The College Student's Top 5

Top 5 Things a College Student Should Know

1. Learn how to survive on less than 6 hours of sleep a night.
2. Get involved in several extra-curricular activities (you will thank yourself).
3. College is all about new experiences, but don't forget who YOU are.
4. A bike ride during the middle of the night can sooth even the most tense and stressed nerves.
5. Make sure you enjoy your major, because you'll be doing for the rest of your life.

A long, long week

Most people look forward to Thanksgiving break with optimism of a closing semester and wonderful food at home with your family.  I had always looked forward to the end of another semester, but this year i realized that it can be difficult to go home for that one week of break.  With a different schedule and rules that you have grown unaccustomed to it can be quite an eye opening experience about how life differs at home compared to school.

Living at home for the last 2 years while at Blue Ridge Community College my lifestyle was still unchanged because of my college experience.  I still was ingrained in the schedule that I had enjoyed for the last 20 years.  Now this change of venue and scenery has fostered a new schedule and regime, only to be undone in a mere week.

Now, at the end of Thanksgiving break I was looking forward to coming back to my home in Blacksburg, and Foxridge, to get away from that change and to enjoy the peace and quiet of my apartment.  The plan over break was to be very productive and write a few of the papers that I had due, but with the change in schedules that did not happen, needless to say.

Is your leadership Authentic???

Some of the most authentic leaders in the worlds history can also be categorized as the most devious ones.  Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Genghis Khan, etc...  Authentic leaders can also lead people for very positive results, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill.

Authentic Leadership is defined as a leader being true to their beliefs throughout a process and their life.  They are "authentic" to themselves and their beliefs. That is the key, being true to yourself and your beliefs.

I am striving to be an authentic leader in my everyday life.  By being true to myself, and being honest with others about my talents and short comings.  There is nothing wrong with admitting what you cannot do.  To compensate for this I place myself around others who have strengths in the areas I am weak in.

Ideal Job

My ideal job would include working with children/youth to develop their talents and skills.  So naturally this would fall under the education realm.  After that initial decision, the field opens up drastically.  Will it be traditional education in a school?  conducting seminars?  Trainings?

By using my strengths I can better analyze which field will suit me best.  My restorative trait helps me solve peoples problems which must be, in my opinion, present in any good teacher's arsenal for dealing with students.  Arranging things to have them make sense has always been a strength of mine as well.  This will come in handy when organizing lesson plans to get the most out of my potential students.

Obviously, from reading above, I have already chosen my career field that I plan to pursue.  Because I know that I have an overwhelming passion and dedication to help develop the youth of America and know that I can make a tremendous difference in at least one life, and by doing so will bring great satisfaction.  And, isn't that what working should be all about?  Gaining satisfaction in a job well done?

Mood Changers

Do you have that one song that can turn your whole day around?  That one song that you love to hear, no matter what time, season, or what mood you are in.  Music has a funny way of affecting our attitudes and perspectives on life.

With my positive attitude I am naturally drawn to energetic and positive music, regardless of genre.  But I will admit that I also have a huge addiction to the sweet sounds of love songs and ones about the simple things in life.  Something about those tunes make me at peace with myself and can relax me at my most stressed.

Most recently it has been Tim McGraw's "Felt Good on my Lips" and Jason Aldean's "Don't You Wanna Stay". I have been able to make it through many nights of late studying with these two songs (among others) to keep me calm, cool, and collected.

Strengths Based Leadership, volume 2

Due to the fact that I messed up with the order of the last entry I will be issuing a 2nd installment of the Strengths Based Leadership Blog.

Do you want to shine?

To reach peoples full potential, they must focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses.  Think of everyone's leadership potential as a star, with multiple points.  For each point there is a low spot also.  If you were to focus on your weak points your strengths would be diminished and that star would turn into more of a circle, or a blob.  As a leader, we need those strong points, those shining points to focus on, and let others use their strong points to complement ours.

Or be a blob?

Your strengths, as shown example to in a previous post, tend to also be the activities or items you have an interest in or leave a sense of satisfaction when you complete them.  While your weaknesses usually include the ones that you have to force yourself to do, and time never seems to fly by when completing these tasks.  To play to your strengths you are empowering yourself to complete things to the best of your ability because you are enjoying your work.  When they say that if you enjoy what you do you will not work a day in your life they are correct.

Now, you don't need to take the Clifton Strengths Finder Assessment to find out what your strengths are.  All you need to do is take some time throughout the day and write down things that give you a sense of satisfaction while doing them.  After a week of doing this everyday you should have a good list compiled.  With this list pull out your top 5 list of things that make you feel good.  These are your strengths!  Play to your strengths and you will not be disapointed with your life.

Life Decisions

With course selections just finishing up for the Spring Semester I began pondering my future here at Virginia Tech, and how long it would take me to complete my degree.  There are many contributing factors in the length of my stay here on campus.  Many of them have to do with the hours of coursework at semester and my participation in extracurriculur activities.

I believe that all facets of the college experience contribute to your overall education throughout your time spent at an institution.  These include, in class lectures, out of class assignments, extracurriculur campus activities, and off campus festivities.  These contributions must be weighed against the high cost of living expenses and tuition with each semester that passes while in school.

Now, that careful measurement must be made to see how long I can survive in Blacksburg while a student and achieve all that I have set out to achieve in my student career.  Should I take an extra semester to make sure I can fully focus on my classroom activities?  Or try to take summer classes and stay in town without being able to work full time over the summer to compensate for tuition?  All these decisions must be carefully weighed...