When we were first told we didn't. have to turn in a journal this week, I am not going to lie, I was a little relieved. But as the week progressed I found that I had so much I wanted to say to you guys that I figured I had to send one in! Plus, don't you just love hearing from us?

I was stressing hard about this business plan all week. I came up with the idea of a sock subscription box and fell in love. I love socks a lot, and for me to be able to create them, I was ecstatic. But the more I looked into it, socks are sooo expensive. I checked local businesses, asked my mom for help through Halo, and searched all over the internet. I even ended up on the sixth pages of Google searches. Who EVER goes past the first page? But I found I would have never been able to make a profit, or even continue the business. I would have been bankrupt in a month- which is not something I wanted. So I thought about the idea I had that I wanted to continue and realized if the socks are the only problem, there has to be something else. I decided to go with the same exact idea, but make it hats. Outside of class I am almost always wearing some type of hat, and I know many other people are too! I have a lot more faith in this business, as my room for profit is much greater, and my costs have a great chance of decreasing. Now I feel bad because I made a public post on many types of social media regarding the sock box, as I was trying to enlist the help of local artists. I know many aspiring artists are looking to get their name out there so I figured this could benefit both of us. But now I am trying to retract my sock idea from everyone's minds, haha. If all works, I still want to have them help me with the design, and then promote them through my box.

This leads me to the next thing I wanted to mention; I had so much support once I posted my inquiry on social media. I had so many people tagging others, sharing the post, retweeting it, messaging me and telling me they would buy it. I was so thankful to have so many people interested in my idea. People that I didn't even think would care were offering help and ideas. It amazed me and really gave me the motivation to make this business a success.

Keeley was the highlight of my week, easily. I was so mesmerized by everything she had to say. I want to do something like she did. I want to help the people that were born into a less fortunate life. GPA taught me how much I love helping kids, and giving back to the people that haven't been as lucky as I have. It isn't fair that I have to be thankful for a warm home and food and an education because that is something that everyone should just get to have. There is no reason it can't be that way. I love helping people, and I am going to make sure that I take every opportunity I can to do so.

Lastly, this week was the nation Walkout for schools. Being a Sterling student, I was lucky enough to participate without any repercussions. Now, I don't want to talk about any agenda that was pushed or considered or anything. I just want to say how euphoric the experience was. For everyone to come together to encourage peace and positivity was something I am so proud to be a part of. I cannot wait to tell people about it when I am older. It was emotional, empowering, and everything I thought it would be. It just further solidified the feeling I had all week of how truly lucky I am all together.

03/18/2018

Honestly I feel as if this week could not have gotten any better. It was such an exciting week, filled with so many diverse mindsets. Meeting with the Adult Leadership class provided a lot of insight to me, as it was so interesting to see all of these adults, already going through the motions of their work life, and still making time to continue learning. I admire that so much. My biggest goal in life is to never stop learning. And to not overshadow Jill Shaulis, I have to say that she was an incredible speaker, and I was honored that she made time in her busy schedule to meet with us. Her passion was evident in everything she does, and I found that so inspiring. 

10/22/2017

Also regarding our tour a few weeks ago, I forgot in my previous journal. to address our trip to the Post House. I fell in love with that place. I want to contact them personally in hopes of becoming a volunteer there over the next year. I love the idea of working with some older people that may not have many people in their lives. My grandpa passed away recently, and now with my grandma being all alone all the time, it really hit close to my heart hearing how much they do for the elderly there. I love volunteering so much, and being in that place made me realize how much I have missed the past few months when I have been too busy. I had never previously found a cause that I was truly passionate about that was prevalent in our area, but this may be it for me! I am looking forward to contacting them in the near future. Thank you for arranging that opportunity for us! 

10/08/2017

Going to Moore's Tires this week was easily my favorite person we have had the pleasure of meeting. I found his presentation to be very helpful in comparison to others because he didn't make it a point to speak about his product, and just spoke about his process in starting his own business and how he has continued it. I personally thought other people were less interesting because they were trying to sell to us, or speaking too much about their product; not that speaking about the product is a bad thing, but that is not the reason I am in this class. I liked how at Moore's Tires, he allowed us to critique his business so that he is able to continuously make improvements. That spoke volumes regarding staying stagnant with your business, and how that is never a thing that you should want to be. His constant attempt to further his cliental basis proved the dedication he has to what he does. Jim Keenan also proved his loyalty by his story of him viewing himself as someone that helps people, rather than a salesman, which is truly important. I found Keenan to be very intelligent in his opportunity to speak to us also because of the amount of marketing he did. His name, picture, and contact information were everywhere on the materials he gave to us. I find insurance and the practice of sales to be particularly interesting, and am excited to come into contact with more people like him, hopefully using them to my benefit in the future. 

09/10/2017