since my first foray into kid president’s guide to being awesome was inspired by brett favre, i obviously had to turn to aaron rodgers for my next one, so here we are at #12:

get out there!

the story in the book included an interview with olivia wilde about her philanthropy work in haiti and how she became involved with it. i especially liked one thing she said: “people change constantly; it’s important to remember we are never finished products”.

that really resonated with me, because i have been thinking a lot recently about what i can do to continue bettering myself and my community. below is what i have swirling in my head at the moment.

take classes and continue to learn. i claim to enjoy lifelong learning, but it’s so easy to say i don’t have enough time to commit to learning new things, which is really a load of crap. there are so many online classes that don’t require a lot of time but can impart new knowledge and teach new skills. one of my goals for this year is to take 3 online classes through coursera and skillshare and any other similar websites. i completed a health across the gender spectrum class through coursera at the very beginning of this year, and my goal is to complete one more this spring. and biggest of all, i am hoping to be selected for a year-long leadership program where i can learn from others who are already leading in memphis.

give my time. it is difficult to volunteer on a consistent weekly or even monthly basis because my schedule often changes week-to-week, but i can still commit to one-off opportunities. i am serving as a tnAchieves mentor this year to help high school seniors navigating the application process for the tn promise scholarship. it only requires a few hours a month but fills a big need in shelby county. i also want to continue attending voluncheers events as and when i can, including tonight. and i want to be better about seeking out new opportunities to take advantage of them and to encourage others to get involved as well.

put my money where my mouth is. i have two recurring donations set up to organizations i believe strongly in, and i fundraise every year as a st jude hero, but i know i can do more. the two organizations i donate to do wonderful work on a national and global scale, but i want to find two or three local organizations and contribute to their work. i want to invest my money back into my community and work to increase my impact locally.

so there you have it, a lot of stream-of-consciousness as inspired by kid president. we’ll see what comes of all of it.

xx