Tuesday, November 20th, my time spent at the Armory is as always engaging. I spent most of my time in the Educational Center observing the Mentoring component of their program. I was overlooking the process that Derrick and the other mentors at the Armory use with the students, as they assist them through the application process. They were using the Common Application, which is informally known as the Common App. This is where the students are applying for college online, in comparasion to the past with paper applications.
There mission is to encourage the use of "holistic admission" a process that includes subjective factors from essays and recommendations alongside more objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing. The purpose of the Application is to serve students by facilitating and simplifying the college application process for those seeking admission to member institutions. The Common Application introduces the students to a broader range of institutions than they might otherwise consider, by providing immediate access to application forms and may be used as an educational tool in preparing students for the college selection and application process. The online system also allows the students to submit and track other components of their application such as supplements, payments and school forms.
I was also combining my day by assisting the Front Desk with confirming whether the schools have the necessary information to allow them to use the facility. During my time their, I was introduced to the Software system they use to print Armory ID cards for everyone, to flag any individual for a variety of reasons, as well as identifying those who need to pay their fees. The system is set up for the security staff to keep the policies and procedures in place. It also, reduces the inputting of names because their is a feature where they can go into last years roster create cards for this year. This in turn reduces the duplication of names in their system. Overall, I was intrigued with the system and how it keeps the facility organized and orderly.
On Wednesday, November 21st, I spent the day with Derrick with his speaking engagements in schools. The morning began at Adlai E. Stevenson Educational Campus - Millennium Art Academy. They had the 6th Annual Youth Conference: Yes We Can! where Derrick Adkins was the key note speaker for the morning session. Iris Witherspoon, Assistant Principal of the school opened the conference speaking to the students and one thing she said that stuck out to me was, "Everybody counts in this community". When she said this it was said on both levels, the school and their living community. I found this to be very interesting because high school students don't see themselves excelling past a certain age. The school had an dynamic and energetic athlete by the name of Iris introduce Derrick and she did a very good job. When Derrick was speaking to the students, they were very attentive and listening to what he was saying. His speech was about not giving up with every and anything you do. Also, to listen to the teachers and embrace your opportunities. At the end, he opened the floor to questions from the students for him to answer about himself. One question was , did anyone try to bring you down? Derrick's response was, yes and it was an athlete in high school. He also stated that he did not listen to them, as time went on he ran faster and faster. He answered, a few more questions and then closed out.
Afterwards, there was a breakout session for the physical education teachers and coaches, where he went into the Olympic Mentality, which is one looking at oneself from a holistic approach. This approach was taught to him when he was growing up, this was an eye opener for me because this is important approach for all to know because this will have them striving to be the best. When he closed the session with the teachers and coaches, he keeps an open door policy for any additional questions.
Derrick had two other schools to speak at on this day. I did go to the other engagements with him and his speech was the same. The differences between all of the engagements are the age of the students for the type of questions they will ask him. The students did ask some very good questions for example, how did it feel to win the Olympics? Derrick's response, he felt it was a sigh of relief for him. The reason for this was because he was going into the Olympics being number 1 and with the expectation to win from the public.
The learning experience for me increased for the day, because listening to Derrick speak I learned more about him through the questions that were asked from the students and through conversation. Some other things I learned from him were, he was nervous before running a face and he just focused on the race. He had a great support system from his family, coach and personal sponsor who was Reebok. One quote he uses, "We're all athletes, some of us compete".
In closing, Derrick is a quiet and modest individual who looks to mentor students and guide them in the right direction for their futures.
There mission is to encourage the use of "holistic admission" a process that includes subjective factors from essays and recommendations alongside more objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing. The purpose of the Application is to serve students by facilitating and simplifying the college application process for those seeking admission to member institutions. The Common Application introduces the students to a broader range of institutions than they might otherwise consider, by providing immediate access to application forms and may be used as an educational tool in preparing students for the college selection and application process. The online system also allows the students to submit and track other components of their application such as supplements, payments and school forms.
I was also combining my day by assisting the Front Desk with confirming whether the schools have the necessary information to allow them to use the facility. During my time their, I was introduced to the Software system they use to print Armory ID cards for everyone, to flag any individual for a variety of reasons, as well as identifying those who need to pay their fees. The system is set up for the security staff to keep the policies and procedures in place. It also, reduces the inputting of names because their is a feature where they can go into last years roster create cards for this year. This in turn reduces the duplication of names in their system. Overall, I was intrigued with the system and how it keeps the facility organized and orderly.
On Wednesday, November 21st, I spent the day with Derrick with his speaking engagements in schools. The morning began at Adlai E. Stevenson Educational Campus - Millennium Art Academy. They had the 6th Annual Youth Conference: Yes We Can! where Derrick Adkins was the key note speaker for the morning session. Iris Witherspoon, Assistant Principal of the school opened the conference speaking to the students and one thing she said that stuck out to me was, "Everybody counts in this community". When she said this it was said on both levels, the school and their living community. I found this to be very interesting because high school students don't see themselves excelling past a certain age. The school had an dynamic and energetic athlete by the name of Iris introduce Derrick and she did a very good job. When Derrick was speaking to the students, they were very attentive and listening to what he was saying. His speech was about not giving up with every and anything you do. Also, to listen to the teachers and embrace your opportunities. At the end, he opened the floor to questions from the students for him to answer about himself. One question was , did anyone try to bring you down? Derrick's response was, yes and it was an athlete in high school. He also stated that he did not listen to them, as time went on he ran faster and faster. He answered, a few more questions and then closed out.
Afterwards, there was a breakout session for the physical education teachers and coaches, where he went into the Olympic Mentality, which is one looking at oneself from a holistic approach. This approach was taught to him when he was growing up, this was an eye opener for me because this is important approach for all to know because this will have them striving to be the best. When he closed the session with the teachers and coaches, he keeps an open door policy for any additional questions.
Derrick had two other schools to speak at on this day. I did go to the other engagements with him and his speech was the same. The differences between all of the engagements are the age of the students for the type of questions they will ask him. The students did ask some very good questions for example, how did it feel to win the Olympics? Derrick's response, he felt it was a sigh of relief for him. The reason for this was because he was going into the Olympics being number 1 and with the expectation to win from the public.
The learning experience for me increased for the day, because listening to Derrick speak I learned more about him through the questions that were asked from the students and through conversation. Some other things I learned from him were, he was nervous before running a face and he just focused on the race. He had a great support system from his family, coach and personal sponsor who was Reebok. One quote he uses, "We're all athletes, some of us compete".
In closing, Derrick is a quiet and modest individual who looks to mentor students and guide them in the right direction for their futures.