Darn! One day late, but I got carried away by Greek Week! Happy VEISHEA everyone!!!
So this last week we discussed utilizing campus resources. It was nice to learn where some of our student fees go. Some of the services the university offers to us as students are things you would never think about until you really need them. For example, the student legal services. That is a great service to provide since many students cannot afford private legal advice. Other great services include counseling for students that are going through a tough time. The best thing I learned about was the Student Answer Center. I love that there is a resource like that! You just call and they answer your questions.
I feel very capable now of conveying the message of these services to my students next fall. Some of them I hope they will never have to use, but it is important for them to know that there is a resource for them for almost anything that they might go through!
VEISHEA Love!
Tronch
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Team Work and Class Outside!!!
First off, love the weather and so glad we got to have class in the lounge area with the doors open!!!
Also, thank you for the congratulations on my mentor award, it was a real honor, but every time I come to class I learn more about what I want to add and do differently with how I am mentoring next year! That leads me into the accountability activity about team work. One thing that I feel like being a Hixson Peer Mentor will be to improve my weakness in team work. In most group work I tend to take the lead and do a chunk of the work since I have a vision and feel that I want it to be done right. However, working with other strong mentors, such as yourself, has taught me that I need to listen to others and encourage equal contribution from the group in order to have a really great outcome!!!
Also, thank you for the congratulations on my mentor award, it was a real honor, but every time I come to class I learn more about what I want to add and do differently with how I am mentoring next year! That leads me into the accountability activity about team work. One thing that I feel like being a Hixson Peer Mentor will be to improve my weakness in team work. In most group work I tend to take the lead and do a chunk of the work since I have a vision and feel that I want it to be done right. However, working with other strong mentors, such as yourself, has taught me that I need to listen to others and encourage equal contribution from the group in order to have a really great outcome!!!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Hello! I'm back!!! Life hit hard for a few weeks and unfortunately my blog was neglected, my apologies.
Quick update: I was in Spain March 11th-24th so missed class on the 24th, but Spain was absolutely amazing!!! Very gorgeous weather, country and people! I visited Madrid, Lleida and the Catalonia area as well as ending my trip in Barcelona. I absolutely recommend Spain and study abroad in general to everyone!!! These short trips over break and in the summer time have been a great way for me to see other parts of the world and are a great option for those not wanting to spend a whole semester somewhere. Next stop: Rome in 6 weeks!!!
Since I missed class on Wednesday I thought it would be best for me to make up through reading the chapter. However, there was no chapter since you discussed creating effective lesson plans... so I am going to talk about our super fun Hixson Bonding Time instead!!!
BTW so excited that we got to have fun and be outside yesterday, helped carry me through the weekend as I am bogged down with makeup work! The scavenger hunt was very neat and I had a great team (team #1) who got all the clues right on the first try and took some amazing photos! It was fun to see some different parts of Ames and I loved going to Bandshell Park as I had never been there before and am planning to make a return visit for a show sometime! Also loved the butterflies at Reiman Gardens
Perfect Games was a great surprise! Pizza was delicious and the bowling was fun (even though I am absolutely terrible). Nascar racing was a blast and also the laser tag was great (4th place baby!!!)!
However, the best part of the day was having the chance to get to know everybody better! It was so much fun and I am really excited to get to work with all of you this next year!
Cheers!
Lisa
Quick update: I was in Spain March 11th-24th so missed class on the 24th, but Spain was absolutely amazing!!! Very gorgeous weather, country and people! I visited Madrid, Lleida and the Catalonia area as well as ending my trip in Barcelona. I absolutely recommend Spain and study abroad in general to everyone!!! These short trips over break and in the summer time have been a great way for me to see other parts of the world and are a great option for those not wanting to spend a whole semester somewhere. Next stop: Rome in 6 weeks!!!
Since I missed class on Wednesday I thought it would be best for me to make up through reading the chapter. However, there was no chapter since you discussed creating effective lesson plans... so I am going to talk about our super fun Hixson Bonding Time instead!!!
BTW so excited that we got to have fun and be outside yesterday, helped carry me through the weekend as I am bogged down with makeup work! The scavenger hunt was very neat and I had a great team (team #1) who got all the clues right on the first try and took some amazing photos! It was fun to see some different parts of Ames and I loved going to Bandshell Park as I had never been there before and am planning to make a return visit for a show sometime! Also loved the butterflies at Reiman Gardens
Perfect Games was a great surprise! Pizza was delicious and the bowling was fun (even though I am absolutely terrible). Nascar racing was a blast and also the laser tag was great (4th place baby!!!)!
However, the best part of the day was having the chance to get to know everybody better! It was so much fun and I am really excited to get to work with all of you this next year!
Cheers!
Lisa
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Diversity within Diversity
I really enjoyed the activities we have done so far regarding diversity. The reading for last week and the pink sheet that we filled out really had got me to think about how I feel about discrimination. It makes noone feel good.
I also liked the green worksheet that we filled out at the end of class. It was hard to write down some of the words that I thought described my race and other races. Writing it down and seeing it on a piece of paper really makes you have to deal with it and try to understand it.
I'm sure that we all have acted with certain biases in our lives. I personally have done this through avoidance. I do things such as crossing the street when I see a black man coming at night or leaving a social gathering that I feel makes me slightly uncomfortable, usually because I am in the minority and am surrounded by many black males. Where do you draw the line though. If I am uncomfortable is it truly because of the color of others skin or because of the conditioning that I have had growing up and from the media to avoid situations that could potentially be dangerous. It is confusing and something that I want to think about more this week.
Sorry for the slightly downer post... on a happy note: The United States is winning the Olympics!!!
Thanks for reading and listening!
Lisa T.
I also liked the green worksheet that we filled out at the end of class. It was hard to write down some of the words that I thought described my race and other races. Writing it down and seeing it on a piece of paper really makes you have to deal with it and try to understand it.
I'm sure that we all have acted with certain biases in our lives. I personally have done this through avoidance. I do things such as crossing the street when I see a black man coming at night or leaving a social gathering that I feel makes me slightly uncomfortable, usually because I am in the minority and am surrounded by many black males. Where do you draw the line though. If I am uncomfortable is it truly because of the color of others skin or because of the conditioning that I have had growing up and from the media to avoid situations that could potentially be dangerous. It is confusing and something that I want to think about more this week.
Sorry for the slightly downer post... on a happy note: The United States is winning the Olympics!!!
Thanks for reading and listening!
Lisa T.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Diversity Event: Vagina Monologues
WOW! I was very entertained and impressed by the performances I saw at the Vagina Monologues on Friday night. At the beginning they gave us permission to shout, laugh out loud and cry and I certainly did all 3!
Diversity is something that I have become much more acquainted with during my time at Iowa State. Growing up in a small town where I graduated with a class of 86, was in my opinion, lacking in diversity. Coming to Iowa State was a huge jump in that department. Suddenly I was surrounded by people from different countries, cultures, religions and basically everyone was different and diverse in their own way! It took some getting used to. However, diversity was never something that I was afraid to accept, I met many great people in my first few weeks at ISU and have continued to in my 3 years here. The people that I have met, no matter what their background, have enriched my college experience and made me grow in many ways. Cultural differences that I have experienced have been living with people from different races, working with people that have a very different religious beliefs than myself and simply meeting people from all walks of life that walk a little bit different than myself.
An understanding of diversity and the importance of it is something that I believe will be very helpful to us as Peer Mentors. We will have students who much like myself and I'm sure many of the other mentors too, will have come from communities where diversity was never a discussion topic. As we said in class, being Hixson scholars and all of us being from Iowa, there may not be a lot of huge differences between us, but there will be some and we will be helping the students to deal with their new diversity experiences in college.
Kudos to the performers in the Vagina Monologues this weekend, excellent work and very touching current topic about the women of the Republic of Congo. Makes me realize how important it is to know what is going on in the rest of the world so that we can work to change what really needs to be changed.
Power to the People!
Lisa Tronch
Diversity is something that I have become much more acquainted with during my time at Iowa State. Growing up in a small town where I graduated with a class of 86, was in my opinion, lacking in diversity. Coming to Iowa State was a huge jump in that department. Suddenly I was surrounded by people from different countries, cultures, religions and basically everyone was different and diverse in their own way! It took some getting used to. However, diversity was never something that I was afraid to accept, I met many great people in my first few weeks at ISU and have continued to in my 3 years here. The people that I have met, no matter what their background, have enriched my college experience and made me grow in many ways. Cultural differences that I have experienced have been living with people from different races, working with people that have a very different religious beliefs than myself and simply meeting people from all walks of life that walk a little bit different than myself.
An understanding of diversity and the importance of it is something that I believe will be very helpful to us as Peer Mentors. We will have students who much like myself and I'm sure many of the other mentors too, will have come from communities where diversity was never a discussion topic. As we said in class, being Hixson scholars and all of us being from Iowa, there may not be a lot of huge differences between us, but there will be some and we will be helping the students to deal with their new diversity experiences in college.
Kudos to the performers in the Vagina Monologues this weekend, excellent work and very touching current topic about the women of the Republic of Congo. Makes me realize how important it is to know what is going on in the rest of the world so that we can work to change what really needs to be changed.
Power to the People!
Lisa Tronch
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Week 4- Myers Briggs
This last week in class we discussed the Myers Briggs Type Inventory. Although I had done this inventory once before my freshman year, it was good to get a refresher in it and learn some more about my type.
My type is ENTJ. ENTJ's are intuitive, innovative organizers who are analytical systematic and confident. ENTJ's are at their best when they can take charge and set things in logical order (this description fits me just about perfectly)!
The list below has some of the things that ENTJ's value that are things that I value as well:
Foresight; pursuing a vision
Putting theory into practice, ideas into action
Working to a plan and schedule
Initiating and then delegating
Efficiency; removing obstacles and confusion (fave quote: Obstacles are those scary things we see on our way to the goal!)
Holding self and other to hight standards
Assertive, direct action
Driving toward broad goals along a logical path
Another sheet we were given also gave some pros and cons of the ENTJ type:
Pro, Natural Leader, in command
Con, Impatient-may decide to quickly
Con, May overlook people part
Pro, has a vision
Pro, Action and results oriented
I feel that I fit most of these pros and cons except for overlooking the people part. I understand the importance of working with and inspiring other in groups I work with and therefore very rarely overlook the people part of any project.
I love my type and I much more confidant and self aware after participating in the type testing, both my freshman year and this year. I am proud to be Extroverted, Intuitive (N), Thinking and Judging. However, it is important to remember that ENTJ is not who I am, it is just my preference for thinking and decision making.
This type testing helps to make me more aware of my potential strengths and weaknesses and analyze them so that I can then find areas where I can grow. I feel as though knowing the type tendency of the fellow peer mentors will be something that is very helpful for us in the next year as we work together.
My type is ENTJ. ENTJ's are intuitive, innovative organizers who are analytical systematic and confident. ENTJ's are at their best when they can take charge and set things in logical order (this description fits me just about perfectly)!
The list below has some of the things that ENTJ's value that are things that I value as well:
Foresight; pursuing a vision
Putting theory into practice, ideas into action
Working to a plan and schedule
Initiating and then delegating
Efficiency; removing obstacles and confusion (fave quote: Obstacles are those scary things we see on our way to the goal!)
Holding self and other to hight standards
Assertive, direct action
Driving toward broad goals along a logical path
Another sheet we were given also gave some pros and cons of the ENTJ type:
Pro, Natural Leader, in command
Con, Impatient-may decide to quickly
Con, May overlook people part
Pro, has a vision
Pro, Action and results oriented
I feel that I fit most of these pros and cons except for overlooking the people part. I understand the importance of working with and inspiring other in groups I work with and therefore very rarely overlook the people part of any project.
I love my type and I much more confidant and self aware after participating in the type testing, both my freshman year and this year. I am proud to be Extroverted, Intuitive (N), Thinking and Judging. However, it is important to remember that ENTJ is not who I am, it is just my preference for thinking and decision making.
This type testing helps to make me more aware of my potential strengths and weaknesses and analyze them so that I can then find areas where I can grow. I feel as though knowing the type tendency of the fellow peer mentors will be something that is very helpful for us in the next year as we work together.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Iowa State Leaderhsip Experience and Week 3
On January 26th, 2009 I attended the Iowa State Leadership Experience. I had never attended the event before and so this was something new for me. The keynote speaker, Marsha Grady, told an interesting story that involved research done by Harvard on what children thought leadership was. They drew pictures and wrote captions and some of the things they wrote were very interesting. Such as "a leader is someone we follow" or "a leader is my friend." I always like hearing stories about Harvard studies that they do with children, the results are always interesting and a little unexpected.
I then attended two sessions, unfortunately I was unable to stay for the other sessions since I had another meeting I had to attend. The first session I attended was on Facilitation Virtual and Face-to-face Meetings done by Craig Ogilvie. In this session we brainstormed ideas to have maximal engagement even over virtual meetings.
The second session I attended was on Creating a Clutter-free Life led by Mary Sigmann, a Certified Professional Organizer. I took away some interesting things from this session as well such as the three S's: Subtract, Simplify and Systematize. Mary also said something that a friend had taught here that I think will go with me throughout my life: "I'll support you in your strengths, but not in your weakness." I can see multiple instances where I should say things like that to people instead of just saying yes all the time.
She had us set goals and an action plan. My three goals:
1. Time Management Goal: Learn how to say no
2. Organizing Goal: De clutter my desk drawers
3. Self-Care Goal: Work out 3 times a week
I enjoyed attending the leadership experience and think it was a good thing to require in this class.
Next blog: Learning Community Mini-Institute attendance!
Cheers!
Lisa
I then attended two sessions, unfortunately I was unable to stay for the other sessions since I had another meeting I had to attend. The first session I attended was on Facilitation Virtual and Face-to-face Meetings done by Craig Ogilvie. In this session we brainstormed ideas to have maximal engagement even over virtual meetings.
The second session I attended was on Creating a Clutter-free Life led by Mary Sigmann, a Certified Professional Organizer. I took away some interesting things from this session as well such as the three S's: Subtract, Simplify and Systematize. Mary also said something that a friend had taught here that I think will go with me throughout my life: "I'll support you in your strengths, but not in your weakness." I can see multiple instances where I should say things like that to people instead of just saying yes all the time.
She had us set goals and an action plan. My three goals:
1. Time Management Goal: Learn how to say no
2. Organizing Goal: De clutter my desk drawers
3. Self-Care Goal: Work out 3 times a week
I enjoyed attending the leadership experience and think it was a good thing to require in this class.
Next blog: Learning Community Mini-Institute attendance!
Cheers!
Lisa
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