Category: Trending on the Web

Don’t Just Bounce Back, Bounce Forward: Career Advice from Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

We often hear about the term “bounce back” as prevalent life advice. Such a powerful phrase motivates people to see that though setbacks can push us further away from our original goal, we can return to our original state.

However, what if there’s a better response? Adam Grant suggests bouncing forward instead. He delves into how both he and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg have researched ways to build resilience in the face of adversity. Their recently published book, Option B, sheds insight on moving forward. ­­

In the scope of navigating careers, people inevitably run into failure. However, it is important to reassess the situation. What is truly the root of the problem? Sandberg highlights the three sources from which it can arise: you, the other person, and the relationship itself. Rather than blaming your boss or internalizing the failures, the “bounce forward” approach encourages people to evaluate the third factor: the relationship between the two people. In other words, as Grant puts it, “It’s not me. It’s not you­­. It’s us.”

“Bouncing forward” reminds us to not only heal the problem at its wound, but to also fix the problem at its source. Building strong relationships is a major factor in determining career success, and it is a skill that we continue to learn to improve. If you have encountered a setback in the workplace, just remember — not only can you bounce back, but you can bounce forward.

By: Sharon Chiang

Disconnecting to Reconnect: A Break from Technology

During my time in college, I have used a variety of technology to stay connected with friends, family, and my professional network. From Snapchat to Instagram, texting to emailing, Facebook to LinkedIn, our current day and age allows people to be connected in more ways than ever before. However, with so many mediums to stay connected, it is easy to feel disconnected to what is happening around us. Too many times have I caught my friends on their phones while hanging out with them in person. With such an environment, it is easy to slip into technology-dependent habits as well.

In theory, it seems easy to disconnect from technology by not using it, but in practice, it becomes much more difficult. One time, I decided not to look at my phone for 8 hours, only to receive many concerned texts from friends asking if I was okay. Being by your phone or computer at all times becomes the norm, and therefore, 24/7 availability becomes not only possible, but expected.

It seems like the complete rejection of technology is nearly impossible, especially in a college setting. But a partial reduction is more attainable. For instance, last semester, I wanted to focus my attention on recruiting. I decided to delete my Snapchat and Instagram for two months; as a result, I found life to be simpler and did not find myself missing out.. I was still connected with friends through other forms of technological communication, but I had reduced the scope of information I was giving out and taking in.

The days I spend the least amount of time on social media are when I am engaged in interesting activities, ranging anywhere from spending time with friends, participating in extracurriculars, or exploring a new area. Only on days where I am stuck doing meticulous work or simply curious do I find myself perusing through the nearly endless posts of the people in my network. However, though my social media cleanses have suited me well, I am still a strong proponent of technology and social media. As a creative person, I view social media as an outlet of personal expression. I enjoy learning about what is important to my friends through their posts, and I’ve reconnected with old friends by finding out that they’re near me. As with everything, there needs to be a good balance of your time spent with people online and in person. A break from technology every once in a while can be just the fix we need.

By: Sharon Chiang

Stronger Outline = Stronger Story: Gabriela Pereira of DIY MFA’s Workshop Tells All

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Whether you’re a plotter, a “pantser” or somewhere in between, an outline can make your story stronger while making your writing life easier. Many writers think of an outline as either too daunting or too stifling but, if done correctly, it can be a powerful addition to your writing toolkit.

During this workshop, Gabriela will show you how to create a strong, flexible outline that’s custom-designed for your style, your process, and your story. She will also share her secret sauce formula for story structure and show how it works in popular books and movies. You’ll leave this interactive session knowing how to use your outline to perfect your plot, deepen your characters, and guide your story from draft to done.

Want to attend the workshop? RSVP here and come out on Monday, April 24th, 2:00 – 3:30pm at the Center for Writing and Public Discourse to learn more.

Can’t make the talk but want to learn more? Sit in for her Athenaeum talk on Monday, April 24th, 12:15 p.m.

The Biology of Good and Evil

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Sharon Chiang ’17, Robert Sapolsky, and Rachel Lee ’17

What makes someone good or evil? Robert Sapolsky, professor of biology, neurosurgery, and neurology at Stanford University, dives into human biology to find the answer. By looking at the history of our species and its genetic inheritance, his Ath talk explores what we are restrained by, what we are capable of, and what we can do to change the world for the better.

As a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Sapolsky has proven to be exceptionally creative. Sapolsky delves into the neurobiology of human beings, such as how the fear-inducing amygdala activates differently within different people, how dopamine drives motivation and anticipation for reward, and more. Sapolsky argues that the term “good” and “evil” can be linked to people’s cultural influences, their biological programming, and differences in upbringing.

However, though the introduction to neurology helped clarify exactly why humans behave the way they do, his conclusion on what we could do about it received a standing ovation from the entire audience.

Sapolsky’s conclusion? That humans are complicated. We scorn violence that occurs to innocent bystanders, yet we desire violence on those who inflict horrendous crimes against humanity. We perform acts of war, yet during war, we also perform acts of kindness. To Sapolsky, humans have the capacity to simultaneously believe in two contradictory things. Despite living in continuous contradictions, which Sapolsky says is just life, he challenges us to always do better and strive to bring empathy, altruism, and kindness to the world. Though it is irrational to believe that those who are our enemies deserve our empathy or those who have wronged us should be forgiven, he says that this is the uniqueness of humans. He leaves us with a quote, telling us that though learning about history teaches us not to repeat mistakes from the past, learning about our biology teaches us that we can replicate acts of goodness in times when we need it the most. The more impossible it seems to do the right thing, the more important it is that we do so. . That is, to Sapolsky, what makes us human.

Didn’t make it to the talk? Catch Sapolsky’s TED talk on the uniqueness of humans here. 

By: Sharon Chiang

 

Gary Evans on the Environment of Childhood Poverty

This week, environmental and developmental psychologist at Cornell University, Gary Evans, paid us a visit at the Athenaeum. Prof. Evans’ talk highlighted that poverty is bad for children mainly because of the confluence of environmental and psychosocial risks it creates.

When it comes to psychosocial risks, it has been proven that low income is associated with aggression, low math scores, deferred graduation, poor language and memory development, higher divorce rates, and frequent corporal punishment. When it comes to increased environmental risks, studies have shown that poverty is bad for childhood development because it leads to smaller access to park spaces and supermarkets (which contributes to higher obesity rates), incomplete bathrooms, lack of central heat and overall low quality housing, higher exposure to allergens, crowded housing spaces, and exposure to sulfur oxides, which have been associated with serious consequences for IQ levels.

On top of these, Prof. Evans’ own studies have indicated that poverty and stress may harm parts of the brain sensitive to cognitive stress, leading to diminished reactivity in the face of life challenges and slower recovery to baseline blood pressure levels. Additionally, it appears that children who have grown up in poverty may develop a smaller hippocampus, which might retard the neurological mechanisms associated with coping strategies.

Hence, poverty is not dangerous for children just because of poverty itself. It is dangerous because of the cumulative risk exposure and confluence of risk factors that it creates. Childhood poverty cultivates a system in which, “when it rains, it pours.”

Good Grades, Social Life, Enough Sleep: Pick Two of Three?

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Throughout high school, I remember a popular dilemma my friends and I faced: choosing between having a social life, getting enough sleep, and obtaining good grades. The joke was that it was only possible to choose two of the three options.  However, though the problem resonated with us back then, college adds another dimension of options to choose from and makes you realize that college life is much more complicated. This was specifically brought up in my conversation with a good CMC friend, Julie Kim, over dinner. What struck me about our conversation is the similarity in our learned lessons, despite having different experiences throughout college. More specifically, we talked about how our four years at CMC, including our semester of study abroad, taught us to understand how to best balance everything.
What is the best way to divide your time between academics, work, friendships, family, social events, working out, extracurriculars, and sleep? The short answer is there is none. Coming into college, it is hard to learn that there are limitations of time when opportunities are nearly endless. Attending an exciting social event, studying for a difficult midterm, and applying for a potential summer internship all add value to your college career. However, though all these activities add value, no one said anything about having the time to do it all (and do it well). Time-management and prioritizing become some of the best lessons learned from college. Both Julie and I learned to stop trying to “do it all” and instead prioritize time for the activities demand the most attention first and then allocate the rest of our time to the other activities.
Of course there are always more things to accomplish, and there is room for improvement in efficiency and skill. However, all this comes from trial and error. The truly great thing about growing up throughout these four years at CMC is becoming confident in committing to our passions and making time for what is important to us.

By: Sharon Chiang

Writing about Writing for Berger: A Meta Post

This semester, I started writing for the Berger Institute. As someone who has always enjoyed writing and is also well-associated with the values of Berger, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to strengthen my passion while giving back to the Berger Institute. When perusing through old posts on the Berger website, I realized though many people have written about experiences they’ve had and what they’ve learned while at CMC. However, none of the posts touch upon what they’ve learned from writing for Berger.

What I’ve learned from writing for Berger this semester is to have a more thoughtful outlook on everyday events. Having a sense of responsibility to write for the Institute puts me in a more mindful perspective, as I look at my daily life through a new lens of curiosity and focus. Though Claremont is a quaint city with beautiful scenery and warm people, it is easy to overlook its charm after nearly four years of being here. However, being in the position of a writer makes me think critically and reflect on seemingly average daily events.

For instance, going to an Ath talk is a great experience, but can easily go over your head if there is no further conversation about it. However, being able to think of which angle to take when writing the post gives me more clarity on the motivations of the speaker and the deeper meaning behind each talk.

The reflections have made me gain an appreciation and mindfulness that makes me cherish the last semester of being in college even more. In turn, that has made me more eager to take advantage of opportunities presented here. I am thankful to have had this opportunity to work with the Berger Institute before graduating in May.

By: Sharon Chiang

Myers-Briggs: How Useful is it Really?

Sometimes in my free time, I enjoy reading articles written on Thought Catalog. Thought Catalog, like other blog sites, hosts a variety of writers as they share their take on the world. A recent trend I have discovered is the constant mention of Myers-Briggs as a topic of interest. “What Each Personality Type Does in Order to Avoiding Breaking up with You,” “How to Approach a Conversation with each Myers-Briggs Personality Type,” “The Myers-Briggs Personality Types when Something goes Wrong.”

The Myers-Briggs is a test that assigns a result from your answers to 1 of 16 personality types. The questions usually ask how you would behave in a scenario or how you perceive a situation. There are four different traits that are accounted for and two variations within each trait. An individual can either be: extroverted or introverted, intuitive or sensing, feeling or thinking, and judging and prospecting.

Despite the commotion around the test, how effective is it really? If one wants to use the test to determine all the tendencies and preferences of an individual purely based on which one of the 16 personality types they were assigned to, then it would not be considered as successful. Each of the four traits of the Myers-Briggs is a spectrum, from one variation to the other. Two ENTJs will usually differ; perhaps one is 95% extroverted while the other is only 51%. Additionally, many people forget to consider that people are fluid, and personality types can differ throughout time or even with different specifications and questions in the test.

However, if the Myers-Briggs is used as a supplementary tool to better understand that people behave and respond to events differently, then it can be an effective way to teach empathy. The concept of empathy is to consider the viewpoints of others, despite not being able to experience the same feelings. I do believe that the effectiveness of the Myers-Briggs test is overhyped, but it does not take away from the fact that the test has value in helping people better understand how to work with others.

What do you think? Comment below if you have any thoughts to share.

By: Sharon Chiang

Storytelling: Not Just for Children

Some of the best advice I have received is from my dear mentor, Sean Chai, on the importance of narrative. This was during my first informational interview with him, in which I was learning more about the company I was applying to. However, our conversation later shifted to talk about our shared passion for TED talks.

What are the elements that make a TED talk successful? Some factors include an interesting topic, a dynamic speaker, and good visuals. However, it can be argued that the most important factor is the narrative and how it is told.

Storytelling is an art in that it highlights the key points of many events and creates a takeaway at the end of it. It does not dump all the information on you at once, but rather slowly builds to the “Why?” question. The satisfaction of listening to a talk, raising questions, and having them answered in the end is unparalleled.

Similar to TED talks, the Athenaeum at CMC hosts a variety of speakers hailing from impressive backgrounds. Many of the Ath talks I sign up for is because of the topic. Surprisingly, though, only a fraction of these talks are fully engaging throughout the whole duration. The key component here is the storytelling. One of my favorite Ath talks from my time at CMC is by Arthur Brooks. What I found most successful about his talk was his setup of a clear question to answer, the buildup to the answer through unique anecdotes, his charismatic use of humor, and most importantly, the questions and discussions he sparked after the talk.

Since my talk with my mentor, I’ve focused more on how to structure the narratives I tell, which has helped immensely in job interviews and also engaging in interesting conversations with peers and strangers alike. It’s been two years since I’ve been given this advice, and I have seen evidence of its effectiveness come into fruition since then.

By: Sharon Chiang

Music Mania: Music Education Impact on Children and Mentors

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During my sophomore year, I was tutoring a kid from Music Mentors of Pomona Valley, a program that gives free private music lessons to underprivileged students. My mentee was extremely vibrant and intelligent, but most importantly committed to learning a new music piece on the piano. The piece was “Payphone” by Maroon 5, a popular song at that time. Excited to teach, I found the easiest version of the song that I could and adapted it to make it easier. On the first day of my one-on-one with him, I had one of those “teachable moments.” He stared at the sheet music for a bit, and then it hit me that he did not know how to read music.

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First class of Music Mania ever

This “aha” moment led to another conversation, one I had with the head of the program. After talking, I had confirmed my suspicions that this was a common problem throughout the program. Music lessons are expensive and a privilege for people to take, but they also provide music theory background, the building blocks of learning how to play an instrument. From there, I was inspired to create a separate program on music theory education, one that would utilize a group setting to create a sense of community while teaching the subject matter.

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Executive Board of 2014-2015, Jessica Bass ’17, Nitin Kuppanda ’17, and Sharon Chiang ’17, smiles after successful class and planning

Since then, Music Mania was born and has increased by 75% from the 20 students enrolled the first year, with mentor involvement increasing by five times. Kathleen Muenzen, lead mentor of Music Mania, shared her thoughts on why she joined the organization: “I joined Music Mania because music is my passion, and I am always searching for ways to make other people as excited about it as it makes me! I am also a strong believer in early exposure to music, both because it’s great for brain development and because it is something that can bring so much joy to life.”

The success of Music Mania serves as a reminder that an idea is powerful enough to create change in a community. From my perspective, I’ve learned much about how to create effective programs that best suit the kids of the program, especially during early childhood development. In return, I hope they take away from our mission to foster a sense of confidence through group interaction and a better understanding of music theory.

By: Sharon Chiang