Rising above excuse making can be a difficult task. When I get behind in school work it is because I make a ton of excuses. I tell myself, "You deserve a break. You've done a lot of work today. You are tired, you need to rest." But when I start to notice the way this negatively affects me and my school work I snap back! I have to tell myself to continue on and to understand that taking a break does not mean putting my tasks off until tomorrow. I literally talk to myself out loud and say, "Lauren you are not tired. You can do this work, it's not a big deal." As I complete my readings/assignments I encourage myself by saying, "Wow! Look at you, you did it!" And as silly as it may sound, it actually works. That's the way I rise above excuse making. A way to prevent others from making excuses and blaming is to not do it ourselves. When we make excuses and blame others it makes everyone think it is acceptable to do so. If we stop making excuses it can help others to rise above excuse making and blaming.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Being a Good Ally
I can apply this information to STARS LEAD when I interact with the leaders and in my personal relationships. The article mentioned the importance of being open to talk about things even if they make you feel uncomfortable. I had not thought of that before. I think it's probably because I have not talked about any issue that made me feel uncomfortable, but it is good to know in the event that something does happen where I am asked to respond or listen about an offensive issue. The entire post was informative on being a good ally.
Scholarship Junkies
This past Friday was the Scholarship Junkies presentation. The presentation was given by the site's organizer Sam. Sam's story was very inspirational and the fact that he opened up so candidly was great! I think that by doing that he allowed everyone else, particularly the high school students, to feel safe enough to share personal experiences. Throughout his entire talk Sam was very encouraging and invited the participation of the students. Overall, the session was great.
The very thing Sam was exposing the students to is the key to obtaining higher education. With scholarships, college becomes a reality for so many students. When students of different cultures and social classes get scholarships, that means that more diversity will be introduced into colleges. It is this factor that promotes social justice because students would have more opportunities to climb the social ladder and fight for justice for those who are living in poverty. So, I appreciate Sam for sharing his story and teaching the students from Amundsen about scholarships because they are what we need to end social inequalities. I was happy to finally meet the students and I look forward to seeing them again!
Lauren L. Adams
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