I LOVE BEING A BUCKEYE!
(This video never gets old)
Truly though, I really do love being a buckeye. Being a transfer student it is so easy for me to see how great of a university Ohio State is. There is an endless amount of opportunity. I truly wish I could take advantage of all of it. Ohio State has so much diversity, tradition, resources and the list goes on and on of all the obvious great things, but there is something about being a student here that provides an overwhelming feeling. I love the sense of community and pride. Although I don't even know a fraction of the people here, the ones I have had the opportunity to meet I am so grateful for. They each provide their own unique perspective on anything and everything. My two years at Ohio State have truly shaped the person I am and more importantly the person I want to be once I leave college (ew I really hate that thought).
If you can't tell I am in a grateful mood.. I read this article on expressing gratitude and how it can lead to a happier life.... ( I just like to read weird things like that), and so I figured no better time to start than now!
Anyways here is my prompt 1, We'll see how this goes.....
Initial Reactions
- YAY!.
- I was so excited. I mean event planning is what I'm going to school for, how could I not be excited?
- Uh Oh
- I knew right away that people were going to expect a lot from me. Especially the ones that know I want to go into Event Planning. As soon as the challenge was stated I got texts and looks about how this is "so me", although this is was an "uh oh" it also made me super excited and motivated. A chance to stand out with something I am extremely interested in.
- Another Uh Oh
- After being presented our challenge, I looked around the room and realized how hard this was going to be with these completely different personalities. As an optimistic person, I tried to think positively - after all we are Juniors in college, we can go about things in a mature manner.
- Me?.... An introvert?
- My whole life I have been an extrovert, but as early as the first conversation talking about our challenge as a group I backed down. I think this happened because I feel like a lot of personalities in our group pick apart what people say and analyze it, but I just want people to take what I say for how it is, so I almost was afraid to say anything. Also, I'm not much of a brainstromer, or even a rough drafter, I think long and hard about something and then I'll put the idea out there. But until then, I really don't want anyone critiquing it. I know this is something I need to work on, mainly because I don't want a great idea I have to miss an opportunity to be heard. I guess I'll stop worrying about what others think and shout my ideas out there.
- Hostile Environment
- And to think I thought that last quarter working in teams created a bad environment for the group, I'm afraid this could make it even worse. As someone whose 4/5 strengths are relationship strengths it really bothers me to see that people already have problems with each other. In my ideal world everyone would get along... I know, beauty pageant answer, but so true. From here on out I really would like to see everyone express their feelings openly. Keeping them bottled up will result in an ugly explosion.. and one that I really don't wanna be apart of.
- Equality
- This definitely goes back to my request for everyone getting a long. But for this challenge, I HOPE that we will all see eye to eye and realize we are all on the same level. No one is better than anyone, we are all different and have different strengths.. Lets welcome everyone to use all their strengths to the fullest, and even if they don't necessarily coincide with our own, still be respectful.
- Sorry it is not my intention to come off like a counselor. I am at fault for making all of these mistakes too!
- Myself
- I have high expectations for myself. Like I said earlier, I could tell people were going to expect a lot out of me, and they should. I would expect a lot from someone else if our challenged was based around the sciences or something I have no knowledge with. But I really want to shine through with this challenge and impress myself. Working with a team is hard, and I expect myself to be open to all ideas and think about what is for the good of the group and not just something I would like to see.
- The Group
- I can tell there are mixed expectations. Some want an extravagant convention- some really aren't that into it at all. Both are totally fine. But like I expect of myself, I also expect of the group... to think about the good of the group and the good of this convention and not just themselves. (I don't see this being that huge of an issue).
- Teamwork
- This will be HUGE. In my opinion, teamwork will make or break this challenge.
- The Other 13
- All will play a huge role in how this conference turns out. I plan to keep all of them in mind while going through this next year and working on this challenge.
Well so now you know where I stand on this challenge, cant wait to read all of your blogs and get a better understanding for where each of you stand as well.
Adios,
-Jess
I am really excited that you are excited about doing this! I think you can really show off your strengths in this challenge and will help you for what you would like to do in the "real world."
ReplyDeleteEquality is something I have been thinking about the whole time. I think the hardest part of the entire challenge will be getting this organizational system set up. I didn't want a hierarchical system, I wanted us to all be equals in this challenge. With the whole "voice/face/machine" idea, it sets off a tone as hierarchical, but with the best of my ability I want to make everyone equals. I want people to come up with their own roles and what they want to do to keep themselves engaged and interested. I want all of us fellows to be able to use our strengths and also realize what are weaknesses are.
Hey Jess! You make some good points about our group dynamic. There is definitely a lot of leadership packed into a small group of 19. I know that I too would like everyone to get along (at least to respect each other), Detro sounds like she's in, and there have to be others, so the more I think about it, the more i believethis project has the potential to turn into a wonderful demonstration of team work, fairness and respect. Boy, that didn't sound cheesy.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I think a lot of us are worried about the same things. As long as we're open and aware to them, I think we have a pretty good shot at a great project.
Jessica, the questions you bring up regarding equality, utilization of strengths, and respect are trending as hopes/fears across the group. It's really interesting that this has been brought up so many times, and I hope you can begin to challenge yourself to voice your concern in discussions and address it.
ReplyDeleteAnd HOORAY that you're excited to use your skills in this challenge. I thought you would be jazzed about it :)
JESS- i enjoyed reading you blog and i also agree with the part about equality! (beauty pageant answer) i wish everyone could/would get along too! were all going to be working together for a year and i hope that in the end this challenge will bring us closer instead of pushing people further apart!
ReplyDeletei also like the part you said about being an extrovert!! i feel the same i am a complete extrovert in all other areas of my life but for some reason when it comes to BLF and challenges and etc im not sure what happens to all my "loudness" i become exremely quiet. im not much of a brain stormer or rough drafter either so that also goes into play with our first meeting!
overall! i hope you get to use ur event planning skills to the fullest with this challenge :)