Knowledge is meant to be passed on!

Another first step is to read a memoir. I want to read someone’s story to try to see how they sum up their lives and how they relate out their experience. I had a hard time figuring out whose story I wanted to read about. Who really interested me? Who is currently doing what I want to do? I kept churning on that thought but not really researching until last Wednesday. After we had our panel so much came into focus. I really appreciated all of the different perspective that were represented on the panel. One of the panelists, Brandon mentioned the book Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in YOU to Achieve Happiness and Success by Russell Simmons. That stayed with me and led me to check it out of the library this weekend. I started reading it and it is such a good and relatable book. I am only on chapter four but it compliments very well what we have learned in class so far. The first chapter covers:

See your vision and stick with it- This chapter has broken down why it is important to always stick to what your dream/passion is. Don’t get swayed, convinced or told to change your vision. Another thing is that you have to be CLEAR about your vision. This was really helpful because I think I am in the right area of what I want my vision/dream to be but I am a little hazy on the details. Simmons writes, “From the root to the fruit.” And that is where I want to get to. A couple of other things he mentions are the importance of clarity, focus, confidence, and promotion.

Always do you- In chapter 2, he focuses on being true and honest with yourself and your vision. This chapter was very interesting because you ask yourself who does not do themselves? A lot of people (myself included sometimes)! When I read this chapter I kept thinking about Dr. Rockquemore and the way she is so HONEST with us. She shows us her strengths but is just as transparent with her weaknesses. An example of that would be her recent comment about her talk at the Forum and how nervous she was and that she was disappointed by her lack of preparedness. It must be noted that everyone in the class that saw her speak disagreed and thought she did a FABULOUS job. But there have been many examples of Dr. Rock. And many others just speaking honestly and it really does make you question your authenticity. It takes a lot of courage to admit that you made a mistake or that you do not know. I strive everyday to be more authentic and know that if I want my story/message to be taken in by young girls, or anyone for that matter, I need to be able to be truthful about my experience and be proud of MY story.

My original first step was to start talking to girls informally about their current experiences but I think reading this book was an even better step because it brought me back to my starting point and forces me to really grind out my vision but also reminds me that MY vision is obtainable but I need to stick with it.