This is not only the beginning of my ISM journey, but also the start of my professional career. Although I have already contributed to my reputation in the past years through my DECA experience, I may now build true industry connections. I'm beyond excited for this school year, but I feel I must first acknowledge my worries, so that I may later prove myself wrong. In all honesty, the road ahead is scary because it is unknown. What if I don't find a mentor? What if I accomplish nothing of value this year? What if...there are so many questions that are left unanswered, but I must remember "Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." - Babe Ruth
The ISM course is truly special in that students are able to self-pace and create a curriculum that works best for them. However, it can also be overwhelming seeing all the assignments and realizing all of the work is your responsibility. That is why it is so easy to get ahead of ourselves and to feel like everything is happening all at once, all right now. I must remember that I will always have the time I need and I must simply focus on the assignments ahead step by step, getting them done without overcomplicating them.
This past week we worked on finding our guiding quote and creating our mission statement, the former can be found on the Home page, and the ladder on the About Me section. Additionally, we began a long year of public speaking, with a 3 minute introductory speech. It was simple information about ourselves, our topic of interest, and plans for our future in the course. Most people struggled a little with eye contact, or voice inflection, and some couldn't get over 2 minutes of speaking. However, I felt quite prepared considering my past professional speaking experience with DECA, and I actually had trouble staying under 3 minutes.
The speech actually taught me a lot, I learned that I fidget a little more than I thought I did, I sometimes start talking too fast, and ramble a little too much. I'm actually very excited to work on all of those things and to better my professionalism, as I know it will help me in DECA competition and when talking to potential mentors. We were also told to update our Linkedin account, where I realized mine was in desperate need of a makeover.
Lastly, and possibly the most fun assignment so far, creating our own personal website. As someone interested in going into the marketing field one can assume why I am so excited. It feels like heaven tweaking the smallest, unimportant, but very important details. Trying different fonts, colors, moving boxes barely to the left, making something then hating it and deleting it. I have already spent a good deal of time on this website, and I can't imagine how much more time will be given to designing my pages or writing blogs...
Until next week,
- Sam
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