[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_post_title date_format=”j M Y” categories=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.12″ title_font_size=”20px” title_font_size_last_edited=”off|” title_font=”|700||on|||||” date=”off” comments=”off” meta=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/simon-matzinger-320332-unsplash.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.12″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|42.5833px|0px|false|false” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.12″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have one week to raise $6,000 for the Rhode Island Urban Debate League,<\/em>\u201d tom stated.\u00a0 I burst out laughing, quickly realizing I was the only one.\u00a0 \u201cOh my god<\/em>\u201d, I think to myself.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s totally serious. I do not know any of these people\u2026how are we going to pull this off?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 After the initial stage of shock subsided, I set out to work.\u00a0 That night I went around my residence hall, pretty much begging for donations.\u00a0 My classmates and I created a group on Facebook, tossed around ideas to raise money, and tried to coordinate a time when we could all meet.\u00a0 I felt discouraged as the weekend went by and few classmates came to the meetings.\u00a0 One classmate had the idea of hosting a basketball game watch at the Abbey and providing raffle baskets for guests to bid on.\u00a0 Those of us at the meeting rallied behind this idea (really the only idea that was suggested), and the rest of the week was spent collecting prize donations from local businesses and advertising for the event.\u00a0 I continued to go door-to-door across campus collecting money, and emailed over twenty lawyers asking for monetary donations.\u00a0 Although this was one of the most hectic weeks of my college career, I felt invigorated by the process.\u00a0 The night of our main event, the Abbey was packed.\u00a0 I felt proud of what we had accomplished.<\/p>\n The day the assignment was due, we had only raised just over $2,000.\u00a0 As a serious student, I was devastated, and wondered if I would have to drop the class. \u201cHe can\u2019t fail all of us\u2026can he?<\/em>\u201d, I worried.\u00a0 tom asked how the assignment went, and how we functioned as an organization.\u00a0 My classmates and I were honest about how the week was chaotic, and we never felt like we were all on the same page.\u00a0 tom did not ask how much money we raised.\u00a0 Instead, we discussed the prospect of failure, and how we can learn from it.\u00a0 We talked about what we would have done differently if we had to do the assignment all over again.\u00a0 This moment served as a defining moment of my college experience, and my outlook on failure and what it means to take risks completely changed.\u00a0 That statement may sound dramatic, but it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n As mentioned, I was an extremely serious student.\u00a0 Part of the reason why I absolutely did not want to do this challenge (and thought tom was insane) was because I was afraid.\u00a0 $6,000 was a huge amount of money to raise, never mind that I had never fund-raised before in my life.\u00a0 Of course I had failed before, but it was a feeling I tried to avoid as much as possible due to my pride, ego, and reputation.\u00a0 My first week of Org Theory was crazy\u2014I had gotten little sleep. I went door-to-door awkwardly asking a bunch of strangers for money.\u00a0 I was told “no<\/em>” countless times.\u00a0 I felt completely outside of my comfort zone.\u00a0 Yet I am so incredibly grateful for this experience, because tom\u2019s class was unlike any class I had ever taken before.\u00a0 I experienced every emotion under the sun\u2014stress, frustration, empathy, elation\u2014you name it.\u00a0 I became friends with many of my classmates, and I learned so much about myself.\u00a0 Most importantly, I learned that failure is inevitable, and it\u2019s how we learn from failure that leads to great teams, ideas, and outcomes.\u00a0 Although that may sound obvious, having undergone tom\u2019s crazy assignment helped me understand the good that can come from iterative failure and reflection, and encouraged me to take more risks within my personal life.<\/p>\n I talk about tom\u2019s class often to those interested in learning more about PC.\u00a0 The craziness of the first week is also a great talking point when asked in interviews \u201ctell me about a time you\u2019ve failed.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I am unsure where you are in your Org Theory experience or how you are feeling, but I encourage you to embrace whatever is thrown at you. This class is challenging\u2014it may not be everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but it\u2019s different, and different can be pretty danged amazing, as well as life-changing.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_post_title date_format=”j M Y” categories=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.12″ title_font_size=”20px” title_font_size_last_edited=”off|” title_font=”|700||on|||||” date=”off” comments=”off” meta=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/simon-matzinger-320332-unsplash.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.12″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|42.5833px|0px|false|false” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.12″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″] \u201cYou have one week to raise $6,000 for the Rhode Island Urban Debate League,\u201d tom stated.\u00a0 I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30731","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30731"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30993,"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30731\/revisions\/30993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/radicalteacher.com\/playbooks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}