Month: January 2021

This week has now shown me that my life this quarter will be nowhere near easy. I was shocked at this realization. In my college experience (as a student two quarters away from graduating), I have NEVER felt so overwhelmed. I’m taking an 8:00 am class, I got to work from 10-1 pm every day that I can, I’m planning a music festival, I’m in a psychology lab which is taking an extra 5 hours out of my week, and my last two classes are heavily reading based and project-based. To summarize, I have so much to do and absolutely no time to do it. I may consider dropping my lab because that seems to be the only option.

Anyways, thank you for allowing me to vent about my current situation. Here’s a happy thing in my life. I have a wonderful kitty named Ritz. He really is the reason I get through my stress some days. He will always come to find me when I’m stressing and he’ll meow at me and sit on my chest. He does this super funny thing where he stretches his entire long body from his front paws on my chin to his tail all the way at my knees. It makes me LAUGH so much and releases so much tension in my body. I love him.

Q: What did you love this week?  What would you have loved to have achieved this week?

A: I loved my coaching meetings with Drew. He is such a wholesome and hilarious person. Our meetings last forever when you are in this class but we are a good team and are able to assess our team 4 & 5’s work with ease and intent. Honestly, meeting with Drew was so nice because he is a familiar face (we did our E2 project together) and it allowed for me to socialize with someone outside of my house. We really do both care about making sure the VP1 teams got as much help as we could provide thus being another reason we work well as a coaching team.

Q: Please share your personal experiences and the lessons you learned from completing VP1 this quarter? How may they help you have a successful and fulfilling VP2? How will you put that into action?

A: Holy cow did I learn a lot about how to help others direct their purpose and intent for a project as a coach. This really helped me ask myself deep thinking questions about my event. I want to see the weak points not just what is cool about my festival. A lot of the feedback I get is the upfront excitement folks have about the idea but I fail to receive input about people’s fears or dislikes. Drew helped me recognize that I need to use test cards and interviews with truer intent than I have in the past. I really need to gain certain information (needs and fears) from my consumer this quarter.

Q: What challenges are you facing? What’s Next?

A: I think the challenges I face are issues with scheduling. I need to really deep dive into my passions and purpose in the world. I feel at a loss which is so strange and something I haven’t ever experienced before. Seriously… I have always known my direction and feelings about everything. Now I am in a phase of my life (which is common in most psychosocial examinations of human development so I guess it’s natural to feel how I feel) where I am no longer focused on how I individually fit into my social spaces but instead am concerned with how I dynamically fit into the social world. It’s hard to have this whole perspective change. I have a feeling that it will pay especially since I am able to identify what’s happening in a logical way. Maybe what I need is chaos… who knows!

Hello! I’m super excited to start working this quarter on my own projects and to hear about all the great ideas everyone else develops! I want to share my festival with you all. If you or anyone you know would like to be involved in the progress of the event or if there is another way you would like to engage, please reach out to me!

Q&A:

Q: What do you think of when you read our “Culture of Belonging” Statement? 

A: When I read the statement, I think of all the work each student in this class puts in. It reminds me that we are all given the chance to find our sparks and make something more of them than, for example, a simple hobby. I think of my own growth in the program from being a naive, extroverted, and nervous E1 to now being a confident, extroverted, and determined E5. It reminds me that we are all capable of fantastic things as long as we try.

Q: How are you preparing for success this quarter? What do you expect for the E-level journey this quarter?

A: I’m preparing for success by doing my own personal learning. Since I’m not in any business-related majors at WWU, it has been challenging to keep up with my peers who are constantly engaged in the material. I will be doing my own research at home to ensure I am equally as capable of success in the real world of entrepreneurship. A great idea is always a good start but there is so much more to starting a business than just an idea.

Q: How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?  

A: This week I worked with Drew to practice our coaching so that we can truly provide our VP1 teams with proper feedback and empowerment. He has been my teacher this week. He just took a branding class so during our meeting I was able to pick up a lot of useful information from him. Definitely helped me think outside of what I knew. I want to apply this to how I run my festival. I want to be a good leader through coaching my team. I need to openly listen to their ideas, help them see their own skill sets, and bring everyone together in a cohesive way. So far, this has been a big challenge for me since we are all online.

Q: What sparks do you have and how are they inspiring your work?

A: Great question! My sparks are finding ways to make people joyful, providing safety for those who feel lost, art (painting), big moving projects, psychology, and last is music. All of these are important for the festival I think. I need to find ways to create a safe place for our local community to feel joy again while they listen to music and engage with artists.

Q: What jumped out to you freshly this time with the tools (#above) How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

A: I’m not really sure how to answer this question since most of what we learned this past week is all refreshers for me as an E5.