The Director of our program has set up something called The Writing Circle for us PhD students. The circle is a series of writing and professional development sessions that covers a range of topics. The last session we had a pretty amazing guest speaker.
That morning, I walked into the Health Sciences library just about two minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start. At the head of the conference table was a slender gentleman with a powder white, full afro. His energy screamed the 60s, his story boasted of civil rights-esque activism and leadership.
Former Congressman Ron Dellums was lined up to speak with us that day. He was extremely warm personality and had a vibrant life story of political activism mixed with personal tales of growing up under the wisdom of strong women. The part of his message that most stood out to me were his authentic leadership and fearlessness. There were many, many aha moments in his sharing. I took the following notes to try and capture some of the conversation:
Celebrate all of who you are. We are not one-dimensional beings.
Assume the responsibility of whatever role you take.
There's nothing wrong with people who are poor, but there's problem with a society that perpetuates poverty
The role of a scholar: 1) inform the debate; 2) encourage ideas, engagement, participation; 3)inspire leadership
Always be in the process of self-evaluation and self-renewal
Don't make the mistake of thinking you have the luxury of times; there is an urgency
Engage in this work because it is imperative, because our survival is at stake. We can't afford not to
When confronted with a common threat, your differences disappear
As long as we engage in sectarian battles we diminish the energy of the universal struggle
If you want to bring change, go forth assertively and establish your citizenship. I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE.
Bend the political process to the will of the people
Free yourself from the fear of defeat and you will maximize your potential for victory
Live your life fully, minimize the compromises. BE.
Step up into things feeling and knowing your strength
Two pieces of advice that really stood out to me from his presentation are mantras that I will take with me as I move forward through this process:
I will show up as who I am.
I just decided NOT to be afraid.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Take 2.
One week ago, today, I got one of the BIGGEST surprises of my life. . .
Last Thursday, February 27, 2014 at about 6:10pm, I concluded a very difficult data analysis class. I was glad that I had planned to meet up with a colleague afterward because I needed to vent. The material for that class was a little complex and difficult to convey to the students. I didn't feel like it was a stellar teaching performance, so I was a little disappointed.
After answering questions from those who had lingered, I trekked up the stairs to the third floor. My high heel teacher shoes announced my every step. My two ton purse with laptop and teaching materials made the walk that much weightier.
I approached the doctoral lab where my colleague had told me she was waiting. I was a little taken aback by the fact that the door was closed. It never is. But I figured, hey, my friend must have done so for privacy and security reasons since the third floor seemed like a ghost town.
I approached the room and proceeded to turn the knob. I was prepared to immediately begin running off at the mouth about how "over it" I was, but I was caught off guard by what I found inside.
As my brain adjusted and my vision corrected itself, I realized I was staring in the face of my partner. At this point, I am utterly confused because, to my knowledge, he was in New York and I wasn't expecting him until the following day.
We immediately exchange grins and he walks toward me. At this point I'm thinking he just surprised me by coming up a day early. He'd done those kind of surprises before.
But then things went a little different. He walked toward me, and his height slowly started decreasing as he bent down, posturing as if he were proposing. In my mind, this was simply a familiar joke that we'd played before. I figured, we would laugh and he would get back up and we'd move forward with our extended weekend plans.
And then there was a box. . .of the jewelry kind. It was a dark satin color with a ribbon finish that he pulled from his interior coat pocket. [Ha ha, very funny, he brought props this time.]
Before long I realize that I am the only one laughing.
He uttered words that I definitely did not hear at the time, because shock was sinking in. There was a REAL ring in that box, and his remarks were of the "Will you marry me?" kind.
Let's just say there's pictures of me on the floor with hands covering my mouth in signature shock pose. I could NOT believe my eyes, and if I didn't grow temporarily deaf I'm certain I would have questioned what my ears had heard.
My absolute best friend, and the man that I had prayed for, has asked to spend forever with me, and I have a shiny, sparkly piece of hardware to prove it!
All I can say is who knew that year four would have all of this in store?!?!
**cuepharell** #HAPPY
Last Thursday, February 27, 2014 at about 6:10pm, I concluded a very difficult data analysis class. I was glad that I had planned to meet up with a colleague afterward because I needed to vent. The material for that class was a little complex and difficult to convey to the students. I didn't feel like it was a stellar teaching performance, so I was a little disappointed.
After answering questions from those who had lingered, I trekked up the stairs to the third floor. My high heel teacher shoes announced my every step. My two ton purse with laptop and teaching materials made the walk that much weightier.
I approached the doctoral lab where my colleague had told me she was waiting. I was a little taken aback by the fact that the door was closed. It never is. But I figured, hey, my friend must have done so for privacy and security reasons since the third floor seemed like a ghost town.
I approached the room and proceeded to turn the knob. I was prepared to immediately begin running off at the mouth about how "over it" I was, but I was caught off guard by what I found inside.
As my brain adjusted and my vision corrected itself, I realized I was staring in the face of my partner. At this point, I am utterly confused because, to my knowledge, he was in New York and I wasn't expecting him until the following day.
We immediately exchange grins and he walks toward me. At this point I'm thinking he just surprised me by coming up a day early. He'd done those kind of surprises before.
But then things went a little different. He walked toward me, and his height slowly started decreasing as he bent down, posturing as if he were proposing. In my mind, this was simply a familiar joke that we'd played before. I figured, we would laugh and he would get back up and we'd move forward with our extended weekend plans.
And then there was a box. . .of the jewelry kind. It was a dark satin color with a ribbon finish that he pulled from his interior coat pocket. [Ha ha, very funny, he brought props this time.]
Before long I realize that I am the only one laughing.
He uttered words that I definitely did not hear at the time, because shock was sinking in. There was a REAL ring in that box, and his remarks were of the "Will you marry me?" kind.
Let's just say there's pictures of me on the floor with hands covering my mouth in signature shock pose. I could NOT believe my eyes, and if I didn't grow temporarily deaf I'm certain I would have questioned what my ears had heard.
My absolute best friend, and the man that I had prayed for, has asked to spend forever with me, and I have a shiny, sparkly piece of hardware to prove it!
All I can say is who knew that year four would have all of this in store?!?!
**cuepharell** #HAPPY
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)