Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Wonder Woman Catalyst

This week, an amazing woman, Alyson Woloshyn, lost her three year battle with brain cancer.  Alyson has always been a force to be reckoned with.  She had more spirit, drive, and positive energy than anyone I have ever know. 

The strongest memory I have of Alyson is a number of years ago when she was running U of C 101 and I was a Student Leader.  During 101 training, Alyson taught us the five basic principles of leadership:

Take the initiative to make things better
Lead by example
Maintain the self-respect and self-esteem of others
Build constructive relationships
Focus on the problem/question/situation at hand, not the person

She told us all that we needed to memorize those, that she would quiz us on them when we were least expecting it.We all laughed this off.

Two weeks later, I was walking down the hall near the 101 office when all of a sudden Alyson jumped out from behind a trash can and demanded to know what the five basic principles of leadership were.  Somehow, in my stunned state, I got them out.  That wasn't the last time if happened.

Beyond randomly scaring the bejeezus out of me and making me learn the basic principles of leadership, Alyson was my mentor at University.  She helped me realize that even though I was quiet by nature, that didn't mean I wasn't strong.  It didn't mean I couldn't lead and help others.  With her support, I grew as a leader, finding my voice and becoming less afraid to use it.  During U of C 101 I was One-oh-Wonderful Woman, and nickname that stuck, and was later shortened to Wonder Woman among my family, friends, students and colleagues. 

Seeing myself as Wonder Woman, and knowing that others see me that way, I feel stronger, more capable of taking on the world.  I want to use all that I have to make things better and help those around me.

Alyson taught me that we are all stronger than we think we are, and that we are all capable of greatness if we are will to let go of fear and really shine.

Thank you, Alyson.

Life lesson:  You don't know what you are capable of until you try.


To learn more about Alyson, check out: http://alysonwoloshyn.com/

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Spherical Horse Assumption

I believe that you can truly call yourself a physics teacher when you have uttered the phrase "Assume a spherical horse".  Or spherical cow, or spherical chicken.  Any spherical farm creature, really.  Why would you say that?  In physics, we make assumptions to make the problems we are solving easier.  The problem is, the assumptions often limit the results.  Its like that joke where a farm can't get his chickens to lay eggs, so he hires a physicist to figure things out.  Later, the physicist comes to him and says "I have a solution to your problem, but it only works for spherical chickens in a vacuum",

Turns out, we make the same sort of assumptions in life, too.

I made the assumption that my friends knew me better than I know myself, and that they would be better suited to picking out my ideal mate than I was.  How did that go?  Well, keep in mind that these are five separate occasions, involving four different friends.

#1.  She swears she has the perfect guy for me: smart, funny, talented, artistic.  Sounds great, right?  She invites us both to a get-together.  He shows up with the girl he was dating.  Turns out she forgot to check if he was single.

#2. Different friend this time.  She sets me up with a guy she met in Salsa class.  Nice guy, not unattractive, and hopelessly and obviously head-over-heels for my friend.  They got married a few years ago.  I was maid of honor at the wedding.

#3.  Having found her Mr. Right, this same friend decided to try again.  She swears she has it right this time.  Everything I could ever want in a guy.  And it was true.  It just happened that he was also gay.

#4. Another friend told me she knew just the guy for me.  Absolutely everything I was looking for.  A good friend of hers, someone she could always depend on.  We went out once.  A week later she started dating him.  It lasted over two years.

#5.  One of my guy friends wanted to set me up with one of his friends.  Nice guy, a little shy, but really smart and sensitive.  Met him, got an odd vibe, didn't see him again.  What happened to him?  He's currently going through a sex change.

So my assumption, or spherical horse if you will, that my friends would be the ones to find my Mr. Right was dead wrong.

Life Lesson:  Question the assumptions you make.  Don't let them limit your outcomes.