Helping Others By Telling Your Story

Tweet

I think the most humble and selfless act in life is to tell your story to help others. Whether that's to express the pain you went through to hopefully save others or enable those who've been through the same thing to feel like they aren't alone, that is true character.

A friend of mine, Matt Pipkin, was sexually assaulted when he was 5 years old. Just a child. A young boy. Many of you could never imagine such pain and suffering to hold something like that in for years and years. I can't even imagine it myself. However, he was finally able to open up about it two years ago and is doing really well!

The reason I'm writing about this is that he's flying for AT LEAST 65 days WITHOUT landing (world record) and somehow conned his dad to fly with him. Bathrooms and showers? Well, even I have no idea how that will work. The cool and most important part about this is the national platform he's flying for: childhood sexual abuse. 1 in 3 young girls and 1 in 6 young boys have been sexually assaulted prior to the age of 18. It's a serious problem and Matt has taken it upon himself to raise awareness to show others that if it happened to them, it's not their fault.

But he needs your help!! Share his story on facebook, twitter, to your family and friends. Watch him on the Today Show, follow his story as it unfolds. It's such an inspiring story and I want you all to get engaged!

The easiest thing for you to do is spread the word! If you feel so inclined to help financially, that would be amazing as well! He has 53 days left and needs to raise $50K. Every dollar counts!

Of course, I can't give justice to his story. Watch this short presentation to hear his story in his own words!

So get excited and help stop this national tragedy!

Visit http://commit365.org/ for more information.

Matt Pipkin

Twitter: @commit65 and @themattpipkin

Facebook: search “Commit 65”

Matt's email: purduepipkin@gmail.com

Matt is Boldly Challenging Status Quo. How about you?

Tweet

Student activism

Tweet

Pandora current song: Yellow, by Coldplay

I’ve always believed in involvement no matter where I live, but especially when I was in school. I miss the easy opportunities, and can’t wait to dive right back into them when I go for my MBA in Aug 2011. Being involved gives people a sense of ownership, uniting for a cause or purpose. Creating and upholding traditions while passionately leading and following for that cause. It could be a sorority, a team, a society, organization, work place, institution, or charity. Caring about the outcome and celebrating the successes, even if minute one, can give a person a reason to grow and learn.

Earlier this year, I gave our students a platform to create a forum to ban together to voice their opinions about operations at our school. They didn’t seem to be heard previously, so I thought I would make sure they were. A student meeting where no administration, besides myself, were present to talk openly and honestly. There weren’t any subjects off limits and I wanted them to be as candid as a Kodak moment.

Leadership: Who’s got it? Who’s willing to step up to the plate? You all can. Even in just little ways.

Tweet

Pandora current song: Dare You to Move, by Switchfoot

What is leadership? This question is widely talked about, yet widely confusing. Not one style is effective for every situation life throws at us. Some people believe leaders are born and others think leaders are made. There is a love-hate relationship between leaders and followers. Some people think leaders are elitists, manipulative, or bigheaded. People want self-confident leaders, but leaders who have at least a little self-doubt. But, how do leaders actually lead? Better yet, how do we assess how well they lead? People also want leaders who are good listeners and who represent their constituents. A person may be an outstanding leader here, but fail there. People expect their leaders to be “perfect,” so when they mess up, or fail, people feel let down.

Leaders possess many things including traits, behaviors, and their histories. At first, researchers thought those who became leaders were different from those who remained followers. However, there was no such pattern. Different people can handle different situations better than others. Personal and situational characteristics should be considered when examining a person’s leadership and capabilities. “Training provides the leader with knowledge, procedures, and techniques which increase his or her sense of control over the group’s task activities” (Wren 87). Personal histories teach new and better ways of approaching situations in the future. It just depends on how open people are to making those changes.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very different leader in many ways. He didn’t want people remembering him for his accomplishments, but for his purpose in life. “He was a profound and provocative speaker” who was full of self-doubts, and keenly aware of his own limitations and human weaknesses (Wren 320). He willingly risked his popularity among blacks through his steadfast advocacy of nonviolent strategies to achieve radical social change. He didn’t care what people thought of him, as long as in the long run, his efforts where worth his cause. The way he is portrayed in most history books is that he was self-confident and full of leadership and the power to make change. Further research shows how human he really was and not as God-like as people try to describe him. “King’s success as a leader was based on his intellectual and moral cogency and his skill as a conciliator among movement activists who refused to be simply King’s ‘followers’ (Wren 322). His wide range of skills and attributes prepared him for what was to come at him. Persuasive speaking wasn’t a bad quality either. His encouragement and struggles gave people someone who was just like themselves to count on. He offered optimistic belief that ordinary people can collectively improve their own lives.

Personally, I would love to be more like MLK. I try to show how capable I am when really I should be just doing my job and doing the best I can without caring what other people think. A lot of times I think my way is the best way, but some people are great at one thing and worse at others. Good leadership improves outcomes when people work together for a common cause and use each others’ strengths to get the job done efficiently and effectively.