What Is a Bureaucracy?
“Why do I have to take this course? I’ll never use it in the real world.” Ah, the common lament of the student. While most often heard in high school, I’ve heard various versions throughout college and into graduate school. What I’ve learned since I finished going to school is that we can never know…
Read MoreCourage Is…
Over the past few years, I’ve seen a number of writers share the etymology of the word courage. There are enough that I can’t share appropriate credit beyond saying I didn’t figure this out on my own. I was taught this. But it has resonated with me each time I read it and I want…
Read MoreHistory and Values
A Bit of History Here at the start of Black History Month, I realized something a bit embarrassing. I have no idea about the history of the month itself. I asked at the San Marcos Library if they had a flyer about it. They don’t. They try to be paperless. The helpful reference librarian said…
Read MoreTrue Leadership
For me, it’s definitional. Bullies are not leaders. That may have titles and positions of authority but that doesn’t make them leaders. Both titles and positions may give them power to abuse but that is not leadership. It’s merely coercion and abuse. I’ve taught classes and workshops on leadership for years. I’ve held leadership positions…
Read MoreMLK Day Reflections
Monday, Peter and I joined a couple hundred people from the San Marcos area at the LBJ MLK Crossroads Memorial for the start of the annual MLK walk. According to the city website, this is the only place in the United States that streets honoring these two leaders of the Civil Rights movement form an intersection.…
Read MoreThe Kindness of Strangers
I’ve always loved this line from A Streetcar Named Desire (which is also just a great title) by Tennessee Williams, “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” There are many ways to understand this line of Blanche Dubois’ and if you’re curious about them, I recommend this thread from Quora, I stumbled upon when I wanted…
Read MoreCommunity and Celebration
I think I first learned the oxymoron “mandatory fun” when I was an RA. When you work in a large organization, there can be a long list of events that might be classified as mandatory fun at this time of year. Of course, as is true of so many things, one person’s mandatory fun is…
Read More(Almost) Year End Resolutions
And suddenly, it’s the first week in December. How did that happen? Even though I’ve thought in academic years for most of my life, I still like the idea of taking time at the end of the calendar year to reflect on the months past and those to come. At the first of this year, I…
Read MoreIn Service To…
One of the messages that resonated for me during Kamala Harris’ campaign was that she has always had the same client – the people. She spoke of her work as an elected representative and her days as a prosecutor, rising to introduce herself as representing the people. While there are many differences in the work of…
Read MoreBook Potpourri
As you know, I read a blog by storyteller, grade school teacher, and author, Matthew Dicks regularly. It’s easy to read him often because he posts something every day and has for years. He says the way he can write on this schedule is because he collects ideas all the time. Amazing. I, however, only post weekly…
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