it's a Sunday afternoon and I'm here, speed-typing this down, because i feel an urge to share a controversy that has been bugging the back of my head for the past week: school.
So, Mr. Topf, answering your question on what personally DRIVES me to work, you’re completely right; I want to exemplify the third stone cutter. To be honest, despite what others might indulge as priority when it comes to their own learning, competing or making a business, I live up to my word when I say that I’ve done my best to fight the system.
For a week, I’ve been working for the intrinsic sake of creating beautiful work that matters to me and to others, which In my opinion, feels far cooler. If the situation would of worked otherwise, (as I've seen happen before) I could have fallen into ambition, taken unethical choices, or--what would be even worse--miss the whole point of what I'm doing even as I'm doing it. So, in that case, why even do it?
For a week, I’ve been working for the intrinsic sake of creating beautiful work that matters to me and to others, which In my opinion, feels far cooler. If the situation would of worked otherwise, (as I've seen happen before) I could have fallen into ambition, taken unethical choices, or--what would be even worse--miss the whole point of what I'm doing even as I'm doing it. So, in that case, why even do it?
Thankfully, this week I’ve proved to myself that there’s no greater satisfaction than seeing your work flourish because you believed in the value of your vision rather than the recognition, the grade or the profit.
- when focusing on the smoothie business -
Before taking the IA, If you would have asked me what the purpose behind starting any business was, I would have answered making money. Surprisingly, profit was our last concern when launching the first MVP for our smoothie start up this past Thursday.
Being part of the Human Resources team, we took our role extremely seriously. Along with C. Hines and Karen, we planned ahead, created and tested a system to figure the best working dynamic for future employees, stayed at school the day before to measure, cut and bag-up the two fruit combinations, recollected all materials for the stand and even took some extra time to make it look pretty. Finally, we turned the speakers on and were ready to power-work for a full 40 minutes where we sold (yes!) more than 80 smoothies. And, if 80 seems like a lot, hold on cause people asked for more; I couldn't have been happier with the results! |
I had never stopped to think the sheer amount of work that goes into planning something as raw as a smoothie stand! I think that the main reason BLENDZ was such a hit was because of the amount of dedication each team put towards their determined role; , from the CEO's to the the product team, the CFO and the marketers. Consequently, as the pieces came together the service was extremely detail oriented to the client. Yet, even though this could be considered a "simple" first challenge I have to admit we had to act like the third stone cutter and still craft it to make it the best rough draft possible. Before we knew it, we had thrived, making our clients healthily content :)
- when competing -
It's not new news that the ICC competition took over high-school this week, and yes, we WON, Seniors won; I should be thrilled. I'm not going to lie, I'm obviously happy because my class took the trophee home, but, at the same time, I cant help feeling both within and without my own senior class.
Personally, I think the magic behind ICC's thrill is the opportunity it gives to students of all grades to shine at what they do best, to think creatively towards a common theme, to invent lyrics, to shoot more baskets than the prior year, to challenge each other and to GROW AS ONE TEAM.
Personally, I think the magic behind ICC's thrill is the opportunity it gives to students of all grades to shine at what they do best, to think creatively towards a common theme, to invent lyrics, to shoot more baskets than the prior year, to challenge each other and to GROW AS ONE TEAM.
Now, I have to admit that once my class finally rang the legendary ICC bell, the happiness I envisioned feeling was 1/3 "success theater", and even though in that moment I wanted to convince me wrong, deep inside I knew that we were not all aiming at the same type of victory. In that moment I sadly saw that many of my peers had fallen into the system, losing the whole point of the competition along the week. Some engaged in dirty confrontations, unnecessary complains and even faked spirit for the points; it was exhausting just to look at it. In a brighter note, I think the reason why I still lived my last ICC to the fullest is because I didn't lose track of WHY I was there. One key anecdote that I will never forget was losing the cheer. As soon as the results where announced and I turned to look at my team, I felt crushed. It wasn't because of our score that I felt betrayed, in fact "losing" surprisingly bothered me very little in comparison to the reaction my team had towards "failure". What bothered me really was turning around and seeing my entire team crying their hearts out because we had lost third place against the freshmen and sophomores in our last year. And then there was me, and even though I obviously would of loved to win as well, I could not help being genuinely happy and still had no one to share it with! |
So, why was I happy? Well, think about it, what else could I ask for in my last year?! I had been part of a team that had fiercely put their ALL in the gym floor; one that had sacrificed more than a month in time crafting something that would WOW the audience. We had finally made it, and I didn't need any judge to declare us first place in order to recognize it. YES, we had not performed nearly perfect, YES we could have been much more synchronized at times and YES we could of stuck to the time limits given, but at the end, if we had done our best to cheer for the our grade, WHAT DIFFERENCE DID IT MAKE?
Although we lost, I was equally proud because for me, the cheer was an opportunity to grow as a leader, a friend and a team player. This, I believe, is exactly why I didn't feel threatened to admit that the sophomores also had an incredible performance. It didn't crush my ego at all; I knew that how BADLY we wanted to build a cathedral, and there's no soul in that gym that will tell you we didn't.
- when it comes down to learning -
Alright, when it comes to crafting my own learning, there are many things I could do much better: organizing my time, prioritizing tasks, being consistent, finding a balance--essential skills that I need to improve in order to maintain the ethic of excellence in the IA. Still, It's fair to admit that when it comes to projects I'm passionate about, extrinsic rewards such as the grade are no incentive; I do it for myself, to challenge my ability and create a product that I will be proud of to the last detail. I think this video sums it up pretty well.