution.


Part II
Interview someone (anyone) on their experience in taking initiative.  Ask questions to identify the situation, how they took initiative, and what their impact on that sitaution was.  Write a brief summary of this interview.
I interviewed my mom on taking initiative, asking her what the most memorable experience was for her in initiative in her career. She worked in a bank in Carthage, MO, a very small town, where she had lived her entire life. After graduating she applied for a job in Kansas City, and receiving it required her to leave her life and friends and move to a large city for this job. 
She told me she was incredibly nervous to move to a big city where she didn't know anyone; however, from that she has continued finding success in the bank including meeting her husband. Another time she took a big risk was when I was in grade school. She took initiative, accepting a position in Chicago. This required her to relocate to the Windy City for 5 months, flying home to visit us 3 weekends a month. She told me that saying yes to this opportunity allowed her to become more successful in the bank than she ever imagined and although it was difficult at the time, that initiative she took during both moves in her life expedited her success in her career.

Part III
What were your reactions to the exeriences of the Young Alumni present at the panel and reception?  What did you learn from their stories?  How might you integrate these into your life habits?
I really enjoyed hearing from the panelist because they were incredibly realistic and reassuring about finding jobs and the work force. They were not handed their dream job and had to struggle through a few jobs to find the one that they are at now. As I mentioned, I thought it was interesting how important they stressed being the one to take initiative with getting coffee or helping with small tasks. That was an incredibly realistic approach. They were also very adamant about establishing a strong network and having mentors to assist in decisions. I think that I will begin being more conscious of the small tasks that I do for others and make sure that I am grateful to have the opportunities and try harder to make connects out of these smaller interactions.

Part IV
Please tie Parts I-III of this blog together in a meaningful manner.  What does all of this mean for your life?
In BLF there are a few things that we learn or skills that we focus on that sometimes I am unsure how this will tie in with my life or enhance my leadership. However, initiative is something that I really enjoy hearing about because it can be huge decisions, like my mom's, or it can be as small as getting someone coffee. And regardless you just work hard and take risks, network, and follow opportunities that come up and this all compiles into taking initiative in whatever aspect of life you are in. I like that this area of focus can blanket so many aspects of life. It can also be immediate or long term. Regardless of what I am doing with my life as a student or in 10 years when I am practicing Optometry, taking initiative can open doors that lead to better/ different opportunities.  

Iron Chef BLF

I think that the most challenging aspect of this challenge was working with fellow's parents. When I began working with Team First Gear last semester, we all felt like there was a fine line with how to work with one another without hurting each other's feelings. I experienced this again when I was working in the kitchen with two moms. It was natural for everyone to allow them to step up and take the main rolls but it turned out that our meal really came together because of teamwork.
Our team did a great job at utilizing all of your skills. We were also efficient. We began chopping up veggies while other made broth and we really made use of our time.
Our group was slow deciding what we wanted to make, bouncing around from rice, pasta and finally a sandwich. Of course we realized there was no bread or eggs so we had to be incredibly creative in making our base of the sandwich. We decided to make potato pancakes which took a lot of brain storming deciding how to decorate up this pancake.
This challenge would not have been possible without team help and I think that was one of the most important lessons I took away. We worked as a team to accomplish an entire meal in an hour. We had to use all of our strengths and work united to get done in time.
Carrying this forward, I think that I have learned that things are done best when everyone works together. I also think that in the food challenge we did not plan as well from the beginning and because of that, we lost time. I will keep that in mind when working with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Teamwork and planning make for the most efficient time

Lake Nights and some Critical Thinking

Part 1:

My expectations for the critical thinking workshop were that we would be given situations and have to determine the best way to solve them, challenge-like. I was pleasantly surprised that we engaged in games and group activities that encouraged us to build off of one another’s thoughts and ideas. After the workshop, I am looking forward to the creativity workshop in a few weeks because as discussed the combination or mastery of both skills is important for innovation.

Something new that I learned was to look at art, and anything abstract for that matter, for a good amount of time before giving up and reading the blurb or deciding I am can’t uncover the meaning of the artwork. I liked that we were encouraged to think for a while before talking because in life, there is often a pressure to be the first one to speak or that contemplating something for a while is a fault and not a mark of a good critical thinker.

I am realizing that critical thinking is a valuable skill to develop in BLF because strong leaders must be able to think on their feet but also work in groups to grow and improve ideas that others begin.

Applying what I learned at the Columbus Art Museum to real life would allow me to think before speaking and be more confident in my daily activities. I think that this workshop also focused on a group dynamic and thus will help in future BLF challenges. Learning to understand and listen and then interpret what a teammate says is extremely important in team settings.

Part 2:

After observing the photograph, I see dark background with lots of small lights. It seems clear that it is of a lake and that lights are reflecting off the water. There is also a building in the background, which is not easily distinguishable. The picture has a stark contrast between the light objects and the darker setting.

Interpreting this picture is interesting because I have recently studied Gestalt’s theories of object-ground rules. One of the theories is that lighter objects and objects that seem to be surrounded appear to be the objects. I think that is interesting because some of the “objects” are not easily distinguished and light eliminates a branch or post but the rest of the tree of fence remains in the dark. This vagueness encourages the viewer to make connections in their mind without know the full story or setting of the image. I also really like how there are three places on this picture that especially draw my attention; the three brightest lights are strong but each fade slowly into the background. I think this compares to the Christmas lights that seem dimmer, however there are more of them so they have the same potential to be someone’s focal point.

Most Ohio State students would probably venture a guess that this is Mirror Lake, and although it is correct, I think it could be any lake. I like how this picture does not capture any defining details of the setting, rather makes someone wonder where this is.  

G 360 Recap

The G-360 review was an extremely new experience for me. The only times I have completed an evaluation like this in my past, it was for a class and influenced grades so we were all incredibly nice because the feedback was given to one another not to each other, which provided no opportunity for growth.
Something that surprised me was that my scores were higher than my teams rankings. This upset me at first but after reflecting I realized that this was useful for determining the aspects that I really thought I was excelling at. I am hopefully that I will be able to keep improving my skills and get better results for the upcoming challenge.
Something about the G-360 that upset me is that the review came at the end of our time together. I felt bad that they felt some of my contributions were under par. I would have liked to receive feedback at a half way point so that I could have had the opportunity to change them and improve my team work skills.

Team First Gear

I think that Team First Gear has worked together extremely well over the past few months, building off of one another's talents to create a strong group. We have discussed that one of the most difficult aspects has been execution of our ideas. We worked on our team for a long time making sure that all of our bases were covered, including peer reviews, delegation and good communication. 

Each of Team First Gear's members offer a unique but cohesive aspect to our team. Jenny is incredibly good at technology and organization: blogs, websites, and the video were all done well and efficient. Ian is a really good group member in the sense that I can tell he cares that everyone has their say and he often builds conversations through what he learns by listening to all of us. He was also the very first person to reach out to anyone about cars so I see him as a proactive person as well. Jessica is a great member due to her focus on the team- aspect of this challenge. She insisted on outlining goals, expectations and tasks for our group and this has kept us on track as we work to accomplish our goal. Jessica is also well spoken and persuasive; talk to her for a few minutes and you will probably end the conversation by donating your car. Kyle is a good member because he was the first person to put us into contact, making our group text message.

Overall each member has many strengths but utilizes the ones that are most needed in our group. I don't doubt that all 4 of my group members could perform well in public speaking or organization etc but I think that we have all found that through collaboration of our skill sets, we have become a very strong team. I believe this because I know that we all respect one anthers work and care more about the success of BLF and Goodwill's partnership than we do our own personal gain. Through this, however, I have seen all of my team members grow their leadership and team skills. 

Getting to know Joe :)

On Wednesday I attended The MCGC event “Breaking the Color Barrier: Interracial Relationships”. Joe is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha a chapter within the Multicultural Greek Council and therefore not only attended the event but also sat on the panel board for this discussion. The event was incredibly interesting because it focused on the difficulties of dating someone that came from a different background or culture. Joe, among others, shared that he was learning new religions, foods, etc through this new relationship. Although this event was supposed to be about dating, I definitely think it should be interpreted as the importance of just getting to know someone new. It was discussed that there is this fear of approaching someone because you might not know what you have in common or know what you would talk about.

Joe and I had dinner at Panera this week and although I wasn’t exactly nervous, I was curious what exactly we would talk about. Besides BLF, we were both a part of Greek life and had younger sisters but our conversation wasn’t limited at all by our differences. We talked about his religious explorations, tattoos, our time in high school and aspects of college we are experiencing.

It was a really fun and interesting dinner and I am thankful that we got the push to break some of the walls as we continue getting to know one another.