Behaviors Used: The most effective behavior that I have used this semester is having a "Just Do It" attitude. Many of the assignments for this class are very uncomfortable and out of the ordinary, such as the many assignments that requires us to interview five random people that we don't know for at least 10 minutes. At first it was very frustrating because I kept thinking about how much I didn't want to bother or talk to a random person that I didn't know. What worked for was to stop thinking about the actual assignment so much and "Just Do It". Another behavior that's helpful is being open minded and not confined to your idea of what you expect a typical college course to be. And finally be ready to use your creativity. The assignments are ambiguous in a sense that there is no grading rubric so there is a lot of freedom in how you choose to do your assignments as long as you cover the main points that's required. So, enjoy and take full advantage of the freedom that's given because it's not often that you will come across a class of this type. Finally, use time management wisely and work ahead because the interview assignments are not made to do in a day or two. If you wait until the last minute then most likely you will not end up doing the assignment because it's difficult to find 5 people to effectively interview at the last minute and also do the assignment.
Tenacious Attitude: I felt like throwing in the towel a few times because the assignments definitely removed me from my comfort zone. One moment in particular was at the beginning of the semester when the first interview assignment was due. I hated how uncomfortable it made me to go out and interview random people shopping in the Base Exchange and the rejection from some people that did not want to participate in the interview, which is what I expected. I was in the Base Exchange and noticed a lady that had previously told me "No" was whispering to one of her family members and staring but I knew it wasn't anything positive. Later on I asked a older gentleman that was shopping to participate in the interview and he looked at me and said "My wife just told you no a few minutes ago but I don't mind, I'm just waiting for her to get done shopping". I was just trying to do an assignment and I wanted to give up because I felt I shouldn't have to go through any sort of rejection just to accomplish an assignment. Along with having a newborn it was frustrating to have to leave the comfort of my house for these assignments every week but after awhile I began to get used to the interviews and the rejection from people stopped feeling like rejection and I started to realize that they may have been in a rush or just didn't have the time. I started to feel a lot more comfortable with the interviews and knew I had to "Just Do It". I feel like I definitely developed a tenacious attitude in the past two months in comparison to my attitude when the semester first began. The experience that contributed to me having a tenacious attitude was me taking a 0 an interview assignment and realizing how much it affected my grade. I am determined to get an A in this class this semester so I knew I had to learn to enjoy these assignments.
Tips: Don't think about how uncomfortable the assignment will be but the end result of effectively accomplishing the assignment. The next tip is to put forth creative and an innovative thought process when developing your business opportunity because it helps to make the assignments enjoyable and interesting. The proceeding assignments will be boring and difficult when you begin to just throw assignments together just to get a grade. I noticed I was able to easily put together ideas when I started to really be creative and immerse myself into the idea of being an entrepreneur and it made the assignments easier to accomplish. The last tip is to always think in terms of using this course as a means of truly developing a legitimate business opportunity as opposed to creating an idea that's unrealistic and have no interest in ever formulating a business plan for your opportunity.
I agree that a lot of these assignments in the class make me uncomfortable. I am living in between cities so am always talking to people from different places and situations. I don't love having to rely on other people to complete my assignments. However, it is a great feeling getting those assignments. I also agree with your last tip, to pretend like this class is real life because sometimes it is super helpful to think that way.
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