Club Whittier

One of the best activities of my week is going to Whittier Elementary School as part of a community service group to teach and play games with fourth and fifth graders. If anyone who knew me really well saw that statement, he or she would probably not believe me because I usually don't get along with children of any age. Sure children are nice and everything but to be quite honest, I normally don't have the patience to deal with them. Since I began attending Club Whittier this has all started to change.

Every week I walk into a gym full of hyperactive elementary school children who are there simply because of all the fun they have with each other and with their Otterbein University leaders. When talking to the veteran leaders of Club Whittier, I asked them why they chose this service out of all the others to choose from here on campus and the answer was generally the same; they fell in love with these great kids and with the program itself because it allows for the promotion of community service at a young age, while at the same time providing the students with a safe place to unwind and just have fun. It is something that the children look forward to each and every week and it's no wonder they are always so excited to see us. Every time I go I can't help thinking what a good experience it would have been for me to have something like Club Whittier at my elementary school and how I am so glad I am able to be a part of this experience now as a college student. "Better late than never" as the saying goes.

Furthermore I feel as though I learn as much from the children we teach and play games with as they do from me. I now know what it is like to be in elementary school today and what kinds of problems the children are facing. I know what is important to them; what makes them happy and what makes them sad. It's as if I'm learning how to connect and communicate on different levels with different kinds of people, which is essential in the adult world. I'm also learning how to be a more firm and assertive leader because if you are not firm and assertive, the children do not listen to you and things quickly spin out of control. However, if you are too assertive and come off as mean or stern the children will dislike you, and this isn't a good position to be in when you want to work with them and help them. My time at Club Whittier has taught me that I need to find a healthy medium between the two so that I can stay in control, but also seem friendly and helpful to the students I am working with. Club Whittier is a wonderful community service opportunity offered by Otterbein that I think every student should experience at least once. From the perspective of a volunteer, it is turning out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Today I went to the, What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? First Year Experience Event put on by the Center for Career Planning. I was attracted to this event not only because it was during one of my very few open time slots in the week, but also because of the event's description. The description read, "Students will explore their interests, skills, values and abilities in an interactive workshop using career and personality assessments. Topics will also include creating a 4-year plan and exploring Otterbein majors." This sounded perfect for me because I've been curious about exploring careers in other majors and because of this I decided to attend.

I will admit I was a bit disappointed by the event. This supposedly hour long event only lasted twenty minutes. Furthermore, the description was not correct because there were no interactive career and personality assessments used, nor was there any exploration of Otterbein majors. There was a simple PowerPoint presentation which, while the speaker was very engaging and upbeat, did not provide me with as much helpful information as I had hoped. I was introduced to the career process that I should be following over my four years here at Otterbein; however I was hoping to get more out of this event than the same basic information that the Center for Career Planning has on their page on Otterbein's website. The one extremely helpful tidbit of information that I gleaned from this event was the fact that Otterbein has a link to the Focus2 career assessment on the Otterbein website.

With this piece of knowledge I have spent the rest of my evening going through the Focus2 career assessment to figure out whether or not I am making the right career decision. I have discovered that I have exactly, and I really mean exactly, split interests between Intellectual (Sciences and Math), and Artistic (English, Languages and Arts). However even with these split interests my values and skills remain the same and in all instances I was given medical careers as my best option. This has helped to reinforce my decision to pursue a career in medicine, but it has also opened my eyes to some different career choices within my field that I had not considered before. All in all I'm glad I went to this event because I believe this one random fact that led me to find the Focus2 career assessment may have really helped me to rethink my college and future career.

My Leader, Nancy Schlichting

This week I found an online interview with the leader I am following, Nancy Schlichting. She is the President and CEO of Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit Michigan. I was extremely excited to come across this interview because I have wanted to know more about her and more about the kind of person she is, rather than the list of accomplishments I keep seeing. Don't get me wrong, I am in awe of that extensive list of accomplishments, but a list doesn't give me any insight into the person she really is. With this in mind I began to read the well-conducted interview by the Detroit Regional Chamber.

From this interview I made so many connections with Ms. Schlichting. We are both from Ohio and come from a middle class family, we both were once aspiring musicians until our hearts led us somewhere else, and like her I am beginning my college journey with Pre-Medicine after being inspired by various hospital experiences in my past. It seems as though I was destined to discover this woman who I have so much in common with, and who has made it so far in life by simply working hard and earning everything that has been given to her.

Yet another characteristic we share is our leadership style. Throughout my life I have always made creating and maintaining good relationships with others a top priority. I make sure I listen to the ideas and suggestions of everyone in the group or organization I am leading and most important of all, I make sure that they feel they are respected and understood, no matter what their position may be. Nancy Schlichting calls this being a relationship-centered leader and as such she has "spent [her] life trying to connect at all levels of the organization and to listen and make sure that [she understands] the issues and dynamics of the organization and how it needs to move forward" (Mead para. 8). Seeing someone employing this leadership style in such a high position gives me hope that someday I can hold a similar position and do great things not just for my community, but for the world.