Small Steps Go Places ®: Going back to the core

I am sitting in Ann Arbor smiling as I hear the Bell Tower toll.

I LOVE this place. I lived here for ten years when I was younger and much of who I am was developed here. It is good to return to that core place and measure what has happened.

The past few days have been a trip like that. And, I can feel that I took a jump of sorts.
I guess there has to be a lot of working and weeding,
and thinking before taking a leap.

I am so excited that I decided to begin working with Alisa, who is now my career coach. Alisa brings a huge bolt of energy to what I have been working on for so long. I feel that finally someone is taking me seriously. I do not know if I will be financially successful. I hope I am. But, when I tell people about my games it come from someplace deep inside. And, I realize that not everyone is a good fit or will appreciate what I am doing, so I shouldn't try to convince them of my worth or the worth of my work. There is a great deal of freedom in that.

Different people approach tackling problems or learning in different ways --- based on who they are.
(Da, isn't this how I think?) So, I approach things in my way. Hence, my games are my take on what a person needs to know before making a decision about college. And, I focus on "young" people because this is the group I have worked with the most, so far.

Maybe I have found a name for the game I brought with me: RISK IT. That name speaks volumes. And, I am so excited that my game spinners arrived and it was easy to come up with a paradigm. Aha! Paradigm…now there is a word.

RISK IT asks player to use the spinner to find two parameters which leads to a scenario which leads to deciding how much of a risk to take.

Examples of scenarios are: Your roommate gets up for class earlier than you and always wakes you up because he/she makes noise while getting ready to go to class. So much for having a 10am class!

Your favorite class and major interest has always been Literature. Now you are in your first college English class, which you love. You have worked hard on your first paper and think you turned in a pretty good product. Today you got your paper back. There was a big D on the top. You really worked hard and do not understand what went so terribly wrong!

These are real scenarios compliments of a fabulous college student named Lucy. Real to me means relevant.

Would you, as a player, risk asking your roommate to get dressed in the bathroom, or would you buy yourself earplugs,

or just tough it out? Would you even mention the situation?

Would you, as a player, just accept that D and seek solace in complaining about how tough the professor is, or would you take the paper and what is left of your ego and go have a long conversation about it with the prof and possibly a tutor?

So, now I am going to go back outside, to the 10 degree weather and attempt to get to lunch with two wonderful women without my smile freezing. I am enjoying going back to my core today.