When I first tried to write this week's blog, I sat in front on my computer for about 15 minutes and realized I had written nothing. I was surprised because I view myself as a pretty reflective person, but thinking of a personal vision statement required much deeper thinking. I found it easiest to simply reflect on my own experiences, background, strengths and weaknesses, as well as how I've actively applied them to deal with complex situations. I'm not going to lie...I sort of ripped off a saying that is familiar to many of you actively involved on campus to create my personal vision statement.
"I strive to lead, learn from, and serve my peers and community"
It sounds and looks simple in writing, which is partially a reflection of personality, but truly living this ideal is a challenge that I look forward to everyday.
I will begin by discussing the second part of my vision statement because I feel that this is a prerequisite for the other two things to occur. Learning from your peers and community is a lifelong process, but it especially important when you encounter new situations, people, or co-workers. It is vital to gather input on how things function, the history behind a community, and why things are viewed the way that they are. Only then can you truly understand the root causes behind issues, which is necessary for social change. The last leg of my personal vision statement, "serve", can take place simultaneously or after learning. Serving your community is two-fold because it directly impacts the community positively, and it shows your commitment to others. You will develop a mutual respect with your peers that will create a trusting environment. The last step is to lead, which is the most important step because now you can implement social change. In closing, I wish this entire process was as easy as me writing this blog, but it is not. The process is complex, multi-dimensional, and takes an immense amount of commitment. But in the end, the indescribable feeling of "reward" that comes from helping others and being happy trumps all of the exhausting work.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Collaboration
Simply put, collaboration is difficult because we are human. At the root of much decision making lies our primal instinct of survival and self-advancement. This leads to competition being the primary means or working with and motivating others; competition is embedded in Western culture throughout our schools, sports teams, and work. Competition brings out many positive results in people including ambition and perseverance, but in turn it makes collaboration difficult because there must be a winner and a loser. I believe that competition is healthy and certainly has it's place in society, but there are some arenas where cooperation, comprising, and collaboration are needed.
As discussed in class, collaboration is synonomous co-creation. This means that neither party enters the meeting with ideas or agenda on how to specifically achieve the shared goal. Each party should think about the common purpose behind the effort and focus on how they want the end game to look like. It may be a simple question, but asking "What do we want it to look like" is very important because it encourages members to think about common purpose and nudges them toward collaboration rather than compromise. The issue is that achieving true collaboration is much easier said than done. Most of us think strategically and
have been culturally trained to debate and argue one's point. However, the real world isn't black and white; in many disagreements both parties are correct on some points and have legitimate facts to back them up. We need to learn to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and allow ourselves to think "win-win"
As discussed in class, collaboration is synonomous co-creation. This means that neither party enters the meeting with ideas or agenda on how to specifically achieve the shared goal. Each party should think about the common purpose behind the effort and focus on how they want the end game to look like. It may be a simple question, but asking "What do we want it to look like" is very important because it encourages members to think about common purpose and nudges them toward collaboration rather than compromise. The issue is that achieving true collaboration is much easier said than done. Most of us think strategically and
have been culturally trained to debate and argue one's point. However, the real world isn't black and white; in many disagreements both parties are correct on some points and have legitimate facts to back them up. We need to learn to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and allow ourselves to think "win-win"
Citizenship
According to the dictionary, citizenship is the the character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen. Most people assume that in this definition, society means only the broader society as whole (i.e. city, state, or country); however, a society can be represented by any community of people (however large or small). This leads to an importantly different connotation of citizenship that implies that it is active engagement of an individual to serve the community.
Before reading this chapter, I thought that citizenship was achieved solely by physically helping other people. I had no idea that civic engagement (a synonym for citizenship) could be achieved through a myriad of ways including community research, advocacy and education, and capacity building. It is important to recognize these "indirect" means of being a good citizen because they involve empowering other members of the community to stand up and make a difference.
Citizenship and civic engagement is unique within Evans Scholars because we are a hybrid of the bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital. In one aspect, our organization bridges because our members are not chosen by the chapter and are diverse with respect to majors, interests, backgrounds, gender, and ethnicity. On the other hand, we bond over the fact that we are all caddies from modest backgrounds. My job as chapter president entails constantly urging members to evaluate the different communities that they're involved in and and to find ways to get involved. I use this as a mechanism to get members excited to help support our chapter community. For example, we held our annual Stephanie Hummer Memorial Golf Tournament last weekend and raised over $5500 for off-campus safety projects. I was very proud of the way our chapter came together to hold this extremely successful and fun event.
Before reading this chapter, I thought that citizenship was achieved solely by physically helping other people. I had no idea that civic engagement (a synonym for citizenship) could be achieved through a myriad of ways including community research, advocacy and education, and capacity building. It is important to recognize these "indirect" means of being a good citizen because they involve empowering other members of the community to stand up and make a difference.
Citizenship and civic engagement is unique within Evans Scholars because we are a hybrid of the bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital. In one aspect, our organization bridges because our members are not chosen by the chapter and are diverse with respect to majors, interests, backgrounds, gender, and ethnicity. On the other hand, we bond over the fact that we are all caddies from modest backgrounds. My job as chapter president entails constantly urging members to evaluate the different communities that they're involved in and and to find ways to get involved. I use this as a mechanism to get members excited to help support our chapter community. For example, we held our annual Stephanie Hummer Memorial Golf Tournament last weekend and raised over $5500 for off-campus safety projects. I was very proud of the way our chapter came together to hold this extremely successful and fun event.
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