Reflecting on Leadership for Change

There is an answer for every question. There always someone who has been through what you are going through and doing what you want to do. If you need help or questions answered, find that person and see how they made it to the point you want to get to. Imitate that person, then find a way to leave your own footprints for others to follow!

After reading my blogs, I honestly felt fascinated with myself and my achievements/accomplishments. The most fascinating part, in my opinion about this whole blogging exercise, was finding out about my childhood. I don't think I ever would have done that if it weren't for this class and this assignment. I believe, it some weird way it improved the relationship between myself, my family, and my friends. Granted that it was in the beginning of the semester, but those first few assignments opened lines of communication that were somewhat closed before and allowed me to speak more freely with my friends and family about what is going on with me. It also allowed me to ask more questions and be involved with what was going on with them. With the help of this class, I think I have become more assertive in my decision making and actually following through with my plans. Well, at least to the best of my ability. I think I've also become more resourceful. As far as going out and finding information I need, and if not finding someone who knows the person who has the information I need.I think I've become a better resource for people who have questions, or need answers as well. I think that's pretty cool. 

The one thing that has stuck with me throughout the entire class/ semester is something that I picked up from the movie during the first class. From "The Last Lecture", I learned that sometimes people put brick walls up in front of you, to see how bad you want something; and also, we as humans have a tendency to put up brick wall in front of ourselves. However, with the assistance of this class, I have learned to not only recognize a brick wall, but to bust through it when many people choose to go around it; Or, when a higher percentage of people choose to let that impede their forward progress. I hope that doesn't make me sound arrogant.I just learned to start thinking, how can I obtain _____, with out having _____. I've adopted this thought process, and I have been so much more driven to do what I feel.  I guess you can say this is how my thinking changed. 

I have always been a leader. I have believed so in my mind for a long time. Through the conversations with my friends and family, they believe I have great leadership qualities as well. With this class, I have not only learned that is true, but I know, now, how to be a leader... where people trust me and want to trust my decision making ability. 

The three things I like about this class is that it helped me further develop my leadership potential. I don't believe that I am 100% there, but I know I can and will continue to improve on my innate leadership qualities. I like this class because it gave me an opportunity to address certain issues that I had/have with my self. It gave me the chance to focus on me with out having to worry about doing work for someone else or taking a test for someone else, or studying for someone else's interests like many college classes do. It may sound a little selfish, but everything (well, almost everything) I did in this class was for James J. Flagg. To sum it up, the class put me more in tune with myself and I love that! Lastly, the thing I liked, was that the class allowed me to connect with different people from different background that were kind of in the same boat I was in. What can I say, I'm just a sucker for meeting new people. I can honestly say I enjoyed every interaction with every person that I spoke with in this class, regardless of how brief or extensive the interaction was. 

Honestly, the three things I would say to improve the class are so trivial, that I don't believe it would improve the quality of the class. The first thing, is maybe offer the class during the day, or multiple days, because three hours of class, at the end of the day is a long time (trivial). The class is what you make of it but being around people who are pessimistic thinkers or who have negative attitudes is kind of irritating so, I would suggest limiting the class to people who want to get more out of the class besides and easy "A" (trivial). Lastly, maybe innovating new ways to get people to think or talk about their goal, besides just sitting in a group and stating your goal, touchtone, plan of action, etc. I believe that sitting down every week, talking about my goal/dream in repetition forced me to constantly think about my goal/ dream. By me constantly thinking about it, I was finding that I was becoming more and more proactive in making my dream, of becoming a pharmacist to get into the health field so I can influence health policy AND opening up my own non-profit organization to help other veterans, a reality. (Trivial: notice the capital T) 

I believe that I got the more out of this class than all of but a few other students. Not only that, but I got to see Alvin Ailey! So thank you Dr. Rock for the tickets, and especially for putting the class together. You have,  at the very least, one satisfied student. Thank you! Shout out to Ben for reading my blogs every week. I'll keep you guys posted on how everything turns out!

OPTIONAL: Exercise # 5

Last night, Monday April 27th, I prepared to do my final blog assignment for this class. I had read the instructions for the assignment, and I began reading through my blogs when realized that I haven't done all six interviews. So I started freaking out, (well not really) because I remembered that I didn't post an interview because, at the time, I conducted my interview late and I was told I wouldn't receive credit for it. So I tossed the interview that I conducted with my friend Al, a pharmacy tech at Swedish Covenant Hospital, into a stack of papers about a foot high on my dresser. I spent a good 30-40 minutes looking for the paper I had written the interview down on. When I finally found it, I didn’t feel like blogging any more, so I went to bed. Anyway, I have the paper in front of me now and I’m ready to get my blog on!

 

As I said before this interview was with a good friend of mine, Al Merginio. He was actually my lab partner for two, maybe three chemistry classes that I took in Daley College. He’s now a pharmacy tech at Swedish Covenant. Since, I only volunteer at Swedish Covenant, this technically makes him my boss. (Even though it feel weird saying that, and he doesn’t really like when I refer to as Mr. Merginio… my bad Al! Lol!) I conducted his interview in the same fashion that I conducted my other five interviews. Enjoy!

 

JF: How long have you been working as a pharmacy tech?

AM: It’ll be two years in April.

 

JF: Last time I remember you were working as an optometry tech, why did you change positions?

AM: Before you left (referring to my military deployment) the owner of the Pearle Vision, where I worked was sold to another owner. Once she took over, she got rid of all of the old staff, and hired an entire new one.

 

JF: So how did you end up in pharmacy?

AM: I was out of work for a while and while I was planning my future, I saw an advertisement for a pharmacy tech class offered by Daley (College). I figured that a lot of the pre-requisites that I was taking for optometry school were similar to pharmacy school. So, I enrolled in the class. Passed the class, then I started looking for work.

 

JF: How did you get the job at Swedish Covenant?

AM: I was searching for work, and my fiancée, at the time had a friend who worked at the hospital and she got me Debbie’s number (Debbie McQuarters, director of volunteer services at Swedish Covenant Hospital). I called her about volunteering as a (pharmacy) tech and I got hired about a month later.

 

JF: That’s interesting because I am in pretty much the same situation now. How did you go from being a volunteer to actually getting hired to work in the hospital?

AM: Well, I was volunteering for about 2 months when one of the other techs had quit and another was going away to pharmacy school. Dr. Park (the assistant director of the hospital’s pharmacy) said that he had like my work ethic and told me he would like to hire me full time.

 

JF: Dr. Park is a great man! Congratulations! What do you like most about your job as a pharmacy tech?

AM: I like the idea of helping others and I know this is going to sound bad, but I like the money most.

 

 

JF: That’s completely understandable Now the tough question, what do you like least about being a pharmacy?

AM: Also the money. Mainly, because (you know) the techs do all the work, All the pharmacist do is check the work I’ve done, but they get paid the big money. Also, I don’t like the hours and how my schedule changes every two or three weeks.

 

JF: What do you mean by that?

AM: Well, the new schedule is printed every two weeks, but it always varies. I work six days a week. Half the days I work morning shift, and the other half I work the evenings. So it’s hard for me to get into a good routine sometimes. But like I said, the money makes it a little easier to manager.

 

JF:  Well. Why don’t you go to pharmacy school and get your Pharm. D so you can make the big money yourself?

AM: I was thinking about that, but I really want to get back into optometry. I’m taking classes now to get my certification to work as an optometrist.

 

 

JF: That is interesting to know. You know I’m very much interested in getting a full time position as a pharmacy tech and then maybe a pharmacist myself; do you have any advice for me?

AM:  Stay motivated, because if you aren’t motivated then you will lose interest, and you don’t want to be stuck doing something that you aren’t interested in. Focus on your schoolwork, and continue to dress professionally, you look like you belong here and people notice!

 

JF: Is there anything that you now know that you wish you would have known back then?

AM: Yes, the whole thing about being interested in what you’re doing. I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into when I started working in the pharmacy. Now I’m ready to get out, but I can’t go anywhere now, because I need the money.

 

Work The Plan

I did not attend class this week, therefore I did not get a chance to write my steps for the next week down. However, if I did have the opportunity to fill out a card, I would have planned to collect gift certificates from the neighborhood businesses to raffle of at the Veteran's Student Association and the Student Veterans of America fundraiser this past Saturday. We collected over $800 in gift certificates for our event and we successfully raffled them off along with other prizes.

 The weekly business meeting went well. My buddy/business partner/president met with the other officers, Saturday afternoon to discuss how we were going to set up and run the event. We also discussed the breakdown of responsibilities/ duties for the evening. Needless to say, the event went well. The food and drinks were good, the bands were good, the prizes and raffles helped us raise a lot of money for our organization. I think people went home satisfied. Our next meeting was set for tonight, but we had to re-schedule until Thursday. 

My Sunday night planning meeting went well. I normally sit down either Sunday night or Monday morning and write down on a sheet of paper all of the things I need to do and/or want to do for the week. This week, my list was around 15 items  long. With things like, get a new I-card, get oil change, and study for biology and chemistry at the top of the list. I'm sure I won't get to everything on my list, but I always attempt to tackle the things that have the highest priority first. 

I forgot to blog about my plan for last week which was to get my haircut. I got my haircut for the end of the year pre-pharmacy club banquet and the award ceremony I attended for the Chancellor's Community Service and Leadership Award. My barber did a fantastic job. He had me looking good and feeling even better because of my much needed haircut. 

Thanks for reading. Until next week!

The Buddy System

I have finally finished up my exams. I can breathe easy for a little while, but I'm still stressed out to see how good (or bad) I've done. My next step on my planning wall is to get my meetings set up with the lawyer and accountant for filing paper work. However, I have not coordinated with my buddy/ future business partner to set all of this up (seeing how he just finished his exams tonight as well). I was supposed to meet up with him tonight for a little post exam stress relief and to possibly discuss our future plans, but I didn't feel like getting all crazy so I decided to come back home. 

The cool thing about this weeks blog is that I have had a buddy system in place since the beginning of last semester. We normally meet a few times a week to either study, socialize and/or talk about our future business plans. Ironically enough, when we met Thursday to study chemistry, I expressed to him what one of the panel speakers (from Wednesday's class) had suggested about opening a NPO. I told him that instead of jumping into opening up our NPO blindly, to say the least, we should try to join up wit another NPO who is doing something similar to what we plan on doing in our own NPO. To my surprise, he had already set this up and was waiting to tell me about it. He got us a volunteering opportunity with an NPO that sponsors an event called Rockin' for the Troops (I think this is the name of the event, if not it's something similar to this). Regardless, we will be working with the director of the organization to get ideas of how to throw our own events in the future. The great thing about that is that the woman who runs the NPO is interested in our goal/mission statement for our NPO and says she is more than excited to help us out in our future endeavors. So after we celebrated about this for a few minutes (yes, we celebrated) we sat down studied and talked about our plans for tackling today's chemistry exam. In between this and studying we decided to through a fundraiser. The date is 04/18/09. For $20 free food and free drinks from 9pm- 12pm. ( Let me know if you're interested) I wish we would have talked more about the chem!  I guess when we meet we can discuss how and when we are going to set up our appointments. 

Needless to say, I am an advocate of the buddy system. It gives me an opportunity to compare notes thoughts, and ideas about anything and everything; no matter how good or bad, or crazy or outlandish they are. 

Moving and Shaking

First Steps

My next step on my planning wall is to get my Non-Profit paperwork filed. I am still on track to to that. However, I need to set aside time to meet with both the lawyer and the accountant. This hasn't been completed yet not due to my laziness its just that I really don't have anytime to meet with anyone for anything outside of school/class work. I have a practical exam at the end of the week, which I just found out about today and an exam to study for next week. On top of that, I'm having issues coordinating with the catering company about the food for the pre-pharmacy club banquet this Thursday. I'm not too worried though, I've surrounded my self by motivated individuals who excel at making things happen under pressure. So everything should work out as planned. 

Reflecting on Fear

Right now my main resistance is school. Not the actual institution, but the fact that I wreck my brain and cut off quality time with friends and family and still don't get the grades I feel I deserve. Since so many aspects of my future life are predicated on one having not good, but outstanding grades I do feel like I'll never be able to achieve my goal. I think Barbara Sher refers to this as survival fear. Much of the time I feel like throwing in the towel, but I always find sources of motivation to keep me going. I think the underlying message is that I realize that success does not come without a little hard work and a little bit of struggle. I know this is true because I had to struggle to get to the level that I'm at now, and I know there is going to be more headache and heartache on my path to success. The crazy thing is that I welcome it. I'm always up for a good challenge. 

Get Into Action

The two steps that I needed to complete to start working towards my goal is: 

1. finding an attorney to help me review my legal document that needs to be submitted to the state. I contacted student legal services for assistance. However, the attorney was unable to help me due to the contractual agreements that he has with UIC. He did, however, give me a list of other organizations that may be able to assist me in filing my document at a very cheap rate, if not for free. I have yet to contact any of the organizations, because right now, with work and school.  I do not have any time to schedule any meetings. Especially not until after my exams. I'll take care of this as soon as possible.

2. I said that I was going to search for an accountant that may assist with making sure that all of the financial information on the document was correct and ready to be filed. I got extremely lucky with this. One of the gentlemen who I am working on this project with has a friend who is an accountant. So he merely gave me the gentleman's business card and told me to give the guys a call to set up the appointment ( after he gave him the heads up, of course). He did, again due to school and work constraints, I am unable to schedule any appointments until after next week.

I can't wait for the moment when I don't have to study anymore. It's not going to happen anytime soon, but it's nice to dream isn't it?

Role Model Interview #3 / Goal Chart

This week I chose to interview two people in the world of pharmacy. The first is Dr. Richard Rooney, the Director of Pharmacy at the VA Jesse Brown Memorial Hospital. It is a bit of an interesting story how Dr. Rooney and I came into contact with each other. As the VP of the UIC undergraduate pre-pharmacy club, I was tasked to find a guest/keynote speaker for the organizations end of the year banquet. After having my 3 potential speakers back out on me, after they said they would/could do this for me,  I began to get nervous. It was my first real task, as the vice president, to find a speaker that was able to not only come in and speak, but further increase the club members interest in the world of pharmacy. Then I got an idea, I called a friend/associate of mine at the VA Jesse Brown hospital.  I emailed Ms. Valerie Creedon, the OIF and OEF project manager at the hospital and explained my situation. She called me back within 20 minutes. She was so excited, she said, that she didn't want to email. Valerie told me she had the perfect person to speak at the banquet. After a few minutes of telling me who Dr. Rooney was, and how much of a fantastic individual he was, I began to get excited. Valerie said she had already emailed Dr. Rooney and he was delighted to come and speak. I then emailed Dr. Rooney. In his response, he confirmed what Valerie had told me. Oh happy day! Then I had another idea. I figured that if Dr. Rooney was interested, I could use him as another one of my role models for my blog interview. I asked, and I was extremely delighted when he said that he would make time to allow me to interview him for a class project. So I set up a meeting with Dr. Rooney when it was convenient for him,  and I asked him similar questions to those that I asked the other interviewees. Thank you in advance Dr. Rooney!!!

 

JJ: How did you get your start in pharmacy? What were your biggest influences in making this decision? Had you always wanted to be a pharmacist?

DR: When I was a junior in high school, my best friends dad encouraged me to go into pharmacy because he though I was pretty intelligent young man. Therefore, I did.

 

JJ: Where did you get your Pharm. D.? What type of job did you have before you became a pharmacist? I graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1974 with a bachelor’s in biology. I obtained my Pharm. D. in 1984 from the University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy.

 

JJ: How big of a role did the military play a role or help you in becoming a pharmacist? After becoming a pharmacist?

DR: I graduated from pharmacy school in 1984. I joined the military in 1985. My military occupation was a 67 Echo, a military pharmacist. Being a pharmacist in the military helped a lot because the military preaches the LDRSHIP values as a code of conduct for all military personnel. So in addition to learning everything I could about pharmacy, I also learned quite a bit about how to be a good person.

 

JJ: How did you come into the position of pharmacy director for the Jesse Brown Medical Center? Describe your transition from pharmacist to director of pharmacy?

DR: I always had aspirations of joining the military, eve as a child. I got into the VA in 1978. After my first three years in pharmacy school, I signed up to join the Air Force. After my basic training I went to a 1-year pharmacy administration-training program. Shortly, afterwards, I ended up at Scott Air force Base in Louisiana, where I set up the first unit dose program for the entire military base. After that I became a pharmacy instructor in the military and worked my way up until I obtained the position I’m in now.

 

JJ:  What do you like/ enjoy most about being a pharmacist/ director of pharmacy?

DR: As a pharmacist, I like the idea that I can help people take charge of their health. As the director of pharmacy, I like the idea of being able to help doctors and nurses help people take control of their personal health. Plus, as an administrator, you have control over what goes on with different clinical groups.

 

JJ: What do you like least about being a pharmacist/ director of pharmacy?

DR: As a kid, I always enjoyed helping people. So I can honestly say, that as long as I’m helping people in their everyday lives then there is nothing to dislike.

 

JJ: Do you have any advice for a young man who is attempting to do what you accomplished? Is there anything that I should be aware of or cautious of?

DR: Throughout life, you are going to have to learn to impress people in order to get to a position that you want. Influence people above, below and on peer level. Establish a good rapport with the people on these levels. Other than that, keep your grades up.

 

JJ: If there was one thing that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? What is it?

DR: Always have a back up plan, in case your first idea falls through.

 

JJ: What is your fondest memory of being a pharmacist? What is your greatest achievement or accomplishment, if different from fondest memory?

DR: Getting residency program started here at the VA Jesse Brown Medical center started back in 1991. Then helping and watching people mature through this system and become magnificent pharmacists.

 

JJ: When do you feel like you’ve done enough and decide to retire? What are your post retirement activities?

DR: I’ve been in the military for 22 years, in pharmacy for 31 plus, I’m working until I get my 40 years in pharmacy. Then I can retire, happily, with my two respective pensions.

 

My next interview was with a Ms. Kayla Stanford, a pharmacy technician, at a local Walgreen’s drug store.

 

JJ: How long have you been working at Walgreen’s? Have you always worked in the pharmacy there?

KS: About two years and two months. Yes, but I’ve had other jobs prior to working there.

 

JJ: What made you want to get a job in the pharmacy?

KS: I knew that I would have to get a job in the pharmacy prior to pharmacy school. I wanted to see if pharmacy was something I would be interested in doing, before I decided to spend the next eight years in school for something that I didn’t like doing.

 

JJ: What influences did you have to want to become a pharmacist?

KS: When I got the job, I immediately enjoyed working in the pharmacy so that was obviously a big influence. Also, the amount of money attracted me to the profession as well. However, prior to these I had a talk with my mom about what I wanted to do in my professional career. She suggested pharmacy and I’ve been on that path ever since.

 

 

JJ: What do like most about working in the pharmacy?

KS: I like the face-to-face interaction with the patients.

 

JJ: What do you like least about working in the pharmacy?

KS: I dislike calling insurance companies to verify a patient’s insurance, because many of the customer service representatives from these companies have horrible attitude. Also, when people write themselves fake prescriptions or call in phony prescriptions. Both are extremely stressful and time consuming.

 

JJ: What helped you most in studying for your licensing exam?

KS: My employer, Walgreen, paid for a 4-week training course, the materials for the class, gas reimbursement, and once I passed the course, I received a raise.

 

JJ: Do you have any advice for me as young man planning on entering the world of pharmacy?

KS: If you want to work in pharmacy, get job experience in various types of pharmacies. For example, retail, hospital, etcetera, just to see if pharmacy is something that you really want to do.

Role Model Interviews #2

I am extremely appreciative of this weeks assignment. I know the DivaProf said you would get more out of interviewing someone you didn't know, and that very well may be true for some. However, in my opinion I don't think I would've gained one-millionth of insight from a stranger than I did from this week's interviewees. Shout out to Dr. Rock! No offense though! The reason I say this is because yes I have, at one point of time, interacted with both of my role models and these interactions is what made me want to approach them on this assignment; and I think by them knowing me, the interview were, for lack of a better vocabulary, informal and somewhat unprofessional. I think this is what made it easier for them to open up and get personal with me. With that being said, Dr. Rock, I apologize for not taking your advice (this time). I still very much appreciate your advice and your opinion in all instances.

Last week was me reaching out to my pharmacy role models. For this week's assignment, I interviewed two role models who have had enjoyed quite a bit of success while working in non-profit organizations. When I say success, I'm not talking about the financial gains made in running a successful non-profit organization. I'm speaking of the success of helping your fellow man or woman, when he or she may not have sufficient means of doing this on their own; and then the ability to duplicate that success, improve on it, and help even more people. This is what these two gentlemen have done countless times... over and over, without tiring, getting lazy,  or becoming complacent with all of the achievements or accolades they've respectively received. I to, one day, will achieve this level of success! So I would like to say thank you George and Warren, in advance, for taking the time out to meet with someone like myself. It means more to me than words can say. 

My first interview was with Mr. George Randazzo, the owner of National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, a NPO based out of Chicago, right in the heart of the UIC campus. Although I had questions prepared, the meeting felt more like a conversation than an actual interview. It was very unstructured but for this blog, I'll list the Q & A similar to how I did last week.

JF: How did you get involved with non-profit organizations? What made you want to open up your own non-profit organization? Where there any influences in your decision making? How old were you/ what year did you begin?

GR: I started off as a buyer for Motorola in 1977. During this time period an acquaintance wanted me to help throw a dinner bring the world boxing champions together to raise funds for a school sponsored by the Italian Boxing Hall of Fame. In order to raise money to host a , I had to do two things, quit my job, and file for my 501C3 license.  Once I got licensed, I was able to receive donations. That's how I got my start.

JF: Why the National Italian American Hall of Fame? Where did the idea come from? Any influences?

I was always into sports. I started as a kid organizing social clubs, baseball teams, et-cetera  in the neighborhood because I always had a passion for helping people; especially young people. The night after I hosted my first event, with well over 2,500 attendees, I began receiving phone calls from some of the people in attendance saying that they were from such and such company and they like what I was doing and was willing to give me an office to work out of, and other businessmen calling and saying that they would donate to my organization and sponsor upcoming events. At that point, I decided that I would like to incorporate the other sports into my business, and in 1978 I changed the name from The National Italian Boxing Hall of Fame to The National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame. 

My biggest influence was my father. He was hardworking, he respected my mother, and he was outstanding at providing for his family. I knew I wanted to be like him when I got older.

JF: What do you like about opening up and running your own NPO? 

GR: That I am my own boss, and I am in total control of every decision that is made around here.

JF:  You obviously have achieved a great level of success, what keeps you coming to work every day? 

GR: My young innovative staff, that shares my ideas and passions.

JF: Were there any moments where you though that you would not make it, or you wanted to give up and do something else?

GR: No, when I started this organization I had so many people telling me that they didn't want me to succeed. However, I constantly believed that what I was doing was right, so I never allowed anyone's negative attitudes to influence my decision making.  

JF: What is your fondest memory or the highlight of of career as the owner of the NIASHF?

GR: The fondest memory I have since opening the Hall of Fame is meeting one of my childhood idols, Joe DiMaggio, and having him join my board of directors which helped make our transition from the Italian Boxing Hall of Fame to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. The highlight of my career was in 1998. I met Jerry Colangelo and he helped raise money to build the NIASHF museum on Taylor street. 

JF: Do you have any advice for a young man wishing to run his own NPO? Is there anything I should cautious of?

GR: Find your dream and hopefully make it a reality. You will have to come up with your own idea, and see it through to the end. Have a good attorney, a good accountant, loyal friends, and a good board of directors who you trust. Lastly, never give out cash and never receive cash from anybody.

JF: Give me one thing that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? 

GR: I wish I could have gotten more schooling. I went to Wright College for one semester for a year. 

The next interview is with a gentleman named Warren Chapman former Vice-President of NPO known as the Joyce Foundation, he also ran two other successful NPO's in conjunction with the Joyce Foundation. The format of this interview went a little differently than the one with Mr. Randazzo. There were unforeseen circumstances that prevented us from meeting face to face. However, we conducted the interview via e-mail. Due to time constraints I'll cut and paste the questions and the answers.

What are the names of the NPO's you were involved in? How long were you involved with them? What was your position or role with the diffe rent organizations?

 

How old were you when you first began working in NPO's? What drew you to these particular organizations? Where there influences from friends, family, etcetera? 

 

What did you most like about working=2 0with NPO's? If there was anything, what did you dislike the most about working with them? 

 

What is you fondest memory of working in any of these organizations? If different from your fondest memory, what was you greatest or most memorable achievement in working in an NPO?

 

Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? And this could be anything, from anytime period; not necessarily your experience in the world of NPO's.

 

Do you have any advice for a young man (myself) wishing to run a successful NPO? For example things I should try to do or things I should be cautious about?

 

Does Bonnie still make that banana flavored ice cream? ( I think it was ice cream) And when can I get some of that? Obviouslly this has nothing to do with my assignment. I figured I'd ask anyway.

I started working with the Chicago Youth Centers (CYC) at their Summer Camp in 1972, as the Arts and Craft Director. In the fall of 1972, I was hired by CYC as the Director of Arts and Crafts for the all of their youth centers in Chicago. I left CYC in 1975. In 1973, I became the Summer Camp Director for CYC ( I hired you dad and the rest is history).

 

Prior to working at CYC, I worked at Franklin Park Day Camp as a counselor in the summers of  1960 and 1961, my father was the Park Supervisor. I had to go to work with my father in the summer, so I got paid and had fun at the same time. I was 12 years old when I worked at the park. I liked working the kids, and learning from the adults who supervised all of us. Later, when I taught art, I liked watching the students get excited when they made something or they painted a picture and realized that they had talent and some were interested in pursuing a career in art.

 

As the summer camp director, I was able to give city kids from poor neighborhoods an opportunity to relax and have fun in the woods, away from the traffic and hustle of the city. We also take kids how to swim and fish for the first times in their lives.

 

I learned a lot about myself in those years, and as I look back, I did not know how much it meant to give kids a chance to experience life in a different setting from the one they came from. Also, I did not realize how much I was learning about life until years later, when I reflect on my past experiences and how they have helped to shape my present thinking.

 

Be true to what you believe in, and do what you do to make the world a better place, do something great for the world, not yourself.

 

Bonnie makes banana pudding, but Monica and I have not been able to get her to make it for years.

 

Later

 

Warren

 

 

 

 

Proffessional Interview #1

Proffessional Interview #1

In selecting who conduct these interview with I chose two of my friends who happen to be doing my dream proffession. Unfortunately, only one of my friends was able to parcipate in this assignment, at the moment, due to work constraints.

My only interviewee is a long time friend of mine. We went to high school together, separated after college and recently found eachother via facebook. Her name is Dr. Dawn Edwards who is currently a registered pharmacist and working in Walgreens here in Chicago, IL.

JF: How long has pharmacy been a part of your life?

DDE: Since I was a small child. I was maybe 11 or 12, when I realized my favorite Aunt Sharon was a pharmacist. 

JF: How did that influence you to choose a career in pharmacy?

DDE: I didn't think I knew what I wanted to do then, but I always found her fascinating, not only because she was my favorite aunt of my moms three sisters, but the majority of kids during that age wanted to be doctors, but I didn't have any doctors in my family. I had Aunt Sharon, the pharmacist, and since I wanted to be like her. I also wanted to be a pharmacist.

JF: What was more rewarding, graduating from pharmacy school or obtaining a job in your career field?

DDE: I struggled all throughout pharmacy school at Xavier, and when I graduated I felt I was on top of the world. I was very thankful for everything that God blessed me with. However, when I finally got a job offer, it was especially rewarding because someone was willing to give me a chance to do something that I loved. Plus, working in Louisiana as a student I was extremely exited to come back home (Chicago) to work.

JF: What do you like most about your job as a pharmacist? 

DDE: I enjoy the feeling of knowing that I am helping people feel better. I know that I have the power to save or preserve someone's life. That thought alone keeps me coming to work, even when I don't feel like it. 

JF: Now the tough question, what do you like least about being a pharmacist?

DDE: (laughing) Boy, it'll take another 30 or 45 minutes to tell you everything that's I don't like. 

JF: Ok, well just name a few things that I may have to be aware of as a future pharmacist.

DDE: The one thing I always complain to my husband about, working in retail pharmacy, is the long hours. By me being the head pharmacist at my store, I often have to come into work earlier than the other employees and stay later once the store begins closing. 

JF: So the long hours get to you sometimes?

DDE: Definitely, but when I go home tired I feel like I've done my job. It's the time away from my husband that I miss.

JF: That's understandable, is there anything else that may make work as a pharmacist tough for me?

DDE: The other big thing is dealing with the customers. A lot of the time the customers are polite and friendly, but then you usually have one or two customers per day that come in, and they are late picking up their kids from daycare or school, or they put a prescription in and it isn't ready when they want it to, and they can be pretty nasty to the workers. 

JF: Oh yes, the dreaded unhappy customer.

DDE: Yeah, but what they don't realize is that getting an attitude isn't going to help them get out of the store faster.

JF: That's understandable, is there any thing else?

DDE: Other than technical issues, there's really nothing else that bothers me at work.

JF: Fair enough! Last question, do you have any advice for a future pharmacist or anything that you know now that you wish you would have known then that you know now?

DDE: Throughout you life you are going to have people tell you why you shouldn't do something or that they would recommend you do something else. Don't listen to them for one second, because what they are doing is making you second guess your self and your dreams. Do it anyway! No matter what it is! 

For the optional section of the blog this week, one of my things I like to do is meet new people from different places. I was able to do something I liked this weekend, when I attended a conference in Warrenville, IL. for the Midwestern Regional Student Veteran's of America. There were representatives present from maybe ten or fifteen different colleges and universities in the midwest region. I had an opportunity to meet guys, and girls from colleges in Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, etc. The two day conference, but we took care of business as well. We're looking to implement new legislation in these different policies for veteran's services at the respective schools. I was extremely happy to be a part of it and potentially make some new friends.

Plotting A Path

One of my lifetime goals is to get into pharmacy school and get my doctorate in Pharmacy. There are many steps that require this to happen. Since my flow chart to attend pharmacy school and obtain Pharm. D. started a few years ago, roughly around fall 2005, I'll begin with this time period. 

I had just returned from my last active duty station in Ft. Polk, LA. During the last few months of my stay there, I had been telling myself that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in the army if I didn't have to.  So, technically, my flowchart began then.

I knew in order to get my doctorate in pharmacy, I would need to:

re-enroll in school ---> sign up pre-requisite pharmacy classes --->  study for those classes ---> get good grades in the class ---> continue good grades ---> graduate with an associate's degree in chemistry ---> apply to UIC ---> get accepted to UIC ---> take more pharmacy pre-requisites ---> get good grades in these pre-requisite classes---> join the UIC pre-pharmacy club ---> find work in a pharmacy ---> get on pre- pharmacy club e-board---> take PCAT---> apply to pharmacy school---> get accepted to pharmacy school ---> get good grades in pharmacy school----> graduate with my Pharm. D. 

For my five lives, I selected a pharmacist, a Non- profit organization owner, a Dee-jay, a comedian, and a teacher.

I feel bad because I don't know his first name, but Dr. Park at Swedish Covenant Hospital (773)878-8208

The NPO owner (s): George Randazzo (george@niashf.org) (312) 226-5565 and Warren Chapman (312) 355-0422

DJ B-Man or DJ Bonsu are the DJs: (773)575-7262 B-Man, (708) 612-2752 for Bonsu

Comedian: Donnell Rawlings Donnellonline@gmail.com

the teacher : Sarah Shallwani (630) 709- 9559

For the third part of the assignment... 

I said that I love to go places where I have never been before. So this past weekend I went skiing, in Vermont. The name of the ski resort is Mt. Snow, which is a few hours away from New York. I went with a few of my friends from high school. It was a pretty good experience.I left Friday and got back this morning.  At first I was a little nervous about skiing because I'd never done it before. Because of this I decided that I wasn't going to ski at all.  So I just stuck with tubing. I did eventually gain enough confidence to to ski (actually,  lost a bet) and I did get comfortable enough to where I didn't feel so bad about falling.  I was surprised at myself because I  made it down the mountain one time without falling. Once I did that I was done skiing for the weekend! The rest of the time was spent partying. Barn parties, resort parties, bar parties, cabin parties... we did plenty of partying.  I didn't really get a chance to see much of the state outside of the mountains, but it was cool to get another visit to a different state under my belt. 

My Touch Stone

After reading Barbara Sher's Goalsearch Chapter, I found it a bit challenging to pick which goal I wanted to discuss for this blog. After doing a few minutes of pondering I decided to go with the my dream of opening my own business. Particularly my own non-profit organization. The touchtone behind this dream is the is the feeling of helping people, who otherwise, wouldn't be able to help themselves. I have two role models for this particular dream of mine. One is my Uncle Warren, who was the Vice President of a non-profit organization for about 10 or 15 years, and served on the executive board of two other non-profit organizations until he assumed a very well paying position with the state of Illinois. The other gentleman's name is George Randazzo, who started his own non-profit organization, back in the mid 1970's. Now his business is nationally recognized as one of the country's most successful and appreciated non-profit organizations.  My target for this venture is to be able to go to work everyday excited because I love my job. 

After taking the personality test, here are my results:

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The Protector

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system.

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

Jungian functional preference ordering:

Dominant: Introverted Intuition
Auxilliary: Extraverted Feeling
Tertiary: Introverted Thinking
Inferior: Extraverted Sensing

After reading this, I was pretty blown away. There is a number of points, base off of this survey that are undeniably true and accurate. Some of these points were so dead on that I almost wanted to disagree with them only because I don't like the idea of having a computer software program describing a good portion of my character. However, I will admit to finding this exercise interesting and insightful.  

Understanding Myself

I am jade. Im a unique variation of green. I am the Earth. I represent life. I am one with nature. I am everywhere in nature. When you think of me, you think of spring. New beginnings. Not dark green like the color of the forests, but like the color of money. I am money! 

From Rob: 

James you tell me to shut the **** up all of the time, but you talk just as much as I do! But you're a great talker. You make things happen all by speaking them up and I love you for that!  No h***! (Rob gives James a pound: hysterical laughter ensues) But no you're a really good friend. You're one of my best friends! You know what to say how to say it and when to say it. You love having a good time, all the ****** time! Even when we're studying. Studying was always a blast, but when we go out... you know how to party. You're just a cool guy and we're gonna make a lot of money together! Lets go get a beer!

James, a 25 year-old man, shows the traits of a college student and a professional.  When looking around the room I noticed that I he is very organized in some areas, but extremely cluttered in others. The closet contains a few suits, but it also contains athletic apparel as well. James is really into electronics, but I noticed a few paper back books on the shelves as well. James shows traits as referenced in Barbara Sher's Wishcraft. he is a very complex individual. He is sociable and solitary, sensual and intellectual. When looking at his musical collection, he has everything from Bach to Biggie from Janis Joplin to Jay-Z. He is a student of the world.

1. I like eating pizza

2. I like  eating peanuts

3. I like eating peanut butter and jelly

4. I like eating popcorn

5. I like watching sports

6. I like playing video games

7. I like laughing

8. I like listening to music

9. I like brushing my teeth

10. I like getting my hair cut

11. I like spending money

12. I like making more money than I spend

13. I like seeing the world through an airplane window

14. I like going to places I've never been before

15. I like being in places where most people feel uncomfortable

16. I like feeling fresh/ smelling good

17. I like when hard work pays off

18. I like being lazy

19. I like running

20. I like singing 

How long since last done? Costs money or free? Alone or with someone? Planned or spontaneous? Job related? Physical risk? Fast or slow paced? Mind, body, or spiritual?

1. yesterday, costs money, with someone, spontaneous, no, if eaten to much yes, slow, body and mind

2. a few minutes ago, yes, with someone, spontaneous, no, no, slow, mind and body

3. 2 days ago, costs money, by myself, both, no, not that I know of, slow, all three

4. last week, costs money, doesn't matter, spontaneous, no, too much can hurt you, slow, you eat too fast and you'll choke, its a mental thing with all of my foods

5. Super Bowl Baby!, costs... all the time, either or, preferably with someone, spontaneous, no, you could become a couch potato; the best sports happen at a fast pace; mental and physical needed

6. Saturday; you have to pay to play; with a friend; spontaneous; no; can video games make you brain dead?; all three for me

7.  a few minutes ago; the best things in life are free; either or, doesn't matter; if its planned its not really funny;  fast and hard; laughing heals physically, mentally and spiritually

8. I'm doing it now; free on limewire lol; alone; nope; going deaf from listening to my music too loud; sometimes I like it fast, sometimes I like it slow; all three

9. This morning, Brushing your teeth is free , but the supplies needed to do it cost; It would be kind of weird doing it with someone; planned... 3 times a day; there's a risk if you don't; fast; mind

10. Two weeks ago, yikes!; 20 bucks a pop, and thats the home-boy hook up; I have to have my barber cut me up; planned, but spontaneous as well; this is probably the only thing on here that is job related, I have to have that professional look; not that I know of; no rush cuts, please; I look great and i feel great when I get them

11. Everyday, it seems like; have to make money to spend it; I don't have anyone to spend money on; not yet; both; no; going broke; it goes twice as fast as it comes; temporary mental satisfaction 

12. Im making money as I type this; doesn't cost any money to make it; I find that when I enter money making ventures with people, I gross more money; planned; yes; I prefer fast money, but the saying easy come, easy go is ever so true; mental and physical satisfaction only

13. 1 month ago, cost, doesn't matter, planned; not; of course; fast; mental

14. about a month ago; costs; doesn't matter; planned not yet; of course; I would like to take my time and enjoy; mentally satisfying

15. about a month ago, at a club in Vegas, costs; alone; spontaneous; no; no; no preference; spiritual

16. right now; costs to be this clean; alone; planned; yes; no; slow, I guess; all 3

17. Today; it depends if you spend more than you make; alone; yes; no, you can never be too successful; slow; all three

18. last night before bed; free, the best things are; with someone; spontaneous, but sometimes I plan to be lazy; yes; no; all 3

19. Yesterday; need money for equipment; doesn't matter; planned; no; nope, only benefits as far as I know; both; I benefit from all three when I run

20. A few minutes ago; not at all; alone, I don't think many people can take my singing; spontaneous; no; no; either; all three.

My ideal environment is a maybe a six bedroom home. Something with a two car garage, an outdoor pool/jacuzzi, a panoramic view overlooking the whatever city I'm in. I need the view to help reflect on my success and think about my future success plans. I would have music playing in this house all day. Like taking my I-pod and just letting the songs play randomly and as loudly as I wanted them to be. It would be an environment, where I could escape everyone or everything I needed to, but if I wanted, I could have a nicely sized event/ party for a large group or a small group of immediate friends and family. I would ultimately have to be comfortable in this environment. 

My ideal day would begin with me only having to wake up to make money! (I got that from Michael Jordan) I would work out, for an hour or two. Eat breakfast, Lucky Charms and fruit. Call a couple of my friends over, and just sit around and play video games... All day! When dinner comes around hit one of my favorite restaurants. Afterwards, hit a little bar or club (in another country) with the homies. Go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again!

In my fantasy analysis, my indispensable objects, first my music. Music motivates my life!  Then my video games. Yeah, its kind of lame, but the games relieve a lot of stress. The location has to be somewhere with a panoramic view so I could see the world around me from up high. The who is or are my closest friend. What's success without having anyone to share it with?

The optional things that are wanted, but not necessarily desired the 6 or 7 bedroom home with the garage. Something smaller would suit me just fine.  The parties or social gatherings is one of the things I could do without. 

The only thing I would have the frills about  is the jacuzzi. Its not a necessity, but if you've never had one, get one then see how much it helps coming home from a long day of doing whatever. I haven't had one in any place that I have lived in a few years. I could really use one, but if I don't get it I won't be unhappy.

Since I didn't mention it in my last blog, two of the things that I love to do was/is make people laugh and help other people out that don't have the ability to help themselves.

So I took both ideas and made them into reality by helping put together the first annual  "Laughtopia" comedy show at UIC. I made well over 1,000 people laugh when the event concluded last Wednesday. The proceeds raised from the two-day event went to Children's Memorial Hospital to help fund research projects at the hospital. That was me helping kids who otherwise couldn't help themselves.

What I love, or at least what people told me I love

Either I'm not cool enough to have my friends type my answers to the questions or my friends and family aren't tech savy enough to do it. In my opinion, some people are just a little lazier than others. Myself being one of the lazy ones of course, I can't really complain can I? Any way, in seeking out people to tell me about myself in the first five years of my life I chose to ask my dad, my grandmother, and my grandfather. Lets begin with my dad...

In asking him what I was like in the first five years of my life, the first thing he said was that I was a happy child and I was always smiling. He said that that I also liked to run. Mainly because when I was a baby, maybe two or three years old, I had braces on my legs, Forrest Gump style. So as soon as I got them off, I did what I couldn't do before which was run. My dad said I was a huge Sesame Street fan. My favorite characters on the television show were the count and Big Bird. He said I was a little jealous of my little brother because he was taking the family's attention away from me. However, I was also very protective of him. My dad, along with my grandparents said that I loved sports, I loved singing and performing, and I loved music. I was told that I would hear music and attempt to imitate the whatever song I was hearing. Its' kind of hard for me to believe, but he actually told me that I enjoyed to draw when I young as well.

As for my grandmother, she said that I showed interest in anything an every thing within the first 3 months of my life. She said I was a very observant baby.  She also said I was obsessed with the little bear from the snuggle dryer sheets commercials. She also mentioned that I loved to read the books that she would buy for me but I enjoyed any game where I could run around.

My grandfather, who I spent the majority of my time with, said that I would not let him out of my sight. While my parents worked my grandparents took care of me, but my grandfather would spend the bulk of his time playing with me, cooking for me, pretty much spoiling me. So I could understand that. He said I was really into video games, and I wanted to play all of the time. He said I would do anything as long as it involved some type of fun activity. He also mentioned that I never wanted to go home. I always wanted to stay outside and play. Which makes sense, I'm still the same way now.

As far as things that my caregivers thought was unique about me, my grandfather said that whatever activity I was doing I wanted to be the leader, much more than some of my other friends. My grandmother said the think that was most unique about me was that I very determined, intelligent, and I had an ability to think on my feet. When I asked her to elaborate, she said that, if I had it made up in my mind to do something, then I would try my hardest to do whatever it was that I wanted. She also said that whenever I was confronted with a problem, I would always try to come up with a solution, even though the solutions may have been wrong at times. My dad said that I had a unique ability to do a lot of tasks on my own. He said that when it came to school work, it was so easy and I would finish so much faster than many of my peers that teachers were running out of work to give me. He said that I was so much smarter than him when he was my age. Things that he struggled in school, I breezed right through.

As far as what my caregivers believed I would become when I grew up, the responses from my dad and grandparents are somewhat the same. They all agreed that whatever I decided to do I would be extremely successful; and whatever profession I chose, it would be a high paying job. My grandmother is the only one of the three who had a specific idea of what career field I would be in. She said that I would follow my uncle and go into the health profession. FYI, my uncle graduated from University of Illinois - Champaign with a degree in dentistry, got bored with that and went back to school to be a surgeon. Got his certification, but he felt like he wasn't making enough money so he went back to school, now he's a plastic surgeon. Yeah, I have pretty big shoes to fill if I go that route. 

I didn't want to just limit my answer to question number three to only my friends so I asked my relatives as well, but since the assignment only requires 5 responses I'll keep it to that. When I asked various people who have had a tremendous impact on the 20 plus years I've been on this Earth, here are some of their responses. 

Mike P. former physics lab partner and future business partner says a good example is my relationship with one of my other former lab partners and future business partners Rob M.

Mike says "It shows your ability to not only keep it real, but give advice that empowers others to think outside of the box". He also says that I have the strength to realize faults/problems and make solutions to those problems, first, verbally and then with my actions, by staying true to myself as well as to others. Mike adds " the gift you have is person-ability", I guess that means I'm very personable, and "networking. This gift shows inner strength"

My cousin Rick C., who works for my uncle, says "your sociability, your outgoing personality and your drive to be successful are you greatest strengths. You are also optimistic and you try to keep a positive outlook on life no matter how bad things are or may seem".

Omari G., my best friend for 20 plus years,  says my greatest gift is my interpersonal skills. He comments on my ability to get along with and communicate positively with people of all cultures and lifestyles.

Jamaal G., Omari's little brother says pretty much the same thing. He calls me a people person. He said I can go into any environment and fit right in. He says that I have the ability to come around his family and fit right in and get along. He notes that this is quite difficult for many of his friends to do. I understand him, but I've known his family for decades... of course I'm gonna fit in! 

Lastly, Sarah S., my (former) girlfriend, the only person who probably knows me better than I know myself, we kind of recently broke up so I had to remind her that her comments had to be nice and couldn't be negative LOL! She says " I definitely feel that you are a very passionate person when it comes to things you love. You are always optimistic and look for the positive things in life an in others. You are funny and can always others laugh and feel better. You're also a very fun loving person, and extremely intelligent... whatever you set you mind to, I know you'll do great!" 

Wow, all of the people who participated in this assignment are very, very, very, very very, important to me and are so much a part of why I strive for success. They believe in me, and in turn, I believe I can do anything. They are my foundation and my support system. I know when the poo hits the fan and I need someone to call on, their numbers are on speed dial and they'll be there for me in an instant. Thats not taking away from my other friends and family who chose not to participate, I still got love for ya! (just don't expect anything from me next Christmas LOL!) 

Thanks for reading, I know it was pretty lengthy. If you feel the need to leave a comment, if not see you when I see you!

1st Blog Entry

I'm taking the class because I read the course description in the course catalog and I thought the class sounded like it would be interesting. As far as what plan to get out of the course, I would like to gain a better understanding of myself, and possibly improve some of my innate qualities that will help me achieve a high level of success within the next few years. Having attended the first class, I am interested to see what the "pump fake" is, if any, in reference to the video we watched. 

As a child, I really was fascinated by anything and everything, if you can believe that. I was always excited to learn new things all of the time.  If I didn't know what something was, I wanted to know what it was, where it came from, how it worked, what made it work... things of that nature. I remember always taking things apart and, at least attempting to put them back together. It didn't matter what it was. Whether it was my toys and games or my trophies. As long as I couldn't get into too much trouble for breaking it, I was definitely going to investigate what ever it was to the fullest. I think the senses I lived through most was my sight and my sense of touch. As a kid, my two favorite things to do were watch cartoons and play video games. I loved cartoons because they were always so extremely random and outside of reality that I was fascinated by almost every cartoon. Although I had I few favorites.  I can't forget about playing. Whatever that entails. I used to love to play all the time. Especially outside. I remember loving to be outside for as long as my parents would allow me to be out. I loved being out and having fun. I also loved music, and I think I was really into the performing arts, like theater plays and concerts. I can't think of any secret dreams or fantasies I had as a kid, but I think I  knew I wanted to have a lot of money be a successful adult. 

I do feel like all of these things are still somewhat a part of me, and some part of me loves those things. I think always having a thirst for knowledge and a and a drive to just want to be out exploring, helped me develop a love for learning. I feel like I always want to learn at least one new thing everyday. I also think I have really strong interpersonal skills good for networking. Sorry, I can't think of more. I guess I'm having a brain freeze.