Kyle: What I learned along the way.

Now that I am De-ccelerating or maybe its celebrating the end of Accelerator it gives me pause, because this was one of the best experiences of my life for a variety of reasons.  First, it reminded me of the fond memories I have of team building at West Point and the Army.  The best job I ever had was Platoon Leader because I had a chance to work with courageous men and women.  It was an honor for me to be given the sons and daughters of hard working Americans to build a team that would defend this country.  In the absence of being a platoon leader, the last four years have been hard because I spent time on staff or in school and was not given an opportunity coach and mentor.  Accelerator gave me the opportunity to reach out and make a difference again and it has reaffirmed my desire to develop and teach life skills and leadership.  Second, I know I may sound institutionalized when I say this but I actually liked living in the dorms again.  I feel much more productive when I get to have everything set up in one room and don’t have to jump in my car to drive to school.  I decided to stay in the dorms for the entire time because I knew it would simplify my life and give me a chance to connect.  The sense of community you get from living in the dorms with the students and taking the time out of your day to meet with them—even at 11pm was memorable experience.  Never miss the opportunity to reach out and touch someone’s life regardless of time or place.  Third, working with incredibly bright and gifted people made the experience valuable and rewarding.   I had the privilege of working with Samantha Webb on the last project for Livescribe.  We had some 10 minutes between team session and she told me she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her career and asked for some advice.  I told her to write down the common thread in her life of things that she liked to do since she was a child.  She found that she might be interested in consulting because she loves problem solving, loves working on multiple projects and working in the team environment.  On my way out of dorms she told that our 10 minute conversation was the most meaningful conversation she had at Accelerator because it gave her direction.  I share this because for me those types of comments make it all worthwhile.  I had about five moments like this during the past month and they will always be priceless.
In closing, this program has put my life into perspective because I realize now that if you are doing what you love it won’t be work.  The money and prestige of the high salary corporate jobs will come, but at the end of the day it’s the people who make the difference. The military has taught me to be a part of something greater than myself and Accelerator is that civilian opportunity for me.  I don’t know what my plans are next year, but I can tell you where I will be one month out of the year and that is helping Accelerator students achieve their goals.  Ask yourself, have you made a difference?  At the end of the day, I know I have and it’s a good place to be.

Comments

[Ryan]

I’ve read your blog post of the Pulse smartpen and wanted to share some new commercial and demo videos that we just uploaded to the Livescribe YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/nevermissaword

From now until 12/31/08, you can get 5% off a Pulse smartpen at www.livescribe.com by using SCRIBE5A50 at checkout. Thanks, and enjoy the videos!