On Tuesday we learned about Warren Buffet and his theories about being happy and traits that we possess. He says that the personality traits we possess are not something that we are born with but rather develop over time. I agree with this. Depending on how we have grown up, our values and morals will be different. Some people are more fortunate to grow up living in an environment in which it is not hard to live, while others have more struggles which ultimately develops certain traits. We talked about how we never know what people are going through. I am a camp counselor at Camp Emmaus, and in the past few years we have had numerous campers coming from inner city Rockford. My heart went out for these kids. I remember one kid saying to me on the first day, "We get to eat dinner? I haven't eaten since yesterday!" We also had a girl who was afraid to eat anything. We couldn't get her to eat anything and eventually had to send her home a day later. We have no idea why she has that fear. While other kids with more wealthy families that had been coming to camp for a while were completely prepared for camp with all types of clothing for various weather, we found ourselves as counselors running to the store during our free time to get extra clothes for the kids who did not have it. I truly believe that we have made a safe, fun, and supportive place for these kids at camp, and while some of them claim to not like it at times, we always see them again next year. When some of them would act up or throw a temper tantrum, I would just sit there with them and listen to them. That seemed to help enough. I think that some kids don't have enough attention from their families that most of us in CEO have been fortunate enough to have, however, we never know what others are going through. Although these kids are hard to work with at times, they hold a special place in my heart.

02/04/2018

Going to the CEO event in Galesburg was a great experience. Not only did I get to network and meet lots of business people, but I learned a lot more about information the program/ running a business from former students than I knew before. It was intimidating to approach the business men and women but once I did they were so friendly and helpful in the conversations we shared. I like taking a hold of these type of experiences as often as I can because they really help me come out of my shell more and more each time. Also, in general I love going to new places and meeting new people.

I also gained a lot from Kris Noble’s presentation about youth assets. I learned a lot and thought about things that I hadn’t thought of before. Being teenagers, I think it was a really easy topic to connect to and an important thing to know about. Basically, the 40 youth assets are things we should strive to reach in order to be happy, healthy, and whole. Kris’ lesson reminded me of when I took the Early Childhood Education course at WACC last year. I had an amazing teacher, Mrs. Neubauer (and Mrs. Mekeel), who taught us so many life lessons each day that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. She taught us the importance of soft skills and always taught about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which I was immediately reminded of during Kris’ presentation.  Maslow’s describes what everyone needs in their lives starting from the bottom with basics needs and going all the way to the top with self actualization (pyramid structure). I can still picture it in my mind today: basic needs (food, water, shelter, etc), safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self actualization. This made me think about how the classes at WACC are all connected in some way and provide you with skills that you can use in any area of your life.

09/03/2017