Room to Grow

I’m a big believer in personal empowerment. I feel we humans have limitless potential, although we don’t always see it in ourselves, or each other. Believing is often the first hurdle. Empowerment usually requires two believers, yourself and someone who believes in you.

That is where a good mentor comes in. I’ve had some wonderful mentors. Some probably never suspected they were mentors. Some of their lessons took years to sink in, but I am grateful to all of them. So, I do my best to honor them by being a mentor myself. That’s why I enjoy working with student organizations.

With student organizations, I get to teach them more than just textbook skills, like where to put a comma. When I serve as an advisor for a student organization like the FNC Student Government Association, I have the opportunity to really mentor.

Mentoring is a very delicate balancing act, though. As a mentor, those looking up to you are expecting guidance and I do my best to provide them with developmental opportunities. At the same time, empowerment requires room to grow: a safe environment to test these new skills. So at times, I make myself a little scarce, giving them the chance to figure it out for themselves. After all, that’s the true purpose of student organizations—to give students the opportunity to develop skills outside of the  classroom, to allow students to explore their own leadership abilities, and to inspire other students to do the same.

 

Building on Passion

What are you passionate about? Here’s a hint, when you’re engage in something you’re passionate about, you loose track of time. When I write, hours pass like minutes. The intensity of focus is almost a trance like state.

I’m equally passionate about art (sketching, painting, pottery, graphic design), but writing has always come easier than the rest—perhaps because I read so much or perhaps because it requires so little. Anyone with a keyboard or even a pen and paper can write. It takes practice to write well, but no special equipment. So I write, where ever I go, whatever I do.

It’s important to identify your passions. The lure of material gain is so sweet. Many students think of dollars per hour and projected job markets when considering future career choices, but rarely consider their passions. Those sizable paychecks are never big enough if you spend your days dreading the time clock.

Let’s face it, after you graduate, you will spend the majority of your waking hours at work. What will work be like for you? A frustrating interruption of your real  life? Or an opportunity to flourish and grow?

I’m not saying that everyone should opt for a life as a modern bohemian. Even I have a job. I commute through traffic. I pay my bills . . . and I write. It’s a small part of my job, but there are other parts of it that I am passionate about as well, so all in all, I enjoy what I do.

During a recent conversation with one of our students, I described the peace and serenity I experience when I walk onto a college campus.  She thought for a moment and replied, “I get it. I feel the same way when I walk into a dentist’s office.”

Yes, I had the same astounded reaction . . . a dentist’s office? However, this student was a member of the Dental Program so I just smiled, “then you’re studying exactly what you should be studying.”

 

Excuses

Let’s be blunt. Excuses are fears masquerading as responsibilities. I confess, even I use them.

Take writing for instance, as a freelance writer, I use a Nome de plume (a pen name). It removes the inhibition of writing. When I write using my real name, I am much more self-conscious, much more careful not to offend. But sometimes, even the most carefully crafted words can be misinterpreted, so I hide behind my Nome de plume, carefully evading the curious Googler.

That is why the content has been so sparse here. I have made excuses about being too busy, of having higher priorities, of having nothing to report; but the truth is I have no Nome de plume to hide behind. Anyone attending Florida National College can easily inquire into the identity of the Director of Student Services.

The one thing I really love about my job, is helping individual students reach their full potential, but sometimes reaching your full potential means letting go of some of the excuses. So it’s time for me to lead by example and set aside some of mine.

I must be disciplined and brave, and write outside of my comfort zone.

 

Opportunities

Opportunities are interesting things. Generally, we think of opportunity as some anomalous event. Most liken opportunity to luck really, and perhaps there is a bit of luck involved. But opportunity is more than realizing you’re in the right spot at the right time, it’s about placing yourself at the right place, at the right time.

Quite frankly, that is how I became the Director of Student Services, by putting myself in the right place at the right time. I was a freelance writer looking for a part-time job, when I sent my resume to FNC. At the interview, I was asked if I would be willing to substitute for a teacher who had just undergone surgery.

“Sure . . . when,” I responded.

“Tomorrow,” was the reply.

That was opportunity number one.

While working as a substitute, I was asked if I would be willing to help the Office of Student Services with the Spring Commencement Ceremony. Again, I agreed.

That was opportunity number two.

I wasn’t pushed to make either of these decisions out of necessity. In fact, decisions made out of necessity are very rarely thought out well, and can often end badly. This was not something I had to do. Someone asked for help, and I did. I could have made numerous excuses, and they all would have been valid: childcare issues, the 1 hour commute to the Hialeah Campus, my final semester of graduate school, conflicts with my husband’s busy schedule, etc. etc. You’re probably over-extended enough to understand.

But, I said yes . . . and that put me in the right place at the right time. Opportunity is funny like that. Quite often, it doesn’t reveal itself as an opportunity until you say yes.