Monday, February 21, 2011

President Samuelson

President Samuelson explained the importance of accepting callings. Please describe how you plan to respond to different calls that will come to you over your lifetime.

I was very grateful that President Samuelson brought this up. Sometimes I look at my life and don't know how everything will fit together. I know that as I have my affairs in order, and as I seek the guidance of the Spirit, I will be blessed as I seek to do the best I can in my callings.

I need to be sure that I have support in my future spouse. I want our vision to be on the same goal. I really appreciated how President Samuelson talked about how if we aren't sure that we can do everything, to talk about our circumstances with our leader and seek for his help and guidance.


President Samuelson identified the practice of being “too critical” of ourselves as being worse in effect than not being critical enough. How do your expectations of your own performance effect how you serve as a leader? How do you intend to avoid the practice of over self criticism?

I do this. A lot. Mentally, it makes me shut down and not want to do things. I feel like I'm juggling so many things that I can't do anything at all. As part of my Leadership Development plan for this semester I addressed this; to make things more manageable in my mind, I set a goal to only have one calendar (Google Calendar) and one to-do list sheet. By loosing all my sticky notes and being spread out all over the place, things are more manageable. I can further improve by numbering the items on my to-do list in order of importance, a principle I learned in seventh grade.

To avoid the practice of self criticism, I want to journal. I want to write down my accomplishments and allow my mind to reflect on how things are going. It's very good for me to organize my thoughts and to have an outlet.


President Samuelson shared his method of organizing his plans to include long term, mid term and short term. What approach do you currently use in organizing the work you are responsible for?

I don't do this yet. That's why I asked this question. After hearing about his method, I'll incorporate it into the way I use my calendar and set personal goals. I can also be better at including the public relations matrix into my personal life as I plan.


Please describe your motive for serving in BYUSA. Has this motive changed or evolved as the year has gone by?

I serve in BYUSA because love the organization, its vision and the university it supports. Originally my freshman year, I started in it to become its president. After serving I have realized that it is not about position- it's about people. I can do so much more good with my skills in my current position. I really see a parallel of President Uchtdorf's General Conference address "Lift Where You Stand." In that message he directs us to "stand close together and lift where you stand."

I'm uncertain about my future with BYUSA. I just found out that I have been accepted to the public relations program. Currently, my biggest goal is to graduate from BYU with a degree from that program. I want to do my best there, and it may require my full attention. I have an orientation on Friday where I'll be able to learn more, and I'll continue pondering about my future as I pray each night.

I've been at BYU for three years now and I've been connected with strong leadership roles within the organization for just as long. I don't know what's going to happen, but wherever I am I plan to stand close to those around me and lift.

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