In Just 10 Weeks...

Words can not properly explain how grateful I am to be a Fellow in BLF. I have already noticed a major improvement in many aspects of my life; from the way I see/think about things, to the way I communicate with people, the way I manage my time, and the way I challenge myself to do things out of my comfort zone. I know that this program will put me a step above my competition when my time ends at Ohio State.

Even though I already feel like I have learned a ton about myself, and other things, I still have a lot that I would like to get out of BLF. I have many goals in my life but I realize I need to first accomplish the small ones to get to the bigger ones. I have 3 main goals that I have for myself in the BLF program:

1. Build Confidence. I don't think this is a trait that I necessarily lack but I know it is something that I will always need to work on. There are multiple times where I doubt myself, such as knowing an answer to a question that my teacher asks, but then I second guess myself and someone beats me to answering when I knew it all along. Or when doing an impromptu speech, I'm sometimes afraid I'll sound ridiculous and then I psych my self out and actually do end up sounding ridiculous. I just know that if I was able to be way more confidant in myself and realize that I can do it/ do know it, then that confidence would show in multiple aspects of my life. I want to go about building my confidence by doing things out of my comfort zone and while I may doubt myself at first, after I realize I can do these things I wont have to hesitate anymore. Although, this is easier said than done, so it is something I will have to continually work at; and I am very willing.

2. Networking Skills. While I thought I already knew a lot about networking from my businesses classes in high school and college, there is a lot that I didn't know. I really enjoyed the networking event that we got to go to and I realized I still have a long way to go. I can be professional in that kind of setting, but I noticed I need to work on my business card trading, my follow-up emails, and just making a connection and keeping that connection. Through the BLF program we are going to have the opportunity to meet so many accomplished people and I want to have them in my network while in BLF and long after. So, while I know the basics, I am going to do my best to go above and beyond.

3. Time Management. In almost every single one of my evaluations the past quarter I talked about how my time management skills have improved or still need improving. Last quarter I realized just how important this skill is, I've never been as involved as I am this year, and while I absolutely love every second of what I do, it gets extremely stressful at times, and that's why perfecting this skill would be ideal.


While I am on the topic of goals, I'm going to jump into talking about my teams (BiggerThanTheGame) goals.I remember at the first meeting together we were so excited and we set our goals so high because we truly believed that is what we could obtain. We talked about how we would achieve these goals and everything seemed perfect. Once we got into the grind, we realized we didn't really have enough time to go about getting the money and reaching out to Michigan the way we wanted to. We didn't a plan B lined up so I the 'Director of Corporate Relations' just kind of gave up for awhile. I was overwhelmed because I didn't know what to do to get this money. I wasn't hearing back from companies and I didn't reach out to my teammates like I should have because I didn't want to disappoint them (even though I know they would have been more than willing to help out). After giving up and realizing we had just about $0.00 I knew I had to do something. That's when I decided to go the old fashioned route of fundraising. Just putting on events at bars and restaurants and pretty much just standing there and asking people to donate. While it was really upsetting to come no where near our original goal it was eye opening to see what we could have done to prevent this. We should have set more realistic goals for the time we had and for the way we wanted to go about it, and we also should have had a backup plan in case our original did not work. I am actually really thankful for failing because I'm not sure if I would have learned as much as I did.

I not only failed in reaching our teams goals, but I failed miserably at the presentation in NYC. Wow, I don't even know what to say about that. It was quite the experience. I am not a bad public speaker nor am I a shy person, that is why I was so disappointed in myself for being like that. Although I do know exactly what I did wrong. As I said earlier I have ZERO confidence when it comes to impromptu speeches, and while our presentation wasn't necessarily impromptu, we never rehearsed it. And that's where I am different from my teammates. I am someone who needs to pretty much know what I am going to say and feel confidant about it or else I freak out and mix up all my thoughts and they come out like they did --- like jibberish. I am not blaming my teammates for this because it is solely my fault. I should have stepped up and told them that that is how I am and they would have had no problem going over it with me but instead I knew none of them needed it like me so I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to sound needy or pushy.
     I know this is a major weakness of mine because I am not always going know beforehand what I will have to say so this is something I need to work on but I also need to work on speaking up for myself and knowing that this is how I am and other people will more than likely be understanding. This was definitely my biggest learning experience from the whole quarter because it was so unlike me, but I REALLY never want it to happen again, and I will make sure it doesn't!

But anyways, I enjoyed this challenge so much. I hope you all were able to get as much out of it as I did. I can't wait to see what this quarter brings and what I can learn about myself and others in just another 10 weeks!

Until next time,
- Jessica