DAY SIX:

Today was kinda a lazy day. We had class like usual at the crack of dawn, 8AM, but I loved today's lesson. We learned about the importance of values and how values define you and help to develop your identity. We discussed the significance of ensuring that your actions are directly aligned to what you claim your values are. Recognizing what values I hold highest and being true to those values allow me to be confident in my decisions and the path of life I choose to take. To further explore this theory, we simulated an auction, selling values. We were given a budget and had to decide how much money we would allocate to each value, essentially, determining which values were the most important to us. This process not only forced us to place a value on our values, but also made me realize what exactly I was willing to sacrifice to keep other values I wanted. At the end of the auction, I was fortunate enough to have acquired all five of my top five values: family, hope, compassion, forgiveness, and integrity. For me family is and always will be the most important aspect of who I am. Family is what I was made from and am made of. In addition, in my opinion, my family provides me with the many of the other values on the auction's bid list. My family gives me love, faith, loyalty, honesty, perseverance, adventure, etc. Hope is how I stay positive in life, regardless of the situation. Having hope means believing in the good in people and in life and being able to see that good through all of life's turbulences. Compassion is having kindness for others, acting selflessly because it is what is right, not because of what I could potentially benefit from it. Compassion is having respect for diversity and understanding for the plight of others. To me, forgiveness is a crucial quality to obtain in life. Forgiveness allows me to live my life to the fullest without being hung up on the anger or frustration that others may cause me. I am not perfect; thus, it is important to not expect perfection from those surrounding me and be generous with my second chances. And finally, integrity means being the best version of myself even when no one is looking. This exercise was definitely an eye-opening experience in which I was surprised by how much i learned about myself and can now apply these core values to my everyday life. After class, I had to finish my journals for the week and turn them in to be graded. Not gonna lie, REALLY nervous about the outcome of those. I find it difficult to imagine how the teachers can place a grade on my reflection of my individual experiences. But, I realize it is the experiences I have in Cape Town and what I learn through these experiences that is the most important, not the grade I walk away with. However, for anyone that knows me, this is a difficult thing for me to come to terms with. Traditionally, my view on grades has been if it is not an A, it's a F. Once I turned in my journal I napped ALL day! I hated to waste even a portion of my day in my room when i could be out exploring Africa, but I definitely needed the rest, especially with my two sick roommates! After my nap I went to dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had this awesome Malaysian-spiced chicken and the infamous warm chocolate pudding, which is just heaven on earth! SO. GOOD. I finally got my rugby jersey for the game tomorrow too, and I cannot wait for my first rugby experience! Go Stormers!! 

Don't just go...LEAD!

Global LEAD 2012

Central theme of class