Senior Reflection

It has taken me more than half an hour to start this reflection because of what I want to share. However, I think I know what I want to basically tell in my post. College wasn’t meant to last forever and I am definitely okay with this. I want to get past this part of my life. The people that mattered in my life during college know what I would say about them and I don’t want to pour my heart into these posts for them not to read them. What I feel like writing about is about how I really feel yet it isn’t for just anyone to read it as they are my personal feelings and I don’t like people reading me like a book. I could however do the generic college was the “best years of my life” but that would be a lie and no one deserves to be lied to. I guess I don’t have passion to write everything down in a reflection post because it can’t nearly sum up how I feel and if I did then no one would understand but just see how complex my thinking is and I don’t do that anymore. I am conflicted on how to write because my thoughts aren’t a job and after writing these post for 4 years it has felt like a job. Explaining my life is draining and when I dump out my life story to people. I also don’t want to spill tea that I have to just anyone. I really want nothing I just prefer being the Introvert that I am. I suppose it’s safe to say is I prefer just keeping to myself because it’s better for me. I guess a reflective thought is I really don’t want people to say “I know him” when they barely scratch the surface through a post. I am not a bad person for not sharing my life story but I prefer not pouring my life into many cups with holes in them. I loved going to counseling for my two year stint so that’s something. There isn’t anything to talk about Senior year really because I was just going through the motions I never looked back. I just kept going.

RSO Involvement

They say to go out and try new things your freshman year because eventually you will stick with something and make friends, grow, and have an adventure. I certainly did try to do this my freshman year. As a busy student at CMU I am frantically trying to balance my social life with my school work life. Unfortunately, my school work life consumes me more than it needs to. When I was in high school I was a well rounded individual who kept an evenly balanced appearance at everything and got a really high GPA. The cost however was my health. I wasn’t getting all the sleep that I needed I was lacking nutrients that kept my mental state stable. I was a wreck. However, the upside to this was I didn’t need to be so involved next year in college. I could give myself a break and relax and do some school work at my own leisure. However, I did have to fulfill a requirement for my scholarship that involved me being in at least one RSO. Therefore, I chose two that weren’t necessarily difficult.

As a member of Environmental Studies and Geography Club I was one of the first 6 to show up at its meeting. Last year, the geography club disbanded due to a lack of membership so this year 2 members formed this new group to include both geography and environmental studies students. I was very pleased at this for I could help this group get off to a good start. That is what I did, for the first 4 months of this club I was always there on almost every Wednesday of the month to get ideas going on fundraiser ideas, trip ideas, and games we could do. I was thrilled that this was happening. We made plans to go on a hike to island park, we played jeopardy, and we did a small booth in the library to educate people on rocks and environmental impacts we have in the world. Everything was great.

I was also a member of Rotaract club this year. It was a small branch that associated itself with Rotary Club. My friend Nicole got me into the club because they had food at their first event. I met some international students and made friends with one. He went by the name Bob and that is what we called him. Eventually, they went to a pumpkin farm and I went with them and got free cider and donuts. I also got a few gourds and a pumpkin. I loved it. Everything was looking up and I was thrilled to be apart of the community.

However, during my second semester I had to change up my attendance at events. I was starting to slack off in my studies. It wasn’t a good time with myself so I had to go every month at least once to make an appearance. I was upset that this happened, but not everything can be relaxing at CMU. I came here for an education and that was my plan. Luckily, I am still in good conditions with both groups. Next year, I hope that I may attend more because I was able to work out a few things with my studies.  I feel happy again. I cannot wait to go back to my routine. It was amazing and I don’t want it to stop.

What I plan on doing next fall is looking into more clubs. This year as I was told was completely different for they had to cancel main stage which was a big event for all the clubs to encourage people to join. I can’t wait for it next year. I believe that I am more relaxed than I was in high school. I don’t feel as much pressure as I had before. I am looking forward to the future of my sophomore year.

LDR 200L Reflection

During my second semester of my freshman year I was enrolled in the next level of a leadership class. Compared to LDR 100, this course had more rigor to it. The professor Jessi Ekonen was very keen to teaching the class. You would imagine that learning leadership would be a piece of cake, but there is more too it then actions. There are theories that also tie into a leadership position. I didn’t think of how much of an influence these theories would have. However, after taking this class I know now that they greatly impact leadership.

The beginning weeks I was nervous because Jessi Ekonen said that not everyone would get straight A’s unless they work hard. I knew that I couldn’t easily breeze through this class, but take it seriously as best as possible. Between all my other classes though this was definitely the easiest so long as I would keep focus and do assignments. As the semester moved forward a few events came up abruptly like the LAS competition. We were all required to be there, for this was about the next class of LAS leaders coming to CMU. We had to work a few things out and make sure we were able to guide and educate the parents and students about what CMU had to offer. It was simple, but I felt like I had to step it up for as mentioned this was about them and not me. I did my best to lead and educate the competitors. It all worked out and that weekend I had a blast.

The next assignment was to do initiatives and that was a group project that consisted of designing a facilitator model. The goal was to guide and teach several class members through a game exercise and then debrief on why we did this type of game. I was very nervous, for two days before we were to present we had to turn in a page report by midnight and we barely had anything down.  Luckily, we were able to complete it with time to spare. Then during presentation day I felt like I wasn’t contributing enough so I took small steps and piped up a bit. I was able to get a perfect score on it and I was satisfied.

The next program we had was going to Detroit. It was pretty neat! We went to Jalen Rose Academy and we facilitated a group of students. They were very nice and respectful to us. Afterwards, we went to quicken loans and got a tour of the place. It was cool. FInally, that night we slept at the Outdoor Adventure Arena. That place made me feel like a kid, because it was designed for kids. However, we got 30 minutes to run and goof off. We then went to bed, but except for me because I had to read a book. It was exhausting. Lastly, we went to building that was designed to feed the homeless, shelter them, and give them a new opportunity. My team made mats for them to sell. We went home that afternoon and I slept the rest of the day. I had another great weekend.

Finally, as a class we had to do workshops and we were given a theory to explore. It was neat to hear about all sorts of theories. I like some and I found some confusing. Nevertheless, I was excelling when it came to test us on what we knew. I studied and memorized our study guides. I am assuming I got a 100% on it. This class was great I am going to miss seeing all the LAS students together, for they are my family and I love them. I look forward though for the next 3 years for I signed my leadership minor not too long ago and I can’t wait to dive deeper into leadership.

Leadership Safari Reflection

I loved Leadership Safari, for it was my first inside look at CMU. It was August 20th, 2016 and I arrived around 1:00pm. My family and I got my room all set up, and I felt very cozy. It was a good day. I talked to some neighbors and made new friends. That same day I was split into my animal group of Iguanas. My leader was Owen Wood and he was rad. The one event that we did that stood out the most was learning about hunger. It was ghastly knowing how many people benefit from hand outs in Mt. Pleasant. What I will do in the future is try to be involved with humane society projects.This was an amazing experience as we celebrated leadership safari’s 20th anniversary.