An Amazing Journey

As we are getting closer to the end of the school year and closing ceremonies, our LTI students are working harder than ever to get their community service projects completed. However, despite all of this hard work, what impressed me the most from last week's LTI session was  an activity. In this activity, the students were blindfolded, and they had to navigate their way across a maze of string inside building 7. While the point of this activity was to show the students that the easiest way to overcome difficult obstacles is to simply ask for help, what I took away from this activity was that we should never be too quick to give up on our dreams. After spending a few minutes watching the students trying to find a way out of the maze, I realized that often times trying to accomplish many our life goals is just as confusing and difficult as trying to run through a maze of string blindfolded. Additionally, just like the students who stopped searching for an exit out of the maze when they were only a couple of feet away from completing the maze, often times people are much closer to accomplishing their dreams than they think. So while it is important to not be afraid to ask for help, I also want to encourage everyone to not give up on their dreams. Just like with the student just a few feet away from exiting the maze, you might be closer to completing your life goals than you think.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

Taking Time Out to Reflect

After the conclusion of this year's CPW (campus preview weekend) I learned a lot from this year's perspective freshmen. In addition to meeting new people, this year's CPW was really memorable because of the fact that this year I was reminded of how important it was for us to routinely reflect on all of our accomplishments and take pride in all of the work that we have done thus far. After hearing one student's excitement for just being here on campus, I began to think about my own “MIT experience” and how excited I was to also be here in this historic campus. While such an experience may seem like an eternity away, the fact is that it wasn't too long ago that I was in the same position as many of these perspective students. I remember walking around campus and thinking how big and monumental everything was. While these reflections didn’t necessarily help me get any closer to completing my p-sets, these reflections were still very important. The reason why reflection is so important is because they remind us of how far we have come. Additionally, meditating on these memories helps us overcome future obstacles that we later face in life (whether it be academic, work related, or personal). So just like how past victories can help motivate sport teams to win games that “experts” have deemed impossible to win, routine reflections can help us reach new potential. As such, when I think about our students in the LTI program, I can't help but be excited for the many great things that I know they will accomplish in life. By looking at the work that these students have put into their projects, I have no doubt in my mind that these projects (and their time here at LTI) will one day serve as a great accomplishment for these students to reflect on.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

Limitations

Last week after returning from spring break, I learned a valuable lesson in limitation. As usual, I spent my spring break doing everything but reviewing my lecture notes from class. While lacking to do any work over the break didn’t have any immediate consequences, I soon found myself paying the price on Wednesday night. That night, I found myself overwhelmed, and I thought that I my life would be over (once I realized that I had about ten hours to write a paper, finish a p-set, and read a chapter). While I can’t exactly recall how I managed to get everything done, I do remember the reflection that I had had on limitations the day after. During that reflection, I realized that often times when people are faced with a difficult obstacle, one of the first things that people do is try to ignore their limitations and then focus on solving the problem head on. While many people are able to solve their problems using this method, I realized that using this method also causes people to be stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. While stress and frustration may not be obviously dangerous, I realized just how toxic such things were when I read an article in CNN about an increase in suicides at Cornell University. At the end of the article, there was a quote from the University president that said, “if you learn nothing else, learn to ask for help.” Likewise, I feel that many people have difficulty asking for help because often times, asking for help means identifying and accepting one’s limitations before going straight into solving a problem. However, facing one’s limitations not only makes it easier to ask for help, but it also increases one’s chances of receiving help at the right time. Especially now that many of our students are thinking about their futures (from colleges to career choice), I feel that one of the most important things that we can teach our students (in addition to leadership) is not to be ashamed of their limitations, but instead accept them and use them to become bold enough to ask for help.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

The Value of Patience

Last week when I was helping an 8th grade student study for his upcoming math test, I learned the value of being patient. For over a week, this student was having difficulties grasping the concept of exponents and using scientific notation. However, on Friday, problems that were once unsolvable for this student suddenly made sense. While Friday may have seemed like a moment of "Divine Inspiration," I now realize that the reason why this student was able to solve these problems was because of his perseverance and dedication to learn the material. Additionally, this student's success was also dependent upon me being patient with him. While I could have easily have taken the test myself, I realized that my role as a tutor was not to simply get the problems solved. Instead, my job was to show this student how to do something that he couldn't do before, and this required patients, and ultimately good communication. In a past post, I made the statement that “good communication is essential to being a good leader,” and this experience further reinforced that idea. This experience showed me that people learn through different methods, and while we may not intuitively understand another person's way of learning, one way to bridge the gap is through patience. Being patient bridges this gap by forcing us to analyze another person, meet them where they are, and communicate in a way that that person will understand. And while it is true that our LTI students won't all become teachers, the fact is that being a good leader requires the attribute of being able to teach. As a result, I can't stress enough the importance of the communication skill that we teach to our students in each LTI session, because these skills not only help them communicate better, but in the process these skills make them better leaders.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

The Courage of Leadership

According to the dictionary, leadership is defined as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. After reading this definition of leadership I began to reflect on last Sunday's session (which focused on overcoming obstacles). After this reflection, I gained a better understand of leadership by realizing just how challenging leadership really is. Often times when I think of leadership, the first thing that I think about is the privileges that go along with the title of being a “leader” (like the instant respect, power, and authority). However, just like with great responsibility coming with great power, leadership also has its own obstacles. After reading this definition of leadership, I realized that leaders are not only responsible for their own actions, but for the actions of the people around them as well too. Just like the chief of the surgical department described in Atul Gawande's book Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, often times leaders are held responsible not only for their own mistakes, but for the mistakes of others as well too. However, in addition to serving as an obstacle, I also discovered that this responsibility aspect of leadership also has its own rewards. Specifically, this responsibility factor allows leaders to help the people that they work with grow by helping those people recognize and develop their talents; which ultimately results in a lasting impact on their lives. And as a result of my reflection on what being a leader implies, I have come to the conclusion that being a good leader, in addition to talent and determination, requires courage.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

Building a Community.

Last Wednesday I was watching the snowboarding finals of the Winter Olympics. While the competition was exciting, what really caught my attention was an ad that took place during the commercials. This ad was created by the local boys and girls club that had members from different sport teams (including the Red Sox, the Patriots, and the Celtics) talk about the boys and girls club. In this ad, all of these athletes talked about the impact that the boys and girls club had had on their lives. However, what really caught my attention was when the announcer said that what all of these athletes had in common was that they all had a community that they could go to and grow by develop their talents and learning the value of teamwork. After that commercial, I began to reflect back on the LTI opening ceremony that took place last month. During that ceremony, one of the things that was discussed was creating a strong community. After seeing that commercial, I now have a better understanding of why it is so important for us to create this strong community. This television ad showed me that by focusing on creating a community, LTI would be able to not only impact the Boston community, but also impact the lives of each student that takes part in this organization.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu

Going Places

Yesterday, as I was walking from Central Square back to 77 Mass Ave, I saw a limousine that had LTI written on the side of its door. After my initial confusion, I decided to go online and do some research on this other LTI organization. After looking at their website, I was surprised to find out that our organization has a lot in common with LTI limousine (in addition to our acronym). Like us, the Lifestyle Transportation International (LTI) Limousine Company prides itself on exceeding expectation by providing the finest quality service around. After looking at this mission statement from LTI limo, I began to think about the past service projects that our organization has been apart of, and all of the good that they have done for this community. After this reflection, I was reminded that while it is important for us to help our students develop their "leadership skills" and build a strong community of leaders and mentors, in the end, the main goal of LTI is service to the community. As the new spring session is getting started, and as new students are joining the LTI community (both here and around the world), I can't help but be excited for all of the wonderful projects that will help improve communities worldwide.

Your Public Relations Chair,

Walter Anazonwu