What's one class you have taken in your life that you think changed your life? Can you think of it? Well I didn't really feel like I have had a class that has had such a profound spark of interest and impact on me until my Business Psychology class. It's official title is Workplace Psychology: Building Effective Managers, but it's more than business class and more than a typical psychological approach in a class. First off, my professor I think is more than half the reason I love the class so much. I pegged that Stefano had to be gay, and then 10 minutes after the thought crossed my mind he told our class, but that has nothing to do with it, he has such an interest approach to teaching the class to get all of us involved and appreciative of the lessons we are learning, while he is learning from us too.
The first week we learned some simple breathing technique to manage our stress and center ourselves, yeah I know what you are thinking, that's wicked weird, but this isn't a yoga class, it was actually really helpful. Since then we have exercises in the class to help us better understand ourselves and others in regards to being a leader. The style of his teaching is very give and take. I have had discussion based classes before but his approach is different, I actually care because I respect what he has to say about the material through his ability to make the material directly relate to us through how we shape it.
A lesson that I think has forever changed my perspective on life is a lesson we had about "Emotional Intelligence" which in lamens terms is defined through these 5 points:
-Knowing one's emotions
-Managing emotions
-Motivating oneself
-Recognizing emotions in others (aka empathy)
-Handling relationships
Ignore the fact that I'm being a total nerd excited over a class, but it pretty much explains for emotional intelligence is really important to have to develop skills like these
-Identifying, expressing, and managing feelings
-Impulse control and delay gratification
-Handling stress and anxiety
-Difference between feelings and actions
-Identifying alternate consequences
-Reading social and emotional cues
-Active listening
-Resist negative influences
-Taking other's perspective
-Understanding what behavior is acceptable
I feel like learning about this I have realized how much emotional intelligence I do truly have. I am so self aware, probably too self aware sometimes, but I know my core true self and who I am, I always have. I need to stop trying to deal with other people's lack of emotional intelligence and controlling situations/people that I can't, I can only control how I react to those people and situations.
Emotional intelligence was actually an essay question for my midterm in this class, and he wanted us to use personal examples in answering all of the questions, this was without a doubt the easiest 96 I got an a midterm ever (but I did slave over studying a freaked out a little). My professor actually wrote on my exam in reference to this topic something like it takes two conscious men to develop a productive, comfortable, and worthy relationship. keep growing and surround yourself with people who have a capacity of emotional intelligence (Idk what he said verbatim due to the Italian law that professors have to keep exams for whatever reason who knows).
My main epiphany with this topic is this, I have realized while abroad that the people that want to be in your life make the damn effort to do so. Don't waste your time trying to be friends with or trying to be more than friends with someone who doesn't find the time of effort in their end to get to know you. Allowing yourself to be treated less than your deserve just isn't worth the energy. I think I have enough life experience (though far more to come) to know my true morals and character. Life happens, I'm done wasting any of thoughts on my frustrations with different people. They are the ones lost in the world, not me.
The people who have put in the effort and reached out to me while I have been gone in a foreign country for 3 months are the people I should surround myself with. They matter to me. I am not going to waste any of my time back at Stonehill, I will enjoy every unplanned 4 hour dinners with friends laughing so hard loosing track of time, every inevitably lame weekend night at the courts that turns into something so much more fun without even trying, every moment passing by a friend as I am walking ridiculously fast with ipod in off to class, every time that I stop to think about how much I love and appreciate Stonehill that much more now.
I will miss these ridiculous not real life moments abroad, but I am definitely going to be comparing every moment at Stonehill to it, abroad life is not the real world. You have to enjoy life as is without reservations and besides no one's life is like this, you are delusional if you think otherwise. With a month left I can already see the finish line of abroad, though I don't want this to end I have to come back to reality in America. Knowing how much time is lacking left for me abroad, I am excited to prove to myself and others how much I have grown abroad when I get back home.
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