i'm a leader: part six

    Last week's lecture was my favorite yet. Tom Holmoe, BYU's Athletic Director, came and spoke to us on teamwork. Maybe it was my favorite because all I could think about was all the BYU athletes he deals with every day, not to mention he was a BYU athlete and played in the NFL, but he really did seem like an awesome guy. He had plenty of exciting stories that correlated perfectly with the subject of teamwork. He also shared a couple key points, such as:

•  Teamwork focuses on relationship and communication.
•  There are two kinds of people in relationships- firefighters and firelighters. The firelighters will go out of their way to keep your fire hot. The firefighters throw cold water on your fire. In this scenario your fire represents your passion. 
• 5 stages of relationships: surface, structure, secure, solid, significant. 

     Lately all that has been on my mind is this summer. I've been getting very antsy to start going for my dreams. Does that sound weird? Yes, somewhat. But I have all these ideas for what I should be doing in college- internships, traveling, working for my senator in DC, and studying abroad. I've done my best to narrow these down and be more realistic, and my goal was to intern in DC for Senator Thune in 2012 since it is an election year and study abroad. Until this week I was planning on doing BYU's Washington Seminar this summer and interning with Thune, then going from there to decide when and where it would be best to study abroad.
     Hopes and dreams were shattered on Monday when I found out that you need 60 credits to apply for Washington Seminar. I'm pretty proud of myself for not dwelling on this for too long. It means that I will not be in DC in 2012, which is an election year and when I felt it would be most exciting to be in DC. Within 5 hours I found this out, was really disappointed, decided to look into study abroads, found a favorite, and was on the phone with a proposal to my mom. In this situation my mom could of SO easily been a firefighter. I've decided I want to the Global Marketing Spring Study Abroad. It is soon, and I would have preferred at least doing a summer study abroad so I could work for a couple months (I still will be able to work for one) and earn money to pay for it, but this SA is perfect for me, my interests, and my major, and it is only offered Spring term. My mom noticed this and told me we should go for it! I am so grateful she was so supportive. I am excited to finally have a goal and a plan and have something to be so excited for. Teamwork between my parents and I, especially financially, will definitely be necessary in the months leading up to my departure. My dream is big but it is worth a try. It may just be because I'm finally so excited and still up in the clouds a little, but I do feel like I've already had people trying to bring me down, or being firefighters. I understand being realistic with timing and money, but I also think that it's okay to have big dreams.
      Putting this all into perspective, my entire life my parents and I, as well as my entire family, have been a team. One year our corny Christmas card even featured us all in basketball jerseys when there was finally 5 kids.. because my dad finally had his full team. Yep.. that's typical. My parents are my main firelighters. They hear me out, get on my side, support me, and cheer me on. I feel like my whole life has been made of illogical dreams. Whether it was my ideas for student council, plans for a vacation, or making a move out of Utah right after I graduated, I am kinda crazy. I need firelighters around me because if not, I may not reach my full potential.