The collegiate experience is often a period of excitement and apprehension – for both students and parents. In our Family Blog Series, we’ll hear about this life-changing journey from current Blue Jays, as well as impart guidance on the process from our supportive Elizabethtown College employees.
Spring is a time to enjoy the sunshine and outdoors. The first warm days on campus are some of my favorites – seeing students throwing frisbee, playing spike ball, or sitting on a blanket and talking with friends always brings a smile to my face. It’s as if our campus comes alive again. This excitement is mirrored in the sight of flowers and trees blooming as the earth comes alive again. As an enthusiastic gardener, this signals a time to begin digging in the dirt and moving my seedlings between the outdoors and the greenhouse every day. During all of this new growth around us, it’s important to take the time to reflect on our own growth – our accomplishments – even our failures and disappointments.
When we think about our growth and accomplishments, it’s important to reflect on who we are, what matters to us, and why we’re doing what we’re doing. These are big and worthy questions. They may sound too big or too daunting, but they are some of the most important questions for each of us to answer. It is so easy to become occupied with our day-to-day living that we can lose focus on why we’re doing and what we’re doing. That knowledge (our why) should be born in our hearts and mind; it should propel us forward and pick us up when we’ve failed. It should keep us pressing on during difficult times.
Reflecting on failures and disappointments can help us to accept when something doesn’t go our way. It can help us learn to overcome challenges and walk out the other side with new resilience. It allows us to practice humility and acknowledge that we don’t always get it right. It creates compassion for others when we admit our own limits, and I hope it stirs a longing in us to show grace and kindness to others. Sometimes, through reflection, we can acknowledge that failure or disappointment is a blessing in disguise. Some of my own memorable failures led me to better opportunities, which I am profoundly grateful for. Remember my earlier mention that I enjoy gardening – I have failures in the garden every year, but those are my most valuable lessons.
Take the time to reflect on your growth – your accomplishments – even your failures and disappointments. Consider who you are, what matters to you, and why you are doing what you’re doing. This is often-heard advice coming out of my mouth as I’m talking to students. Honestly, it’s why I do what I do. It’s a gift to be able to coach and mentor individuals to find their “why” and appreciate who they are. Sometimes, I need to pause and listen to my own advice. How easy it can be to give advice but not take it myself! It’s easy for me to gloss over my own failures or disappointments without reflecting on what I learned. As someone who doesn’t love public praise, it’s my instinct to quickly move past my accomplishments but being able to celebrate what has worked and why it’s worked helps me to stay committed to the things I’m doing.
So, right now, I want to encourage you to find some time in the next week to reflect on your growth – your accomplishments – even your failures and disappointments. Who are you? What matters to you? Why do you do what you do? Once you’ve done that for yourself, I encourage you to ask your student to think about these very same questions and listen thoughtfully as you ask them to share with you. You may just learn something new about why your child is doing what they’re doing!
As our semester winds down, I’ll have many opportunities to encourage our students in their accomplishments, including our Student Awards Ceremony, Scholarship & Creative Arts Day (SCAD), and Commencement. As I spend more time each day in my garden, I promise to reflect on my own growth, as well. Right now, I’m counting the growth of my lettuce, spinach, radishes, and peas as an accomplishment! As you look at the tulips blooming and trees flowering, may it encourage you to reflect on your own growth.
About Stacey Zimmerman
Stacey Zimmerman is the Director of Leadership & New Student/Family Orientation and a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach who believes that we should focus on what is right with ourselves and each other; focusing on our strengths gives us our greatest opportunity for growth and success. She works to help individuals discover their strengths, build strong teams, and live authentic lives that honor who they are. Utilizing the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a tool for self-awareness and development, she encourages individuals to learn more about themselves, affirm their values, and live out what matters to them. The more individuals who understand the philosophy of strengths – that we should focus on what is right with each other – the more engaged and thriving individuals we’ll have in our lives. It is Stacey’s mission to spread this strengths philosophy to others. Stacey’s top five CliftonStrengths® are achiever, responsibility, discipline, relator, and belief.