Blog Entry #1

Hi! My name is Chelsea and I'm doing a mentorship in chemical engineering at the international agricultural production company of cargill.
Just a little bit about me, I'm generally a pretty determined person and my whole theory of life is kind of summed up by Eleanor Roosevelt. I adore her and all the work she did and I truly love her quote that states, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." It is so true that we all have the power to overcome the cruelness of others and it is important to ignore those who treat us badly, or at least resist the temptation to be cruel back to them. I guess that is why I truly believe in her quote and I live by it. It gives me the passion I have every day and the motivation to be as determined as possible.
From our trip last Tuesday at Lapdog I learned a lot about our group, myself, and teamwork in general. First off, I noticed that sometimes watching and observing others is just as helpful as attempting something yourself. There is always the opportunity to learn, even if you aren't out there trying something, you can still be taking things in. Another thing I learned is that I love to be a leader in the areas I feel strong in, like math. When we did the puzzle activity and the bean bag activity, which were related to math, I felt the desire to take control of the group. However, in the more social activities, I felt completely out of my comfort zone and simply just wanted to "hang back" and let others lead. The third thing I noticed during our Lapdog experience was the competitive nature of successful people. All those in the mentorship program have shown great potential, which is why they have been chosen to be a part of it. I saw in my fellow peers a friendly competitive nature, which I believe may have been a key factor in helping to aid in their past success. It makes me believe I should encourage my own competitive nature in order to be more successful in life in general.
The word synergy is basically when people or things work together for a final outcome. I saw this at Lapdog mutliple times (pretty much in every activity). However, I saw it the most clearly in the blind-fold activity in which a leader had to direct their teammates, who were blind-folded. Perhaps it was because I was being led, or because I watched other groups for a period of time, but I saw that this activity required a great amount of teamwork. It seemed practically impossible, especially at first, however, in the end groups kept getting closer and closer to completing the task, which just shows that teamwork in the end can get you somewhere.
Mentoring in general is extremely important to me. I have always been exposed to the classroom setting in which I learn the basics of math, science, english, social studies, etc. From these classes I have been able to see what subjects I am interested in, but I have never had the experiences to narrow down a career from these subjects. I have formed beliefs of what I would enjoy doing, but it would be so terrible if I got a major in college, started a job, and realized how much I hated it. With this mentorship opportunity, I am able to see if I truly enjoy chemical engineering and I also get the opportunity to experience the professional workplace, a place that will be of extreme importance to me later in life.