(MEETING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO) Tuesday, June 15th

Tuesday morning, we started out the day listening to Julia Wulf speak to us about maximizing the blood region experience. Julia is the Chief Executive Officer of the Lewis and Clark Biomedical Services Region (the Utah, Oregon, area). She has been the CEO since 2004. She gave us some great tips including leadership according to Julia: “find your passion, be prepares, team diversity, work/life balance, value kindness, and leading vs. managing.” We also asked her how she wants to be remembered. She responded by saying, “I want to be remembered as a leader who cared and had great ideas and her region wouldn’t be where it is at without her.” She was really inspirational and I really enjoyed hearing her input and leadership advice!We then had another workshop with Rob Haworth, this one focusing on growth mindset.

Fixed mindset is when you believe intelligence and talent are fixed, whereas growth mindset is when you believe intelligence and talent can be cultivated. Having a growth mindset will get you places; on the other hand, fixed mindset may get you nowhere. Intelligence and talent are important qualities to have, but if you don’t believe you can get smarter or become better at what you love, you’re crazy! Rob also spoke to us about covenants. A covenant is a solemn agreement to do or keep from doing a specified thing. At first, I didn’t really know what to think of the idea, but the more the group talked about it, we decided we would build our own covenant for our 2010 class of student-athletes. We thought of different things we would all agree to do at our separate schools and we filmed them and presented the covenant to Brian and Jennifer on our last day at work.

We then had lunch with Rob and Staci again before heading down to the headquarters office where we could get to spend a few moments with Gail McGovern, the President and CEO of the American Red Cross. Gail has also help top management positions at AT&T Corporation and Fidelity Investments and she has also taught at Harvard Business School. In 2000 and 2001, Gail was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 50 most powerful women in corporate America. Gail was by far my favorite speaker, and even though we got to spend only a few minutes with her, her thoughts and advice I will always remember. She said “if you want it, you can have it.” Although, that is a little farfetched in some aspects, I think it is inspiring because if set your goals high, your life will be full of possibilities and opportunities!

After work, I was so exhausted; I went back to the dorms and passed out for a few hours. After getting some beauty rest, the girls headed out for an ice cream run; this time Conie Island was our destination! There was a park nearby, so we went there and ate our ice cream. Before you know it, with all the cheerleaders in our group, we were learning cheerleading moves. What a sight! It was so much fun, and the girls in this group are especially close!

(WORKING WITH OUR CEOs) Monday, June 14th

The first day of week 2!! It has come to the point that all of us are so close, it’s crazy! Monday morning, we were all pumped up for our workshops with Rob Haworth. Rob is the vice President for Champions of Character and has been since July of 2008. Before his role as Vice President, he was the superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools in Warsaw, Indiana. Rob spent the morning with us focusing on the Core values of the NAIA and also on finding our locus of control. The core values of the NAIA are integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership. I think these values are what makes the NAIA so great and what separates us from the NCAA. I really enjoyed Rob’s workshop with us and a quote that I grabbed from his presentation was “if character development is not your first priority, then all your other priorities are at risk.” This quote will definitely stay with me for years to come!

We then worked on our strategic plans for an hour before our lunch with Rob Haworth and Staci Schottman. Our plan was coming along very well and we had just thought of a interacting game for our presentation. After lunch, Sharon Jaksa was our next speaker. Sharon graduated from Michigan State and she currently is the Chief Executive Officer in the Great Lakes Region in Lansing MI with the American Red Cross. Sharon talked to us about maximizing the blood region experience and her insights were helpful for what we should and shouldn’t do when conducting our blood drives.

We then were each filmed for the NAIA student filming. We were asked to repeat a long phrase and then speak about what the NAIA Champion of Character core values meant to each of us. I get so nervous when I have to speak in front of people, so it was extremely nerve racking in front of a camera! We the continued to plan for our presentations for Friday until about four when we headed back to the dorms to get ready for the reception!

The reception was so much fun. There were so many interesting people to talk to; it was a great networking event! Sam and I worked the room real good, we had awesome conversations with everyone especially Nadia Mitchem, who would be speaking to us later in the week, and also with Sharon Jaksa’s daughter who was heading to Africa to work in an orphanage that next week. It’s amazing how one conversation could get you that big interview in a few years!

After the reception, we went back to the dorms, changed and decided we needed some Ben &Jerry’s. At this point in the trip, I am starting to love all our ice cream runs and all the different flavors at Ben & Jerry’s. Since I’m so picky and like only cheesecake flavored, Ben and Jerry’s is amazing because its strawberry cheesecake! YUM! Later in the night, Jon and I decided we were hungry so Jon, Patrick, and I headed out to find some food! We ended up eating at this little hole in the wall, Lindy’s pub and grill, but it was delicious!

(SHOPPING) Sunday, June 13

Since Sunday was the only day in the trip that we were given the day off, I used it to my full advantage to sleep in. My roommate Amber and I both woke up around noon and received a text that a group was heading to The Hard Rock Café in about a half hour. We got ready quickly and along with Olivia, were out the door in fifteen minutes. Hard Rock Café was awesome! I had only been in one other one in Puerto Rico so it was a ton of fun for me! I bought the souvenir cup for my mom and a shirt for myself!

After lunch, Amber, Olivia, and I grabbed a cab and headed to Georgetown for some quality shopping! After shopping for a few hours, we headed back to the dorms to regroup with everyone to head to Arlington Cemetery before dinner. We were a little rushed at Arlington since it was a little longer walk than expected. But after watching the changing of the guards, we headed back to our metro stop-foggy bottom. We then walked the few block and met up with Brian, Jennifer. We had dinner at Bertucci’s, an amazing Italian restaurant with Rob Haworth (Vice President for Champions of Character at the NAIA) and Staci Schottman (Director of Public Relations and Communications at the NAIA). Rob and Staci had pre-ordered our meals and they were delicious!! Having dinner with Rob and Staci got everyone excited for the next two days we would be spending with them.

(D.C TOUR!!) Saturday, June 12th

We headed out from the dorms around 9:30 to start our tour of Washington D.C. We went everywhere you could imagine that day. I loved it! We started on the metro station and got off at Union Station where Jennifer handed each of us questions and we started our tour at Union Station where there was a lot of history.

Our next stop was the Supreme Court; we didn’t get a chance to go in but we took pictures outside. After that, we went to the Library of Congress, which was my favorite building in all of D.C. It was absolutely beautiful inside and all of the books! I was in heaven! At the Library of Congress, I bought a book on Martin Luther King Jr., and also a silver pendant. We then walked past the Capitol where we learned that the Armed Liberty faces the east because the sun never sets on freedom. We also learned that the Lincoln Memorial faces General Lee so he could get his revenge on Lee. Lee is buried on his land plot which is also Arlington Cemetery so he can look at all of the graves for eternity. JFK was also at Arlington days before his death so he is also buried above Arlington. We then went to the Botanical Gardens, which were gorgeous! We tried some jumping in the air group pictures and failed miserably before heading to the National Art Gallery for lunch.

After the National Art Gallery, where we took some great pictures, we headed to the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust Museum was, if I had to make a choice, my favorite part of the entire trip. I learned so much that I believe I would have never learned from a history course, it was so real.

Amber, Patrick, Sam, and I ended up being the last ones out of the museum so we headed back to the dorms together. We were sort of looking for food and shopping, and we ended up being a very long ways away from the dorms! Patrick started a little documentary on his camcorder device of our death march back home. It was about 95 degrees and so humid that day and we had already been outside or walking since 10 am. We finally got back to the dorms around 6 o’clock after walking for over an hour! The rest of the night we all just hung out.

(LAURIOL PLAZA) Friday June 11th

We started off the morning with a guest speaker about our age. Bianca Kahlenberg is the co-chair of the National Youth Council and also President of her Red Cross Club at the University of Florida. She spoke to us about all the do’s and don’ts to starting a Red Cross Club on our campuses. Her information was very real and informational.

After Bianca spoke to us, we worked on our strategic plans until lunch. Following lunch, Jackie Battle came in to say a few words to us. She gave her blood recipient story and it was very emotional. At the American Red Cross, Jackie is a senior administrative specialist in sales and marketing within the biomedical services. Jackie is also a part of the donor recruitment committee at the Red Cross.

For the rest of the afternoon, we worked on our strategic plans and then straight from work to Lauriol Plaza where we were going to have dinner. It was such a nice Mexican restaurant and the food was delicious! I had a chimichanga, and it was also a great time for everyone to get to know each other as well. Brian was so generous and paid for our dinners, Thanks Brian! After dinner, Katie( one of the bosses, part of the leadership program last year), Jon (from Bethel College), Patrick ( from California), and Jennifer (the lady who put this whole trip together, aka amazing person!), and I decided we wanted ice cream! So we went to Ben & Jerry’s, where I had strawberry cheesecake ice cream of course! After ice cream, we all just headed back to the dorms where we all hung out until bed.

(DIVERSITY AWARENESS) Thursday June 10th

We started off the morning with a diversity awareness session with Tim O’Malley. He is the Founder and Lead Consultant for Fios Consulting. His work focuses on culture change and transition, the integration of diversity into business processes, multicultural education, team development, and leadership development. This diversity training was one of my favorite parts of the week. He engaged the group in different activities including a card game when each of us were playing a version of Spades. But we didn’t know that each table had a different set of rules. So when the winners and losers switched tables, we all assumed we were playing the same game. It was so frustrating because we could not talk and had to figure out what was going on. Eventually, one person just took over and dictated each table and that person was the winner. At my table, Hanna and I dictated who won each hand, but I ended up winning the game. We basically just made our own rules to each specific table and made it work.

After lunch, we had a few more speakers, the first of being Vicki Thomas. Vicki is the director of the Sales and Marketing sector of the Biomedical Services at the American Red Cross. We learned the tagline, “the need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood.” Vicki spoke to us about banners and logos for the Red Cross. I never knew there were so many rules and that we can only use certain colors! She also spoke of common barriers for our age group the first few including: we’re too busy, we have a fear either of needles or the unknown and temporary deferrals.

Our next speaker was Kelly High. Kelly is in the marketing and information technology sector of the American Red Cross. She spoke to us about competition on our campuses. I honestly had no idea that there were other blood services besides the Red Cross. Growing up, I have always been surrounded by the Red Cross. She also gave us tips to making blood donors lifelong donors. Some of these tips include the following: make it fun, create a theme, special treatment for first time donors, and recognition and appreciate.

After Kelly spoke with us, we headed upstairs to the 9th floor to the office to work on our strategic plans some more. Our group seemed to lean toward doing our own thing. We split the work up and went with it. The plan seemed to work out well, because when everyone else was nervous about presentations, our group was calm and collective because we knew we had everything put together nicely.

After work, some people decided to stay in but the rest of us went a few blocks down to the Farmer’s Market. I had never been to a farmer’s market like this before. This one took up a whole block and there were so many vendors; it was really cool! I tried some milk that was straight from the cows and very good! Also in the park, there was a reggae concert going on which was awesome, because I love reggae.

After listening to some reggae, Jessi, Steven, Jake, and I headed out to do some more sightseeing. We first went to the White House, because the first time when we went, we didn’t bring out cameras for security reasons. So we took a bunch of pictures outside of the White House and then headed to the Washington Monument. After the Washington Monument, we went to the World War Two Memorial, and then continued up the path to the Lincoln Memorial. Jake almost got us kicked out of the Lincoln Memorial because he was being loud and you’re supposed to keep your voices to a whisper within the memorial. After we hit up the gift shop, we started walking back to the dorms looking for food. Steven was trying to find us a restaurant using his amazing Droid phone and we got so turned around, it was hilarious! Finally we asked for a good restaurant, and there ended up being Tonic right down the block from our dorms. That restaurant was amazing!

(WHITE HOUSE TOUR) Wednesday, June 9th

Tuesday afternoon we learned that our “special tour” on our itineraries was a tour of the White House! At 8:30, we all met in front of headquarters, and as group walked the few blocks to the White House together. Of course, me being my forgetful self left my driver’s license in my room so I had to run back to the dorms, in heels, and then catch up with the group. The tour itself was amazing! After multiple security checks, we finally got into the White House. We got to visit the downstairs area including the library, the vermeil room, the china room, the east room, the green room, the blue room, the red room, and the state dining room. My favorite room was the state dining room because of the flowers on the tables. We learned that a florist has a shop in the basement of the White House and switches up the flowers every 2-3 days and also makes the flower pots. We were the first group of NAIA students to get to go on the tour, so thank you Jennifer Lourie for making that happen!!

After the tour, the group headed back to headquarters to get started on our work for the day. Katie and Tori shared their experiences from last year with us and what they did at their blood drives. They told us what worked for their campuses and what didn’t. Their presentation really helped us to see how much of a difference we can make and that we must never feel discouraged! We took a long break for lunch and then resumed our day with Dr. Richard Benjamin. Dr. Benjamin was one of my favorite speakers in all of the two weeks! He is the Chief Medical Officer for Red Cross. He told us so much useful information for our blood drives. Our current blood drives are on the third floor which is not a good idea at all. Although, I do not know where else our drives could be so that donors have easy access. I asked Dr. Benjamin why women have a tendency to get deferred often because of their iron level. He replied that different ethnicities have different amounts of iron in their bodies and the standard for giving blood is based on Caucasians. I thought this was interesting because I have always thought my iron was low, but from Dr. Benjamin I learned that it may not be!

Our next speaker was Gloria Huang who is a social media specialist for the ARC. She spoke to us about Facebook, Twitter, and blogs that could assist us in gaining support for our blood drives. After her presentation, the group went upstairs to work on our strategic plans! My group consisted of Olivia Goodall (from Atlanta), Kayla Anderson (from Kansas), and Jake Fox (from Oklahoma). Our topic was Support and Sustainability on our campus. We were to discuss how we can gain the support for our blood drives and how we can sustain our success after we graduate in a few years.

After working on our strategic plans until five, the group headed back to the dorms to get ready to go out for the night. A couple of people got suggestions for restaurants from locals so we all decided to go to Nooshi, an Indian restaurant a few blocks away. I had sushi for dinner and it was delicious! Larke, from Mississippi, was sitting next to me and she had never had sushi before so I had her try mine since it was a pretty basic combination and would be good for someone’s first time. I will never forget her face! She was trying so hard to keep it down, she absolutely hated it! That is the last time I will ever suggest somebody try something new!!

After dinner, Amber, Steven, and I went across the street to a sports store. I was in desperate need of a jacket since I forgot mine at home! And they had special edition flat billed Nationals hats so I could get my boyfriend a present! After we made our purchases, we were making our way down the street to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and all of a sudden we were told to stop walking. So curious as we were, we waited right there and a man was rushed out the door of the Palm Restaurant surrounded by security guards and ushered into his black SUV with extreme tinted windows. Turns out, it was the President of Georgia that I was so lucky to get a glimpse of!

I had my first Ben & Jerry’s experience that night, with strawberry cheesecake ice cream and it was delicious! When going to an ice cream place, I learned quickly that you don’t have many options if you don’t like chocolate! Afterwards, Sam, Jake, Larke, Hanna, and I took off for a late night jog down to the Washington Monument. It was so beautiful at night!