Purpose is not decided
It is discovered
From starting in Detroit, to taking on the World
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From starting in Detroit, to taking on the World
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It has taken me one year to accomplish more than I have been able to do in my 20 years of living! My faith in God has been the most important reason I have been able to have continuous success at such a young age. Next to having God in my life, I made a conscious decision to surround myself with three types of people. The cliché saying, that we all need to surround ourselves with positivity is true but do we automatically know what is positive or good for us altogether?
Personally, I was clueless of the tools I needed to succeed, both as a high school senior and even as a college freshman. Therefore I reflected on the valuable lessons of my journey, in order to help others learn from my experience. My reflection helped me to compile the following three seeds of success that has worked in my life to create a well webbed network of great mentors, a strong campus support such as the Seita Scholars program at Western Michigan University, and maintained a host of meaningful relationships that I have benefited from throughout my life. The qualities of all the people that have made up these Support Systems for me, are as follows: · People who are more successful than me; · People who see the best in me even when I don’t see it in myself; · People who are doing what I want to professionally and/or personally. Some of my recent accomplishments included traveling to 12 countries in one summer utilizing study abroad funds and returning home to begin a new position as a resident assistant at Western Michigan University. In spite of my added responsibilities to my full-time class load I was able to finish a very challenging fall semester with a Grade Point Average of 3.88 (GPA). In addition to my numerous rewards of my hard work I continued to seek more opportunities resulting in being awarded the Fund for American Studies summer internship opportunity in Washington D.C.. This special internship includes an opportunity to take classes at George Mason University. I can honestly say that the Secret of My Success has been to intentionally follow the model that has been set before me, by those who lead by the example. Last semester I surrounded myself with students who were performing on a higher level than me. That decision influenced me to elevate to their level of dedication professionally and academically. As I’m committed to personal growth, I attended events that continuously encouraged me to be the best version of myself. I was actually looking to achieve a 3.5 GPA until my girlfriend nearly threatened me to attain a 4.0 Grade Point Average. She had seen something in me that I had yet to see in myself. Her faith in me propelled me to earn a 3.88 Grade Point Average. For those seeking to improve themselves and their success outcomes in life, the advice I will share is to never miss opportunities to meet people who have achieved goals that you aspire to accomplish one day. You may meet one or more people who fit this description. And ultimately, it will be up to you to chose intentionally, to surround yourself with, nothing but greatness.
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Today someone messaged me a story regarding a school shooter at Central Michigan University (CMU). Almost instantly my Facebook timeline was filled with the obsessions of strict gun laws. Before we even said a prayer for the lost souls we sparked a gun law conversation. Don’t get me wrong, there should be restrictions on what weapons regular citizens are allowed and how many they are granted. We have seen drastic changes in other countries when gun laws have been passed now it’s time for us to take that step. But why are we so quick to have a liberal versus conservative conversation?
My thoughts and ideas dig a little deeper than just enforcing gun laws. I’m tired of having the us vs. them or liberal vs. conservative conversation. America is dealing with a bigger issue than just gun laws. America is a masculine society where sharing your emotions and how you feel is considered weak. My entire life I've been hearing, “Hey, toughen up” or “Be a man, and get over it” and now I’m currently dealing with issues that should’ve been resolved when I was a child. I can’t speak for all of them but some of these school shooters have bottled up emotions and have never had an outlet to express how they feel. There is no excuse to harm others or take someone else’s life away but at what point do we realize that we need to emotionally, mentally, and spiritually help each other? Every single shooter isn’t mentally unstable. Some want attention, have been bullied, live in abusive and/or unstable households, while others deal with issues such as depression or loneliness. Lastly, before we enforce guns laws (which we should) let’s take a deep look at our society. Are we really for one another? Is there love behind our decisions and actions? And how can we prevent these egregious acts before they happen again? If you have the answer please let me know because at this point… I am completely confused. |
AuthorJustin Black
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