My Featured Journal Entries
When Le talked about the 2020 presentation, I thought that it was interesting. “Change the environment, change the brain, change the behavior” really made me think. That statement is exactly what CEO is. We do not meet in a classroom, we meet in a business facility. Changing the location where we meet has changed how the class runs. I never realized how much being in a classroom has conditioned us into thinking that the teacher knows everything and that they are going to be the only person teaching. I was talking this past week with a sophomore girl at my school, talking about one of her classes. She had asked me about my English class and so we were talking about teachers and classes. She mentioned how one of her teachers told her class that their “opinions didn’t matter because they are still kids.” I was amazed that someone, especially a teacher, would say this to a group of 15-16-year-olds. The environment that that teacher has created has become a toxic environment for this girl because she does not feel like she is a valued student and therefore does not feel like she is learning much. The environment that CEO takes place in, feels like a place where you are encouraged to state your opinion and thoughts. And there have been many days where many people have stated their opinions.
“Change the brain” CEO has changed the way that I think, even about everyday little things. My dad and I were talking about the steers that I raise and if I wanted to get calves this spring or not. I normally would have said yes right away just because I love calves and raising them. But I thought out it for a couple minutes and then mentioned that when I sold them, I would have to make sure that I would get more money for them, then what I would pay for them. I was kind of surprised at myself for thinking about that right away. I would have normally thought about it, but it would not have been the first thing going through my mind.
Yesterday was one of the most nerve-wracking days I’ve had. Yesterday was State FFA Degree Interviews, and I was terrified. The state degree is the highest degree that you can receive from the FFA while still in high school and the highest degree that your state can give you. In order to qualify for this degree, you have to have a record book with a certain number of hours and a certain amount of money invested or earned, community service hours, academic achievements, involvement in FFA (contests, conferences, conventions) and other extra-curriculars. My record book is split in two different categories; Beef Production-Entrepreneurship and Dairy Production- Placement. In the interview, you are put in front of around 10-15 ag instructors from across your section and you have to explain your record books and answer questions about your books and FFA. The interview only lasted around 15 minutes but I was still terrified that I was going to get asked a question that I did not know that answer to. Thankfully the interview went well and I was only asked one question that I did not know, and it was a question that I might have learned in school instead of by doing my books, so personally I do not feel like it was a necessary question. This whole process reminded me of the “Change the behavior”, because of my time in CEO have become more professional and confident in myself. I was so scared going into the interview, but I was also confident because I knew that I had practice making small talk, introducing myself to others and practice stepping outside of my comfort zone. Because CEO “Changed the environment”, I feel more confident learning, CEO “Changed the brain”, I now look and think about things differently, CEO has “Changed the behavior” helping me become more confident in my skills.
02/12/2017
I have been slowly realizing that the concepts and lessons that I have learned in CEO are everywhere in life. I went to Chicago on Saturday with my mom and sister and we have to be at Woodlawn between 7:10 and 7:30. We didn’t leave our house until 10 mins to 7 and because we live about 30 minutes away from Woodlawn I started to get nervous that we were going to be late. We were not late, but I have noticed that I try to be one of the first ones to class because I live so far away, I want to give time if something was to happen. Walking down Michigan Avenue in the Chicago, I started to pay attention to the appearance of the stores. The stores that were busier had more appealing displays on the inside and out. They were the stores that you could easily tell what store it was when you were standing outside, you didn’t have to go searching for the sign. When we start to figure out our trade show, we will have to remember that people don’t want to have to search for a name, something that is easily visible and easy to understand is the best thing for us. I am not ready for Christmas because I do not want to be half way through the year with CEO. I have enjoyed the experiences and challenges so much that going back to school for the rest of the day is difficult. On Thursday when I didn’t go to class because of the weather, the whole entire day just dragged. I didn’t have the exciting time with my classmates in the morning.
12/18/2016
I thought that the personality test and results was very interesting. Pace/Patience was my top trait followed my conformity, dominance and finally extroversion. None of this came as a big surprise to me. After reviewing the results and seeing what everyone else’s was, it made sense because of how we were working together in class. We have lots of people who have big ideas and like to voice them and then we have people who will make sure that all of the details are in order and that we can actually pull off the big ideas. We also have people who naturally are in charge and make sure that things are getting done and then we have people who have the little details and ideas that will get the jobs done. This showed me that there is no pressure to try to be a personality that you are not. Lots of people ask me why I don’t talk more and why I just tend to hang around the edges and not try to be the center of attention. Sometimes I feel pressure to try to act the way others do, but then I realize that I hate it. This showed me that in a team, you need all of the different personalities otherwise the group would just be bouncing back and forth not getting much done. I hope that we can use our different personality traits to come to a conclusion on our decision for crowdfunding quickly and efficiently.
09/11/2016