The Student Leader Blog

CVCC 3/16/09 - Better Get To Know a Student Leader

Karter, Rosana, and Kim of Central VA Community College's Student Government share their thoughts on kicking down doors, facebook addicts, and trying to remembering their position.

p.s. I should note my mic was not working very well so you may hear them yelling at times.

School Killed My Creativity but I Got It Back!

I'm hooked on listening to the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcasts. Every time I travel, I download a few to bring with. Each podcast runs about one hour and are presented by top thinkers in the entrepreneurial world. I think of them as my free weekly Stanford classroom lessons.

My latest lesson was "Young at Heart: How to Be an Innovator for Life" by Tom Kelley of the world-renowned design firm IDEO.

Through some great personal stories, Kelley gives a series of suggestions to make sure we remember to play in the right brain (our creative side).

- "Think Like a Traveler" - I recently traveled to SE Asia and when I first stepped off the plane in Bangkok, all my senses came alive. I noticed what the airport smelled like, the lighting, the advertisements, the bathrooms, the money, the coins, the door handles, the stores, the air, the trees, etc etc etc. At home, I'm much different. My senses operate on autopilot because I've "been there, done that." Thinking like a traveler allows us to be more present in the moment and to notice our surroundings. Even the stuff we think we know really well. And, in noticing, we'll start to discover new ways of thinking. Kelley also says that thinking like a traveler allows us to hold up our world view against what's actually happening.

- "Be Childlike" - Being creative is about releasing your inner child. School does a great job of focusing on the left brain, and so it's our job to keep the right brain open and fresh. As a student leader, all of your "out of the classroom" work provide great opportunities to use the right brain.

- "Think of Life as an Experiment and be Willing to Fail Forward" - Scientists get excited about failing because it means they've crossed off another possible solution. Be willing and excited about failing as long as it means it allows you to check another possibility off your list so you keep moving forward. Kelley tells the story of WD-40. WD stands for Water Displacement which makes sense, but what does the 40 stand for? Bonus points to the first person to share the answer in the comments below.

- "Finding Your Creative Hour" - I don't drink caffeine, but when I wake up in the morning I'm wired for action. I often do most my reading and writing in the first two hours after waking because I feel amazingly creative. When's your creative hour? Kelley says finding your creative hour is like finding gold, but so many of us waste our best creative hour on our inbox. I don't open my email or internet until two hours after I wake up. Those two hours are my golden creative hours and a gift that is lost if I don't use them.

If I had to pick one of these four tips as the most important, I'd pick the last one. Spend some time over the next couple days to figure out when is your creative hour (and post it in the comments below). Then, once you've found it, grab a book or start a blog and never let go of that time.

Getting in Shape While Balancing Your Schedule Doesn't Have to be THIS Painful...

So I am a bit over weight, I’m not gonna to say how much exactly, but I know I could be more active. I am having a hard time getting done what I need to for work and school, which makes me feel like there is no time to work out. What’s more, my energy level drops almost invariably a half an hour before I get ready to go home. I want to find the motivation to do anything I don’t necessarily have to do with projects, assignments, test and work looming over my every waking moment. And even though I am no narcissist, I know I’m more stressed when I’m not ok with my appearance, it is just one more thing to worry about. So I’ve done some research and some thinking, and come up with a few helpful suggestions to reduce stress, get done what I need to and (eventually) loose some weight.

1) Take short breaks, avoid apathy!

Taking a 15 minute break every hour helps me focus better and stay creative. Using this time to do some sort of exercise helps a lot too. I don’t know about you faithful readers (and authors), but I can’t really study at home, so I go to coffee shops, libraries, huge book stores like Barnes & Noble, and other study conducive places, which usually are a 15 to 20 minute bike ride away from each other!

2) Pay attention to portions and types of foods.

 Eating well is a key to any attempt at weight loss, and it can help you feel better too. Around dinner time, I get really hungry, and then after chowing down I feel like taking a nap. But experts say that eating “fist sized” portions four times a day and snacking on fruits and vegetables to manage one’s apatite will lead to increased metabolism and more energy. I can’t do this all the time, but I try to Monday through Friday, and then stay a bit more active over the weekend, which is usually when I eat more calories. I try and have a simple carb, a protein and a fruit/veggie for every meal.

3) Drink more water!

 I love, soda, coffee and energy drinks, but I can’t handle the crash any more. The wall I hit at 5pm every day is usually produced by coffee, then a Mountain Dew followed by another cup of coffee and a sprinkling of energy drinks throughout the day. Our bodies need more water than what is retained from these synthetic forms of energy, so no wonder I need a nap and have a headache in the afternoon, especially after that huge calzone I just ate! So,  drink more water, and follow the above suggested eating habits, this will afford you more energy and help avoid the infamous crash.

4) Prepare easy, portioned meals in advance.

When working or studying, I tend to just want something easy to eat, and don’t want to take the time to make myself something nutritious, so I end up eating out. This allows me to indulge in things I normally wouldn’t, because it's easy. I have found that making a bunch of burritos over the weekend with quality ingredients like chicken, bell peppers, black beans, long grain rice, cooked green chilies and a bit of cheese will taste great, cost way less than most sandwiches at sub shops, and will usually be a lot more healthy. I also keep some nuts, dried fruit, or sliced veggies on me too if I need something to tide me over until I can get home for dinner or one of my mid-day meals.

5) Find a motivator other than “I want to look better!”

I have found if I am focused on getting in shape to look dead sexy, I never get the results I want, as soon as I want, which leads to frustration, and once I allow my self to skip a meal, resulting in an even bigger meal later on, or I eat out a few times rather than going home to grab my premade food I lose dedication to my plan of action, which eventually leads to dropping the whole thing all together. If I am able to decide to do this to better my self, to be healthier, to reduce stress and boost energy, I see the results a lot faster because I am not relying on other people reacting favorably to my efforts and I am focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. I begin to realize I’m setting myself up to have a longer, happier life.

So…now I have to follow the advice I have heard from a lot of my more in-shape friends and from many other articles scattered throughout my memory. It is hard to keep up with a plan of action while there are a lot of other things going on, but I think that the suggestions above, coupled with a realistic workout routine, will allow me to reach my goal of 20lb’s lighter, I’ll let you know how it goes, and if you have success, please let me know as well, I just might need some good juju that day!    

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