Since Restorative is one of my strengths, I am always trying to see how I can improve in order to strengthen the work that I do. As an LC and in my personal life, I regularly set goals that I end up not meeting on time, so I have to change my goals constantly.
I think I’ve grown a lot in terms of adapting to change and thinking creatively. This semester, Alex and I decided to change the topic of our first Brown Bag Lunch from “Youth Rights” to “Policing Black Bodies” within a week of the event. Switching topics in such a short time was jarring and made me anxious since we had such a short time to secure new guest speakers, but I think we handled that change pretty well. Alex worked to get Angela Hattery and Earl Smith to facilitate and I handled the flyer and presentation. I was worried about the presentation because we didn’t get a chance to talk with Angela and Earl about the specifics of what they would speak about at the Brown Bag so I had to throw together a presentation based on the book summary and hoped for the best. I was very happy when they touched on every single topic that I had put on the presentation, and I don’t think that the people who came to the Brown Bag could tell how uncoordinated the event was. Working as an LC has really helped me to become more flexible with change.
Another time when I had to adapt was when I realize
d that I couldn’t participate in Emerging Leaders, L-TEAM, and Hampton, I thought that I’d feel really disconnected from the rest of the LCs. Luckily, I was able to drop my Tuesday night class and rejoin L-TEAM. Working with creating the flyers for our events has helped me to deal with missing out on Emerging Leaders and Hampton. I’ve had to stretch my creativity when making all the L-TEAM flyers and working on the Take5 posters for Nick. Working on those graphics was fun and challenging because it gave me a chance to play around with ideas. I was really happy about the last L-TEAM poster I made (2-27-18) because because it got to shine a light some of the awesome L-TEAMers that came to the previous meeting. I feel a sense of accomplishment after I finish a new flyer/poster.
I think I adapt to change so easily because Harmony is my top strength. When things change suddenly, I am able to recognize that going with the flow leads to the most balance because I have to shift myself to reach the new equilibrium. When I’ve resisted change in my life, it has oftentimes left me unbalanced which throws me further off course.