Well...it seems as if I've been neglecting doing regular updates. I know nobody else really reads this except for myself and some of the other Hixson Scholars, but I thought it would be good to revisit this and reflect on the past half-year, so if I look back on this in the future I'll remember it better. This past half-year, scratch that, this past year, has definitely been the best year of my life!
I'll start out with concluding from this summer. As I believe I've posted before, Orientation was an absolutely wonderful time, and then the month of July was kind of relaxed with helping with campus visits, doing Experience Iowa State days, and planning for Destination Iowa State. The month of July was relatively uneventful, the highlight of which was being involved with one of my best friend's proposing to his girlfriend, and her accepting of course. Yay! So this next summer I'm going to be one of the groomsmen and get to be really involved with a wedding for the first time ever. I'm pretty excited!
Now, the month of August is when things got REALLY INTENSE. All the Cyclone Aides moved out of Frederickson Court, and those of us who were also serving as Community Advisors were soon about to start training for that. Training started out pretty normal...on the second day of training we all went to Camp Hantesa just outside of Ames to do some team-building activities and some diversity education...ended up coming back covered in mud, sweat, and blood...obviously a great day of training! Either that night, or the night after that was when we started to have an intense rain fall. We as a CA staff all decided to go out and play in the rain puddles for a bit, and when we realized it was flooding, instead of running off to safety and avoiding dangerous situations...we decided we were going to go play in the flood. So we set off through the flood waters, seeing metal grates covering tunnels leading underground overturned, streets flooded, and City of Ames workers putting up barriers and sandbagging. We offered to help but we were told they had all the help they needed, and they recommended we leave, so we did, but not before jumping in the Fountain of the Four Seasons, just because we could (which we later found out was illegal....oops!). The next day training was going on as usual, despite the floods. Partway through the day, things turned for the worse. Flood water contaminated the public water in Ames, putting the city in a boil order, and we found out Hilton Coliseum was flooded and would not be functioning in time for Destination Iowa State the next week. Let me put this in perspective...imagine spending an entire year planning one of the biggest mass-gatherings of the year for a pretty large university, an event involving 4500+ new students, Team Leaders, Cyclone Aides, and staff members....only to find out the week before that ALL of Thursdays activities have to be changed due to flooding. Obviously the New Student Programs staff was very frustrated and LOTS of things had to be changed last minute. We finished training, began the process of checking new students in, and then it was time to take time away from being a Community Advisor to my other CA position...Cyclone Aide to help with Destination Iowa State. Luckily things did end up working out for the most part....the Picnic and Kickoff were moved to Central Campus, and things slightly altered, but it still ended up being a really great event. Luckily the rest of Destination Iowa State went off without any flaws, and sitting in front row in Stephens Auditorium for Comedian Jeff Dye, and all the Cyclone Aides dancing to "I Like It" in front of an auditorium with thousands of people in it was definitely a very memorable experience.
With new student Move-In over with and Destination Iowa State coming to a close with the Comedian and Target Sweep, it was now time for classes to start. Admittedly, my classes this semester weren't exactly the best, although I did have some good ones. I enjoyed my Youth and Crime class and Social Cognition...everything else I could honestly have cared less for, but they were all basically graduation requirements...I am definitely looking forward to next semester though...Abnormal Psychology, Sensation and Perception, Motivation, Psychology and the Legal System, and unfortunately a Statistics class..but with the exception of that, I'm looking forward to everything else, and all of the professors I have are great according to reviews, so it should definitely be a good semester and hopefully I can make the Dean's List again.
Being a Community Advisor this past semester has definitely been an eye-opening experience. I have the best Hall Director ever...I got to be involved with the Hall Director interview process last semester, and was ecstatic when I found out that I'd have the opportunity to work with the person who was my favorite candidate. My residents are great as well...a lot of them remembered me from Orientation, and many of them are really open with me, and I love having the opportunity to have a positive impact on their lives and help guide them in the right direction. They made it to the Intramural Flag Football championships even, but unfortunately ended up playing a team that had been playing together for 3 years, and should have been in A-class instead of B-class...oh well, they're still winners in my eyes (despite how cheesy that sounds.) Some of them even like to come back drunk and hug me and/or try to pick me up...only two of whom have been successful with that though.
My least favorite part of being a CA, however, is my horrible custodian. If there is a noodle in the sink or drinking fountain he will take a picture of it, then walk around all day trying to find me so he can show me a picture of it. He sorts through the trash to see if anything is in there that shouldn't be in there...and he complains about EVERYTHING. I've given up on saying "Good morning" to him since he'll just give me ten reasons why it's not, and normally throw in some uneducated sexist or racist joke. One day at the desk he decided to tell me the story of how he lost his virginity and his experience with condoms...definitely NOT a story I needed to hear from a 50 year old man. Luckily I'm not around too much during the day so I don't have to deal with him too much...unfortunately, my residents do and I absolutely hate the way he treats them...oh well...in the end he's the most miserable person, so it all works out in the end!
I've also had quite a few interesting incidents this semester as a CA, a lot of which I can't go into too much detail on. One day my residents decided to barricade my door with recycling bins, and then later on made a shrine to me with them. I got to call the cops when my HD and I found potential drug paraphernelia and fireworks in a room while doing a room check, and there was one day where I may or may not have had to confront a prostitute...we can't say for sure whether or not she was, but all signs point to it.
This past semester I was also obviously a Peer Mentor for the Hixson program, the reason we had to start online blogging. It was great finally getting to apply what we had learned in class to working with our new students. I think Amber and I were lucky enough to have a really great class to teach this semester...our trip with them to the Omaha Zoo was a great time and they did a great parody of Twilight for their class project. I think Amber and I had an interesting dynamic...she did all of the organization and planning, and I for the most part did Icebreakers and Games...if I were to be a Peer Mentor again, I would try to so a bit more planning, since all of my practice with Lesson Plans this past Spring semester I didn't really get to utilize.
Dance Marathon is coming up in about a month...this past semester, my partner Katie and I had been going to several different sites recruiting people and helping with fundraising, and luckily we've gotten a fairly big group this year! I also enjoyed going to Iowa City one weekend to choreograph our 2011 Morale Dance and getting a tour of the Children's Hospital, as well as bonding with the rest of the Recruitment and Morale committee. I look forward to all of the costumes and dancing on January 22, 2011! It should be another unforgettable day!
Another great thing that happened this semester was I got the opportunity to go to the MACURH conference again, this time at Missouri State University. I did a program titled "IceBreakers and You: Breaking the Ice Without Scaring People...Too Much", about working with different personality types, specifically introverts/extroverts. It ended up being a great program because we had a lot of discussion and I even had a professional Hall Director and Student Counselor come up afterwards and compliment me on it, and I got overall great reviews on it. The best part about MACURH, however, was the rest of our delegation. Our delegation team bonded a lot better than the one from last year, and we've gone out to eat several times since the conference, and I've gotten closer to a lot of them than I have with people I've known for years. 6+ hour van rides can do that for you. One of my favorite parts of the conference trip was Ashley and Julia kidnapping Heidi, our stuffed dog mascot, and forcing me to go to their hotel room and getting on my hands and knees while they took compromising pictures so I could get her back. Another great memory was all going to Fuji Steakhouse together and the hillarity tat ensued there. I also found out on the trip that one of my residents, whom also went with us, thought of me as more of a brother figure than a CA. That really did touch me and I MAY have almost gotten teary-eyed...almost.
Now, I think it's time to conclude as this is getting very long, and it did manage to entertain me for a bit at least. Like I said, this past semester was a very memorable one. I'e had all new experiences, met a ton of amazing people, had the opportunity to impact the lives of hundreds of people through Orientation, Destination Iowa State, being a CA, and being a Hixson Peer Mentor, and have lots of things to look forward to in the future. One of my best friends will be student-teaching this next semester, and after that he'll be going to grad school here in Higher Education, which is what I plan on doing. My work and experiences working with prospective and new students this past year has pushed me in that direction, and now I'm sure it's what I want to do for the rest of my life...so I'm already in the process of preparing to apply for graduate school, even though I still have a year...it's something I want to get done early. Next month will be more CA training, my final Orientation/Destination Iowa State, and Dance Marathon 2011! Then in February will be the No Frills Conference, and that will be fun working with the RBD and hosting the other universities in the region for regional business. Sadly, after February my schedule dies down significantly, so I won't be quite as busy next semester as I was this past semester...which will give me more time to focus on being a CA I guess, and maybe time to develop my grad school application more. Now I think it's really time to end this....bye!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Hixson Peer Mentors Blog Post-So You're Here Now...Now What?
Congratulations! You’ve officially made it (mostly) through your first week of college. You’ve survived Orientation, Destination Iowa State, your first Hixson lecture with Debra (scary, I know), your first recitation with us amazing Peer Mentors, and soon your first week of classes. So now you may be thinking “What else is there to do in college besides this whole class thing?”.
Luckily for you, there are lots of other things to do here besides just going to class and studying. We have over 800+ clubs and organizations here. We have clubs for majors (Biology Club, Psychology Club, Criminal Justice Club), pre-professional clubs (Pre-Health, Pre-Vet, Pre-Optometry, etc.), and clubs just for fun (Medieval Fighting Society, Jugging and Unicycling Club). You can find information about all of the clubs offered on campus on the Student Organization Database, which can be found at this link: http://sodb.stuorg.iastate.edu/
Many of you live in the residence halls and/or the Greek Community. These are both great ways to get involved as well! Run to become your house president, vice-president, intramural chair, whatever you want! You may even be able to run for a hall council position, and get to represent your entire residence hall on IRHA (Inter-Residence Hall Association), our residence-hall wide governing body that plans activities and provides updates to all of the residence halls. I started out as secretary of my floor my freshmen year, became Vice-President of my residence hall my sophomore year, and even got the opportunity to go to some regional leadership conferences and present information about Iowa State, so it’s definitely a great way to get started out on campus.
Not interested in residence hall or Greek government, but still want to be involved on campus? No problem! Join a VEISHEA committee, become involved with Homecoming, sign-up to raise money for Dance Marathon, our largest student-ran philanthropy on campus, whatever you choose! No matter what you’re interested in, you’ll be able to find it here at Iowa State!
Any questions on how to get involved on campus? Please feel free to contact me at ahenshaw@iastate.edu, or ask any of the other Peer Mentors. We’ll be ecstatic to help you! Congratulations on surviving your first week!
-Austin
Luckily for you, there are lots of other things to do here besides just going to class and studying. We have over 800+ clubs and organizations here. We have clubs for majors (Biology Club, Psychology Club, Criminal Justice Club), pre-professional clubs (Pre-Health, Pre-Vet, Pre-Optometry, etc.), and clubs just for fun (Medieval Fighting Society, Jugging and Unicycling Club). You can find information about all of the clubs offered on campus on the Student Organization Database, which can be found at this link: http://sodb.stuorg.iastate.edu/
Many of you live in the residence halls and/or the Greek Community. These are both great ways to get involved as well! Run to become your house president, vice-president, intramural chair, whatever you want! You may even be able to run for a hall council position, and get to represent your entire residence hall on IRHA (Inter-Residence Hall Association), our residence-hall wide governing body that plans activities and provides updates to all of the residence halls. I started out as secretary of my floor my freshmen year, became Vice-President of my residence hall my sophomore year, and even got the opportunity to go to some regional leadership conferences and present information about Iowa State, so it’s definitely a great way to get started out on campus.
Not interested in residence hall or Greek government, but still want to be involved on campus? No problem! Join a VEISHEA committee, become involved with Homecoming, sign-up to raise money for Dance Marathon, our largest student-ran philanthropy on campus, whatever you choose! No matter what you’re interested in, you’ll be able to find it here at Iowa State!
Any questions on how to get involved on campus? Please feel free to contact me at ahenshaw@iastate.edu, or ask any of the other Peer Mentors. We’ll be ecstatic to help you! Congratulations on surviving your first week!
-Austin
Monday, July 5, 2010
Orientation Time: Hixson Peer Mentors Post
Here's my Orientation Time post for the actual Hixson Peer Mentors blogpost, which you can find here:
http://hixsonpeermentors.blogspot.com/2010/06/orientation-time.html
Hello Hixson Scholars of 2014! Classes have ended, summer is here, and that means Orientation is here! What is Orientation you ask? Orientation is your transition from high school to college. I know some of you have already gone through Orientation, while others of you have yet to come still. Here’s some information about what you should have gotten out of Orientation, and what you should expect if you will be coming to Orientation at a later date.
Your Orientation starts with actually checking in at the Hixson Headquarters for Registration. After that you will be getting your ISU Card (be prepared to have your picture taken…otherwise you might be stuck with a picture like mine), registering for your Iowa State e-mail address if you need to, and taking any necessary placement assessments. You will have the option of participating in a campus tour, a tour of the Parks Library, residence hall tour, or attending a program about Fraternities and Sororities. After that you will be heading over to your University Welcome Site to meet some very important people, find out all about your college and major, learn how to register for classes, and meet some wonderful Cyclone Aides. Cyclone Aides are students just like you who will be there to help you with the transition process and answer any questions you might have. I have the pleasure of being one of the Cyclone Aides you’ll be seeing this summer. I’m Austin Henshaw, a junior in Psychology from Sioux City, Iowa.
After the afternoon is over with, you have the opportunity to eat at Union Drive Marketplace, one of our three main dining centers that will be open to you in the fall. You’ll have the chance to eat with some Cyclone Aides and just make a personal connection, plus enjoy amazing food. After that you can head to a What You Need to Know presentation, where there will be two separate break-out sessions where you will get the opportunity to ask Cyclone Aides anything you want to know about Iowa State and student life, plus meet some other incoming students. Afterwards you have the opportunity to have snacks at Munch and Mingle at Clyde’s Sport Club and get any other questions answered. Additionally, there will be evening recreation available as well at the Lied Recreation Center, where you can play board games, basketball, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, ping pong, racquetball, and meet more students.
On Day 2 of Orientation you will meet with your academic advisor to make your fall course selections (make sure to add U. ST 111!!!!!) and create your first semester schedule. You will also have the opportunity to attend a Resource Fair at the Memorial Union, where several university organizations will be represented, free candy handed out, and where you can learn all about the different resources Iowa State has to offer!
After you have completed your Orientation, your adventure will continue at Destination Iowa State. Destination Iowa State is our welcome program held Aug. 19-21 for new students where you will get to learn the Iowa State fight song, see the Marching Band perform, see a comedian, participate in fun recreational activities at Late Night at the Memorial Union, plus get lots of free stuff! Many of you registered at Orientation or will get the opportunity to at Orientation. If for whatever reason you didn’t get to register, you can register at https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/destination/registration.php . I speak from personal experience when I say that Destination Iowa State is definitely one of my favorite traditions at Iowa State and I really want all of you to participate!
Working as a Cyclone Aide this summer has been one of the funnest things I’ve done in my life. Having the opportunity to meet all of the incoming students and their families, and helping them throughout their transition process, is a very rewarding experience. I hope all of you have (or will have) found Orientation beneficial. If you will be attending Orientation later and if you see me around, please feel free to stop and say hi. If you have any questions about Orientation, Destination Iowa State, or anything in general, please feel free to contact me at ahenshaw@iastate.edu. See you all soon!
http://hixsonpeermentors.blogspot.com/2010/06/orientation-time.html
Hello Hixson Scholars of 2014! Classes have ended, summer is here, and that means Orientation is here! What is Orientation you ask? Orientation is your transition from high school to college. I know some of you have already gone through Orientation, while others of you have yet to come still. Here’s some information about what you should have gotten out of Orientation, and what you should expect if you will be coming to Orientation at a later date.
Your Orientation starts with actually checking in at the Hixson Headquarters for Registration. After that you will be getting your ISU Card (be prepared to have your picture taken…otherwise you might be stuck with a picture like mine), registering for your Iowa State e-mail address if you need to, and taking any necessary placement assessments. You will have the option of participating in a campus tour, a tour of the Parks Library, residence hall tour, or attending a program about Fraternities and Sororities. After that you will be heading over to your University Welcome Site to meet some very important people, find out all about your college and major, learn how to register for classes, and meet some wonderful Cyclone Aides. Cyclone Aides are students just like you who will be there to help you with the transition process and answer any questions you might have. I have the pleasure of being one of the Cyclone Aides you’ll be seeing this summer. I’m Austin Henshaw, a junior in Psychology from Sioux City, Iowa.
After the afternoon is over with, you have the opportunity to eat at Union Drive Marketplace, one of our three main dining centers that will be open to you in the fall. You’ll have the chance to eat with some Cyclone Aides and just make a personal connection, plus enjoy amazing food. After that you can head to a What You Need to Know presentation, where there will be two separate break-out sessions where you will get the opportunity to ask Cyclone Aides anything you want to know about Iowa State and student life, plus meet some other incoming students. Afterwards you have the opportunity to have snacks at Munch and Mingle at Clyde’s Sport Club and get any other questions answered. Additionally, there will be evening recreation available as well at the Lied Recreation Center, where you can play board games, basketball, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, ping pong, racquetball, and meet more students.
On Day 2 of Orientation you will meet with your academic advisor to make your fall course selections (make sure to add U. ST 111!!!!!) and create your first semester schedule. You will also have the opportunity to attend a Resource Fair at the Memorial Union, where several university organizations will be represented, free candy handed out, and where you can learn all about the different resources Iowa State has to offer!
After you have completed your Orientation, your adventure will continue at Destination Iowa State. Destination Iowa State is our welcome program held Aug. 19-21 for new students where you will get to learn the Iowa State fight song, see the Marching Band perform, see a comedian, participate in fun recreational activities at Late Night at the Memorial Union, plus get lots of free stuff! Many of you registered at Orientation or will get the opportunity to at Orientation. If for whatever reason you didn’t get to register, you can register at https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/destination/registration.php . I speak from personal experience when I say that Destination Iowa State is definitely one of my favorite traditions at Iowa State and I really want all of you to participate!
Working as a Cyclone Aide this summer has been one of the funnest things I’ve done in my life. Having the opportunity to meet all of the incoming students and their families, and helping them throughout their transition process, is a very rewarding experience. I hope all of you have (or will have) found Orientation beneficial. If you will be attending Orientation later and if you see me around, please feel free to stop and say hi. If you have any questions about Orientation, Destination Iowa State, or anything in general, please feel free to contact me at ahenshaw@iastate.edu. See you all soon!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Summer Thus Far
Wow! It's been nearly two months since I last did an update. Seems like it's time for one then. Let me just say...the whole month of June working Orientation with the Cyclone Aide's....AMAZING. I even got to meet some of my residents for next year and some of the new Hixson Scholars. It was great finally getting to put the knowledge we'd gain over the past semester to use, and welcoming all of the new students and families to campus. Working with the other Cyclone Aide's was amazing as well and I can't wait until Destination Iowa State when we have all of the new students all together at once.
Outside of Orientation happening in June, June was sort of a bitter-suite month. I found out Stephanie, my Hall Direcor as well as our No Frills Conference Co-Advisor had been hired for the previous position she wanted and accepted it. I am extremely happy for her though, and from what she told me I know it was a difficult decision for her to make. I felt honored when she told me why she had chosen me for the house she put me in, knowing that there would be fall-out and even another returning CA quit because of where she placed me. I am also happy with the person replacing her...somebody whom I actually helped interview last semester and whom I had originally wanted to get the position. Working with her will be fun.
In short, I'm having probably the busiest, but best summer of my life, and I can't wait until next fall to welcome all the new students to campus during Destination Iowa State, to start developing community on my house next year, and to start teaching our recitation sections. It's going to be an absolutely amazing experience and I can't wait to work with all of the wonderful Peer Mentors again! I'll be seeing some of you next week at the Retreat Planning meeting hopefully. Everybody have a good rest of your summer!
Outside of Orientation happening in June, June was sort of a bitter-suite month. I found out Stephanie, my Hall Direcor as well as our No Frills Conference Co-Advisor had been hired for the previous position she wanted and accepted it. I am extremely happy for her though, and from what she told me I know it was a difficult decision for her to make. I felt honored when she told me why she had chosen me for the house she put me in, knowing that there would be fall-out and even another returning CA quit because of where she placed me. I am also happy with the person replacing her...somebody whom I actually helped interview last semester and whom I had originally wanted to get the position. Working with her will be fun.
In short, I'm having probably the busiest, but best summer of my life, and I can't wait until next fall to welcome all the new students to campus during Destination Iowa State, to start developing community on my house next year, and to start teaching our recitation sections. It's going to be an absolutely amazing experience and I can't wait to work with all of the wonderful Peer Mentors again! I'll be seeing some of you next week at the Retreat Planning meeting hopefully. Everybody have a good rest of your summer!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Diversity Experience
During VEISHEA I went to the Race Machine in the Memorial Union and was able to watch RACE-Power of an Illusion. It's interesting how there are very very very very minute genetic differences (far less than 1 percent) between different races, so little that it really doesn't make any difference at all. Amongst animals, we really aren't that genetically diverse at all, since we really haven't been around for that long. The whole idea of race really is a recent invention in the history of man..it wasn't even considered in ancient times, and has been exploited recently for the purpose of slavery. The Race Machine was kind of fun to play with to see how you would look as different races...although I was really sunburnt when I tried it so some of the images were really distorted unfortunately. :(
Sunday, April 25, 2010
One Week More...
It's sad to think that we only have one more week left of class. This class is actually one of my favorite, although I am happy knowing that we will have class together again for U ST. 312. It's been a really amazing experience...getting to know people I already knew a bit better, and getting to know people I had never really talked to before this class. I'm glad I got Amber as a partner instead of Jenna (J/K Jenna! Love you!). Looking at the pairings, it seems like the Hixson peeps did a good job at pairing us all up together, especially with scheduling conflicts involved. I'm glad we finally know our partners and can get prepared for next fall.
It's hard to believe another week has gone by. The week after VEISHEA was a good week for me. After our final IRHA meeting Tyler, Mandy, and I stayed out on Central Campus and went to Jeff's pizza and just stayed up talking until 3 a.m. It was kind of nice just to hang out with them in a non-formal context and just get to know each other a bit more, although I did say some pretty embarassing things about campaniling without really thinking about what I was saying before I said it. That's still something I'll have to work on. Then Friday night Tyler and I went all around Friley trying to convince people to go to the dance party downstairs (I was very dissapointed you didn't come Taylor....grrr.). Last night I went to the Dub H show at Ames High to watch Bia and Jordan perform...they did absolutely amazing! I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see all of my wonderful fellow peer mentors and a lot of my friends over the summer, but I look forward to reuniting with everybody back in the fall. It's going to be an amazing fall semester!
I hope everybody has a good last weekend before dead week. (Dead Week sound so morbid doesn't it?) I look forward to one last class together on Wednesday, so I'll see you all then!
It's hard to believe another week has gone by. The week after VEISHEA was a good week for me. After our final IRHA meeting Tyler, Mandy, and I stayed out on Central Campus and went to Jeff's pizza and just stayed up talking until 3 a.m. It was kind of nice just to hang out with them in a non-formal context and just get to know each other a bit more, although I did say some pretty embarassing things about campaniling without really thinking about what I was saying before I said it. That's still something I'll have to work on. Then Friday night Tyler and I went all around Friley trying to convince people to go to the dance party downstairs (I was very dissapointed you didn't come Taylor....grrr.). Last night I went to the Dub H show at Ames High to watch Bia and Jordan perform...they did absolutely amazing! I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see all of my wonderful fellow peer mentors and a lot of my friends over the summer, but I look forward to reuniting with everybody back in the fall. It's going to be an amazing fall semester!
I hope everybody has a good last weekend before dead week. (Dead Week sound so morbid doesn't it?) I look forward to one last class together on Wednesday, so I'll see you all then!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Wrapping Up
So we're approaching the end of the semester (I think I've started most of my entry's with "So") and I am SO excited for next fall. We filled out the Mentoring Confidence sheets and I was pretty confident in everything. Our small group didn't like the way some of the questions were asked though, like "I feel confident in ending a mentoring relationship successfully." We were thinking "Why end it? Just because the class is over with doesn't mean we completely abandon them or cease contact with them. I think it's important for us to still maintain contact with our students even after the class is over with. We should be a resource to them throughout their time at Iowa State. I look forward to the panel this upcoming Wednesday and hearing about the experience of past Peer Mentors.
This past week has been pretty much amazing! Last year during VEISHEA I got the opportunity to see a lot of the entertainment options, but I didn't really get to be a part of highlighting the campus to visitors. This year was much different though. I gave tours during VEISHEA week which excited lots of people visiting campus during the day, I got to perform twice with Dance Marathon on the Central Campus stage, and got to represent IRHA in the VEISHEA parade. I thought the parade was really fun because I got to talk with the Geoffreys beforehand and met Coach Paul Rhoads. Throwing candy at people (sorry...I mean "to" people) was a lot of fun and the little kids were really excited during the parade. It was definitely a really memorable experience. The only downside to our balloon in the parade was after we got done and had to deflate it, Amanda convinced some of us to suck helium out of it. That's kind of a bad idea to do after running around/dancing for about half an hour straight. Just so you know...
Anyway, hope all of you had a fun and safe VEISHEA! I'll see you all on Wednesday!
This past week has been pretty much amazing! Last year during VEISHEA I got the opportunity to see a lot of the entertainment options, but I didn't really get to be a part of highlighting the campus to visitors. This year was much different though. I gave tours during VEISHEA week which excited lots of people visiting campus during the day, I got to perform twice with Dance Marathon on the Central Campus stage, and got to represent IRHA in the VEISHEA parade. I thought the parade was really fun because I got to talk with the Geoffreys beforehand and met Coach Paul Rhoads. Throwing candy at people (sorry...I mean "to" people) was a lot of fun and the little kids were really excited during the parade. It was definitely a really memorable experience. The only downside to our balloon in the parade was after we got done and had to deflate it, Amanda convinced some of us to suck helium out of it. That's kind of a bad idea to do after running around/dancing for about half an hour straight. Just so you know...
Anyway, hope all of you had a fun and safe VEISHEA! I'll see you all on Wednesday!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Campus Resources and VEISHEA Week!
So this week's class we covered campus resources. I already knew about all of them pretty much due to past training, but the sheet with a list of all the office locations and phone numbers is very convenient to have. It's going to be important to not only be aware of all of the resources available for students on campus, but also to be able to communicate exactly what they are for the incoming class of Hixson Scholars. I think it would be really beneficial to give personal experiences with resources if we have used them, as opposed to just talking about something we may not necessarily ever have used.
I met one of the workers at Taco Bell earlier who pretty much perfectly embodies the FISH philosophy. Normally when I go to fast-food restaurants (rarely), the workers there just seem really depressed and don't want to be there at all. The guy working today was really happy to see everybody, kept checking up on people to see how they were doing, and told jokes to pretty much everybody that walked in. It's amazing what just being happy and actually having a conversation with people can do.
Next week we have our Portfolios due...pretty much a compilation of all of the work we've done this semester and everything we've learned. I actually look forward to completing it just to see how much I've benefited from this semester, and using the material in the Portfolio for the actual class next fall. I REALLY want to get started on Orientation this summer, planning and executing Destination Iowa State, and helping to acclimate the new Hixson Scholars to Iowa State. Another reason I look forward to next fall...is I found out my room in Helser next year is the largest CA room, it's the only one with air conditioning, a private restroom, plus the current CA is including an extra storage unit and futon for me...for free! It's pretty much the best room in the building, besides the HD apartment obviously!
This past week has been a pretty fun week. We performed twice for Dance Marathon, once at Greek's Got Talent, and then for the Lip-Sync finals at Scheman auditorium. It made me miss performing like I used to in high school and my first year here before I became too busy. Next week it's going to be VEISHEA though which is going to be a really interesting week! Two exams, Transfer Orientation, Portfolio's due, Leadership Recognition Ceremony, DM performances, and marching in the VEISHEA Parade for IRHA. I remember VEISHEA being one of my favorite weeks last year, and I intend on that being the same for this year. I hope everybody has a fun, safe VEISHEA, and I'll see everybody in class Wednesday!
I met one of the workers at Taco Bell earlier who pretty much perfectly embodies the FISH philosophy. Normally when I go to fast-food restaurants (rarely), the workers there just seem really depressed and don't want to be there at all. The guy working today was really happy to see everybody, kept checking up on people to see how they were doing, and told jokes to pretty much everybody that walked in. It's amazing what just being happy and actually having a conversation with people can do.
Next week we have our Portfolios due...pretty much a compilation of all of the work we've done this semester and everything we've learned. I actually look forward to completing it just to see how much I've benefited from this semester, and using the material in the Portfolio for the actual class next fall. I REALLY want to get started on Orientation this summer, planning and executing Destination Iowa State, and helping to acclimate the new Hixson Scholars to Iowa State. Another reason I look forward to next fall...is I found out my room in Helser next year is the largest CA room, it's the only one with air conditioning, a private restroom, plus the current CA is including an extra storage unit and futon for me...for free! It's pretty much the best room in the building, besides the HD apartment obviously!
This past week has been a pretty fun week. We performed twice for Dance Marathon, once at Greek's Got Talent, and then for the Lip-Sync finals at Scheman auditorium. It made me miss performing like I used to in high school and my first year here before I became too busy. Next week it's going to be VEISHEA though which is going to be a really interesting week! Two exams, Transfer Orientation, Portfolio's due, Leadership Recognition Ceremony, DM performances, and marching in the VEISHEA Parade for IRHA. I remember VEISHEA being one of my favorite weeks last year, and I intend on that being the same for this year. I hope everybody has a fun, safe VEISHEA, and I'll see everybody in class Wednesday!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Teamwork
So this week's class was probably one of my favorites...since we were semi-outside and the weather on Wednesday was absolutely amazing. The activity that Matt and Chelsee planned was very interactive and is definitely something I'd consider trying with my students next semester, since it really did a lot to engage learning. I also liked the perspective the Decision-Making Assessment brought to us. Like I said in class, I scored highest on Intuitive and Spontaneous equally, and then second highest on Rational, which actually does make a lot of sense for me. I like to live in the moment and oftentimes make quick decisions just based off of my feelings, but I don't entirely disregard the facts and I do consider situational factors as well that may influence my decision. So while I do make quick decisions, I do have some rationality behind them most of the time. My lowest were Dependent and Avoidant. Like I said in class, I don't really rely on others for help much and I'm fairly independent. I will provide support and guidance to others and like to spend time with lots of people pretty much all of the time, but when it comes to making personal decisions, I like to be very independent. I guess it comes from never really looking up to too many people when I was young. My second lowest was Avoidant, even though there are some things (like a five page research paper that's due tomorrow...that I started and finished today) I will wait a while before doing. Although I don't consider myself a procrastinator...I don't necessarily put it off, I just need pressure before I can do certain things, such as writing a paper.
The two questions we were asked for accountability were in what positive ways do we contribute to groups we are a part of, and what's a way we can improve. I believe the best way I contribute to a group is through enthusiasm and positive attitude. During my Cyclone Aide overnight retreat when we were writing positive qualities on everybody's back, my most consistent feedback was stuff like "Great energy" "Love the enthusiasm" "Your positivity and enthusiasm are contagious". I always try to be enthusiastic about everything (although it can be a bit overbearing for some people). One way I could improve is by allowing others to contribute or share their ideas. As I've shared before, oftentimes I have a tendency to take charge and overshadow people who may not be as dominant or might not be as willing to verbalize their ideas. I know as a Peer Mentor next year I'll have to make extra effort to include students who might not necassarily want to speak up right away.
Yay! I actually did my entry before Sunday ended. VEISHEA's coming up next week. Who's excited? The semester's nearly over. I can't wait for this summer and then next fall when we get to welcome the 2010 class of Hixsons!
The two questions we were asked for accountability were in what positive ways do we contribute to groups we are a part of, and what's a way we can improve. I believe the best way I contribute to a group is through enthusiasm and positive attitude. During my Cyclone Aide overnight retreat when we were writing positive qualities on everybody's back, my most consistent feedback was stuff like "Great energy" "Love the enthusiasm" "Your positivity and enthusiasm are contagious". I always try to be enthusiastic about everything (although it can be a bit overbearing for some people). One way I could improve is by allowing others to contribute or share their ideas. As I've shared before, oftentimes I have a tendency to take charge and overshadow people who may not be as dominant or might not be as willing to verbalize their ideas. I know as a Peer Mentor next year I'll have to make extra effort to include students who might not necassarily want to speak up right away.
Yay! I actually did my entry before Sunday ended. VEISHEA's coming up next week. Who's excited? The semester's nearly over. I can't wait for this summer and then next fall when we get to welcome the 2010 class of Hixsons!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Lesson Planning and Hixson Retreat
So...once again, I am late with this post. Don't worry. I'm going to make myself do 20 laps around the Hixson building to punish myself, so it's all good.
Our lesson this past Wednesday was on writing effective lesson plans. This area is probably one of my biggest weaknesses because I'm the type of person that doesn't plan ahead and just "wings" it, a technique which I've used successfully in the past and oftentimes with humorous results, but when it comes to facilitating a classroom, it may not be exactly the best method. I'll also have to keep in mind that in order for it to be an effective classroom, the students will be doing more of the talking as opposed to the instructors.
This weekend we had our Peer Mentoring Retreat, where we went all around Ames and ISU and took a bunch of crazy pictures for a scavenger hunt. Our group seemed to have a recurring theme of having me elevated in every picture, so it'll be funny to see all of the pictures Lisa took. I kind of experience some of the Experience Iowa State guests out...I was still in my STARS uniform when we were by Carver Hall taking pictures with the statue and I was kind of...climbing on the statue at the time holding peanut butter. Needless to say the guests were confused and we left kind of quickly. It was pretty hillarious though. We met at Perfect Games to play bowling and I reaffirmed just how HORRIBLE I am at bowling although I did get a spare and imprvoed immensely the second half. (My goal was 50, and I got 71 so that's not too bad.) We played lasertag and I ended up getting 7 out of 9...I probably would have gotten higher if I didn't happen to be Heath's favorite victim! (Allie, if you are reading this, you are now my favorite grad. assistant.)
Hope you all have a nice week and I look forward to Wednesday's class!
Our lesson this past Wednesday was on writing effective lesson plans. This area is probably one of my biggest weaknesses because I'm the type of person that doesn't plan ahead and just "wings" it, a technique which I've used successfully in the past and oftentimes with humorous results, but when it comes to facilitating a classroom, it may not be exactly the best method. I'll also have to keep in mind that in order for it to be an effective classroom, the students will be doing more of the talking as opposed to the instructors.
This weekend we had our Peer Mentoring Retreat, where we went all around Ames and ISU and took a bunch of crazy pictures for a scavenger hunt. Our group seemed to have a recurring theme of having me elevated in every picture, so it'll be funny to see all of the pictures Lisa took. I kind of experience some of the Experience Iowa State guests out...I was still in my STARS uniform when we were by Carver Hall taking pictures with the statue and I was kind of...climbing on the statue at the time holding peanut butter. Needless to say the guests were confused and we left kind of quickly. It was pretty hillarious though. We met at Perfect Games to play bowling and I reaffirmed just how HORRIBLE I am at bowling although I did get a spare and imprvoed immensely the second half. (My goal was 50, and I got 71 so that's not too bad.) We played lasertag and I ended up getting 7 out of 9...I probably would have gotten higher if I didn't happen to be Heath's favorite victim! (Allie, if you are reading this, you are now my favorite grad. assistant.)
Hope you all have a nice week and I look forward to Wednesday's class!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Guiding Values and Hard Topics
I thought the way Cody and Lauren did the class discussion was great. Typically we do TTYP, which I still think is pretty effective, but it's good to avoid getting into too much of a pattern and mixing things up a bit. All of the guiding values we talked about are important, and I liked how we were all given the opportunity to elaborate on one of them. The one I had was Positive Thinking, something I believe I try to embody to it's fullest extent. Like I said in class, I try to live in the moment and not let other things that are going on effect my interactions with others or the task at hand. I currently do have a couple of things going on. I'm waiting to hear back about some interviews and applications, I recently was told by a friend of mine whose had emotional problems for a while that she's liked me as more than just a friend the past couple of years and whenever she's been with other guys she's thinking of me, and I recently found out a friend of mine is dropping out this Monday, in addition to having some slight financial problems currently. Nobody really knows about these things going on with me because I choose to ignore it whenever there is stuff to be done and focus on it only when I can do it on my own time and not ruin somebody else's experience.
We also talked about some difficult situations that might come up as Peer Mentors. Although we laughed quite a bit at some of them, they are all serious situations that we may potentially deal with. Personally, I don't see myself being at an underage drinking party next year (I will be of age at the time though.), but if I were and saw one of my mentees there, I would probably leave. I think we also did a good job of trying to set boundaries for the Mentor/Mentee relationship. We don't want to exclude others and we also want to avoid awkward situations. Without getting into details, stuff has happened between others and I in situations where we had to keep things professional, and when that fell through it did make things very awkward. We will have to think more about these situations as we get closer to the fall and as they come up. Luckily we will have a class together where we can discuss them.
We also talked about some difficult situations that might come up as Peer Mentors. Although we laughed quite a bit at some of them, they are all serious situations that we may potentially deal with. Personally, I don't see myself being at an underage drinking party next year (I will be of age at the time though.), but if I were and saw one of my mentees there, I would probably leave. I think we also did a good job of trying to set boundaries for the Mentor/Mentee relationship. We don't want to exclude others and we also want to avoid awkward situations. Without getting into details, stuff has happened between others and I in situations where we had to keep things professional, and when that fell through it did make things very awkward. We will have to think more about these situations as we get closer to the fall and as they come up. Luckily we will have a class together where we can discuss them.
ISCORE
So apparently with Spring Break coming up at the time and me being rushed all of the time....I forgot to actually SAVE and publish my last entry... so feel free to punish me if you want.
ISCORE was actually pretty amazing. I remember the morning of I really wasn't looking forward to attending since I'd be leaving that afternoon for a Cyclone Aide Retreat. It was definitely worth it though. I went to Hannah's session over Hispanics in America. Hannah did an AMAZING job, and I was very impressed. Good job Hannah! It's important to realize that even though we as caucasians might think there is equality in America, there really isn't. We have come a long way but there is still much further to go.
The second session was over Multicultural Athlete's Experience here at Iowa State. This session really opened my eyes. To be honest, I didn't really think athletes here had as many stringent requirements, and I had no idea they had to work equally as hard in the classroom, as hard as they were working in the field. Unfortunately I see lots of student athletes not really taking advantage of there opportunities...many times in the Hixson center I see some of them just sitting around talking and not working. However, there are some I see who are working all of the time and I have great respect for all of their contributions. We shouldn't just assume that all of them are the same and don't do work (that would be outgroup homogeneity bias. Just throwing out some Psych terms for Heath and Chelsea!).
For lunch we had Native American food. It was actually pretty good, and it was good to get to sit with some of the other Hixsons and discuss the sessions...even though I'm lucky I haven't had nightmares yet about Kelly's headless emu story.
Unfortunately I had to leave ISCORE at that time to head to class and head to our overnight Cyclone Aide retreat. Once again, I really wasn't looking forward to the retreat that much, but it was AMAZING. Probably one of the best weekends I've had of this semester. We did lots of team building and get to know you activities, some of which I might try to implement with my mentees for next year. We also did some more in-depth personal activities...it was actually really good to get to hear what other people thought of me in the group, even though it was anonymous and we couldn't identify who said what about us, it was good to hear how I'm perceived by others. It definitely helps knowing how you come off to others so you can be more effective in communicating with them.
Overall, it was a very fun and enlightening weekend. I will definitely encourage my students next year to attend ISCORE. It is a very positive experience.
ISCORE was actually pretty amazing. I remember the morning of I really wasn't looking forward to attending since I'd be leaving that afternoon for a Cyclone Aide Retreat. It was definitely worth it though. I went to Hannah's session over Hispanics in America. Hannah did an AMAZING job, and I was very impressed. Good job Hannah! It's important to realize that even though we as caucasians might think there is equality in America, there really isn't. We have come a long way but there is still much further to go.
The second session was over Multicultural Athlete's Experience here at Iowa State. This session really opened my eyes. To be honest, I didn't really think athletes here had as many stringent requirements, and I had no idea they had to work equally as hard in the classroom, as hard as they were working in the field. Unfortunately I see lots of student athletes not really taking advantage of there opportunities...many times in the Hixson center I see some of them just sitting around talking and not working. However, there are some I see who are working all of the time and I have great respect for all of their contributions. We shouldn't just assume that all of them are the same and don't do work (that would be outgroup homogeneity bias. Just throwing out some Psych terms for Heath and Chelsea!).
For lunch we had Native American food. It was actually pretty good, and it was good to get to sit with some of the other Hixsons and discuss the sessions...even though I'm lucky I haven't had nightmares yet about Kelly's headless emu story.
Unfortunately I had to leave ISCORE at that time to head to class and head to our overnight Cyclone Aide retreat. Once again, I really wasn't looking forward to the retreat that much, but it was AMAZING. Probably one of the best weekends I've had of this semester. We did lots of team building and get to know you activities, some of which I might try to implement with my mentees for next year. We also did some more in-depth personal activities...it was actually really good to get to hear what other people thought of me in the group, even though it was anonymous and we couldn't identify who said what about us, it was good to hear how I'm perceived by others. It definitely helps knowing how you come off to others so you can be more effective in communicating with them.
Overall, it was a very fun and enlightening weekend. I will definitely encourage my students next year to attend ISCORE. It is a very positive experience.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Recent Activities
So it's been a pretty eventful week. Being somewhat indirectly involved with the whole GSB election-scandal thing that the Daily pretty much misconstrued, preparing a Health/Wellness Presentation for IRHA tonight, doing a speaker introduction for Cyclone Aide training, and having pretty much half the class and some Cyclone Aides shadow my tour today only to end up with the guy who was supposed to pick us up at Gerdin forgetting about us, and heading to Madrid, IA tomorrow after ISCORE for a Cyclone Aide retreat. I also found out I'm a Community Advisor for Helser next year, so that's going to be interesting when August comes around with Destination Iowa State/Fall Move-In and training. Overall this week has been like a marathon and I definitely look forward to the Cyclone Aide retreat and getting to have fun.
In class we talked a bit about metacognition. Metacognition is very important when trying to avoid biases and avoiding Fundamental Attribution Error (one of my favorite phrases lately). I think it's something I actually started a bit earlier this semester, and even during Cyclone Aide training today we talked about a similiar idea. It's kind of interesting that a lot of my training actually ends up overlapping, but I guess it goes to show that it's very important when working with students.
I think that's all I have for now. ISCORE is coming up tomorrow so I will probably do a longer entry for that. Thanks to everybody who came on my campus tour today, especially with as chaotic as everything was today!
In class we talked a bit about metacognition. Metacognition is very important when trying to avoid biases and avoiding Fundamental Attribution Error (one of my favorite phrases lately). I think it's something I actually started a bit earlier this semester, and even during Cyclone Aide training today we talked about a similiar idea. It's kind of interesting that a lot of my training actually ends up overlapping, but I guess it goes to show that it's very important when working with students.
I think that's all I have for now. ISCORE is coming up tomorrow so I will probably do a longer entry for that. Thanks to everybody who came on my campus tour today, especially with as chaotic as everything was today!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Effective Communication and Course Facilitation
Effective communication is key when it comes to instructing a seminar, but also to just everyday life. The beginning of the class was spent discussing times when communication has failed. I only used a recent example in class, but there have been several times in the past where communication has failed for me. Either somebody had taken something the wrong way, not everybody was informed of everything, or people were given false and/or misleading information. If communication fails, oftentimes the given task at hand fails and that is very nonconducive to our purpose. We want the incoming Hixson Scholars to be successful and to benefit from the Hixson Program as much as possible...that can't happen if communication isn't successful so we need to be careful to communicate properly.
We talked about the most effective ways to communicate material in the class. We discussed several different techniques: Think/Pair/Share which was pretty much TTYP, Q-SPACE(otherwise known as Q-Spot according to Cody), and lecture. There was pretty much a mutual agreement that TTYP was the most effective technique, and it is the technique we primarily use in class. TTYP allows for people to make a personal connection with somebody else and to engage in higher-level thinking and deep conversation, as opposed to just passively listening. It also holds people accountable for listening when they have to report back on what their partner has said. Q-SPACE I think will also be effective, since it allows people to discuss their ideas in more of a public forum and listen to the entire group, however it runs the danger of people just passively sitting there as well. Lecture is probably the least effective and will probably be used the least...only for logistics and information the students may not be able to get themselves. Plus lecture is the most boring and I wouldn't feel like standing in front of a room and talking for 50 minutes straight (I also find it hillarious that Chelsee, Heath, and I are all Psychology majors, ENFP, and expressed the most dislike for lecture-based classes.)
There are also some other things about communication that we didn't really talk too much about in class that I think are important, mainly having to do with speaking technique. Articulation and speaking clearly is very important...it's important that the students actually know what you are saying and aren't confused about what you actually said. Projection is very important as well...although it won't really be too much of an issue in the seminars since everybody will be close together, it's still important to make sure everybody can hear you. Eye contact is important as well..it makes everybody feel included and also makes more of a personal connection as opposed to just standing there staring into space talking.
I think I will end the entry here. I look forward to next week's class and attending the ISCORE conference. I hope everybody has a nice week!
We talked about the most effective ways to communicate material in the class. We discussed several different techniques: Think/Pair/Share which was pretty much TTYP, Q-SPACE(otherwise known as Q-Spot according to Cody), and lecture. There was pretty much a mutual agreement that TTYP was the most effective technique, and it is the technique we primarily use in class. TTYP allows for people to make a personal connection with somebody else and to engage in higher-level thinking and deep conversation, as opposed to just passively listening. It also holds people accountable for listening when they have to report back on what their partner has said. Q-SPACE I think will also be effective, since it allows people to discuss their ideas in more of a public forum and listen to the entire group, however it runs the danger of people just passively sitting there as well. Lecture is probably the least effective and will probably be used the least...only for logistics and information the students may not be able to get themselves. Plus lecture is the most boring and I wouldn't feel like standing in front of a room and talking for 50 minutes straight (I also find it hillarious that Chelsee, Heath, and I are all Psychology majors, ENFP, and expressed the most dislike for lecture-based classes.)
There are also some other things about communication that we didn't really talk too much about in class that I think are important, mainly having to do with speaking technique. Articulation and speaking clearly is very important...it's important that the students actually know what you are saying and aren't confused about what you actually said. Projection is very important as well...although it won't really be too much of an issue in the seminars since everybody will be close together, it's still important to make sure everybody can hear you. Eye contact is important as well..it makes everybody feel included and also makes more of a personal connection as opposed to just standing there staring into space talking.
I think I will end the entry here. I look forward to next week's class and attending the ISCORE conference. I hope everybody has a nice week!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Cultural Awareness
Fortunately for everybody my entry this week is probably going to be a bit shorter than my average one, since this is probably the busiest week of the semester for me so far.
Yesterday in class we talked about cultural awareness and cultural diversity primarily. Reading the article Ali and Heath assigned and doing the worksheet at the end of class made something a lot more salient to me...when I looked around the classroom everybody was white, the majority of the other Cyclone Aides this year are white, everybody on my conference bid team is white, and most of the people I know on IRHA is white as well. Although it's very easy to see that the majority of people in leadership positions here are white, it's not really that easy to be consciously aware of it, which I became yesterday. It was actually kind of shocking.
The article also talked about becoming aware of our biases and how it effects the way we interact with other people. It's impossible to deny the fact that one has biases...they will be there, but the important thing is to acknowledge how they effect your interactions with others. There is actually a video I remember watching in Social Psychology last year that still sticks with me. Basically two confederates were trained to act the same, having the exact same professional credentials and pretty much everything the same about their personality...but there was only one difference...one person was attractive, the other person was more average looking. Although professionally they were still the same potential employers almost always hired the more attractive applicant. This just goes to show that biases for attractiveness really do effect big issues such as employment, and that can be translated to race as well. White people are encouraged to seek positions of power more and so they are more likely to be in positions of power, and due to us being a white-priveledged culture, they will most likely get the preference for the position opposed to somebody of a different race. People of other races are oftentimes molded into just trying to fit in with our culture that they won't try to obtain positions of power and thus aren't seen in higher positions as often and make less money. Again, these were all issues I knew about, but it is something that can be difficult to acknowledge when one wants to think of the just-world notion in order to protect your conscience.
Even when I was doing Team Leader interviews for Destination Iowa State before class yesterday, the majority of the applicants were white, with only two other ethnicities being represented, Hispanic and Asian. I was only in one interview room though ofcourse, so maybe there were others there as well, but based just off of my sample room, there wasn't too much cultural diversity represented.
I honestly don't know what we can do as a solution to this, either than just acknowledge that fact and that our biases can effect our interactions. Acknowledging it is probably the first step to finding a solution though.
I think I'll end the entry here. I don't really have much else to say this week. I hope everybody has a good weekend and stay safe!
Yesterday in class we talked about cultural awareness and cultural diversity primarily. Reading the article Ali and Heath assigned and doing the worksheet at the end of class made something a lot more salient to me...when I looked around the classroom everybody was white, the majority of the other Cyclone Aides this year are white, everybody on my conference bid team is white, and most of the people I know on IRHA is white as well. Although it's very easy to see that the majority of people in leadership positions here are white, it's not really that easy to be consciously aware of it, which I became yesterday. It was actually kind of shocking.
The article also talked about becoming aware of our biases and how it effects the way we interact with other people. It's impossible to deny the fact that one has biases...they will be there, but the important thing is to acknowledge how they effect your interactions with others. There is actually a video I remember watching in Social Psychology last year that still sticks with me. Basically two confederates were trained to act the same, having the exact same professional credentials and pretty much everything the same about their personality...but there was only one difference...one person was attractive, the other person was more average looking. Although professionally they were still the same potential employers almost always hired the more attractive applicant. This just goes to show that biases for attractiveness really do effect big issues such as employment, and that can be translated to race as well. White people are encouraged to seek positions of power more and so they are more likely to be in positions of power, and due to us being a white-priveledged culture, they will most likely get the preference for the position opposed to somebody of a different race. People of other races are oftentimes molded into just trying to fit in with our culture that they won't try to obtain positions of power and thus aren't seen in higher positions as often and make less money. Again, these were all issues I knew about, but it is something that can be difficult to acknowledge when one wants to think of the just-world notion in order to protect your conscience.
Even when I was doing Team Leader interviews for Destination Iowa State before class yesterday, the majority of the applicants were white, with only two other ethnicities being represented, Hispanic and Asian. I was only in one interview room though ofcourse, so maybe there were others there as well, but based just off of my sample room, there wasn't too much cultural diversity represented.
I honestly don't know what we can do as a solution to this, either than just acknowledge that fact and that our biases can effect our interactions. Acknowledging it is probably the first step to finding a solution though.
I think I'll end the entry here. I don't really have much else to say this week. I hope everybody has a good weekend and stay safe!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Awareness Assessment
I just filled out the Awareness Assessment Lisa and Jenna assigned us in class last week. I tried to be as objective as possible and answer about my actual self, as opposed to my ideal self or how I'd like to be. I actually scored pretty high on all of them, my highest score being a 19, and everything else being an 18 or 17. I do believe though that a year or so ago my scores wouldn't have been as high. For intellectual awarenes, last semester was actually when I started using effective studying techniques and trying to apply what I was learning in class, which I found to be one of the most effective studing techniques I've ever used. For resource awareness, I pretty much have always been able to rely on what was available to get the job or task done, and lately I have become better ar resisting impulses and delaying gratification (still working on that though with certain things.) As for physical awareness, that is also something I've taken stock of recently in the past couple years. I pretty much walk/run everywhere, and run sometimes just to blow off steam, and this semester I've been trying my best to eat healthier, so that's something I've become more aware of us as well. Emotional awarness I scored pretty high on too, which makes sense to me. I'm comfortable taking risks and putting myself out there, which is also something I've improved upon in the past year. Social awareness is also something I've developed more on recently. I am pretty comfortable around other people and have been told I put people at ease...and recently I've been recognizing the effects my behavior and actions have on other people, which has altered my behavior to be much more positive and conducive to the social situation. Finally, I also scored high on spiritual awareness. I enjoy helping my community and genuinely gain pleasure from doing altruistic deeds for others (Althogh one could argue that it's not truely altruistic if one derives pleasure from it...but I don't really like philosophy so I won't get into that.) I've recently gained more of an insight in where I want to head in life which has only increased my spiritual awareness.
So overall I didn't really see a particular area I was lacking in, although like I said earlier I can still improve a bit on all of those areas and have also improved significantly in the past couple of years, maybe even this semester as a result of being in this class.
Earlier on today I had an epiphany, similiar to what Chelsee had in class last week. I had a pretty busy day...I had to perform as Cy for EIS this morning (although it's a lot of fun, the costume gets REALLY hot and my advisor kept pulling my tail), did a group visit with some high school Physics students, and had class as usual. I have a Psych 230 exam tomorrow, so I decided earlier on this evening that I'd walk down to Starbucks to get a Vente Double Chocolate Chip Frappucino (they are absolutely amazing, but probably not the healthiest thing for you) and study for a bit. I honestly didn't really study for that long, but the thing was I actually kind of liked just sitting there and thinking. I'm so used to running around all of the time (Clint told me last week that he barely sees me and whenever he does it's like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off) and constantly being surrounded by people and doing things, that I honestly really haven't had too much personal time or time to myself. It was honestly just nice sitting there, observing other people and just relaxing. I'm making a note to do that more often, and when I'm down in Nebraska this weekend for our conference, I might just spend some time in the hotel room resting up instead of running around the entire weekend. Doing this writing exercise for class has actually helped me gain some insight into myself and has made me a bit more introspective, probably much to the dismay of everybody who has to read the ridiculously long entries I write.
Well, I think I'm going to go off to prepare for my exam tomorrow. I hope everybody has a nice week and I look forward to doing the discussion starter this Wednesday!
So overall I didn't really see a particular area I was lacking in, although like I said earlier I can still improve a bit on all of those areas and have also improved significantly in the past couple of years, maybe even this semester as a result of being in this class.
Earlier on today I had an epiphany, similiar to what Chelsee had in class last week. I had a pretty busy day...I had to perform as Cy for EIS this morning (although it's a lot of fun, the costume gets REALLY hot and my advisor kept pulling my tail), did a group visit with some high school Physics students, and had class as usual. I have a Psych 230 exam tomorrow, so I decided earlier on this evening that I'd walk down to Starbucks to get a Vente Double Chocolate Chip Frappucino (they are absolutely amazing, but probably not the healthiest thing for you) and study for a bit. I honestly didn't really study for that long, but the thing was I actually kind of liked just sitting there and thinking. I'm so used to running around all of the time (Clint told me last week that he barely sees me and whenever he does it's like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off) and constantly being surrounded by people and doing things, that I honestly really haven't had too much personal time or time to myself. It was honestly just nice sitting there, observing other people and just relaxing. I'm making a note to do that more often, and when I'm down in Nebraska this weekend for our conference, I might just spend some time in the hotel room resting up instead of running around the entire weekend. Doing this writing exercise for class has actually helped me gain some insight into myself and has made me a bit more introspective, probably much to the dismay of everybody who has to read the ridiculously long entries I write.
Well, I think I'm going to go off to prepare for my exam tomorrow. I hope everybody has a nice week and I look forward to doing the discussion starter this Wednesday!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Self-Reflection
Today in class we talked extensively about our self-concept and how it's important to truy know ourselves in order to be effective Peer Mentors. Quite a lot recently, probably partially due to being a member of this class, I have been trying to observe myself from other's perspective and engaging in meta-cognition (thanks to Heath for clarifying the term for me.) I have become increasingly aware of my values, motivations, and situational factors that influence me. This semester with as busy as I am (full-time student, working as a Cyclone Aide, volunteering for Office of Admissions as a STAR, planning a conference, being Vice-President of Maple and coordinating this fitness program for all of the residence halls, and Hixson Peer Mentor training.) I have come to terms with who is important to me and what I want from life. I have had limited time to engage in social interactions with friends, and I have noticed I have taken the time to make time for those people who are important to me, and people whom I consider to be more of a negative influence I have put minimal effort towards seeing. I will also try to make time to see some of my other friend's more and get to know some people better, as I've formed a lot of new relationships this semester.
There are other things I am looking to change as well. Lately I have been trying to exercise more and eat healthier, as a part of the physical awareness we discussed in class today. Although I am by no means unhealthy or anything, I do need to take care of myself some more, so I have been out running more often and have cut drastically down on soft drinks/junk food, and have been replacing those with more fruits and vegetables. I'm not 100% there yet, but just in the past couple of weeks I have made significant progress. I also figure as being a member of Health/Wellness Committee for IRHA, I should set a positive example for residents. I will carry this on to my role as a Peer Mentor as well.
I have also come to more of a conclusion of what I want to do later on in life. I love working with people and meeting new people all of the time. I like to teach people new things and help them out whenever I can. Pretty much all of my involvement outside of the classroom has had to do with teaching/helping people. I am really highly considering applying to the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program here at ISU to major in Higher Education. I honestly would love just teaching/helping people for the rest of my life and I like university settings as well. I obviously still have a while to decide but that is the direction I think I'll be heading in. Perhaps my role as a Peer Mentor will reaffirm that decision or allow me to consider going in other directions. Only time can tell.
I am really loving this class. I believe Matt mentioned in his blog how this class was his favorite class...I can honestly say it was my favorite class as well too. Not only do we learn a lot about each other, we also learn a lot about ourselves. I have never really been in a setting where people have been so open about themselves and I feel very comfortable in this group sharing just about anything. I highly look forward to facilitating class discussion next week...I give presentations and stuff all of the time, but it's been a long time since I've really facilitated a discussion. I really do look forward to working with everybody for the next year and hope we can help to make the next class of Hixson Scholars successful!
PS: I apologize for another excessively long post...as I said, I've been engaging in lots of introspection lately and I pretty much have just been typing it all out to bring it more to my conscience mind. If anybody thinks my thoughts are too jumbled or confusing just tell me. I should really stop typing now and study for my two tests later...today, since it's past midnight now that I'm finally finishing. Hope everybody has a nice week!
There are other things I am looking to change as well. Lately I have been trying to exercise more and eat healthier, as a part of the physical awareness we discussed in class today. Although I am by no means unhealthy or anything, I do need to take care of myself some more, so I have been out running more often and have cut drastically down on soft drinks/junk food, and have been replacing those with more fruits and vegetables. I'm not 100% there yet, but just in the past couple of weeks I have made significant progress. I also figure as being a member of Health/Wellness Committee for IRHA, I should set a positive example for residents. I will carry this on to my role as a Peer Mentor as well.
I have also come to more of a conclusion of what I want to do later on in life. I love working with people and meeting new people all of the time. I like to teach people new things and help them out whenever I can. Pretty much all of my involvement outside of the classroom has had to do with teaching/helping people. I am really highly considering applying to the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program here at ISU to major in Higher Education. I honestly would love just teaching/helping people for the rest of my life and I like university settings as well. I obviously still have a while to decide but that is the direction I think I'll be heading in. Perhaps my role as a Peer Mentor will reaffirm that decision or allow me to consider going in other directions. Only time can tell.
I am really loving this class. I believe Matt mentioned in his blog how this class was his favorite class...I can honestly say it was my favorite class as well too. Not only do we learn a lot about each other, we also learn a lot about ourselves. I have never really been in a setting where people have been so open about themselves and I feel very comfortable in this group sharing just about anything. I highly look forward to facilitating class discussion next week...I give presentations and stuff all of the time, but it's been a long time since I've really facilitated a discussion. I really do look forward to working with everybody for the next year and hope we can help to make the next class of Hixson Scholars successful!
PS: I apologize for another excessively long post...as I said, I've been engaging in lots of introspection lately and I pretty much have just been typing it all out to bring it more to my conscience mind. If anybody thinks my thoughts are too jumbled or confusing just tell me. I should really stop typing now and study for my two tests later...today, since it's past midnight now that I'm finally finishing. Hope everybody has a nice week!
10 Quotes
"A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves."
"A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it."
"The task of the leader is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
"Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse."
-Philip Zimbardo
"Leadership is not choosing sides, it's about bringing sides together."
"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."
-Anne Frank
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
-Anne Frank
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
-Dwight Eisenhower
"We must all fear evil men...but there is another kind of evil we must fear most...And that is the indifference of good men."
"We come to college not alone to prepare to make a living, but to learn to live a life."
- M.J. Riggs
"A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it."
"The task of the leader is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
"Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse."
-Philip Zimbardo
"Leadership is not choosing sides, it's about bringing sides together."
"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."
-Anne Frank
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
-Anne Frank
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
-Dwight Eisenhower
"We must all fear evil men...but there is another kind of evil we must fear most...And that is the indifference of good men."
"We come to college not alone to prepare to make a living, but to learn to live a life."
- M.J. Riggs
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Relationships and Excessive Hand Gestures
Due to recent events in my life and discussion in class today, I did come to a realization about an aspect of myself which I definitely need to actively work on. During small-group discussion today when Amy, Lauren, and I were talking about building relationships I become self-aware of the fact that during discussion I was focusing my attention primarily on Lauren and also oftentimes interrupting Amy or speaking before she had a chance to speak. I apologize for that Amy...I told you I didn't necessarily mean to, but I have noticed consistently across situations I have similar traits. I have a friend who is more introverted than most of my other friends and I oftentimes will dominate conversations with him around and won't take the time to get feedback from him. I also do primarily focus on my more active, extroverted friends and will sometimes neglect the ones who aren't so outspoken, possibly because with everything I'm doing, the less outspoken people I know aren't so salient. I do know however when to turn this off, and have done so in the past when I've been in a leadership position. When I was a Team Leader for Destination Iowa State I actually did focus more on my more introverted students and tried to allow them time to speak and give input. In the past when I've ran projects I would normally try to make sure the quieter people could speak up as well. When I am self-aware of the need to allow introverted/more quiet people time to express themselves, I do so efficiently. However, in non-leadership oriented settings or when I'm not actively thinking about it, I will tend to focus on that which is more salient. Perhaps by actively engaging in allowing others the time to speak and be heard, it will become an unconscious autonomic process.
On a slightly more humorous note, I will also need to work on keeping my hands still in discussions and introduction. This will be difficult since I'm used to being really expressive with my hands...I've had several people compliment me on hand gestures during presentations, but occasionally somebody will say it's too distracting. It's almost an automatic thing due to being involved in theatre and All-State Speech in high school when I had to be consciously aware of my hand movements, which converted into an autonomic thing as well. Working on keeping my hands still though will still be beneficial since we need to practice that for Cyclone Aide as well.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Learning Communities Mini-Institute
Hello everybody. Here's my first entry for the U. ST 311 blog!
This past week I attended a session both at Iowa State Leadership Experience and at the Learning Communities Mini-Institute. The session I attended at Iowa State Leadership Experience was about running virtual meetings, although all of the rules applied to face-to-face meetings as well. Although I haven't had too much experience with virtual meetings, I have plenty of experience with face-to-face meetings. An interesting thing I noticed was the meetings I attended that went well actually followed the rules set aside during our brainstorming sessions. The organizations I'm apart of that had meetings that didn't really follow these rules aren't quite as effective. I am the co-facilitator of meetings as part of my obligation of being Vice-President of Maple, so I will definitely try to implement these strategies during meeting facilitation.
Today I also attended a session at the Learning Communities Mini-Institute. I wanted to attend more than just one, but unfortunately I had a residence hall tour at 11 am I had to give, so I was only able to go to one session. The session I went to was about Kolb's Learning Theory, facilitated by Craig Zywicki, an employee of the Academic Success Center. Although the session was kind of awkward at first because everybody in there besides me were student affairs professionals/in a professional advisory position of some sort, I quickly become acclimated to the session. We filled out a brief assessment on learning preferences and I found out I am primarily guided by experience and emotion, which places me on the Activist spectrum on Kolb's learning theory. This is very consistent with the way I actually am. I don't like to plan things ahead of time, I'm just spontaneous and jump right in. I rarely write rough drafts or plan for papers...I sit down the night before and just write it out, usually with great success. When giving a presentation or speech I prefer to just wing it as opposed to being too prepared. I don't become too concerned with minor details and prefer to spend time on meaningful tasks....I don't like to waste time and always want to be doing things. However, lately I have had to delve more into my planning side. I am currently the Mass Gatherings/Facilities Chair for a potential conference, which requires a lot of organization and planning. I am also involved in several other leadership positions and work as a Cyclone Aide, all of which require a lot of planning and attention to detail and interpersonal dynamics. Although I can still function quite well in other moods, I still find when given the choice, I prefer to just jump right in. As a Peer Mentor, always going with this approach could be problematic. Some people could find my direct attitude offputting. I need to learn to plan a bit ahead of time before approaching a situation, so I don't just start talking and potentially say the wrong thing. Throughout the semester I hope to work on this, both for the benefits of my fellow Peer Mentors and Mentees, and to help me improve my performance in other areas as well.
I look forward to Peer Mentor training this semester, and actually being able to put it into practice next fall (I'm an Activist, so obviously I can't wait to just DO it. :)) I hope I can help my mentees in anyway I can and improve myself in the process. Here's to a good semester and good Peer Mentoring experience!
-Austin
This past week I attended a session both at Iowa State Leadership Experience and at the Learning Communities Mini-Institute. The session I attended at Iowa State Leadership Experience was about running virtual meetings, although all of the rules applied to face-to-face meetings as well. Although I haven't had too much experience with virtual meetings, I have plenty of experience with face-to-face meetings. An interesting thing I noticed was the meetings I attended that went well actually followed the rules set aside during our brainstorming sessions. The organizations I'm apart of that had meetings that didn't really follow these rules aren't quite as effective. I am the co-facilitator of meetings as part of my obligation of being Vice-President of Maple, so I will definitely try to implement these strategies during meeting facilitation.
Today I also attended a session at the Learning Communities Mini-Institute. I wanted to attend more than just one, but unfortunately I had a residence hall tour at 11 am I had to give, so I was only able to go to one session. The session I went to was about Kolb's Learning Theory, facilitated by Craig Zywicki, an employee of the Academic Success Center. Although the session was kind of awkward at first because everybody in there besides me were student affairs professionals/in a professional advisory position of some sort, I quickly become acclimated to the session. We filled out a brief assessment on learning preferences and I found out I am primarily guided by experience and emotion, which places me on the Activist spectrum on Kolb's learning theory. This is very consistent with the way I actually am. I don't like to plan things ahead of time, I'm just spontaneous and jump right in. I rarely write rough drafts or plan for papers...I sit down the night before and just write it out, usually with great success. When giving a presentation or speech I prefer to just wing it as opposed to being too prepared. I don't become too concerned with minor details and prefer to spend time on meaningful tasks....I don't like to waste time and always want to be doing things. However, lately I have had to delve more into my planning side. I am currently the Mass Gatherings/Facilities Chair for a potential conference, which requires a lot of organization and planning. I am also involved in several other leadership positions and work as a Cyclone Aide, all of which require a lot of planning and attention to detail and interpersonal dynamics. Although I can still function quite well in other moods, I still find when given the choice, I prefer to just jump right in. As a Peer Mentor, always going with this approach could be problematic. Some people could find my direct attitude offputting. I need to learn to plan a bit ahead of time before approaching a situation, so I don't just start talking and potentially say the wrong thing. Throughout the semester I hope to work on this, both for the benefits of my fellow Peer Mentors and Mentees, and to help me improve my performance in other areas as well.
I look forward to Peer Mentor training this semester, and actually being able to put it into practice next fall (I'm an Activist, so obviously I can't wait to just DO it. :)) I hope I can help my mentees in anyway I can and improve myself in the process. Here's to a good semester and good Peer Mentoring experience!
-Austin
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