A Letter to Students, Fall 2020
You Will Make Your Own Stories
You keep hearing the word unprecedented, right?
Mt. Helena, Helena, Montana 2020
For some reason, it seems to be coming with negative connotations.
What if, instead of thinking
2020 happened to me
you decide
2020 happened for me.
This is your time, friends.
Unprecedented doesn’t mean bad. It means unique.
It means no one has faced what we are facing right now, in the way that we are facing it.
What does this mean for you?
It means you get to create this year of school, whether it’s your freshman year or senior year of high school or college, or any other year in your education.
Your parents are grieving what they see as your loss, all the wonderful things they experienced as seniors.(Many of them won’t tell you that prom sucked, that graduation was boring and they slept through it, or that while there were fond memories of high school, the far more meaningful memories and stories came after those years.)
They are grieving things that haven’t happened yet. They are projecting their grief onto you.
It’s understandable because, as parents, it’s all we know. We don’t want to see you miss out on anything!
But what if we reframe this entire discussion to determine what CAN happen instead of focusing on what won’t happen.
What does that mean?
It means that you have a choice and an opportunity to create new traditions, new ways of doing things, new ways of addressing the issues our communities are currently facing.
You will not follow a traditional path. You already knew that. You’ve seen data coming from our economic and business experts, you know we’re facing a bigger and bigger gig economy, fewer traditional university and college education paths, and a majority of future jobs that we cannot even begin to imagine – all within the next 5 to 10 years.
So why not start RIGHT NOW with a non-traditional path?
Imagine yourself standing at the doorway of an institution, a school, your home, work. Imagine you are looking out at an open field with a few well-worn paths; the majority of what’s in front of you is wide open. (There’s a reason they call Montana Big Sky Country.)
You see a stunning, snow-capped mountain in the distance. You are tempted to step out of that institution, knowing going back means standing still while the world around you changes. You look out at the meadow full of giant boulders, yellow, red, and blue wildflowers, tall grasses, and very few footprints. You know there’s adventure ahead, and it makes your heart pound. You begin to smile, the corners of your mouth moving up, your eyes crinkling at the edges. There is company to be found in the wild, and you see someone in the distance that is taking an interesting journey ahead of you. You decide to head in that direction. You’re not committing to anything but leaving the institution, which you’re prepared to do.
Take the step. You have a role in your future, in the future of your community.
Our global communities are changing dramatically, and you are on the edge of that change. It’s not easy, and it feels like a huge responsibility.
You are up to it, friends.
You were born in a time of revolution in many ways, and your growing up environment prepared you for this moment. Truly.
You were raised with digital devices in your hands and learned quickly how they can get ugly. You watched your older siblings and parents become addicted to their phones, distracted from you, and many of you made the choice NOT to follow that path.
You cut your teeth on video games that actually created neural pathways to improve your hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Your schooling stayed traditional while you learned on your own how to connect with people all over the world, build communities around pictures, hobbies, and silly video production.
You can handle this. You WILL handle this with grace and innovation.
Stop grieving a future that never existed.
You were born for this time. Make it count.
If you are feeling like you’re standing at that doorway, but aren’t sure where to begin, send me a message. I’m offering a handful of Introduction to Strengths workshops for students. This might just be the tool you need to develop some clarity about what you do instinctively, intuitively well, and start being intentional about using those natural talents in your future.
Sarah Elkins loves to guide individuals and teams to improve communication, using storytelling as the foundation of her work. She is a Gallup certified Strengths coach and uses that tool to coach her clients to improve their communication in all relationships, and to find more satisfaction at work and at home.
Her book, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will is available on bookshop.org (supporting independent booksellers), and on Amazon. The audiobook will be available in fall 2020.
Episode 75: Does Anyone Really "Fit in"? How Stories Help You Find Your Community
Born in France to an American father and a German mother, Christine Homolko spent most of her childhood being shy and introverted. When her father decided to move back to the United States, she and her sister chose to move with him to a town just outside of Boston. She started her senior year of high school in a completely new environment, and realized she had an opportunity to reinvent herself in a place where no-one knew her or her history.
Fitting In Is Not the Same as Feeling Connected
Born in France to an American father and a German mother, Christine Homolko spent most of her childhood being shy and introverted. When her father decided to move back to the United States, she and her sister chose to move with him to a town just outside of Boston. She started her senior year of high school in a completely new environment, and realized she had an opportunity to reinvent herself in a place where no-one knew her or her history.
She decided that what she wanted was to step up and step out, and be a person who was brave and curious. She took that opportunity seriously, and pushed herself out of her shell.
It’s not surprising that she never felt like she really “fit in,” especially because most of the students in her class had grown up together from early childhood, kindergarten, 1st grade, etc.
That feeling of not fitting in continues to stick with her; she’s finding ways to create a community where she may not “fit in,” but she certainly finds belonging and support.
Sarah’s crest, created by Christine Homolko
Christine is an organizer by nature, and she’s using her skills in her current job and finding great success leading a communications team at the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust. Her passion is art, and her illustrations are perfect demonstrations of the combination of her business experience and her love for drawing and sharing complex concepts through her art. She absolutely finds herself in flow when she’s creating art; she also finds a real sense of purpose when she helps other people break out of their shell through her coaching, whether they’re stuck in a career they don’t like or need help overcoming life’s challenges.
Connect with Christine on LinkedIn to learn more about her talents and to follow her work, and visit her website to learn more about her extraordinary talents.
During our conversation, I mentioned a TedX that had great impact on me. Here’s the video: