This I Believe
I first discovered the “This I Believe” project when I was a participant at the 2008 American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Summer Leadership Meetings. ACPA President Patty Perillo challenged all of us to take some moments and reflect on what we believed about our profession. The task of summing up these feelings was overwhelming, but was an extremely beneficial exercise that reminding me specifically why I love what I do.
For those not familiar, the “This I Believe” project is based on a 1950’s radio program where people from all walks of life shared the core values and philosophies that guided their every day lives. National Public Radio has renewed this program by publishing a book with a collection of “This I Believe” statements from the original 1950’s program and more contemporary statements from a variety of people.
A student organization on our campus called Journey House has started to invite people to have lunch with them while a student selected speaker delivers a “This I Believe” statement. I had the privilege of doing this earlier in the week and sincerely appreciated the opportunity to ponder this big question and engage in conversation with the students involved at Journey House. What I read that day is below:
I believe in human potential. Each one of us has gifts that we have been given that have the potential to benefit the common good. How we use our gifts or if we use them at all is dependent upon our ability to recognize these gifts and develop the confidence to share them with the world.
While I was fortunate to grow up in a family that encouraged me to develop my gifts and share them in my own unique way, my experience in the world has shown me that not everyone grows up in an environment that encouraging. Access to opportunity plays a significant part in just how far your unique gifts and talents can be developed into a way of life that can sustain you into the future. Although we all have our unique gifts, access to resources that can be used to develop them is not equal. One of the experiences from my childhood that illuminated this point to me was when my cousins from San Francisco came to live with my small town Wisconsin family. My cousins had a tough life. Their mother, my Aunt, wanted to follow her dreams and make her own way in California outside of the community she had known throughout her life. When her dreams did not become reality, she went down a difficult path that eventually lead to her death at an early age.
When my cousins came to live with us, they were old enough to have been deeply affected by their surroundings and experiences. They had been sent messages by peers and popular culture that their best hope for a bright future would be tied directly to how talented they were at sports or how well they could earn money illegally and avoid criminal prosecution. My parents were certainly not wealthy, but compared to what my cousins had experienced growing up, we had it all. Sitting down to do homework, having family dinners, or celebrating holidays was not part of my cousins’ experience growing up. When faced with this reality of a world so unlike their own, they eventually left and did not come back.
I am not sure what has happened to my cousins. They last time I saw them or spoke to them was the summer after my first year of high school. They tried to explain why they left, but I really didn’t understand it at the time. I felt as though they maybe had a shot with us, but in the end, they felt as though their true authentic selves could not be found in our sleepy town of 1300. I also did not fully appreciate at the time the daily incidents of racism and aggression directed toward them by members of our small community. That’s not to say there were not incredibly kind people in our community, but in the end, it just wasn’t a place they felt they could be. One could argue, my cousins ruined a potential opportunity to increase the likelihood of their gifts and talents being utilized to benefit a common good, but by this time, they had already been taught that wasn’t possible. This new life in unfamiliar surroundings drove that point home even further in their minds that they didn’t fit and that their unique gifts could not be discovered or utilized.
Although access to opportunity and resources does not exist in equal measure, I believe my role as a college student educator and University administrator is to help the students I am fortunate enough to interact with each day realize the opportunity that comes with each day on campus. I believe learning both in and outside of the classroom enables each individual to develop their unique gifts and discover new ways to share them with the world. I see students discovering and developing these gifts every day. I see it in the many students who take advantage of service opportunities, leadership development, attending distinguished speakers and performances, and becoming involved in a student organization. I see it in the many students who put their all into a collaborative research project or develop a proposal to add value to the student experience. I also see it in the many different ways students combine their unique interests to formulate a plan for post graduation. I think specifically of one student who discovered community service opportunities and then decide to blend their degree in business with their passion for service and looked for career opportunities in the non-profit sector. I also see it in the countless contributions students make to better their communities and develop themselves as the types of leaders we need to usher in a new day of integrity and ethical leadership.
I believe part of my role now as I grow older is to not only continue to utilize my gifts, but to encourage others to reflect upon their gifts and discover ways to share them to better communities. I realize there are forces alive and well within our communities that send messages that certain people, ideas, or gifts are not “good” enough to be widely accepted or practiced. I believe I have a responsibility to combat those forces by actively creating opportunities and structures for people to develop and practice their gifts and discover how they can shared to the betterment of others. This lead to my most recent project where I started writing a blog about renewing our understanding of leadership by making it more inclusive to a wider variety of perspectives and ideas. This project has been my own example of blending my passion for leadership development with what I believe is a need to create more opportunities for others to share their unique voice and be heard.
When I first discovered the “This I Believe” movement, my first attempt at a statement was centered on my belief in the idea of mentorship. In my profession, mentoring is extremely important and is a dynamic that exists throughout a career. When I was in college, I wasn’t sure what my gifts were. It wasn’t until I met my mentor and friend Robin did I realize that my care for others and passion for leadership development could turn into an opportunity to enter a career path that I am currently still traveling. Meeting my mentor was a seemingly chance encounter. There were many students she was connected to, but for some reason, we connected and I was forever changed as a result of it. Robin gave me my opportunity. I view this relationship as a sacred trust and has been bestowed to me with the responsibility of paying it forward each and every chance I get.
I believe in inclusivity. The idea that there is a place for everyone in our community and that commonalities and connections can be established between what may seem like two disconnected ideas or two extremely different people. I believe we need people to provide opportunities to discover these connections and encourage us to make the most of opportunities we have. I believe we need to have someone in our lives who believes in us and if given that opportunity, I believe we have unlimited potential.
For those not familiar, the “This I Believe” project is based on a 1950’s radio program where people from all walks of life shared the core values and philosophies that guided their every day lives. National Public Radio has renewed this program by publishing a book with a collection of “This I Believe” statements from the original 1950’s program and more contemporary statements from a variety of people.
A student organization on our campus called Journey House has started to invite people to have lunch with them while a student selected speaker delivers a “This I Believe” statement. I had the privilege of doing this earlier in the week and sincerely appreciated the opportunity to ponder this big question and engage in conversation with the students involved at Journey House. What I read that day is below:
I believe in human potential. Each one of us has gifts that we have been given that have the potential to benefit the common good. How we use our gifts or if we use them at all is dependent upon our ability to recognize these gifts and develop the confidence to share them with the world.
While I was fortunate to grow up in a family that encouraged me to develop my gifts and share them in my own unique way, my experience in the world has shown me that not everyone grows up in an environment that encouraging. Access to opportunity plays a significant part in just how far your unique gifts and talents can be developed into a way of life that can sustain you into the future. Although we all have our unique gifts, access to resources that can be used to develop them is not equal. One of the experiences from my childhood that illuminated this point to me was when my cousins from San Francisco came to live with my small town Wisconsin family. My cousins had a tough life. Their mother, my Aunt, wanted to follow her dreams and make her own way in California outside of the community she had known throughout her life. When her dreams did not become reality, she went down a difficult path that eventually lead to her death at an early age.
When my cousins came to live with us, they were old enough to have been deeply affected by their surroundings and experiences. They had been sent messages by peers and popular culture that their best hope for a bright future would be tied directly to how talented they were at sports or how well they could earn money illegally and avoid criminal prosecution. My parents were certainly not wealthy, but compared to what my cousins had experienced growing up, we had it all. Sitting down to do homework, having family dinners, or celebrating holidays was not part of my cousins’ experience growing up. When faced with this reality of a world so unlike their own, they eventually left and did not come back.
I am not sure what has happened to my cousins. They last time I saw them or spoke to them was the summer after my first year of high school. They tried to explain why they left, but I really didn’t understand it at the time. I felt as though they maybe had a shot with us, but in the end, they felt as though their true authentic selves could not be found in our sleepy town of 1300. I also did not fully appreciate at the time the daily incidents of racism and aggression directed toward them by members of our small community. That’s not to say there were not incredibly kind people in our community, but in the end, it just wasn’t a place they felt they could be. One could argue, my cousins ruined a potential opportunity to increase the likelihood of their gifts and talents being utilized to benefit a common good, but by this time, they had already been taught that wasn’t possible. This new life in unfamiliar surroundings drove that point home even further in their minds that they didn’t fit and that their unique gifts could not be discovered or utilized.
Although access to opportunity and resources does not exist in equal measure, I believe my role as a college student educator and University administrator is to help the students I am fortunate enough to interact with each day realize the opportunity that comes with each day on campus. I believe learning both in and outside of the classroom enables each individual to develop their unique gifts and discover new ways to share them with the world. I see students discovering and developing these gifts every day. I see it in the many students who take advantage of service opportunities, leadership development, attending distinguished speakers and performances, and becoming involved in a student organization. I see it in the many students who put their all into a collaborative research project or develop a proposal to add value to the student experience. I also see it in the many different ways students combine their unique interests to formulate a plan for post graduation. I think specifically of one student who discovered community service opportunities and then decide to blend their degree in business with their passion for service and looked for career opportunities in the non-profit sector. I also see it in the countless contributions students make to better their communities and develop themselves as the types of leaders we need to usher in a new day of integrity and ethical leadership.
I believe part of my role now as I grow older is to not only continue to utilize my gifts, but to encourage others to reflect upon their gifts and discover ways to share them to better communities. I realize there are forces alive and well within our communities that send messages that certain people, ideas, or gifts are not “good” enough to be widely accepted or practiced. I believe I have a responsibility to combat those forces by actively creating opportunities and structures for people to develop and practice their gifts and discover how they can shared to the betterment of others. This lead to my most recent project where I started writing a blog about renewing our understanding of leadership by making it more inclusive to a wider variety of perspectives and ideas. This project has been my own example of blending my passion for leadership development with what I believe is a need to create more opportunities for others to share their unique voice and be heard.
When I first discovered the “This I Believe” movement, my first attempt at a statement was centered on my belief in the idea of mentorship. In my profession, mentoring is extremely important and is a dynamic that exists throughout a career. When I was in college, I wasn’t sure what my gifts were. It wasn’t until I met my mentor and friend Robin did I realize that my care for others and passion for leadership development could turn into an opportunity to enter a career path that I am currently still traveling. Meeting my mentor was a seemingly chance encounter. There were many students she was connected to, but for some reason, we connected and I was forever changed as a result of it. Robin gave me my opportunity. I view this relationship as a sacred trust and has been bestowed to me with the responsibility of paying it forward each and every chance I get.
I believe in inclusivity. The idea that there is a place for everyone in our community and that commonalities and connections can be established between what may seem like two disconnected ideas or two extremely different people. I believe we need people to provide opportunities to discover these connections and encourage us to make the most of opportunities we have. I believe we need to have someone in our lives who believes in us and if given that opportunity, I believe we have unlimited potential.
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