As I sit here and prepare to start writing this journal is when the realization has hit me that I did not miss these journals not one bit. Like at all. I am scared of the number 7 now. I have 7 minute journals chasing me in my dreams. They were tedious at times because words would simply just not come to my brain, but I am hoping that how I view them changes this semester Would be sitting at my desk on Wednesday nights looking like…
but I am trying to manage school better now that I have a better grasp on college, I guess. Even though I did not like these journals I can appreciate some of the skills it helped me refine. One of those skills is being able to write many pages of work in short periods of time, which I am sure will help me through the rest of my matriculation through college, so I greatly appreciate it. I think the reasons I do not like them were how I looked at it as a task, and while it is I probably could have gone into it with a more positive outlook. I also felt like I was thinking too much into it when I would sit down and type. Even though in my notes I keep a running list of things I would like to touch on in my journal I would still be sitting there contemplating what I would write like I don’t have a whole guide sitting in front of me. I did not take enough notes this week and my lesson is learned. Another thing about my journals that would bother me is the large number of personal pronouns I use in them, but that is just years of being told not to address myself in papers. Maybe if I start looking at this as a diary it will be easier. Ima do that.
Every time I write these journals, it is the same process, I write about 500 words of it one day then do the rest the night before, which probably isn’t the best strategy but I’m working on it. Between the class discussions, assignments, and readings there so much to talk about. The class discussions are my favorite part about the class because I love hearing how different people interpret the same piece of work. There is a lot to learn from hearing the perspectives of others that can open you up to new ways of seeing things.
Dear Diary,
When signing up for this class, like many others, I did not know what I was signing up for; however, after receiving the emails from Dr. Sandridge I realized it was the Leadership class that he mentioned to me last semester. Not gonna lie, the thought of dropping this class occurred to me several times because I understood before the first day that this class was going to actually require my attention, but As I was thinking about what this class would be like it I realized that I had never really think about what leadership was to me, so I took a second to put a definition together for myself and I would say I considered leadership to be someone who can take charge and direct people confidently while also working with the people at the same time. What I previously considered to be a leader definitely included people that I wouldn’t consider a leader now, but also includes people that I would not have previously considered leaders as well. Personally, I have never seen myself as a leader, especially with the definition I had in mind previously, but now I can say that I can possess leader qualities at times, but I know there is a lot I can continue to work on as well. Now that I am actively aware of it I can be better at calling myself out when I’m in positions that require me to display these traits and I am not doing it to the best of my ability.
Mentors are also people that never crossed my mind as leaders, but it makes complete sense. Are mentors just people that we personally know? Or can they also be considered people that we admire and look up to and learn from them afar? Mentors are probably amongst one of the important kinds of leaders because they make the leaders of tomorrow and not even just leaders but they help people become the better version of themselves and they can help their mentee in so many facets of their life and to me, that is something serious. There are many different ways to be a mentor to someone and we have seen two complete juxtaposed situations these past two weeks with Ms. Sanderson and Athena. Ms. Sanderson understood the position she was in and the power she held at that moment and wanted to make the best decision in the interest of the boys. Even though we did not get to see the end result of the interaction she seemed to be a lot more passive than Athena was about her mentorship. Athena though… mann she was all up in that boy’s life. As soon as Zeus gave her the go, she started doing everything for him. She met Telemachus and immediately told him to get his sh*t together. Didn’t even know him 48 hours before she was telling him he needs to step his cookies up because he is nothing like his father. If somebody came into *myy* life talking to me like that right after they just met me I’d probably cry. It is important to know what your mentee needs to hear and how they need to hear it. He headed her words and used them as motivation. That probably played a part in how Ms. Sanderson handled her situation. She didn’t know what the boys needed to hear at the moment nor how they needed to hear it and I can understand her not saying anything a little bit better if that’s the case. You can say all the right things, but if it isn’t in a way where the person being told the information will be receptive of it in the way you want them to be then it really doesn’t matter. Athena was really committed to this whole mentor thing. She really shapeshifted into Telemachus to help him. I’m acting surprised like this is the first time but it might as well be because I forgot everything that happened in the Oddessy. Imagine if he ran into her while she was him.
I wonder if he would be weirded out or more appreciative. He does know she is a Goddess so probably wouldn’t be a weird occurrence. Not only did she shapeshift to him, let him know that his father was still alive to help motivate him, put shame into him to help realize his potential, gave him menos to be able to confidently go on his journey both figuratively and literally, and also got him a crew for him to sail with. Sometimes I thought she was doing too much for him, I think finding his own crew would’ve built character but he also did have a lot on his plate already and he also had a lot of growing mentally he had to do too since he was always in a childs position and never was seen as the man of the kingdom. Thinking about it now, he came a long way in a short period of time. He went from being scared of the suitors and not challenging them to fighting them off with his father who was one of the greatest warriors ever and him keeping up. Quite impressive if you ask me. Most of which can be attributed to Athenas mentorship. She did the same thing for Odysseus in the Illiad, didn’t she? Why was she so concerned about them?
Finding out there are facial types/features that people look for in leaders is interesting. The traits that people look for in a face make sense, I get that people do not want to be looking to an ugly, soft, impotent, shiesty looking person to guide them, but I really hope that using the way people look isn’t something done purposefully or often. Dr. Burger King, on the other hand, is a better way to decide who would be a great leader and while it not only address the person as an individual it also puts into play the persons relationship with the world and the people around them. It is also a broad set of standards that can be translated to fit any situation.
