About Ambition
I like having somewhere to go...working toward some kind of a goal. I'm not saying I'm always running, striving and competing, but I do feel people need to be passionate about something. Years ago, I was dating someone with very low ambitions...people like that will make your inner flower wither and die. They'll suck the very life right out of you until you're blissfully happy with the status quo. I'm better than the status quo: I'm smarter, I'm stronger and I'm way more successful than the status quo.
There are a lot of things I don't strive for: I don't want to be president of the US. Or the UN. Or UNCG. Some of my ambitions are simply to be a nicer, sweeter version of myself. Get a Ph.D. Improve my vocal ability. Keep combating my fear of flying, and do the amazing things on my "bucket list," most of which require flying. Keep my kitchen clean (ugh!).
I used to want to send more students abroad than the year before. It would eat me up. I would crunch numbers, project applicants and then be devastated when one or ten of them never turned in an application. I desperately wanted to reach 100. So far, I capped at 64 in 2008-09, which was 50 percent more than when I started the job. Most ever in the history of the school. Then the economy went sour, and "my numbers" decreased again. That's when I realized it wasn't about numbers; it was about making this dream a reality for that one student, and throwing everything I had at it. The husband and wife. The adult student with a history of bankruptcy. The many that had never been on a plane. The former less-than-two drop-out.
I don't see much ambition from some of my students - those, that have had things go their way all their young lives and for whom study abroad is just another milestone to check off the list. They'll go abroad and besides the mandatory meeting, I never see them again. But I love my SAPAs. My student leaders whose lives have been so changed by the experience they want to inspire others. I clearly remember Chelsea telling me, when I said "4.0...darn overachievers!" - "To me, that's just achieving." It resonated with me. I was the same way, when I went to college.
So, yeah...when someone wants to graduate with two degrees, three majors and a minor, you're damn right I'm going to help make it happen. So what if we don't teach half the classes this guy needs. Ambition inspires me. Ambition will take everyone further than they ever dreamed they could go. Ambition makes our lives worth living, as opposed to just drifting along the babbling brook of life - aimlessly and passionlessly.
So to all you low achievers out there: roll the dice and start dreaming. Seriously. Or join the underachievers club and get out of our way. <3
There are a lot of things I don't strive for: I don't want to be president of the US. Or the UN. Or UNCG. Some of my ambitions are simply to be a nicer, sweeter version of myself. Get a Ph.D. Improve my vocal ability. Keep combating my fear of flying, and do the amazing things on my "bucket list," most of which require flying. Keep my kitchen clean (ugh!).
I used to want to send more students abroad than the year before. It would eat me up. I would crunch numbers, project applicants and then be devastated when one or ten of them never turned in an application. I desperately wanted to reach 100. So far, I capped at 64 in 2008-09, which was 50 percent more than when I started the job. Most ever in the history of the school. Then the economy went sour, and "my numbers" decreased again. That's when I realized it wasn't about numbers; it was about making this dream a reality for that one student, and throwing everything I had at it. The husband and wife. The adult student with a history of bankruptcy. The many that had never been on a plane. The former less-than-two drop-out.
I don't see much ambition from some of my students - those, that have had things go their way all their young lives and for whom study abroad is just another milestone to check off the list. They'll go abroad and besides the mandatory meeting, I never see them again. But I love my SAPAs. My student leaders whose lives have been so changed by the experience they want to inspire others. I clearly remember Chelsea telling me, when I said "4.0...darn overachievers!" - "To me, that's just achieving." It resonated with me. I was the same way, when I went to college.
So, yeah...when someone wants to graduate with two degrees, three majors and a minor, you're damn right I'm going to help make it happen. So what if we don't teach half the classes this guy needs. Ambition inspires me. Ambition will take everyone further than they ever dreamed they could go. Ambition makes our lives worth living, as opposed to just drifting along the babbling brook of life - aimlessly and passionlessly.
So to all you low achievers out there: roll the dice and start dreaming. Seriously. Or join the underachievers club and get out of our way. <3
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