Staff/Team Development

What makes a good team is ability of teamwork. Players have to be able to work together and function well together. When the players are given correct direction the team will succeed faster. A team is also good when it has a good leader. When a leader can provide strength and direction to its team members then the team will grow in success. A leader must also be able to connect with all of their members on the lower level. Each member is just as important as the leader. A team gets better when it works together to solve problems. It gets better the more it grows together. A team is defined as successful when it not necessarily wins a competition but when it wins in teamwork. Being able to work together is the most valuable asset to a team. If you cannot work together than you cannot win together. There is no "I" in "TEAM". You can turn an unsuccessful team into a successful one by giving them the appropriate environment to work in. A leader can persuade a team to believe in themselves. They can also provide a pleasant working environment to allow team members to feel comfortable and valuable. Every team member wants to feel that they are making a difference within the team to reach an overall goal. A leader gives the team member that responsibility and self-worth by giving them direction. Every team needs a leader, but a leader would be nothing without a team.

self discipline

My top 5 self disciplinary actions to fix

1. time management
2. priorities
3. exercise
4. eating habits
5. relationships

I would try to fix my time management by making schedules for myself weekly or daily in order to get things done. I would have to estimate how much time each thing throughout my day will take in order to successfully plan my schedule. I would try to fix my priorities also with a schedule by putting the most important things to be done earliest so they will get done. I feel fixing time management will help fix my priorities problem as well. For exercising, I need to find a strong willed buddy to go to the gym with, that way I will not be able to talk myself or my friend out of going on a certain day. I would also need to set a schedule and stick to it. I need to give myself motivation to go to each work out with a reward or incentive. I have created irregular eating habits since being in the dorm and I feel I don't eat as many healthier foods as I use to when I lived at home. I feel I can fix this with motivation to eat right and also reward myself with something sweet at the end of a week to keep me on track. For relationships, I feel I need to keep in touch with family members and it is hard because of school and very little time to get everything done.

My mother has great self discipline. She is the one who gets things done early instead of late. I wish I had more of her discipline style but I turned out more like my father. My mother also keeps things done with lists and strategies for everyone to help get things done with. She tries to tell me to not procrastinate on things but I am not use to her discipline style so it does not go well with mine.

I am accountable for getting things done that I am asked or needed to do. I am accountable for my own life. I tend to do things my way but in the end I find they get done just as well as if they were done another way. I enjoy help from others but in the end I have to solve my own problems and find my own solutions.

My mission

You now have the beginning of a mission statement built on a foundation of your values. You have more clarity into you want to be and to do in your life. You can also start to detect the values and principles upon which your life is based.

You can continue to write and revise your mission statement until you feel it reflects what you live for. You could also try going through the Freewrite section of this site to help you refine your mission and values, or you could visit the Get Inspired section for more ideas.

I am at my best when I am with my best friends..
I will try to prevent times when I am lonely..
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can I love to meet new people and solve problems, especially mathematical. I also love to do arts and crafts..
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through I love to be with family and friends. I love to have down time and watch movies or work on puzzles..
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as I enjoy Math; I am a good listener; I am optimistic; I am artistic; I am always smiling..
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will travel the universe to find another planet like Earth and to find other life beyond our solar system. I would build a spaceship big enough to carry people from earth to space. One that would be livable and never run out of food because it would be able to hold many different farm lands. I would also find the solution to time travel, teleportation, and light travel. All these would be a necessity in space exploration. .
My life's journey is purposeful. I am here for a reason. I am here to promote recycling, nonsmoking, and engineering for new technology. I try to save lives by keeping the earth clean and stopping people from smoking. I am an engineering student who wants to enrich my community with new inventions. I am doing it for me. I want to be happy and help others and have fun doing what I do. My journey is always in the right direction, some moments are slower than others, but the end results will turn out right..
I will be a person who Hopefully my husband and children and grand children. I would be happy with whatever they say, but I hope I impact their lives with love and happiness. I hope they find me resourceful and open to whatever they need in their lives. I hope I can be the one they turn to to make them feel better when their down. I hope they love me as high as the sky, as deep as the ocean, and as wide as the world..
My most important future contribution to others will be My most important future contribution to the most important people in my life would be either my love and care for my parents when they get older and need me to look after them, or my children and the money I will save up for them to go to college..

I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

* I should be more open with my mother and show her that she is important to me by being a good parent.
* I really should travel and see more of this planet before I get old.
*


I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

* Head of the Math department; teacher
* emotional strength
* silly


I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

* Smile
* Optimism
* Self Confidence
* Maintain friends

Leader in the Field Interview

On Monday February 22, 2010, I interviewed the Director of School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Dr. Farrokh Mistree. I chose him because my prospected major is Aerospace Engineering and I felt he would know a great deal about how to succeed in this field of study. He is originally from India and had chosen to pursue Naval Architect as his major when he first went to college at the University of California. He soon changed his major to Mechanical Engineering and went to school for ten to twelve years and received his Ph.D. at Berkley University. He now works for the University of Oklahoma and creates strategic plans for the school of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. He also establishes connections with the University of Oklahoma Alumni to raise money for the school. His favorite thing about his job is interacting with people, students, and other chairmen. His least favorite thing about his job is having to evaluate people. His advice for me becoming an engineering student is to be competitive; I must be able to solve problems and formulate them too. I asked him for advice about internships and he said they would be helpful but that I should diversify my summers and not only spend them with the same internship company. He suggested study abroad along with interning somewhere. He also advised me to double major and not minor in anything. He insisted that I enrich my goal of graduating in four years for a Bachelor's Degree into receiving an Ph.D. He insisted that elongating my goal in school will allow me to strive for a higher degree instead of expecting to graduate in 4 years. His final advice was that being a Professor is the best job to have because of the knowledge learned between the students and the professors. I very much enjoyed my interviewee Dr. Mistree. He made this opportunity challenging and interesting in a way that made me feel as if I had no idea what I really wanted to do because there is so much out there in the real world. I went into the interview confident in my ways and came out having doubts. Not that Dr. Mistree wanted me to change my mind, but he made me think about what things I'm good at and what things I'm not so good at. I really appreciated this experience.

Here is a link to his Director of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at OU website page. http://www.ou.edu/coe/ame/director_s_welcome.html

Future @ OU

I can see myself being involved with engineering programs and clubs while still being a student here at OU. I enjoy school activities and fundraisers for my organizations, so I could very well be some kind of leader in Engineers Club or Society of Women Engineers. I also could see myself participating in Action Tutoring and help tutor students who need help in math because it is my passion and I would love to try and help. I would also like to be a TA one of these years; it would be interesting and fun to work with younger students. These would all be while I am still attending school, but after graduation if I were to still be involved with OU I would like to work in the engineering department of course, such as helping better the OU community and inventions. I wouldn't mind working with scholarship advisement since I know how confusing it is to me; I would like to learn more about it so I can help preach it to others especially freshmen.

If I could do anything at OU job wise, I would be the President, like David Boren. I think it would be an amazing job; although, very intimidating and overwhelming. I would enjoy working with young adults and older alumni. I would enjoy the opportunities presented with the job. I know it would not be anything related to what I have experience or interest in, but if I could do anything I would choose to be the President of OU. Politics would be a turn off, but having power and voice and ability to enrich peoples' lives makes that job worth it. I'm glad we have David Boren though; he's truly spectacular. It takes endurance and a lot of mental strength to handle all the business he does.
If I could just do anything, I would make education free for everyone at OU and have the government pay the teachers.

What interests me are math, Butterflies, art, colorful scenes/pictures, animals, jungles, space, stars, extra-terrestrial life, oceans, landscapes, psychology, world population, friends, family, marriage, leaders, Gerard Butler, internet, facebook, traveling, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Switzerland, Greece, Australia, silver, beauty, style, fashion, actors, movies, Twilight books, and Purple!

Attitude

Attitude plays an important role in accomplishing a group task because it is influence. If a leader has a good attitude than they will influence others to have a good attitude. Attitudes are contagious like smiles. If a person smiles at you, then you will smile back, so if a person has a positive attitude towards you, you will reflect that attitude back. This is important in achieving a task with others because teamwork is at its best when everyone in the group can possess the same attitude, which is a good attitude.

Sunny Wenger is a wonderful and all around influential person; she was an excellent teacher to have for gateway. Although she always had a positive attitude in class everyday, I can remember a time when she influenced me to go to the Big Red Rally, which was the first pep assembly for OU football. I was curious to go, but I am not one to go places by myself, and I was thinking it would probably be easier to leave early for the weekend instead of waiting in traffic after the Rally was over. But Sunny asked if I wanted to join her and her family and that she also invited other students to go. Her positive attitude made me feel welcome and wanted; she also implied how much fun we would have at the Rally and with meeting new people. Her positive attitude gave me a positive attitude and so I decided to go. My friend Kassandra also went with us and I did have a good time all thanks to her positive influence.

The statement "Our Attitudes are Our Most Important Assets" is so very true. The ability to be positive and kind and optimistic about new ideas and change is something not everyone has, but it is an ability everyone can have. People may see others for their looks or their money, but the most important thing people can see is one's attitude; if someone doesn't like the way you act or behave based on your attitude then they will choose to not be friends you. Attitude allows for connection and relationship; if you can influence positivity than you will get positivity in return.

Problem vs. Challenge

The "problem turned into challenge" I learned about today was shown through an Electric Maze activity. The problem was making it all the way across a rug successfully without setting the alarm; the challenge was making it across the rug successfully with group members before the other team. It was also mad into a challenge by enforcing actions with money, such as, if someone talked money was taken away, and the maze had to be completed within 15 minutes in order to gain any money. The woman who introduced this challenge today is Dr. Becky Barker, and she is the Director, Center for Leadership Development and Volunteerism at the University of Oklahoma.

There are many situations where problems can be turned into challenges, such as, chores, grades in school, the ACT, or organizations within school. My sister and I would usually come home from school with a list of chores to do and we considered it a problem because they were suppose to be done by a certain time and we didn't always work well together, but instead of making it a problem we would make it a challenge by dividing the list up evenly and racing to finish first. This made the chores more exciting and allowed them to get done faster. Another instance would be grades; in my case, if I made low grades on a test or progress report, I would see this as a problem at first, but I know I wouldn't want to disappoint my parents or myself, so I make it a challenge and a goal. My parents support this challenge by offering me a reward of money for good grades. This encourages me to do better along with my self fulfillment of doing the best I can. Another situation would be taking the ACT in high school. It is a problem to many students, but is unavoidable for those seeking secondary education. The challenge for this would be to work hard to make a high score in order to get accepted into a college of their choice. The problem is the work but the challenge is getting into college. Last but not least, my final "problem turned into challenge" situation is about my personal experience with my high school student council organization. Every year we put on a gargage sale and donate money to a good cause. With my experience last year we had the garage sale in March, hoping for the weather to be nice and warm. Instead, the weather was freezing. All the students were bundled up and setting up tables and items to be sold. Instead of making the weather a problem, we made it a challenge and fun experience because we worked as a team, we promoted the garage sale, and we kept a positive attitude the whole time. The best thing is that we never quit even though our customers thought we were crazy for standing out in that type of temperature. We finished what we started that day and made a profit, so it was a very successful day because we didn't let the problem take over.