One POWERFUL Message

On Thursday, March 29th, I had the priviledge of introducing Debra Berg, author of The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America's Cities. I found Debra's message to be incredibly impowering and I even got goosebumps a few times, which is always a true sign of a motivating speech. Debra's message revolved around the acronym S.N.L. (not Saturday Night Live of course, but it sure helped me remember it)!

S - SERVICE

N - NETWORKING

L - LEGACY

These three aspects can help people to accomplish their own mission in life, similar to those people in Debra's book. The success of each individual Debra talked about was based off S.N.L. One particular man that Debra interviewed for her book, gave up a profitable career in the NFL to SERVE youth in his community. He utilized his NETWORK to fund programs for inner city youth in order to keep them safe and out of trouble. As a result of his hard work and sacrifice, this man formed his own LEGACY and accomplished his mission in life. Debra concluded her speech by saying, in reality, the phrase should be THE POWER OF TWO. While it takes only one person to come up with an idea, it takes a network of people to make the idea a reality. The main idea: EVERYONE can accomplish their mission in life, all you need is S.N.L.

To purchase your own copy of The Power of One, go to http://www.powerone.org/ or visit your local bookstore.

New Knowledge = New Opportunities

When I first began my internship with Monsanto, I taught myself how to create a blog. Although I don't always get along with computers, I found blogging to be interesting, creative, and actually FUN. I enjoyed playing with templates, pictures, colors, and thinking of new and original posts. Now that I am back at school, I have discovered a way to spread my new love for blogging to fellow students at the University of Illinois. As a new James Scholar I wanted to get involved with the James Scholar Media Team (JSMT). On April 17th at 7 pm in the Monsanto Room of the ACES library, a couple of student bloggers and I, from the JSMT, will teach a workshop on creating your own blog. The workshop will also include a lesson on starting your own portfolio. I am thrilled that I will have the opportunity to share some of the knowledge I gained from my internship with fellow students interested in agriculture. Creating your own professional blog is a great way to familiarize yourself with new media and it is an excellent resume builder for any blossoming communicator.