What’s your Why?

I believe I was put on this earth to…

To connect with others and try to make light of darker situations

 

My purpose is to…

Help future generations live the life we are able to now

Find ways to make things positive and light-hearted, and alleviate stress from my life and others 

 

I believe (my core values)…

You will never understand someone fully unless you are in their shoes

In respect, balance, honesty

 

The one thing I must do before I die is…

See the world

 

My advocates and supporters all believe that I…

am honest and trustworthy

 

The evil I want to eradicate in this world is…

Greed, sexism, inequality, and pollution

 

I want to work in order to…

Travel

 

Walk the Talk – Your How

If you are truly committed to your Why, you show it in your everyday behavior. It is all air until you do it. Working from your Why, How do you prove that you are true to your Why in all you do?

 

I always…

Take the extra steps to recycle and listen to people when they need help

Try to incorporate humor into more difficult situations and lighten the tension

 

I never…

Ignore someone’s feelings or try to compare their life/difficulties to something going on in mine

 

My work style is…

organized and includes collaboration

 

I try to treat people…

how I would want/expect to be treated in that situation

 

I approach problems by…

getting everyones opinions/sides

trying to stay calm and rational

 

Victories are time to…

celebrate with the people who helped you

 

If someone attacks my point of view I…

Rebuttal if I think it is worth it and would be a productive conversation, otherwise I will move on, and we can agree to disagree

 

If I fundamentally do not agree with what an organization or person is doing, I will…

Boycott it or tell them

Your Credibility – Your Whats 

You have spent some considerable time at Lehigh, and specifically in the Impact Fellowships, on many whats. Your whats include lab research, formal presentations, writing research papers, engaging with people in other cultural contexts, building prototypes, designing and building systems, raising funds, hiring employees, etc. The whats you have collected along the way are critical to your credibility when you are entering the workforce or applying to the best graduate and professional schools. They signify a credible currency to which organizations can assign value. Create a list of your Whats that are truly reflective of your Why & How. You did these things because you believe (Why) and you acquired them in the following (How) manner. These are examples you can use in interviews.

 

What Have I Done	List of Experiences, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned
Degrees, Minors, Certificates, Fellowships	Degree in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science  Minor in marketing Global Impact Fellowship
Research Experiences	Bioplastic research
Inventions and Innovations	Developed bioplastic
(Social) Entrepreneurial Ventures	AgriWrap
Publications (Formal and Informal)	Solar Energy Paper through IDEAS AgriWrap papers
Formal Presentations (at Lehigh and Beyond)	Marketing presentations Presentations for my research in AgriWrap IDEAS presentations
Awards and  External Recognition

 

Articulating and learning from IF-related Experiences. For each of these prompts, we want you to identify one and only one specific and compelling event/incident/experience/moment and identify exactly how you grew personally and professionally through that moment.

 

Teamwork Experience (and Lessons Learned)	When we were talking to vendors asking them about their food packaging, one person would take notes and one would talk and we had our assigned roles. I learned that some people are better at certain skills than others.
Conflict Resolution Experience (and Lessons Learned)	We have not had any true conflicts but have had different ideas on what directions we should take projects. To resolve these we would all say our reasons and have the majority decide, or try to find some compromise if our vote was split.  Pick your battles
Leadership Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Everyone in the team took moments of leadership at different moments, and you do not need one leader on a team. I think it is important that everyone leads at different moments and when it best suits their strengths.
Dealing with Chaos, Ambiguity, and Uncertainty (and Lessons Learned)	Our rental car broke down on the side of the road, and we did not have service. But we all remained very calm and used our resources to find a cell phone. I learned that it is important to stay calm in stressful situations Chaos when trying to see who we should talk to and when were were in these larger food markets trying to talk to people. Lesson learned is that it helps to split up and divide tasks and you don’t have to be in a team the whole time. Lots of uncertainty on trying to decide what we would be doing during fieldwork.
Personally Challenging Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Managing time when trying to write research papers and grants. Learned it is important not to procrastinate.
Cross-cultural Experience (and Lessons Learned)	When we were in the Philippines and did not speak the native language, it was harder to communicate with people. I was shocked that a majority of the people we spoke too did have a basic foundation of english. We had some help from a local student to translate which did make it easier. I learned that if you are going to different locations you cannot assume everyone speaks your language and will have to use your resources or think ahead.
An experience that helped you connect your IF work to your discipline / major.	Working to develop a bioplastic that is biodegradable heavily connects to my major since I am focused on environmental sustainability.
A moment that boosted your sense of agency and self-efficacy – you felt like you could speak for yourself, get stuff done, take on the world and make it better.	Being at the conference and speaking to professionals about my research boosted my sense of agency and I could tell that they respected me. The lesson learned is that it does not matter how young you are, you can have valuable insights and input.
A moment where you felt like you were making the future – like you were creating something that had never before existed and would (or could) influence your future and that of others.	When I took out the first bioplastic I was a part of making out of the mold. I was proud that I made something that is tangible and I think that the lesson learned is that baby steps are still very important and matter.
A moment where you felt like you truly have a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this dynamic, globalized, interdependent world.	During our time in the Philippines and speaking to professionals, specifically at the conference, made me feel like I belonged.

Draw Your Life: