14A- Paying it Forward

Paying it Forward

1)  To keep up with the weekly requirements of the course, I have definitely developed the skill of planning ahead. At this point in the course, I know that between lecture and the weekly assignments, I need to set aside about 6 hours a week. In order to accommodate this, I have gotten into the rhythm of cleaning my coursework for my other classes as early in the week as possible, allowing myself enough time to finish the assignments for ENT3003 before they are due.

2) A moment when I felt like giving up this semester was a few weeks ago when our elevator pitches were due. I had an extremely tough week, dealing with familial issues in addition to several exams and homework assignments being due. It was Thursday night at this point and I had just started my elevator pitch, and for whatever reason I hit a massive writers block. The stress from the week in addition to the fact that I knew the assignment was due the next day really got to me and I was close to having a break down. To counter this, I realized that I was just stressed about little things and to get my mind off the assignment for a while, I watched a movie with my girlfriend and relaxed. When I came back to it, the words were flowing and I easily finished the assignment. The important take away from this is life is not always going to be working your favor. Sometimes it feels like everything that could be going wrong, is going wrong. To push through this feeling, you need only realize that you are in control of your mindset, and sometimes the best thing to do is just to breathe and take a break, then come back to whatever is troubling you later. This experience as well as a couple of others have definitely help build my tenacity, and so far it is the most important aspect I have learned from this course.

3) My 3 Tips are as follows:

• Be conscious of your ability to persevere. No matter how dark times may be knowing that one is capable of moving past the problem will always allow you to view the situation in a different light.
• Plan ahead in case of unexpected events. This will be explained in the picture below.
• Look to others who inspire you and motivate you to achieve. For me, my girlfriend has been there for me throughout the semester. Even when I've been on the verge of tears due to work I had to do, she would always help me to think big picture and see passed the stress. This has allowed me to be quite successful this semester.

This picture was captured when I was home in Chicago visiting a few weeks ago. This relates to my second tip about planning ahead. I was heading downtown for the day and for whatever reason I felt like I was forgetting something important and needed to bring my laptop. It occurred to me shortly after this picture was taken that I had forgotten to turn in a 100 point assignment for another class, in which I was able to submit in time. My point is that you never know what unexpected road blocks or situations you may find yourself in, but by preparing for them in case, you can beat any situation.