Lessons Learned!

Readers!

I cannot believe that we have come to the end of the semester. What a journey we have had together. You all have joined me on an interesting new path, from beginning this doctoral program, to learning effective ways to engage a community such as yourself, to having public discourse on important and relevant social issues.

The lessons have been internal and external, as you all know, no experience such as this happens without some personal growth, evolution, and transformation. So here are my take-aways from this great semester we shared together…

1. I don’t know it all! WHOA! Talk about a game-changer. We all know that learning never ends and we are lifelong students of life, however I must say when it comes to discourse, there is a certain level of experience I thought placed me beyond the entry level. Boy was I wrong. Although I am a good public speaker, there are many other facets of facilitating public discourse that I was not aware of, nor practiced. This class showed me that good discourse does not automatically translate to great or effective and I have lots more to learn.
2. I need to channel my passion into constructive means of communicating. For topics I hold near and dear to heart, I am very passionate and sometimes animated. I have learned that my passion does not always translate well and I must do the work to ensure that the receiver understands and embraces my passion as positive and not aggressive.
3. I have learned that I have what it takes to complete this program. Not all lessons are painful or bad ones, there are many positive lessons in life that we must take the time to acknowledge. It has been a challenging semester and finding balance was not always easy, however I was able to complete the semester and I am satisfied. That must count for something..right?

So what happens next?

These lessons have shaped my perspective and restructured my approach to my life’s work. This includes my career, my profession, and my work on the grand challenge. These lessons will impact my ability to utilize my work on my grand challenges to inform social work practice in relevant ways. I have the opportunity to present on my grand challenge at work in the upcoming week, and these lessons are right on time to ensure it is positive public discourse! I look forward to channeling my passion about this subject in a way that invites attendees to listen, learn, share and engage in discourse that is solution oriented and contributes to the growing field of knowledge around my grand challenge- achieving racial justice for Blacks in America! See you next semester!!

 

Never forget!