Week 5

This week’s reading and other materials were inspiring and exciting. The speech entitled
“A Hero’s Journey” gave such great perspective on life. The audience was given credit for being smart and capable but also given strong warnings to keep things in perspective. So much of college experience is wrapped up in what job you’re going to have or what career choices you’re going to make to achieve maximum success, i.e., the most money possible. We are selling ourselves short if we focus on financial success and let our families and children suffer as a result of our pursuits. When I had toddlers at home it felt like they would never reach certain milestones like being gone to school all day and certainly high school would be light years away. Suddenly, my first born is graduating high school and my baby is finishing up her elementary school career and I can see it all flashing by. I can see that the days I spent sleep deprived and covered in spit up were just a fleeting moment and I don’t remember the things I went without or the things I wished I had in the moment. So it will be in 10 years from now. I will not look back on these times and wished I had spent more time at work for a few more dollars, I will hope that I have made memories that will stay with me and my children forever. I will hope that I have built the kind of relationship that my children will always know where to turn for help and will want that person to be me. Success and making money takes hard work, but it’s totally doable and doesn’t have to be at the expense of every other more important thing in our lives.

Week 4

This week provided an opportunity to deconstruct fears that may be holding me back from doing something that I think I’d like to do. It was such a great reminder of what I’m always telling my kids. So often I ask them, “What’s the worst that can happen?” and we can work through the possible scenarios. Last week my son wasn’t picked up from school on time. While the other kids in the carpool started getting nervous and complaining that this was exactly the reason they all needed their own cell phones, my son logically thought through the situation. He looked for familiar cars, found a mom that he knew, asked to borrow her phone and called me. And really, that act of speaking to an adult without me around is a skill on its own that he benefitted from. All this to say, we are so often afraid of something that really isn’t that big of a deal or could possibly provide additional benefits along the way. I have the benefit of amazing extended family support, kids that are old enough and wise enough to not need me around every minute of the day and a husband who genuinely wants to see me thrive no matter what that might mean. With all of those things on my side, why do I let little things like opinions and “what-ifs” hold me back from dreams that could bring me joy and satisfaction?

I’m looking forward to digging a little deeper into those fears and eliminating them one by one.

Week 3

This week’s studies focused a lot on ethics and the responsibilities of companies, managers and employees. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that it’s not usually the clear black and white choices that lead people or companies down the wrong path. The tricky part comes in the grey areas where we’re not sure what the right thing is or if there even is a “right” answer. It made me realize how important it is to make decisions before they’re even placed before you. A decision made early and made once is always easier to stick to.

We also read about Magdalena Yesil and her amazing talents and career. As a woman with an impressive resume she changed the industries she worked in for the better and had quite a reputation. I’ve thought a lot about Yesil and the choices she had to make in her professional life and how those weighed on her as a mother. Whether it’s fair for women to have to make choices as mothers when the question is hardly ever posed the same for men, is a debate for another day. I was just proud of her for making bold choices and moving forward fearlessly. Some families don’t function well when a mother has a demanding career and some families may work a little better. It’s always interesting to see how various parents and children make it work and what sacrificed have to be made to thrive.