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All posts for the month September, 2014

My Time Machine

Posted by Professor Stern on September 17, 2014
Posted in: Lesson of the Day. Tagged: , , , , .

I used to think pictures held memories, but then I found Pop2k on XM Radio. Most of the lyrics in these songs hold no value to my life, but they allow me to travel time every day.

I didn’t have 99 problems. I was too young to be  In Da Club so I certainly couldn’t have Love in the Club.  I worked part time so I  wasn’t on the Gold Diggers target list. You could barely Drop It Like Its Hot at a high school dance. I didn’t have to Confess about having baby with a stranger. I couldn’t buy myself a drink let alone buy one for a lady. There were no diamonds on my grill. Wasn’t riding dirty. Wasn’t about money, hoes, cars or clothes. Wasn’t a skater boy slamming on a guitar. Wasn’t Crying a River or writing fan mail to Eminem.  And I certainly wasn’t dating Stacy’s Momtimecircuits

So why do I listen to all of these songs? I still can’t relate to most of the lyrics, yet they still hold so much value in my life. Maybe the lyrics mean absolutely nothing. Maybe the song holds more than just a beat, but it holds a memory. It holds a place in time. A time that may have been good, bad, happy or sad. The fact is,  that time is in the past. That moment is a moment in history. Maybe we embrace these old songs because they are a comfort zone.  Listening to those songs, even just for 2-minutes, lets you go back to that moment. To that comfort zone. The song allows you to travel through time to a moment that you already experienced.

Far too many of us are afraid to change the station because we aren’t sure what the song will be. If you are always listening to yesterday, you won’t hear about today. Today is the time to play a new song. Today is the time to step out of your comfort zone. Yesterday’s songs were great, but tomorrows will be even better. Turn the beat off from the speakers & Lose Yourself to your heartbeat. Embrace the lyrics that are yet to be written, The Best Is Yet To Come (Okay, maybe Sinatra was a few years before Pop2k, but our parents always said the oldies are the best!)

 

-Professor Stern

Why I Am Prejudice

Posted by Professor Stern on September 15, 2014
Posted in: Lesson of the Day. Tagged: , , .

The mid 20s should be considered “The Prejudice Years.”  Well hopefully I can help end the trend, but these seem to be the most prejudice years of life. Recently out of college – you reconnect with some high school friends, you stay in-touch with some college friends, but thanks to social media, you know A LOT about your entire network. You follow them because just because you want an extra follower. You have been Facebook friends for years and are just too lazy to delete people (until you make a post about how you are deleting people) Anyway, you see all these instagram pics, tweets & statuses. First reaction – –  judging!

We are all guilty of it, but why now more than ever? Simple. This is a major crossroads of life. For argument sake, let’s call them all “friends.” Some friends on your news feed are getting married. Some are having kids. Some are still partying like they are freshman in college. Some moved out – others are staying home. Others maybe haven’t found a solid career yet. There are even some that have this really cool job title & you count their money more than they count it. Fact is – you prejudge all of their decisions. You compared them to your own. You might even stoop as low as to gossip about them.

Today’s Lesson is not about telling you to stop being prejudice or about judging a book by its cover. (preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience) The lesson is to remind you that this is your life. When you lay your head down at night and scroll through social media, quit passing judgement on how others are living & think about the day you just lived. Don’t compare roads. You are on your own road. If you are unhappy with the road you took, don’t look back and find the wrong turn. Don’t turn around. Simply look ahead to the next morning. Look ahead to moving forward. Look forward to the day when you stop comparing yourself to others. To the day you decide to put your best foot forward & embrace the journey. To the day you stop reading the covers of their stories & focus more on writing your story.

Create a life so full that even your reflection is looking forward.

-Professor Stern

 

Why I Regret Getting a 4.0 in College

Posted by Professor Stern on September 10, 2014
Posted in: Lesson of the Day, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , .

During High School, the goal was simple. Higher Grades =  Higher GPA = More Scholarship Money to College =  More Savings

Unfortunately that mentality SUCKS in college. I was so caught up getting good grades, the best grades possible, that I missed out on so much education. Sure the transcript says 4.0, but I never went on an interview that asked ” what was your grade in finance 200 ”

Today’s Lesson to my classmates is simple. LEARN. Take your 15 credits and break them down like this.

I have “Marketing” 2x a week for 1 hour 15 minutes each class. The person in front of the room is an expert. Pick their brain. Learn the material, don’t just memorize it. The test is not a test for your professor’s health. The test is to show you what you actually know so that when an employer asks you to do it, you can do it. In a world that is always evolving, there has always been one constant. Education is power. Do not stress about a grade. Do not memorize material just to forget it after you spit it on out a test. Do not cheat. Do not cheat yourself.

I unfortunately memorized so much in college. I said to myself, oh it is just a vocab test. I will have Google when I graduate to just look up a word when the time comes. No! It is more than just learning the word. It is about learning how to apply it. 4 years will fly by, but unfortunately you don’t really have 4 years to learn. you have a semester or two to become a master at that one subject. To soak in as much knowledge as possible.

For me, owning COREiculum requires me to wear a lot of hats. Some hats I never thought I would wear. Other hats I don’t want to wear, and some hats I want to wear, but I did not get the education behind it to do it successfully. I regret getting a 4.0 in college because I think I would be smarter with a 3.0

You will always hear ” it is not what you know, but who you know.” How about you become that person that everyone wants to know, simply because, you know everything you are suppose to know!

-Professor Stern