Final Blog Posting. May 14, 2009

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Final Blog Posting: May 14, 2009

This year has been tumultuous and great all at once. It has been awhile, but my senior exhibit presentation went really well. I am fairly certain I rocked the presentation portion of the assignment. I left with one of the greatest feeling of accomplishment and relief as I have never had before. I knew that I had truly passed a great milestone in my senior year.
The rehearsal was pretty stressful for me, just being in front of the teachers. I was really worked up about it. It was extremely hot in the conference room on that particular day, and it didn’t help with my nerves. I got through it, and I must commend Mr. Eckerson for changing the overall format of the rehearsal/final exhibit process. I had great feedback from the teachers about what I could do better in my final presentation, and I seemed to get out all my nerves in the rehearsal. A week later, I blew the lid off of my final. It ran as smooth as butter, and I got a really good grade on it. I could not have had a better final presentation. It was downhill from there!! Or was it… not all my work was done quite yet.
I still had to contend with my final application and written document. I had been slowly compiling my written document of a “sustainable framework” for future leadership camps. My application took place by meeting with Fred Daniel, our newly elected SG president. I was, again, slightly nervous that Fred would take a look at my written document and just start croaking with confusion. My application of explaining his role and what he must do to make sure leadership camp gets off the ground went off without a hitch. He told me it was clear and concise, and it gave him a clear picture of exactly must be done in order to get the ball rolling on leadership camp. The only remaining hurdle is turning in my final written document, which I will, relieved, turn in tomorrow.
The senior exhibit has accomplished everything for me that people talk about. It made me a better person. My learning activity and research process taught me so much; My final application and more so my learning document leaves me with a great sense of accomplishment and definite evidence of giving back to the school. This senior year, as advertised, has been the greatest year of my high school career. Strangely enough, it flew by. I feel like just yesterday I was sitting down for my first SG meeting, going to cross country practice back in August. I am truly going to miss everything about this school and what opportunities it has given me to truly succeed and make an impact in my life and in the FA community.
I don’t know where the road leads ahead at this point, but all I know is that I am ready for the journey. My time here at FA has made me ready for this journey in many ways. I am anxious to start the rest of my life, but ready and able. What I year it has been. Cant wait for the perch on Sunday/ Monday! Until next time, thanks for reading. Enjoy this random selction of images that made up alot of my senior exhibit process. It has been an honor.

William Raleigh Hazel
Proud Member of the class of 2009

Series of "7 Habit" blog posts. through March and April

Habit 3: Put First Things First, the will and won’t power. March 15, 2009.

Essentially, this habit discusses how important it is to prioritize what you are doing effectively. Covey made sense to me when he said that in the previous habit, we decided what these first thing were, but in this habit, we are actually putting them first in our life. He also discusses simply that this ties in with “will power” –the strength to say yes to important things and the “won’t” power, or the power to say no to things that are unimportant or peer pressure. This direct quote I think makes the most sense, “ Habit 1 says ‘you are the driver, not the passenger’. Habit 2 says, ‘ Decide where you want to go and draw up a map to get you there’ and habit 3 says ‘ get there! Dont let roadblocks knock you off course’.” (pg 106). Again, this chapter does not fail to deliver the occasional corny lines and stupidity, but it does have those golden moments where I think to myself “this totally applies to everything that I do/am doing.” The highlight of this chapter was this box that described what kind of person you really are. There are 4 types of people, in this box, there are 1) procrastinators, 2) prioritizes 3) The “yes man” and 4) the slacker. It goes on to describe what kind of traits these 4 groups of people exhibit. It really applied to me because when I look at myself, I realize that I posses many traits of all three of the less admired traits (procrastination, yes man, and slacker). All I could think to myself is aw crap. Certainly, I know what I am, and where I can improve my status.



Habit 4: Think Win/Win. March 20, 2009.

My first thought was that this habit would mirror the third. In many ways, it does.
Knowing how to prioritize is key in life, as well as keeping a positive attitude. It says something so simple, and that is that everyone is equal in life, no one is inferior or superior, and thus everyone is viewed with the same amount of respect.

He again, helpfully characterizes a few different people.
Win Lose- Are those who make themselves get positive gains, and get others around them to lose. Win lose- people are full of pride, and competition. They use people in order to get ahead, they spread rumors, they always insist on getting their way, and they become jealous and envious when something good happens to someone close to you.
Lose Win- He even calls this person the doormat right in the first few sentences. They are walked on, and will hold things in, allowing other people around them to win. Non assertive, but weak and maybe considered pushovers.
Lose Lose- Want to drag people down into their misery.
Win Win- Self explanatory. People want to win themselves, but also help others achieve. The most difficut, and the best scenario. It always creates more oppourtunites and fosters stronger relationships.


Thinking win win I can certainly see as extremely powerful advice. You cannot be a doormat, but u cannot be a over-bearing pig either. I want to have this habit applied to the members of the SG, and all student leaders for that matter



Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. March 22, 2009

This chapter of the book starts out by saying “Before I can walk in another’s shoes, I must first remove my own”. This quote explains what I believe is the most important aspect of good communication. You must understand and hear what the person in the conversation is saying to you. You should understand their ideas and opinions before you try and force yours upon them. For example, what if you were enthralled in a conversation about what a failure to society the people of a particular neighborhood are, without knowing you are in fact speaking to someone from the very same neighborhood. The result is a loss of respect for you, and hurting other’s feelings. It is unnecessary and stupid. I know in my life, although not in this particular example, I do tend to try and just answer everyone’s questions and problems without listening to what they are saying. In order to be an effective communicator, perhaps the most vital aspect to achieving that is listening first and talking second. Who knows what you may discover. As I have begun to discover with all of these habits, when they are applied correctly, it is practically limitless to what one can accomplish. The result is always a positive effect. Whether in deep discussions with your parents, or with your friends, by listening first and speaking second, you will always leave a positive impact and a more effective understanding of what is going on around you. This book makes one of the most powerful points that I think has been made throughout the entire book. “The deepest need of the human heart is to be understood.” Understanding someone. Wow, as simple as that. I thought about this for a minute and thought what it was like when I wasn’t understood. Misunderstood about my feelings or my intentions, it is rough and really frustrating. It hurts. Adversely, when one has a complex feeling or intention and it is understood, it makes one feel like a million bucks. It goes over poor listen ting styles such as zoning out, pretend listening, selective listening, word listening, self centered listening, and judging. All of these descriptions are self explanatory, and shouldn’t be characterized as “listening” at all. The most important message to understand is that if you understand the person you are communicating with, they will also return the courtesy of understanding you. Fulfilling a deep need of the human heart.


Habit 6: Synergize. March 28, 2009


Again, this chapter opens up with a powerful quotation “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” by Helen Keller. Powerful powerful meaning. I must confess that when I look at the word “synergize” I struggle to come up with what it actually means. Luckily, as always, this book exists with the purpose of helping me. Synergize: achieved when two or more people work together to create a better solution than either could alone. It’s not your way or my way but a better way, a higher way. As always, I took this habit and applied to my own life. When have I tried to do things by myself and been greeted with defeat? When have I worked together with people, and in addition people work better with me for the greater good and a more powerful solution? In my junior year on the swim team, our Medley Relay was struggling to make the state qualifying time. I was swimming freestyle, my best and fastest stroke, and the anchor of the relay. Time and time again though, we could not make the state cut. When our coach made the decision to switch me to breaststroke, and Andrew Hansen to Freestyle, we gained our state time immediately. This switch, even if it was a switch I would not have liked individually, led to a result that created a “better solution” for our whole team. We went to states and performed admirably. This is a perfect example of how cooperation can and will lead to more powerful and more effective results. It is so important, especially as I get older, to learn how to embrace those who think and act differently from you. I need to take their differences and view them as an advantage, how their different viewpoints can lead to both of us achieving a higher goal. In addition, this chapter reinforces that communication is key when trying to meet goals. Nothing kills the flow of creative thinking like criticism, so when you are brainstorming, avoid it. I know that many times I have been a conversation killer when I begin to criticize my peers ideas. To achieve “synergy” you must 1) define the problem, 2) See it their way, 3) see it your way, 4) Brainstorm, 5) achieve the “High way”. What an informative chapter.


Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. April 1st, 2009

This last chapter “sharpen the saw” is not really what I expected. The chapter essentially states that you must sit back and relax in order for all of these habits to truly be “effective”, you must sit back and relax every once in awhile. If you don’t, you could wind up crazy, ineffective, angry, or just plain depressed and overwhelmed. It says that if you keep healthy habits, things like good communication, staying proactive, goal setting, will fall into place. I could certainly agree with that in my life. I would say that for whatever reason, whenever I am in a sports season I am always doing my most effective work. I am staying physically active, I am getting good sleep because of the sport, and I manage my time most effectively. I work well with others because I am on a team, and I know how to prioritize well because the truth is I have a lot going on. At the same time, during the year I know when it is time to sit back and watch the flowers grow. I don’t hesitate to spend a weekend really not doing anything, just spending chill time with my family. It keeps me in check, keeps my mind stable. You cant be running on all cylinders all the time, and cant always be applying these habits to the best of your abilities. The point is, you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of everything else. This means your body, mind, heart, and soul. Stimulate your body with fitness, your mind with reading, your heart with relationships, and your soul with what you want to do (keep a journal, watch the sunset). Help yourself, and the rest will follow.


Reading this book has, in a way, been a culmination in “sharpening my own saw”. I read it when I was overworked, or when I probably should have been focusing my attention onto something else. Without a doubt, I never thought I would gain so much knowledge and helpful insight and advice from using a self help book like this. I don’t care if people think it’s cheesy, what I know is that this research process throughout my senior exhibit has made me a more effective person, and a better person. It is my hope that with this knowledge that I will be able to impart it to our Student Leaders at leadership Camp.

Habit 2: Begin with end in mind

Habit 2: Begin with End in Mind


Sean Covey’s second habit is described as Begin with End in Mind. As I have begun to find out throughout the entire book, he effectively makes everything sound easy and reassuring, and advice that is truly applicable to me.
He starts out by simply saying we are the driver of our life, and since we are the driver, we must draw up the map and decide where we are going, and how to get there. When I first read this I thought to myself, “how can I expect to know what I want to do later on my life”? As with this entire book, you have to apply it to yourself. Sure, there are kids out there who have known since freshman year in high school where they would like to be going for college, what they would be studying, and what profession they would like to get into. I am not/was not one of those kids. I was just happy to see what happens. (Which according to Covey is an example of being the “passenger” in the drive of life…Not so good.) A truly interesting realization I made when I read this was that the kids who do have a concrete plan and idea of where they are going are nearly 100% of the time the kids who are making the good grades, the kids who are happy, and the kids that are succeeding in whatever they are doing. I don’t want to dwell on the past, (and I know I have experienced some success) but it would have been nice to have developed, especially with my college search process, with an end in mind.
Again, I will say it 100 times, the key to this book is to apply it to yourself. I can site a perfect example where I began with the end in mind. My senior year cross country season. After my junior year, I began with end in mind. I told myself, “I am going to win the state championship next year”. I set a goal, set an end in mind, and knew what it would take to reach that goal. Winning a race is like building a cake. You have to pick out a recipe (the race in mind, in this case the State Championship) and then follow the instructions (training) and then you get to eat the cake (winning the state championship). Every example that I can think of in my life where I began with an end in mind, I always have experienced success, joy, happiness, that whole bucket of enjoyable emotions. Winning the state championship was perhaps my greatest achievement I have ever made, something I will remember forever. It was done by beginning with end in mind.
This book continues to have an eerie effect on me. It is like it reads my mind. I just start reading the pages, not really knowing what to expect or what to think, and then just it all starts falling into place. I tell myself that plans like this could never work, but then the examples of how it will work simply fall into place for me, making total sense. I tell myself “wow, that really is true”. Beginning with end in mind is so simple and so straightforward, but it is sad how many of us (me included) fail to realize this simplicity. Again, you cant take every single thing from this book, but you can make take what makes sense to you and what applies to you.

Mid year leadership retreat- SE Update

Hello again! It has been awhile since my last blog, but I will be to update whoever is reading this about what I have been doing for the past few months.
Since September, and my last blog, a lot has been going on. I have stayed as busy as I possibly can in regards to my senior exhibit. I thought I would just give you all an update about what I am doing

- My senior exhibit is creating a sustainable framework for the future by creating an FA “leadership retreat”. It will be a plan that will be presented to the new student government, which will be elected in mid March.

- My learning activity has been for the most part self guided research. I have taken what I observed this summer with FA’s first leadership camp. The format of my new camp plan will take the best elements from this and be sure to incorporate them into this “sustainable framework for the future”. I have been actively reading and recording notes from “the 7 habits of highly effective teens, by Sean Covey”. I have made connections with PE staff and other people in order to also gain greater insight and ideas



- My application will be, in reality, presenting this plan to the new student government, and making sure they have a complete and total understanding of what is meant to occur this summer, and in many future summers to follow. My written document will consist of a written up plan for the future SG presidents to follow on how to run a successful summer leadership retreat.



The biggest news I have to report is that on January 24th, 2009, I personally held and ran FA’s middle of the year leadership retreat. It was highly successful, and in addition I learned quite a bit. The goal of this day was to inspire members of leadership committees to “re-kindle” their enthusiasm that is so strong in the beginning of the year, the same kind of enthusiasm that existed following the summer leadership retreat. The other main goal was to relax, and to just try and have some fun! The day ran as follows:

- everyone showed up around 10 o clock, and planned to leave around 2
- The first activity everyone took part in was sort of a concerns and compliments session. Everyone wrote down on a slip of paper something that they had found they had struggled with during the year as a student leader, or something that had gone particularly well being a student leader. The hat with all the comments was passed around the 25 or so people, and the slips were read aloud. The person reading the slip simply commented about what they thought of this certain slip of paper. This activity took approximately an hour and a half, which was a surprise to me. It was a great activity that effectively got everyone’s minds flowing and prepared with new ideas and ideally new motivation going into the second semester of school. I recorded all the notes, and brought up many of the concerns at the next available student government meeting.
- I knew that people would be anxious, and hungry, so we broke for a pizza lunch around 11:30. The next activity, everyone was divided into teams. These teams then took turns at the Hazel weekly recycling items in order to construct a container for the egg drop. Everyone was working together and having a great time. If I could change something though, I would limit the materials. They just had too many items at their disposal! The result was the most indestructible egg drop devices that I have ever seen. We tried dropping them from the top story in my house, but they all survived. We then made a quick field trip to the parking garage in downtown Fredericksburg and dropped the “egg tanks” off the roof. Still 1 egg survived!!! This was very fun, but my group lost some sight of what their goals of the activity were, principally teamwork and communication. In order to do this activity best, it should be more structured. For example, limit the materials to simply some straws and tape, and make a landing target to see which group can be the most accurate. This lasted approximately until 12:30.
- Next, I challenged these same groups to a mental activity. It was a survival story-game where the groups were forced to make some difficult decisions concerning items necessary to their survival in the Alaskan Wilderness (in winter). It was very interesting to see how the groups interacted. I will not post the answers, but I would say that this activity was very successful. It inspired the groups to be good listeners, leaders, as well as learn a thing or two about their own survival capabilities. This lasted until approximately 1:15pm
- After being indoors, I took the groups outside again. Teams were made, and a relay race involving carrying team members on blankets was played. It was really fun, certainly in part due to the sunshine that we had that day. Teams had to devise a strategy in order to win the race, as well as have a fun ride within a blanket. This game lasted until about 1:30 pm
- The last and final parting game was played on my neighbor’s basketball court. Again a relay race, teams had to spin their heads around a baseball bat 5 times, and then run up and make the ball go through the hoop. Pure enjoyment ensued. We wound up playing for about 45 minutes! After this game, everyone went home happy, and motivated to take on the challenges the rest of the year would bring.


I would describe this experience as a total success. What I learned about myself in this activity was that with a good plan, anything can really become a success.

Senior Exhibit Plan

Outline of Senior Exhibit Presentation

- 10 minutes (tentative) Team building game. This game will A) Grab the audiences attention and wake them up, and B) be more fun than sitting down the enitre duration of the presentation.


- 5 minutes- My personal jounrey through the perils of senior exhibit, and what i did this summer


- 10 min- What I did ( create a plan and a sustainable framework for the future leadership camps) core leadership concepts that I adressed with the plan, explain why student leadership is SO IMPORTANT

- 5 Minutes - Discuss with audience what they learned about themsleves in the game earlier, also show pictures and explain why they should embrace student leadership and potentially run, (Show pictures from this summer)

Habit 1: Be Proactive

The first, and arguabley the most important habit, is being proactive. It is outlined simply as taking responsibility for your life. Sean Covey goes on to say that this habit must be grasped in order to move on to tackle the other sucessful habits.

This chapter goes on to discuss and explore several key traits to being proactive. The first of which is we have the choice to be proactive or Reactive. he says, "proactive people make choices based on values. They think before they act. They recognize they can't control everything that happens to them, but thye can control what they do about it"(pg 49).

Covey goes on to describe several possible scenarios in which people were either proactive or reactive. I am not totally sure whether or not these scenarios were made up, but he claims that these were true stories from real teens. They are very applicable to my teenage life, and I would wager to say they would also be applicable to others. It goes back to the friendly style in which the book was written. It doesent feel like a high and mighty adult talking down to you, but more of older and wiser friend.

One factor that Covey says is an indicator for whether or not people are reactive or proactive is their everyday language. Reactive language includes phrases such as, "I'll try, Thats just the way I am, There's nothing I can do, I have to, I can't, You Ruined my day". In contrast, proactive language is "Ill do it, I can do better than that, Lets look at all our options, I choose to, Theres gotta be a way, and Im not going to let you bad mood rub off on me" (Pg 51).

Covey makes analogies that are also very helpful. He says that a reactive person is like a soda can. He says that reactive people make decisions on impulse. Just like a soda can, when they are shaken up, they explode. Proactive people are like water, shake them up and they are fine. They are cool and collected, and in control of their actions.

More points he makes are how reactive people tend to see themselves as "victims", meaning it is always someone elses fault. He says that traits of reactive people include "are easily offended, blame others, get angry and say things they later regret, whine and complain, wait for things to happen to them, and change only when they have to" (pg 53)

The key to this book is applying what you read to yourslef. When I read this part of the book, I realized that I have alot of these reactive traits. I am not a mass murderer or rapist or anything like that, but i certainly fit the bill for many of these attributes. With this in mind, I will try to apply some of these traits to myself:

Proactive people: Are not easily offended, take responsibility for their choices, think before they actm bounce back when something bad happens, always find a way to make it happen, and focus on things they can do something about, and dont worry about things they cant" (pg 53)

If their is one thing that i will do with this book, it is certainly apply the issues and things that most apply to me. The funny thing that i am noticing is that , the more i read this, the more and more of this stuff actually applies to me. Covey really knew what he was getting into when he wrote this.

The most important thing to remember, I think, when trying to be proactive, is the Choice is yours

7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, By Sean Covey

This book, the 7 habits of highly effective teens, is very useful. It is written with a style that allows me to be able to relate to what it is saying, and it is easy to apply to your own life. It seperates, obviously, the 7 habits of effective teens. These habits are all outlined and discussed within the pages of this book. They must be understood and completed in this order. They are
1. Be proactive
2. Begin with end in Mind
3. Put First things first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to Understand, Then to Be understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw

some of these do not make sense just reading them. The contents of this book will explore these 7 topics and how when these habits are applied lead to sucess and happier life for a teenager. This book will ideally begin to outline a possible format for leadership camp this summer, which is my final application. I am looking forward to embarking on this reading journey!