End of Class Reflection

 

 

 

 

In these two pictures, what has changed is my relaxation level. While of course, a new start in a new place was daunting, I was excited and optimistic. While I still have my happy and optimistic attitude, Santa Clara is not daunting to me anymore. I am happy with what I'm doing here. It is a place that I am comfortable and familiar with, where I am having a great experience.
Three things that really stick with me in my understand of leadership are the power of being good at public speaking, not being afraid to say what you think, and knowing how to be diplomatic. My passion and understanding of the importance of public speaking came from various experiences. I had an elementary school teacher who made everyone read their writings in front of the class, which I easily got used to. Then, when I went to a middle school with an entirely different student body, many of them had a horrible time with it and it wasn't a big deal to me. Seeing the contrast between different levels of public speaking skill showed me how to work on my own. My passion for speaking in front of an audience continued when I became involved with theater in high school. I have now reached the point that performing with an audience rarely intimidates to me and I plan to use that as a leader in the future.  I also value being able to say what you think just from interactions with other people over the years. In life, not everyone is going to have the same opinion with you, but that does not mean one should not defend one's own beliefs within reason. The power of being diplomatic also just came to me from my interactions with other people. Those who knew when to be assertive and when diplomacy just get along with people. All in all, getting along with other people is one of the most important parts of leadership.
I think that the biggest thing I want to continue to build on in my leadership journey is my involvement in activities.  During this quarter, I have stage managed a Senior Dance Recital at Fess Parker Studio Theater, worked backstage in the Theater Department's Main Show, and gotten involved with a Folkloric dancing group. I have enjoyed every single one of these experiences. They were fun, exciting, and empowering, especially because I have never done specific things like these before.  My belief is that one of the most important parts of leadership is putting oneself out there and trying new things, which I will continue to do throughout my time at Santa Clara.
Overall guys, thank you so much for a great class. You are all awesome people and I hope to see more of you throughout our four years here at this awesome university.

Greenfield, Santa Clara, and Life

I would like to begin with saying that this week’s class was definitely my favorite. It gave me a lot to think about personally and a larger scale.
I am very conscious and grateful for the fact that I am a very privileged person, as it has given me a lot of opportunities.  A more unique privilege I have experienced, however, is growing up in the community I did that gave me a greater awareness of the world.  I was raised in a small agricultural town called Greenfield, where many of my classmates were less financially well off. A lot of their parents worked hard in the fields all day to provide for their families and did not have much extra. An example of this occurred during college decision season, when I was able to apply to college without worrying to much about how I was going to pay for it, which was not the case for a lot of my classmates, who worked very hard to figure out the best way for themselves to get their education. I could not be more proud.
The town I come from has also been affected by gang violence.  News of shootings in the county were often frequent news, which I of course always found extremely upsetting, but somehow tended to feel in a world separate from mine.  The time in which it has impacted me the most was when a theater performance I was in had to be canceled and postponed because there had been a shooting close by.  I am EXTREMELY lucky that’s the closest I have been to it, but that’s when it really hit home for me. This was real. Ever since then, if I hear news of violence in the world at any time, it now strikes a greater cord. I know I have not experienced it at its worst, but I comprehend its impact much more now
Here at Santa Clara, I am still extremely grateful for everything I have and how lucky I am.  I have also encountered many different new backgrounds that I have never been aware of before, but that is just a different type of eye opener. I think with cultures and identities, there is a difference between knowing and understanding. While we can learn all the facts in the world, we will never truly understand a way of life unless we experience it ourselves.  Therefore, here’s to working hard to know and trying to understand for a lifetime.

MBTI Reflection

Upon reflection, the MBTI test reminded me of the test from the Divergent Books (proud Erudite over here!), although obviously with a far less grand scale impact. My results of the MBTI test, however, were not inclusive but actually ISTJ, which is short for Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. I was not especially concerned about the results of my test because I feel that I know myself pretty well. Therefore, my initial reaction to seeing my results was just, “Oh yeah, that pretty much fits.” It was more as we went over the different types that I became amused about how much every letter was so me.
I am more naturally an introvert. I, of course, really like interacting with people, I just tend to gravitate towards doing that in a smaller scale. Admittedly, yes the idea of that movie night sounded really fun to me. J Sensing also fits me perfectly because I tend to look at the facts and then promptly overanalyze them. The thinking versus feeling exercise fascinated me because it was such a compelling reminder of how often the two of them intersect. After all, I can bet cutthroat when I need to be, but when possible, I always try to be kind and fair. As for judging, first off, while no I do not hate any of my classes (that just happened to come out wrong), I do like planning out my work schedule in order to get my homework done the most efficiently, as it just makes life easier and leaves more room open for the fun stuff.  I like to plan out events and vacations, although of course nowhere near Sheldon level. Big Bang Theory shout out anyone? :)
What I found most interesting about this exercise is that none of my results went above low moderate; my highest score was an 8.  There’s a reason this test is called the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, not the Myers Briggs Personality Confirmation.  While we all have naturally tendencies, we all vary.  If only that thought had ever occurred to the political leaders in Divergent… But then again, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have had a pretty fun book series.
I did end up Googling famous ISTJs and found some pretty awesome results.  A few of my favorite fellow ISTJs include George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Condoleeza Rice, Danica MacKellar, and Elizabeth II.  While I could have done without Richard Nixon and a famous Nazi general being on this list, I think I did pretty well.

Event Blog 2: I am Climate Change, I am the Cause, I am the Solution

On Thursday, I attended the presentation “I am Climate Change, I am the Cause, I am the Solution” presentation by Carolyn Woo.  First off, I found Carolyn Woo to be an extremely impressive person. The woman is president of Catholic Relief Services and the former dean of the University of Notre Dame’s business school, and that is just off the top of my head. I give props to all powerful women.

                                                                                                                                                                       Climate change and people’s varying attitudes towards it is a scary thing and Carolyn Woo did not shy away from this disturbing reality.  Typically, those who need to be convinced of this reality the most are those who are contributing most to the problem, which makes it a very difficult issue to deal with in that sense alone.  We have been given this incredible planet to live upon, yet we are not respecting it. If at least the majority of the population does not begin to do so, many impossible issues are going to be created.  After all, this is already happening in certain areas.  As we are all aware, California is in a severe drought that does not look like it is going to be resolved any time soon.  When traveling from California to Arizona recently, I was shocked to see how much of California looked like a desert, while Arizona was surprisingly full of immense stretches of green grass and luscious forests.

But, as Carolyn Woo emphasized the worst results are often outside our general range of vision and land the worst upon the poorest places in the world, where many people avert their eyes.  A rise in general temperature of a few degrees, for example, could prevent a farmer from growing a crop that allows his or her family to survive. When resources are diminished in these areas, people lose their livelihoods. In these areas of extreme poverty where education rates are low, if people lose their livelihood, it is often very difficult for them to find another way to survive.  I respect Catholic Relief Services, however, for refusing to avert their eyes.  These people work to spread awareness of these problems in order to battle climate change and are willing to go anywhere to assist those who have already been horribly affected by it.  The main thing I left with from that powerful presentation is that we need more people who do the same. After all, we truly are both the cause and the solution.

Event Blog 1: Pizza, Passion, and Minimum Wage

 

On Wednesday, I went to the Pizza, Passion, and the Minimum Wage Presentation at Lucas Hall. Initially, I was not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be even better than I expected. Chuck Hammers began by telling us the story of how his start-up pizza place led to him being CEO of Pizza My Heart.  The way he told it made me respect While his story was inspiring, it made me think about my father, who is also an entrepreneur and has run his own insurance business for years.  He started and built up his business on his own, so I have always been proud of him, but this was a wonderful reminder of how hard he has worked to continuously run a successful. 

The primary issue Hammers discussed was the raising of minimum wage.  Ultimately, he clearly has mixed feelings about it, but I do too.  On the financial statistics end, there are both advantages and disadvantages of minimum wage.  But, on an emotional end, coming from an area where many people struggle financially, I am extremely for it. Those who work from minimum wage job, especially long term, are hard workers who need to be able to support themselves in a changing world.

The other aspect of Hammers’ presentation that particularly left an impression on me was his discussion of how much public relations affects a business.  When the minimum wage debate hit the Bay Area, Hammers did an interview in which he purposely tried not to take a public stance on the issue.  This negatively affected his business.  Therefore, he rose all of his workers’ wages to above minimum wage.  As a result, once a decision had been made about raising minimum wage in the area, his business activity rose when his decision became more public.  I had not quite put together how much one decision can make or break a business, which gave me a greater appreciation for entrepreneurs. All in all, even though I do not see myself going into business, Chuck Hammers gave me a great appreciation for all those who do.

 

Blog 2: How My Values Determine How and Why I Lead.

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My values determine how I choose to lead. As we have discussed in class, there are both good and bad forms of leadership.  While less extreme than our class examples, every leader has to chose how to lead and whether they are leading for the right reasons.  As I value kindness, integrity, and sharing, I would chose to lead by helping others through conversation and standing up to do the right thing.

More importantly, however, our values determine our goals when leading. Some of the leaders that I respect the most are the ones who have worked to resolve an issue that matters to me. These include the women’s rights movement and all activist movements for Mexican immigrants.  As I am a proud feminist, I believe that some of the leaders of the women’s rights movement are the most under celebrated people in history, with everyone from Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Lucretia Mott, to the leaders of today, such as Hilary Clinton, Emma Watson, and Marissa Meyer.  I fully intend to live my life as a strong feminist, where it be publicly or just by example.

Naturally, the TED Talk in which Sheryl Sandberg discusses why we have too few women leaders spoke to me, as it is still a strong issue in society.

Two of my other heroes are Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, two of the leaders who spearheaded the movement to give rights to fieldworkers.  For starters, leaders who face possible violence and go on massive hunger strikes in order to further their cause tend to earn my respect.  The cause, however, is especially important to my heart, as I was raised in a small agricultural town where many families are spearheaded by parents working hard days and long hours in the heat to provide for their families.  They work to give their children, some of my former classmates, a chance to get an education.  As a result, those students are some of the most hardworking and determined people I have ever met who are currently doing just what their families hoped, at institutions from Hartnell College, San Jose City College,  UC Davis, Cal Poly Pomona, and UCLA , just to name a few..  The rights of fieldworkers, therefore, will always be important to me.

Ultimately, I will strive to be a leader in whatever way I can be, depending on where life takes me.

Hi guys! I’m Madeline White (though just call me Maddie). I’m very happy to be part of ELP and to get to know you guys this quarter! Here at SCU, I am a Spanish major, which I am planning to combine with something else, although I don’t know what yet.  I chose my Spanish because I grew up in a community with a predominantly Hispanic population, which allowed me to study Spanish since I first started attending school and gain a lot of knowledge about the surrounding culture.  Therefore, continuing the exploring something important to me made perfect sense!

I come from a small town in Monterey County called Greenfield, California, which is about two hours from here.  My sister Emilie is actually a recent alumnus of SCU, which is one of the initial things that drew me to this beautiful school.  Santa Clara served her well, because she is now happily attending grad school!

As you may be able to tell from the web address of this blog, I am a massive Harry Potter fan. I am also a fan of other geek phenomenon, such as Sherlock, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, etc.  If any of you guys are also fans of any of these, I am always up for a chat about them.

One of my strongest passions is performing on any type of stage.  I love bringing a character completely different from me to life.  Although it doesn’t come as easily to me, I also like singing, because music can send a great message.  Ultimately, I like being part of anything that involves telling a story. I am definitely planning to continue being involved in theater at Santa Clara, as well as exploring new passions.

In my spare time, I also like reading, watching movies, writing, spending time with family and friends, going for walks (especially along the beach) and more!

Can’t wait to read blog posts and learn more about you guys soon!

-Maddie

I attached a few pictures underneath.

1. My sister and I on a walk at Point Lobos

2. Me Writing

3. My Parents at the Grand Canyon