After the tragic crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 on Thursday, and amid the wall-to-wall news coverage, I began to wonder about something we don’t typically see on the news — How do these incidents affect pilots? I reached out to my pilot friend, Mike to find out.
What a week! We debunked some more of those dumb fake images you’ve seen on social media; we shot down the notion that smartphones will kill GoPro; we looked at the jet we could’ve had if we hadn’t blown all that money on the F-35; and more!
If you’ve ever used Street View on Google Maps to preview an unfamiliar travel destination, then you’ll understand the reasoning behind NASA’s Lunar Orbiter missions during the late ’60s. The space probes were doing reconnaissance and beamed back 160…
As I sit here, I am reminiscing on all the times I have given this advice. I believe the first time was with some of the graduates of the class 0f 2010 from the school district where I work. I’d taught them as seventh graders. They had become huge. They used to put their fingers and hands together in the shape of the THON diamond; thumb to thumb, pointer to pointer, 10 fingers up, class of 0 … ’10. They all just graduated. I’d like to think that some of what I said to them then, they took to heart.
I pride myself in my honesty with my students. I am as honest as I can possibly be with them.
I’ll give this advice to a few recent graduates before they leave, but it is here for anyone. I give this advice to whoever will listen, but I mainly wish I had told myself back in the day.
1. Be careful.
Be careful in every way. I mean every way. Think twice before accepting that credit card without any limit and such a “small interest rate.” (Happily, I did take this advice, but from my father.) Think twice before taking a class just because you think there will be lots of girls in it. Think twice about buying that shirt; it could equal a night out with your girlfriends. Be careful about going to that party and especially accepting a ride home from someone who has said they only had “a coupe drinks.” When I first gave this advice, I was holding my 9-month-old son, Max. I gave those young 18-19-year-olds some very pointed looks and made them aware of what a box of diapers cost in comparison to a box of condoms. I’m telling you, be careful Iin every way. And please, God please, don’t get yourself into a state where you cannot be careful.
2. Make trustworthy friends.
Make good judgments about people and if you don’t know how to, learn. Don’t rely on your roommate. You’ve known her for three days before the opening “kegger” on that first weekend goes into play and a sophomore second-string football player looks at her. So, she takes that as an open invite to discover if her wears boxers or boxers briefs and leaves you hanging on the couch. Do you go to that supposed house party with your friend from POLISCI 101 just because he knows a guy who knows the guys who live in the house? You’ll find yourself five blocks off campus in the dead of night without a ride or a competent person to walk you home. Will that friend leave you hanging when it comes to choosing a housemate? You will end up in the dark too many times alone if you do not have a close friend to stick with you through and through.
3. Work hard and go hard.
Don’t look back when you’re approaching middle age, you ‘think’ you’re stuck in a dead end job, and wonder, “If I had tried harder would I be in a different place?” You’ll be standing in line, waiting for your Grande double shot non fat latte at the local Starbucks where the barista, Jack, knows your drink before you walk in the door, and start to think. What or how could it be different if you had stayed in from that rush week toga party? Could you have done better on that mid quarter exam so your average would have been higher, therefore your overall average would have been higher, therefore would the Wall Street firm have chosen you and not the guy with a .08 higher GPA? Don’t look back and have regrets. Don’t look back and wish you made different decisions. Don’t look back and wish anything.
College is there to fulfill your wishes, not make them.
We saw how choosing the mission-driven life is the basis of social entrepreneurship. We choose it out of a sense of responsibility to the world and to the value of our own lives.
But that sense of responsibility and the yearning for a more purposeful life often come to us before we know what our mission is.
How do we find our mission?
In my experience, the answer is to disrupt your life and search for it.
New Perspectives
When I quit my career to embark on a new path, I didn’t know what I was doing or seeking. My instincts were strong but their message unclear. I just knew I needed to get away.
I bought a one-way ticket to Mexico, where I’d never been. I told myself I was taking a sabbatical, but beyond that, all was unknown. I didn’t even know where I would sleep the night I arrived — let alone that I would discover my life mission three months later.
But that was the point: it was a time of not knowing, of experimenting, of exploring and deepening a new awareness.
For the first few weeks, I discovered the joy of traveling aimlessly and lightly through a new country, reawakening my sense of curiosity. Settling in Oaxaca, I gained a deeper appreciation of craft by studying ceramics and music, and fueled my self-reflection by studying philosophy at a local university.
I wasn’t interested in a single “truth,” but in learning to see life from multiple perspectives.
Doing By Not Doing
My whole life up to then had been about “productivity.” As a business consultant, the key metric was billable hours; as a global trade executive, financial returns. Time was literally money, and the ideal person a kind of productivity machine.
Now I could see that old model in a new light. I was re-humanizing my relationship to time and my understanding of value.
But it wasn’t easy. The old metrics still haunted me. What was I doing with myself? What value was I adding?
Self-doubt began to wrack me. For weeks I’d wake in the middle of the night scared I’d made the wrong decision. I’d thrown everything away and what had I gained? Was I really an escapist like my family and many of my friends said?
Gaining Clarity
Then, one night, I overcame these doubts by simply deciding I’d done the right thing. That was it: a deep, defiant decision. I woke in the morning with a newfound sense of clarity.
When I walked outside into the day, I met the person who would soon help reveal my mission to me — a neighbor who introduced me to the farmers with whom I’d eventually start my social enterprise.
That was the most valuable lesson from this exploratory time. When you have clarity about your commitment, the right opportunities emerge. I’ve experienced it again and again ever since.
Curiosity, joy, integrity, clarity of commitment — all of these are essential to social entrepreneurship in its deepest sense. But I had to disrupt my life and take a risk in order to rediscover them.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has delayed his ten-day Italian vacation in light of the death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner, who died on Thursday.
City Hall announced ahead of de Blasio’s scheduled departure on Friday that “[t]he mayor will postpone the departure for his upcoming family vacation to Saturday, in order to attend to city business,” the New York Post reports.
Garner, 43, died after NYPD officers placed him a chokehold--a practice that’s been banned from the department for over 20 years–while arresting him for charges stemming from illegal cigarette sales, the New York Times reports. A video exclusive to New York Daily News shows Garner, who has asthma, shouting “I can’t breathe” as officers push him to the ground on Staten Island.
On Friday, de Blasio said “[l]ike so many New Yorkers I was very troubled by the video.” According to de Blasio’s press secretary, Phil Walzak, the decision to postpone his family vacation was made so he could “spend more time making calls to elected officials, community leaders and members of the clergy, and talking to the police” in the wake of Garner’s death, the Times reports.
Neil Patrick Harris may be busy with his Broadway gig in “Hedwig and the Angry Itch,” but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to guest star on “American Horror Story.”
During a visit to Entertainment Weekly Radio, Harris revealed that he really wants to be on “American Horror Story: Freak Show.” Even though the actor will be on Broadway until August 17, his final night as Hedwig, he says he asked Ryan Murphy about a cameo anyway. “I wrote a letter to Ryan, asking if I could be in it. And he didn’t respond,” Harris said.
On Friday, July 18, however, Murphy finally responded. In a tweet the “AHS” creator said he has a role in mind for Harris.
@ActuallyNPH of course you can be on Freak Show! I have a role I think you’d love.
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) July 18, 2014
Murphy got Stevie Nicks to come on the show last season, so we don’t see why he wouldn’t work his magic again to make this awesome cameo happen.
“Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” — Inscription on the plaque of the Apollo 11 lunar module.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong made history when he landed on the moon with Buzz Aldrin and took that first “small step for mankind” on the lunar surface. Forty-five years later, we remember that day during the Apollo 11 mission as one that changed the world forever.
Now, you’ve probably seen the incredible, iconic image of a boot print on the moon — and that photograph of Aldrin posing next to the U.S. flag.
But have you seen what the astronauts ate for breakfast the morning of the launch, or the photo of them peeking through a small window to greet their wives after their return home?
Scroll through a rare collection of photographs below to relive the mission from start to finish.
Ah! The wonderful sound of clanging medals, young voices cheering, and the slapping of high fives — it’s the sound of students being rewarded for collaborating and utilizing their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. This sound does not come without a price — it is the sound that can come after as many successes as failures.
As a female STEM teacher and robotics coach at a Middle School in Illinois, my job is to facilitate success by maintaining enthusiasm as my students hurdle from one failure to another. In the classroom, I see such amazing potential in my female STEM students. I watch them try, fail, learn from the failure, and repeat the process until they reap the rewards of success. As a result, curious female students quickly become confident leaders in STEM. And, considering how much we need female leaders in science, it’s not a moment too soon.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering. In fact, women fill close to half of all jobs in the U.S. economy, but they hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs, and men are much more likely than women to have a STEM job regardless of educational attainment.
But, as a science teacher and STEM coach, I am committed to putting a dent in these statistics by helping students such as Leah excel in STEM.
Leah is the captain of the FIRST LEGO League team, “Rockford Christian Royal Narwhals,” (aka – the Narwhals) comprised of six other members — all male. This year, team members were tasked with researching and inventing a new product within a short time frame that would help senior citizens lead more productive lives.
Through their research, my team discovered that many seniors have trouble using electrical plugs, especially lining up the prongs, grasping them and reaching an outlet. Along with this, comes the concern of tripping over power cords.
The team collaborated on a solution, The “Magnetic Plug Adaptor,” (MPA) a safe and easy-to-use alternative to the traditional electric plug. The magnetic power of the adapter keeps the appliance plugged in, conducts power safely to the appliance and easily detaches from the wall.
Once the team decided on the MPA as their project, Leah instinctively knew how to develop the idea without overshadowing her team members. She showcased dedication to the progress of the MPA and earned the team’s respect by working an additional 60 hours over Christmas break. She encouraged the team to stay positive when files were lost and programs failed, and her strong problem-solving abilities added a dynamic to the team that was necessary to complete the project.
Leah’s leadership helped the Narwhals gain an invitation to the U.S. Patent and Trade Office to present the MPA to expert inventors! She admitted that the experience was a little daunting with her being the only girl on the team, but she said it was also “amazing to know that I can do amazing things using science and math while gaining confidence from my failures.”
Wow! What seventh grader says that?
It sounds like something Thomas Edison once said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” We are raising a generation of girls whose future careers will depend on problem-solving skills. They will face adversity and defeat. As an educator, I believe it is my responsibility to provide my students with obstacles; obstacles they will overcome. They will use their weaknesses to become stronger people. I remind myself often that I am not building robotics teams; I am building futures for our problem-solving students.
The clanging medals — the trophies, are a reward for what we have finally mastered. Our success has not been measured by who we are (The Narwhals) but rather by what we have overcome as a team.
I hope this blog post encourages others to mentor students — especially females — to pursue their passions. If we let them explore learning, failure, collaboration and success, we will surely lead them on a path to leadership, innovative thinking and ultimately more girls exploring careers in STEM-related fields.
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Julie Rohl is a science teacher at Rockford Christian School, in Illinois, where she coaches a FIRST LEGO League team. FIRST is a not-for-profit that inspires kids to explore careers in STEM.
We discussed the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight 17, the Russian-made Buk-M1 2 Missile System and the criminal charges against FedEx on The Weekend Show with Kenny Shelton Saturday July 19, 2014 on The Virginia Talk Radio Network
I do a segment each Saturday at 11:07 am Eastern, 8:07 am Pacific on The Virginia Talk Radio Network.
I often lurk on Google+.
All images courtesy of Wikipedia commons.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.