MSLD Activity 3.4 Explore the Hunt Library

As you explore the Hunt Library, reflect on how you might use the Library as a resource for your studies.

How is the scholarly information you found in the library different from the typical information you find when you Google a leadership concept?

The immediate difference I found using the Hunt library over Google is that I can streamline what it is I am searching for with the library.  For example, when I type in Education in the database search for the library it pulls up six different search engines for me to explore.  I can choose to look for books articles, periodicals, journals, books and full texts.

Google does work well when I want to do a general search or when I am looking for an overall topic.  For example, I can type in organizational leadership in the search bar and it will pull up organizational leadership, organizational leadership jobs, degree, and definition.  Once I pick which one I want I then have to click on each hyper link to see if it is what I am looking for.  It can vary from a question that is being answered about my request to an advertisement for a college or university.

With the library search I can read an abstract of the article, get a citation for the article, get references and even get full texts on most articles.  The other great thing about using the Hunt library is that I can email the article to myself, print it, export it save it to my searches and cite here as well.

Both search engines have their advantages and disadvantages but for me I would choose the library over Google for my research especially if I am doing extensive research.  

MSLD Activity 2.3_Blog tell Your Story

 What are some standards that are most important in your life?  How did you acquire these standards?  How have they changed over the years?

When I ask myself this question of what standards are important in my life I must say that it is being a good parent to my daughter and teaching her well.  No one wants to be a bad parent and I don’t think any of us set out that way.  But for some it ends up going south with no hope for turning it around.  Growing up I said that I would never want to be like my mom.  I would be different; better, nicer, let my kids do whatever they wanted.

Well now that I am a (single) parent I understand things a lot better and I can stand back and look at things from a different perspective.  I grew up with a single parent.  My mom worked two jobs most of my young life.  I had to learn to be responsible at a young age.  That meant taking care of my sister and brother, learning to do the laundry, getting groceries and even driving at 14.  I rarely got to spend the night at my friend’s house because I needed to be home so my mom didn't have to hire a babysitter because we couldn’t afford it.  When I was able to get a job my whole paycheck went to my mom so I could help her out.

My mom wasn’t a bad parent because of this if anything we learned to entertain ourselves, we were more creative and we never complained about things we didn't have because we didn’t know what we were missing.  What my mom didn't do was to communicate with us especially me.  I was the oldest therefore I had the most responsibility.  My adopted father left when we were very young so I don’t remember much about him other than him throwing a knife at the windshield of our car when my mother left him or the time we watched him shoot our family cat because she scared me one night.  When my step father left I was 12 years old.  I always thought it was because we weren’t good or didn’t listen as well as we should have.  She never sat down and really talked to us about these kinds of things or anything really.  Not about drugs, sex, self-respect, love or trust.  It just wasn’t how it was done.

There was no open communication.  When my mom said something and I questioned her as to why I couldn’t do it I was told “because I said so”.  Those were the four most hated words in my vocabulary for many years!  Now as a parent I have found those same four words on the tip of my own tongue.  What a shock the first time it almost slipped out.  How could I even think of saying those words?! 

I always said I would be honest with my daughter unless I knew by being honest it would be very hurtful.  It is this very thing I didn’t have growing up.  I ask questions of my daughter when I see she is thinking and processing something inside her mind that I know will create a question.  There are some things that are outside her area of understanding but knowing that I am ready (at least as ready as I think I am) when the time comes to answer even the hard questions makes me happy.

Watching my mother struggle every day and see how overwhelmed she was and how beat down she seemed helped me want to do better.  I watched the things she went through and knew that I would do better because I would not let myself go through those same struggles.  I set my standards at a young age though I was naïve about it I knew the only way to be better was to not repeat her mistakes.  Of course we can’t always control everything that happens in our lives but we can always change it for the better.  One of mine was being the first person in my family to get a college degree.

One of the biggest things I acquired from my mother that she would be surprised to know is that I got my inner strength from her.  She could have given up many times but she didn’t.  She pushed through it all and kept going to better our lives.  It is those times that helped me get through the bad times in my life when I lost my baby or had to put my dog down or when I went through my divorce.  It was her strength and the power of love that my daughter gave me that kept me going those three years.

As an adult some of my standards have changed for the better of course. I know that there are certain things I cannot control.  But if I can arm my child with knowledge and the know how I have already done my job and kept my standards at a level they need to be at.  She knows about self-respect and that she can ask me or tell me anything without fear of getting into big trouble.  She is learning that there are consequences for her actions and that not all of them are good. 

She too has had to go through some tough things at an early age I wish she didn’t have to and seeing my struggles with things that are beyond my control.  What she does see come out of that is a stronger person.  She will see that bad things will happen but that there is always going to be brighter side to things no matter how bad they may seem to be at the time.  She is already wise beyond her years!  

Activity 1.6 Intellectual Perseverance

Reflect upon how intellectual perseverance will be important as you progress in your studies.  Consider how intellectual perseverance relates to your concept of a good leader.

Intellectual perseverance is being able to use rational insights and truths even though there will be difficulties and frustrations along the way and knowing that you will struggle with mistakes and questions along the path to a better (deeper) understanding and insight.

Honestly I didn’t realize that this was the name for the things I deal with on a daily basis.  I had to really think about this and understand intellectual perseverance as it relates to me.  Being honest with myself is the most important task in realizing that it will not be easy each and every day as I progress throughout my coursework.  I know that I can’t give up when it becomes difficult or I become overwhelmed with school work.  When things get tough it is important to step back and look at the situation from all angles to see the best way to approach the problem that may not seem to be the most logical at first glance.  Here is where it is good to apply the zoom in/zoom out concept.

I am a single parent who works full time, is a full time mom and takes master level classes.  I know that I cannot use this as an excuse to not succeed.  In fact, it should be more of a motivation for me to really push through the struggles I will face.  There are many single moms out there who aren’t as lucky as I am to have a great paying job and support of my family to help me out. 

When I find myself getting frustrated or hear others tell me that I don’t need this degree I know in my heart that I must prove to myself and no one else that I can do this.  A part of me is afraid of success as I was always told that I would never amount to anything because I wasn’t teachable or smart enough when I was growing up.  Well I can say with confidence now that I love to prove people wrong especially when I am told that I CAN’T do something.  It pushes me to do it even more.  In other words, I will struggle and I may even fail at staying on top of my school work at times and want to give up but that is part of what is going to help me succeed.  It will give me a deeper insight on who I am as a person, a mom, a friend and even a great leader.

For example, I am learning to have more patience as this will help with dealing with difficult situations as a leader.  There will be many different personalities and knowing how to approach each person in a way that actually brings out the best in each person individually and as well as a group will make us more successful as a whole. Taking my directors approach of listening and understanding what the issue is before trying to address it or make suggestions is an important part of being a good leader. 

Another example would be to deal with the frustrations and difficulties that come with being a good leader by balancing my values and maintaining a positive attitude throughout each day.  There will be some sort of resistance from time to time either from within my core group or other departments who may have no basis for their hostility other than jealousy (it happens now in my department with others being jealous of us) and knowing how to deal with it in a professional manner will make a big difference.

It’s like making a mental checklist inside my head of things I want to achieve each and every day.  The goal is to try not to overwhelm myself but to challenge myself to reach a deeper understanding of who I am in all aspects of my life both personally and professionally.   Knowing that I will fail at times will help me to succeed and make me a better leader in the process.