"Give Yourself A Break" ...Someone Teach Me How?

     Class last night was nothing short of interesting, just as it is every week.  The speakers that we got to listen to were absolutely wonderful.  Driven, determined; similar to the other speakers we've had the privilege to hear presentations from.  However, by the time the class reached its halfway point, once all of the speakers had done their piece and had gone, I sat in that leather chair, at that huge board table with twenty three other girls, and the feeling that washed over me was one of pure stress, tension, and brewing fear.  Since last night's class, I have composed myself a lot better, but the those feelings are still there... they're just a little hidden.
     After class, I was texting my mom - the person whose opinion means a TON to me, and always has.  I explained to her that I was feeling stressed out, and she asked me why.  I then proceeded to tell her in a long rush of a message, the following: "We listen to all of these leaders who are all so successful.  And they give us all this advice about staying ahead all the time and knowing a plan for your future NOW.  Up to this point I've felt really ahead of the curve, staying on top of my assignments in my classes, trying to get involved in extracurriculars and other campus activities.  I've got a job on campus, I'm enjoying my classes, I've got so many new friends who I love.  But every now and then I find myself feeling guilty when I'm just hanging out or being social, because I feel like I should be doing something more productive academically."  By the time I'd finished this message, I was climbing up the stairs to the fourth floor of Mayne in my heels.  Tired, with a headache, and stressed.  I was not a happy camper, to say the least.  However, my mom assured me that I'm right where I should be, and I need the social things to level out everything else.  She told me that everything will fall into place, and that I needed to quit stressing out, because I'm only in my fifth week of my freshman year of college.  Now that made perfect sense to me, and I agreed with her.  By no means am I Hannah - getting ready to graduate and head off to graduate school, working diligently on a senior thesis.  I'm not Casey, either, or Kayleigh or Sarah, all of whom are working ridiculously hard in everything they're doing.  I mean, I'm a really busy person naturally.  However, I'm a freshman.  I don't have that kind of experience yet that our peer mentors do.  Yet still, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by the immense pressure that seems to be put on me, simply by my own expectations.
     What else can I be doing?  What else SHOULD I be doing?  I hate feeling behind, it bothers me to absolutely no end.  As I've said, up to now I've felt really good about what I've been involved in and what I've made my habits out to be.  Am I stressing out over nothing?  Probably.  Still, one of the speakers last night said it was important to "give yourself a break."  ...I struggle with that sometimes.

Networking... Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave.

     Well, I will admit that I preferred last week's class as opposed to this week's, but that doesn't mean that this week's session was any less interesting.  Maybe because the speakers we listened to tonight discussed networking, and on Saturday, I volunteered at the Women's Conference - where I sat in on a session purely about networking.  So, I think this week I was less riveted just because I'd already heard a lot of the similar concepts and ideas on the practice of networking itself.
     Dr. Krendl introduced a panel of three women who all own or work for prestigious institutions or businesses, and they are all in top positions in those businesses.  The three of them (one of whom was the mediator for the session I observed on Saturday) all spoke about how they network, how they made personal connections with the new people they meet, and how they suggested we start out (the mention of finding a mentor has been severely stressed the passed two weeks).  All the advice they gave us was helpful and very informative, and I plan on putting it to good use in the very near future.
     The activity I really enjoyed, was following the speakers, when we broke up into smaller groups to discuss the case studies that were included in our readings.  I was able to sit with Katie and Bailey and talk with them about what ended up being the most acceptable leadership scenario in our chapter.  It was a great conversation, and I always love being able to discuss with my classmates, and listen to their justified opinions on the  matters that the class is revolving around as a whole.  I can relate to everybody, as I've stated in other posts.  However, I just keep remembering that it's such a good feeling to be in this class.  So rewarding!

Inspiration [is starting to, possibly] Hit Me.

    So, you know those moments when something happens to you, and the phrase "inspiration struck" is the most acceptable phrase you can possibly think of to describe what just happened?  I had a couple of those moments today.  I'm STILL exhilarated to the point where if I drank any Starbucks tonight, it might kill me via an adrenaline overdose.  Let's begin!
     If Chasity Kuttrus could read my blog right now, I would tell her that she is such an inspiration to me.  She talked to our class tonight about Executive Coaching (I'm not sure if this needs to be capitalized, but it seems important enough to be), and she absolutely stunned me.  She discussed topics such as the advantages of having women in top positions in business, things we need to do in order to be successful and taken seriously (aggressive, not abrasive), and she was just fantastic all around.  That might sound really vague, but those of you reading this... well.. you're in this class with me, so you experienced this all yourself!  I don't know how anybody else felt about Chasity's presentation, but I was really appreciative, and extremely impacted.  Granted, unlike her, I am an English Creative Writing major - totally different from a business major - but everything that she does, and everything that she reflects and stands for is so fascinating and respected by me.  She is exactly the type of person I would want to emulate; someone who knows who they are, what they stand for, and what they are going to do to keep climbing up that ladder to superior success.  She really expressed herself as a leader, and I loved listening to her.
     On a more personal note, I want to touch on the feeling I got from my fellow women leaders tonight.  I talked to Maddy (hope I spelled that right), and told her how fantastic it feels to be in a room with young women who are goal oriented and motivated like I am.  It is refreshing to look around and see the faces of the girls who will be conquering the world after graduation; girls who have high aspirations for themselves the same way I have high standards for myself.  In my high school, it was so difficult to find people who shared my mindset, even in the slightest way.  In this class, I feel that I can relate to everyone somehow, and everyone can relate to me.  And I absolutely love that.
     If I could, I'd like to make a reference to something that doesn't really have anything to do with our Women in Leadership class.  And the only real reason I feel that this topic should be in this post, is because it is yet another thing that inspired me today.  I went to the first meeting of Sigma Tau Delta - the English Honor Society.  First off, I'm so excited to be involved with the society.  I hope I get the honor of being inducted in the spring.  Secondly, one of my classmates, Jaqlyn (still not sure about spelling, I feel so horrible...) was chatting with me and my friends about how our classes were going as Freshmen and everything.  She is a junior, I believe, and she is a Gender and Literature major (Women's Studies).  She asked me if I'd considered taking on the Women's Studies major, or even the minor.  I said I hadn't given that much thought about it right now, but I loved my Women in Leadership class.  She went on to tell me, that from what she can see in me both personally, and on the basis of my writing and discussion in the essay writing class we had together, she thinks the Women's Studies would definitely be something I should look into, because it is something I could really be passionate about, and really good at.  And the more I've thought about it today, the more I really appreciate what she said.  This is an entirely new avenue for me, the Women's Studies option... but I'm kind of drawn to it.  I mean... all I can say is that we'll see what happens... with everything.  Women in Leadership, and everything else I get involved in... all I can do is wait and see what happens.

Today was an Empowered Day.

     Wow... first official blog post for me!  I think that should earn me a few points... I don't know where these points should originate from and I also don't know what they should go toward... but regardless, I believe points are necessary.
     We had a multitude of speakers who visited our FYS Women in Leadership class tonight, and all of them were actually really interesting.  If I was feeling like a high school kid, I would go one by one - introducing all the speakers, and then going into vast detail about their subject matter on which they spoke.  However, I am not a high school student any longer.  Oh, no.  I am a college freshman, and to be honest, I would really rather just write about the speaker who caught most of my attention; the speaker who really got me thinking, and interested in the rest of the semester ahead of me.
     I have to say, I was really intrigued by the information that was given to us by Melissa Gilbert.  She came in and talked to us about the group project we're going to be doing this semester - mentoring!  I'm really excited about some of the programs that we are able to get involved in.  They all sound like fun, helpful programs for teen girls.  That sounds so cliche, I know.  But it's true.  These programs are all designed around girls, and helping them feel comfortable with themselves exactly as they are, while also empowering them to embrace the talents that they have and use them to the highest caliber of their ability... doesn't that sound fantastic?  I think it does... but maybe that's just because I had a fantastic day today, and I felt super confident and empowered myself.  That might be it.
     Thinking about it, I could go into detail about how I have to email certain people about the organizations I want to get involved in, to find a program that would work with my typically chaotic schedule that is my life.  But I think that might just make this sound like one of my stressed out diary entries that I'm about to go write once I finish this post.  So, I think I'll just stop here, and say that I can't wait to start working with the younger girls.  This Women in Leadership class is so much fun, and I'm loving it!  Sure, it's only the first week, but I can't wait to dig in even deeper throughout the semester.
     I wonder how long everyone else in the class is making their posts... hmm...