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