Hixson's at I.S.L.E.

            The Iowa State Leadership Experience this weekend was a very interesting event.  The keynote, presented by Delatorro McNeal, was a high-energy presentation focused on leadership styles and strategies. Workshops that took place after included “Understanding and Appreciating Group Members”, teambuilding/icebreaking, and “Using Your Strengths”. Some workshops were more engaging than others but all demonstrated strategies that can be brought back.

            The conference started off with a very entertaining presenter from Florida who makes a living by presenting to businesses and students across the country.  He used a unique strategy to demonstrate leadership styles and strategies.  Delatorro emphasized the importance of leading yourself before you can lead others. He demonstrated leadership in popular movies like “Hitch” and “Honey”.  Some of the styles he touched on included, authoritative, passive, aggressive, assertive, and mentor/coach.  His high energy and engaging strategies to get the crowd involved set a stage for the rest of the afternoon.

            The next workshop was about how to improve listening skills and inclusive language in groups.  The first part of their presentation was about how to be a successful active listener. Some of the pointers included; attending, mirroring, questioning, respect, problem solve, and spontaneity.  Most of the information was pretty basic but one that really stuck out was spontaneity.  What they mean by that is when listening to somebody you shouldn’t have an agenda and you thoughts and feedback should be genuine and sincere.  The two presentations gave several do’s and do not’s when providing feedback. The last topic of the workshop was inclusive language that can be used to avoid being offensive in any way.

            The most exciting workshop was definitely the teambuilding and icebreaker to build strong leadership teams.  What could be taken away was the once you build common experiences people are more comfortable and willing to open up. Click here for a link to some activities that Iowa State has put together.  I am excited to use some of these activities as a peer mentor. 
            The last workshop was disappointing at best.  Not enough time was allowed for processing or discussion. It was suppose to help us identify what parts of our life strengthen us and that we should be pursuing just that.  I agree with what she said but it could have been delivered in a more effective way.

            Overall it was a decent afternoon that was filled with a lot of information and tips that I plan to implement in different areas of my college career.

~Easten

Leaving it at the door, and taking in what really matters.

At the start of our class this week we were asked to identify our strengths and weaknesses.  More specifically, three strengths and two aspects of our lives that we would like to improve on. These types of questions come up all the time, especially in interview situations. I almost always struggle to identify what I consider to be my personal strengths and weaknesses.   

            Things that can be very useful are tools like MBTI (Meyers Briggs Type Indicator), which helps you to see what kind of things you are stronger at.  There is one video that I can always remember whenever I think of strengths, “Trombone Player Wanted”.  It is a series of six short videos that help direct thought and discussion on what strengthens you.  It does an excellent job of making you really think about what you like to do and then act on that.

            When asked what we want to work on to improve ourselves for this process, the first thing that comes to mind is time management.  I wouldn’t consider it something that I am bad it, but it is something I want to improve on.  My first semester at Iowa State I was only taking 12 credits, but was I traveling up to 3 times a week and missing at least one day of classes every other week.  I would be in Ames one week, Washington D.C. the next, and missing a week of classes for a convention in Indianapolis the next month.  I learned more about time management in my first year than I ever wanted to in such a short time.  Now I am doing my best to manage 17 credits, a part time job, and still giving back to the organization that I was involved with during that first year.

            In addition to time management I am always trying to improve my attitude.   Winston Churchill said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”, and I am a believer that when you can no longer control what happens to you, you can always control your attitude.  We can’t control the weather, the way other people behave, the things they say, and often the things that happen to us.  Even when everything might be against us we can always control our attitude.  Something that I try to do is ‘leave it at the door’.  If you’ve had a bad day or something isn’t going your way, you can always try to have a positive attitude about it.  

            One of my goals for the next year is to do my very best to leave all things negative at the door.  The other goal, is once I leave it at the door, I will play to my strengths for my personal benefit and more importantly the benefits of others.

~Easten

Peer Educators

With one week down I am even more excited about the road ahead.  I am excited to learn and grow with the rest of the group and be fully prepared to make a difference.  One of the first things we have done so far is identify the different roles of a peer educator on the college campus.  It was a very interesting discussion to try and identify and define what exactly they are. 

More interesting was the reading assignment assigned after our class discussion; Students Helping Students by Newton, Ender goes into great detail on why peer educators can be so effective.  When asked to list peer educators the things that first come to mind include peer mentors and tutors.  When we take a closer look at the amount of peer educators across the entire campus we can include everything from personal trainers at the rec to resident hall staff in university housing.  The university does this in order to utilize the unique qualities a peer educator can bring to campus.

Peer educators are used often for several reasons, “they are economical to the budget, experienced with the campus, they can relate to the situations of fellow students, and they are effective.” Students Helping Students.  I believe being effective is the more important of those.  There are obvious things that make a peer educator effective, and what is most evident is having even a little more experience in similar situations.  It’s amazing to me how much more approachable and relatable a peer educator can be in comparison to a professional.

            What I am excited about is being even more effective than an average peer educator.  This course we are taking is going to show us how to be the best we can.  Having life experiences is one thing, but having the ability to relate to other students in an effective way is much more exciting.

~Easten

My First Blog... Kinda...

            I have the urge to consider this my first blog because this is the first time I have actually been excited about blogging. I am excited for a few reasons... for one, it’s going to be great practice for my writing skills. This is also an opportunity to put my thoughts on paper/the internet-that part is scary (insert eerie noise here).  Due to these blogs being part of an ongoing assignment they will have some direction, which should make it easier. That being said, I am excited for the next 16+ weeks of blogging J.

~Easten