During the past summer, I worked as a Leadership Minor Intern (LMI) for LEAD 3971: Leadership Minor Field Experience. For a year and a half, I have been working as the Leadership Minor Student Associate (LSA) in the Leadership Minor Office and am working directly with the Field Experience Course Lead Christine.

On September 8th, 2015, I attended my very first class at the University of Minnesota: Personal Leadership. I had no clue what I was doing when I registered for my first semester of classes, but I learned about the leadership minor at my orientation, and I was immediately sold. Being a leader all my life, it only seemed appropriate to have a minor in it. The first thing we were asked to do in class was to take out a piece of paper and write down our definition of leadership.

One of the things we teach in our Leadership Minor is that when you offer a class a new piece of content, be it an inspiration video or an interview with a noted leader, even a news article on a critical topic, after you are done presenting that content, you stop.

Over commitment. Why do we do it? Why do we feel pressured to say yes to every opportunity put in front of us? Perhaps it is because we fear letting others down. Perhaps it is because we want to prove ourselves. Perhaps we are worried that if we say no, no one will seek us out again.

The Leadership Minor is a home to overachievers and over committers. During first class connections, it is common to hear of a student taking 17 credits, 2 jobs, and an internship, or a similar time investment.

Every year I have a few quotes or memorable sayings to try to live life by. They are, on purpose, not
universally beloved or well known. They have always been random nuggets of wisdom, dropped on me
at random. I write them down in my bullet journal (thanks, Jessica!) to refer back to later. Being on the
lookout for these gems helps me to notice and appreciate what is happening around me, while taking a
moment to honor another’s words by writing them down.

My professional and academic worlds overlap significantly, which makes sense because I work in the field of my academic study (i.e., higher education, specifically student affairs). Over the last few months, a puzzle has plagued my colleagues: what to do about our commitment to freedom of expression and our commitment to inclusive campus climates. Torn between the values of both, I want to discuss an on-going case at the University of Iowa as a way to help capture some of my thoughts on this ultimate question.

I sometimes find myself thinking about “What is the meaning of life?” to questioning myself “What is the meaning of being alive?”

I didn’t expect an old woman sitting on a bench to change my life, but hey, sometimes that’s how the universe works.
 
Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Amsterdam with my family.  I had never travelled outside of North America before so I was really excited but I was also a little nervous about being in a new place.
 

I think we all could feel the unrelenting pressure and stress of the spring semester—from January until May, constantly rushing and never stopping to take a breath.

"Hello everyone. For those of you that don’t know me: "