A time I was at my best

Recently in a freshman recitation class that I co-teach for the Hixson Opportunity Scholarship Program we assigned our students to blog about a time when they feel they were at their best. At first I tried to consider what the students might choose as the time that they were at their best, so I thought of some typical scenarios I would expect to read about. Later that night the thought crossed my mind again, but instead this time I directed the question towards myself and asked "When was the time that I was at my best?" I thought back and  remembered that I had a successful high school career. I graduated with honors, was a member of the National Honor Society, had a successful experience with high school sports, and had a semester of college credits completed. I went on to Iowa State and had success with my classes, and was a promising member of the Iowa State Dairy Science Club. On June 30th, 2009, following my freshman year I made a decision to no longer be a bystander and enlist in the United States Army as a member of the Iowa National Guard and my life changed forever.Anything I'd done before then wouldn't even come close to what I consider the time when I felt I was at my best.The time I was at my best was on July 18th, 2011, the day I came home from a year long deployment to the Nuristan Province of Eastern Afghanistan.
        On August 3rd, 2010 myself and the rest of the men of Charlie Company, 1-133rd "Ironman" Battalion said goodbye to our families, friends, and loved ones to train for a roughly a month at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Following Camp Shelby we spent a few weeks at Fort Irwin, California. I didn't know exactly what to expect once we arrived in the theater of Afghanistan, so like most of us, I mentally and physically prepared for the worse case scenario once we arrived in theater. To be honest all of us were all ready to stop shooting blank ammo, and bandaging fake wounds; It was time for something more real.

         The deployment was long, but it was a good infantry deployment. In some ways it was a lot of what I expected it to be, but at the same time I couldn't have dreamed up half of the things that went on. We can a number men from Charlie company go home early from injuries sustained in IED blasts, among other instances of troops in contact, but in the end everybody made it home to their families and went on to live their lives to the fullest.

        On July 18th at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls we were finally welcomed home. After a year of never feeling at home, always being on alert, and physical separation from those who mean the most to us, the noise finally came to rest. For once those feelings were replaced with security, love, and eventually beer. I was in the best shape of my life, I had a loving girlfriend that I'm still with today, and had a few more dollars to my bank account. I was registered for classes at Iowa State in the fall, and was ready to take on anything life in the civilian world could throw at me, because it had to be a hell of a lot easier than what we just went through. This was the time that  I was my best.   

         

        

     

Diversity

Last week Denise Williams guest lectured to the Hixson peer mentor class and Hixson student board about diversity. I've heard many lectures about diversity throughout my college years and time in the military, but I'd say her lecture was by far the most insightful and entertaining. The topic is interesting to me because every day in Ames we experience diversity in one way or another whether it be race, religion, political affiliation, socio-economic status, etc. Along with diversity can come preconceived stereotypes, some negative and some positive. Something I've never really thought about until this lecture is that not only negative but also positive stereotypes can hurt. How do individuals feel when they're labeled with what's considered a positive stereotype, and that person doesn't "live up" to that positive stereotype? In my mind that's equally if not more hurtful than a negative stereotype.

Despite our country progressing throughout previous decades to try and break down prejudiced feeling towards others with different backgrounds, stereotyping will still exist. With stereotyping still existing for the majority of us, because it's in our nature, what we need to do is try and keep an open mind about everyone until we've actually met that person and then truly evaluate the content of that person's character. This is exactly what I have done, and will continue to do for next fall as a peer mentor. We Hixsons are a special group, with a wealth of diversity and experiences, that's why we were selected to be in the position we are today as Christina Hixson's Hixson Scholars. 

Ethics

I'd first of all like to say Alex and Easton did a very nice job with their lesson on ethics. I liked how the questions we were asked to answer could directly be related to our future experience as Hixson peer mentors next year. The underlying message that I picked up from the lesson was where do we as Hixson peer mentors draw the line between being a peer mentor and being anything other for our students next fall. I think we of course need to be friendly, polite, encouraging, resourceful, available to be contacted outside of class. What relationships can we have with our students outside of the Hixson program? I don't think seeing a student once or twice outside of the Hixson setting would be a problem if it's for the right reasons and intentions, but I really don't think we should spend time with our students outside of class that would compromise the relationship between peer mentor and first year Hixson. 

      My advisor here at ISU gave my Ageds 310 some really good advice about high school education that I think would transfer over well to next year. If we meet with one of our students outside of class, it's always best to have at least a third person present, and what better person to have with you than your Hixson teaching partner, or another Hixson from the class if your partner isn't available. This way both we as Hixson peer mentors and our students are more comfortable with any situations that might require us to meet with our students outside of class. 

Campus Resources

I first want to say that Kaylene and Christina did a great job with their lesson tonight on campus resources and referral techniques. I liked the approach they took with the lesson by having the majority of the lesson being based on student interaction and keeping the lecturing to a minimum. This is an approach I want to take for my lesson with Megan coming up in a few weeks, and as much when co-teaching the recitation class next fall. 
       I'm really looking forward to teaching this exact lesson next fall because I know how helpful it's going to be for the incoming freshman, and with this being my fifth semester at Iowa State even I learned some new things about the services offered to Iowa State students. One of my favorite sayings is that "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and I really think this is what the campus resources and referral techniques lesson is all about. Sometimes students can be hesitant to seek help, especially when they don't know what resources are available. With this lesson we as peer mentors can answer a lot of questions before the questions are asked, especially those problems or situations that seem inevitable  during a college career and especially freshman year. It's pretty safe to say that at least one student for each recitation class is going to need to see a doctor, have a prescription filled, drop a class, take a class pass/fail, have their computer crash the day before a final paper is due.  It only makes sense to let these resources at Iowa State be known by the students who pay for them at the beginning of each semester. This lesson is a great way to get the students out of classroom, enjoy the weather, and get better oriented with the campus. 

     

My thoughts on Twitter

Since our class on Wednesday I've tried to make twitter a part of my social media/communications routine with phone calls, texting, email, Facebook, and Linked In. I followed a few of my peers, KCRG News from Eastern Iowa, and Jim Cramer from the show Mad Money by having tweets sent to my phone. From what I've experienced so far with the mobile tweets I'm not a a big fan, mostly because I don't like receiving text messages that aren't going to directly effect me, it gets to be too distracting and counterproductive for me  It seemed like every other class period in the middle of class my phone would be vibrating with a text message about something that was irrelevant to me, and was more of a hindrance to my education and work.It's not that anybody did anything wrong, it's just not for me, and if I don't like it then I can just turn off the mobile setting.

Does Twitter have some potential to be an effective tool for members of a family, team, group, cohort, or business to stay better connected, and on the same page to become more productive and efficient? Yes, Twitter has major potential to be a very valuable tool, and will continue to become more widely adopted for years to come. So advice I'd give to thosewho might feel the same way as I do about Twitter is to not resist it, try to understand at least the basics, and find out what limitations with Twitter are going to bring you the most positive experience.

Week 7

This week our lesson focused on the group process. We did a team activity were one person was blind-folded and the other person had to talk them through a obstacle course. I liked this activity because it can be as easy or as hard the group members make it. It's a simple concept, one person can't see, the other person can. All it takes is two member who can communicate clearly, decisively, and with trust. If you can't be clear, decisive, and have trust in your partner then it's not going to be a very productive exercise. The same concepts of group teamwork from this exercise could be applied to the relationship we'll have with our other Hixson section leader, when communication will be so imperative to create lesson plans, prepare for class activities, and deliver lessons.

Week 6

During this week's class we took a survey to find out what our dominant conflict management styles are, and the results showed that my dominant style is avoiding, followed by collaborating. At first I wasn't sure if I answered the questions truthfully as to how I actually approach conflict, but after a second look at the questions    I knew this was my dominant style. My initial reaction to realizing my dominant style is avoiding was an overall negative feeling. When I hear the word avoid it makes me think of somebody who can't handle conflict, or doesn't have the courage to stand up for what they believe in.
      When I went on to read the survey's description of the avoiding style things really stated to come full circle, and allowed me to understand why this is my dominant style of conflict management. First of all I don't enjoy conflict, the fact that somebody doesn't agree with me doesn't always make me want to jump up and prove a point. This is especially true for the little things in every day life, that I view as minor details to the big picture. If the damage from addressing the conflict outweighs the potential benefits of resolving the conflict, then I've got better things to do with my time and energy. If there's an issue that I'm passionate about then I usually shift from avoiding to collaborating or competing, depending on the severity and importance of the conflict.
      Overall I really enjoyed Mike and Carly's lesson, and it helped me realize that although each person may have a different dominant conflict style, the dominant style alone isn't what determines  how effective a person is as a conflict  manager. The best conflict managers utilize all five of the styles we discussed; avoiding, accommodating, competing, collaborating, and compromising. The key is for an effective conflict manager is the ability to understand and apply the style that is most appropriate for each individual conflict they face. By understanding this I feel very confident that my conflict management style is avoiding, so that I can focus on what is important to me, pick my battles, and when the battles come shift to the most appropriate conflict management style.