Route 66: University of Missouri at Columbia

Posted on February 3rd, 2010

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The evening started off with CiCi’s Pizza and then we got into it. The University of Missouri group was intimate. Stella, the young writer from Singapore who I met on the street came by. It was good to see her. Everyone was a character and it showed when they participated in the on-stage games, comments, and activities. We even got the sound crew involved. The team of two thought they were there to take care of the sound, but I kept calling on them because I know that the presentation could benefit them as well. A young women who was changing majors expressed that she got a lot out of the presentation. Until now, she never saw taking a semester off to collect herself as a good thing. She fears her parents more than being behind her peers. A brother came up to afterward and expressed that everyone thinks he has it all together, but deep down inside he doesn’t know his purpose. Hey does amazing things, but he doesn’t know WHY he does what he does. He doesn’t have a reason that anchors him. Once he finds it, I think he’ll be even better at what he does because “The x-factor to success is knowing your WHY.” Something connects everything he does and the moment he can put language to it, he will feel even more powerful. Another young woman is considering dentistry. She is three classes away from getting a double major in biology, but she doesn’t know if she wants to come back to finish. She probably needs biology more than her other major to get into dentistry school, but the question is it worth it. She sounded like she really wants to do dentistry. She has done some shadowing and says she loves it. If I was her I would knock it out. Finally, a young woman is in her final semester and considering whether or not she should stay in Columbia, MO or go somewhere else. Everyone she knows is here…for now. I’m not certain if career or community should drive where we decide to live. Both are important. Actually, I think our purpose should. Wherever we are, we have to ask ourselves “Why am I here?” and “How does this enable my purpose?” Thanks to Stacey, Bruce, and Megan for organizing everything.