{"id":3221,"date":"2015-04-04T12:14:27","date_gmt":"2015-04-04T20:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stanford.edu\/group\/sdgc\/cgi-bin\/ycisl\/?p=3221"},"modified":"2015-04-04T12:14:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-04T20:14:27","slug":"discussion-i-tried-something-new-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/?p=3221","title":{"rendered":"Discussion: I Tried Something New Today!"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the very beginning of YCISL, we included a “Placement” level in our Leadership Objectives framework which is shown in orientation for every YCISL workshop as well as on the CSDGC Youth Development web page. By “Placement” we mean to try different things and see which fits best – kind of like shopping for new clothes or shoes – taking into consideration practical as well as emotional factors.<\/p>\n

Our framework says that “Placement” is a practice to start at the pre-High School level, a time where going to college or work still seems distant and hardly discussed. With my own children, we’ve tried new paths when the one they were on didn’t seem to be resonating. My daughter dropped ballet after one class. My son switched from violin to classical guitar after a couple of years. In response to parents of pre-high school students who have enquired about attending the YCISL program, I have advised them to\u00a0support (encouragement as well as arranging, if needed) their\u00a0children in trying new things on a regular basis. I composed and posted a white paper on this topic, positioning it as preparation for eventually attending a YCISL workshop. In this way, YCISL workshop participants will hopefully be experience-rich at the time they are in the workshop and can relate better to the myriad of personal skills – seeing how the skills could have enhanced their experience and the potential for future applications.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0our most recent workshop (March 2015), I added a slide in the context of innovation that showed “Try new things to be able to make new things.”\u00a0This ties in with the feature list exercise which in turn ties into the “Your Personal Story” theme. It also ties in with finding passion, a topic to which I am paying more attention thanks to Scott Adams and his book “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life” in which he discusses the prerequisites for passion.<\/p>\n

I am writing this entry to precede a discussion note I will add to our YCISL LinkedIn Group page. I would like to let the students know that I tried something new today, and check whether they have tried anything new recently. Trying new things (regularly and as a matter of habit) is a soft skill central to YCISL and should be a lifelong practice.<\/p>\n

I tried green almonds today for the first time. Someone I know picked them fresh from their tree this morning and passed them to me at the gym (Thanks, K!). I had an idea of what to expect because I had looked up green almonds on Google a few days before – and words like”crispy and “green apple” helped me prepare for what was in store. This was a fascinating learning experience because I am so accustomed to other forms of almonds (e.g., whole, sliced, slivered, milk, flavored, roasted, dried) and ways to eat them (e.g.,\u00a0with cereal) as well seeing the ads on tv (California is big on growing almonds).<\/p>\n

\"greenalmonds\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These almonds are a lot different than what I’ve had before – they’re a little fuzzy and have a\u00a0“fruit” appearance. I like the fresh green color too. After biting through my first one, my attention was grabbed by the layers in the cross-section as well as the soft white complexion of the almond nut that we usually consume. As for taste, the green apple-type tartness from the hull came through clearly but moreso as perhaps an unripe green apple. I didn’t mind. I then sampled just the almond nut at the center and there was a faint milky sweetness that I appreciated.<\/p>\n

So where does it go from here? Not every new experience will lead to something. I am considering getting an almond tree for my yard so I can grow my own green almonds. But\u00a0even if it doesn’t, my growth mindset has been exercised and I am ready to try the next new thing.<\/p>\n

What new thing have you tried today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the very beginning of YCISL, we included a “Placement” level in our Leadership Objectives framework which is shown in orientation for every YCISL workshop as well as on the CSDGC Youth Development web page. By “Placement” we mean to try different things and see which fits best – kind of like shopping for new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas","category-lessons","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3221"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3243,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3221\/revisions\/3243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ycisl.su.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}