UPDATED ENGAGEMENT PLAN (Authenticity)
New Goals for this Upcoming Semester
IMPROVING:
SELF - This semester has been one of change for me. I have started branching out of my isolation and begun to make new friends. To further improve my own life I aim to extend myself out to even more people, and let whatever may happen, happen. I made several new friends this semester from purely circumstantial encounters, and it has been very rewarding so far.
Community - I have spent most of my time at CNU focusing on myself and relationships with friends. In my next semester at CNU, I must complete at least 25 hours of community service. When I return from winter break, I plan on immediately seeking a position where I can volunteer continuously every week. I believe this will be an excellent way of giving back to the community, as well as helping to better myself as a person.
Leadership - The trickiest goal of them all. Seeing as I am currently not in an organization where I can practice leadership strategies I have learned in class, it would be somewhat unrealistic to make a concrete goal about holding a position of authority in a club in the next semester. I do think I do a good job of "leading by example" in my everyday life. I strive to live my life in a manner such that when people hear the name Adam Lervold, they immediately think, "Hey, he is a pretty stand-up guy." Since I have to come up with a solid goal, I think a good one would be to become more involved with service organization on campus. Joining a service club and then convincing my friends that it is a good idea as well would be one way to express leadership as it relates to taking initiative. ee
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. The first goal that I set for myself as a freshman was to become engaged in campus life in order to make more friends and develop meaningful relationships. The first goal of my sophomore year was generally the same thing, which obviously indicates that I might not have done so well accomplishing my goal during my first year of college. The second goal which I had set for myself in freshman year was to maintain the highest possible GPA I could manage. Well, I suppose you could say that I am still doing alright. My poor GPA would be a lot better if not for the two ridiculously subjective Leadership courses I was required to take this past year. Neither of the other two goals I set for myself this year had to do with academics. One was about community, and I aimed to find a continuous volunteer position somewhere in the area, which I managed to do. I have volunteered at the VA War Museum for around 3 months now. The last goal I set was about setting a good example for others, which I suppose I have succeeded in doing. At the very least I do not think I have had a very negative influence on anybody this year.
2. I suppose if I were to choose one goal to talk about, it would have to be the one about building relationships. I suppose the only way in which I may have failed in this goal is not keeping up with some of the friends I made last year. I formed a completely new set of friends during my sophomore year, with the exception of a few stand-out friends who I met in freshman year. I surrounded myself with much more positive people this year, and as a result I feel like I have had a much brighter attitude about life in general. I was not afraid to put myself out there for people to talk to this year. Typically I just hide away with my headphones in so people do not talk to me. This year I spent a lot of time with them out, allowing for all sorts of relationships to form. I even somehow managed to find a girlfriend, who would’ve thought?
3. I knew very early on in my academic career here at CNU that I wanted to major in economics. I originally came to CNU as a Phycology Major, but now I realize that I was just checking a box at the time. After taking Macro and Micro economics, I knew that that would be what I wanted to study for the rest of my life. I believe this connects to my sense of identity by allowing me to clearly visualize a bright, successful future for myself. I did not anticipate pursuing the BS degree originally, and now I will have to develop extensive mathematical skills. This does worry me a little bit, I have never enjoyed math. At least it follows concrete rules and makes sense.
4. I exhibited authentic leadership during the semester within the realm of a group project that we had to complete in Values Leadership. The team really did not have a clear direction of where to head with the presentation, or even where to begin for that matter. I took a leadership position within the group and lead them to successfully put together an impressive presentation. We would have gotten an A, but one group member neglected to turn in a simple sheet to the professor right before our presentation, bringing our grade down to a B. YAY GROUP PROJECTS. Without me taking a leadership position within the group, we would have accomplished nothing.
5. (Picture Below)
3 Values- Integrity, Adaptability, Compassion
I think that these three values, Integrity, Adaptability, and Compassion make up the core of my set of beliefs. I try as best as I can to embody these principles in everyday life. If I say I am going to do something, you can believe it will be done. It is important to be able to keep your word about things. Without that you will never garner and trust or respect from other individuals. Adaptability means you must have the ability to think quickly and make decisions swiftly, even under high levels of stress and pressure. As college students, we each endure tremendous levels of stress, trying to balance work, study, volunteering, friendships, etc. Being able to maintain composure in tough situations is a key value to any leader. Compassion is one of the most powerful values a leader can exhibit. I do my best to embody the ideal of compassion over any other value. Showing people kindness is easy, and costless to you. So why shouldn’t we all just strive to be nicer to each other every day? As a leader on campus I try to lead by example and part of that entails showing compassion.
IMPROVING:
SELF - This semester has been one of change for me. I have started branching out of my isolation and begun to make new friends. To further improve my own life I aim to extend myself out to even more people, and let whatever may happen, happen. I made several new friends this semester from purely circumstantial encounters, and it has been very rewarding so far.
Community - I have spent most of my time at CNU focusing on myself and relationships with friends. In my next semester at CNU, I must complete at least 25 hours of community service. When I return from winter break, I plan on immediately seeking a position where I can volunteer continuously every week. I believe this will be an excellent way of giving back to the community, as well as helping to better myself as a person.
Leadership - The trickiest goal of them all. Seeing as I am currently not in an organization where I can practice leadership strategies I have learned in class, it would be somewhat unrealistic to make a concrete goal about holding a position of authority in a club in the next semester. I do think I do a good job of "leading by example" in my everyday life. I strive to live my life in a manner such that when people hear the name Adam Lervold, they immediately think, "Hey, he is a pretty stand-up guy." Since I have to come up with a solid goal, I think a good one would be to become more involved with service organization on campus. Joining a service club and then convincing my friends that it is a good idea as well would be one way to express leadership as it relates to taking initiative. ee
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. The first goal that I set for myself as a freshman was to become engaged in campus life in order to make more friends and develop meaningful relationships. The first goal of my sophomore year was generally the same thing, which obviously indicates that I might not have done so well accomplishing my goal during my first year of college. The second goal which I had set for myself in freshman year was to maintain the highest possible GPA I could manage. Well, I suppose you could say that I am still doing alright. My poor GPA would be a lot better if not for the two ridiculously subjective Leadership courses I was required to take this past year. Neither of the other two goals I set for myself this year had to do with academics. One was about community, and I aimed to find a continuous volunteer position somewhere in the area, which I managed to do. I have volunteered at the VA War Museum for around 3 months now. The last goal I set was about setting a good example for others, which I suppose I have succeeded in doing. At the very least I do not think I have had a very negative influence on anybody this year.
2. I suppose if I were to choose one goal to talk about, it would have to be the one about building relationships. I suppose the only way in which I may have failed in this goal is not keeping up with some of the friends I made last year. I formed a completely new set of friends during my sophomore year, with the exception of a few stand-out friends who I met in freshman year. I surrounded myself with much more positive people this year, and as a result I feel like I have had a much brighter attitude about life in general. I was not afraid to put myself out there for people to talk to this year. Typically I just hide away with my headphones in so people do not talk to me. This year I spent a lot of time with them out, allowing for all sorts of relationships to form. I even somehow managed to find a girlfriend, who would’ve thought?
3. I knew very early on in my academic career here at CNU that I wanted to major in economics. I originally came to CNU as a Phycology Major, but now I realize that I was just checking a box at the time. After taking Macro and Micro economics, I knew that that would be what I wanted to study for the rest of my life. I believe this connects to my sense of identity by allowing me to clearly visualize a bright, successful future for myself. I did not anticipate pursuing the BS degree originally, and now I will have to develop extensive mathematical skills. This does worry me a little bit, I have never enjoyed math. At least it follows concrete rules and makes sense.
4. I exhibited authentic leadership during the semester within the realm of a group project that we had to complete in Values Leadership. The team really did not have a clear direction of where to head with the presentation, or even where to begin for that matter. I took a leadership position within the group and lead them to successfully put together an impressive presentation. We would have gotten an A, but one group member neglected to turn in a simple sheet to the professor right before our presentation, bringing our grade down to a B. YAY GROUP PROJECTS. Without me taking a leadership position within the group, we would have accomplished nothing.
5. (Picture Below)
3 Values- Integrity, Adaptability, Compassion
I think that these three values, Integrity, Adaptability, and Compassion make up the core of my set of beliefs. I try as best as I can to embody these principles in everyday life. If I say I am going to do something, you can believe it will be done. It is important to be able to keep your word about things. Without that you will never garner and trust or respect from other individuals. Adaptability means you must have the ability to think quickly and make decisions swiftly, even under high levels of stress and pressure. As college students, we each endure tremendous levels of stress, trying to balance work, study, volunteering, friendships, etc. Being able to maintain composure in tough situations is a key value to any leader. Compassion is one of the most powerful values a leader can exhibit. I do my best to embody the ideal of compassion over any other value. Showing people kindness is easy, and costless to you. So why shouldn’t we all just strive to be nicer to each other every day? As a leader on campus I try to lead by example and part of that entails showing compassion.