Student’s Request for Help on Assignments from Professionals

Travis Hill @ RightThought.net — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:49:01 +0000

This post is specifically geared towards those students who ask professionals for help or information for their paper/assignment for school.

I often get requests from students who are asking for information to be included in an assignment for school. My expectations are simple: send a copy of the intent of the paper, the questions, the deadline, and the professor’s contact information to my mailing address. Unfortunately, I have only ever had one person follow through with this (and kudos to her, she will do well in this profession). I don’t know why for certain, but I have several theories and a response to it that I think is necessary for the maturing process.

1) I am probably not the only professional getting this email, so the student is sending out bulk email in hopes of getting anyone to answer his/her questions. This means they are not interested in what I have to say, they are simply wanting anyone.

2) The email is usually sent a day or two before the assignment is due, showing that the student is waiting until the last minute.

To those students, here is the reality: This is unprofessional. You are requesting information that took someone years to obtain through hard work and experience. A professional who has limited and valuable time. A professional who works with difficult issues on a daily basis. Not to mention that we have our own friends, family, hobbies, etc. that deserve our attention. And you expect them to drop all of this because you waited until the last minute and now need information urgently. A psychology/counseling professional sees time as a huge (and sometimes their only) asset and has learned to either manage it effectively, or they don’t last very long in this type of work. Please learn this lesson now why you are still a student.

But here’s another lesson: respect for others. It is disrespectful to expect a professional to give up their resources for you, when you want it, on your terms. This is unacceptable and you will likely receive a negative response (in my case, your email will simply be deleted). It also shows disrespect for yourself, because you are looking for a quick/easy way to get what you want. I’m sorry, but there are no shortcuts. Our profession demands high-quality people in it, and this is one of those qualities.

If you have read this far, then good for you, it means you are absorbing a difficult lesson that will serve you well in the future. Hopefully, it will teach you to value and manage your time better, respect boundaries, and most of all, respect yourself.

I present this as a harsh reality because I believe that it is necessary to ensure quality students for our profession, and by extension, future quality professionals.

George Kelly- Psychological Theorist

Travis Hill @ RightThought.net — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:43:55 +0000

One of the most influential psychological theorists you have probably never heard of. George Kelly, developer of Personal Construct Theory.

Read about him on Wikipedia.

The Cat Doesn’t Care… Why Should You?

Travis Hill @ RightThought.net — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:45:51 +0000

A metaphor I use in anger management is this, “If someone calls you an ass, you get angry. But if someone calls you an ass in a language you don’t know, the worst you feel is confused, because you have no idea what they’re saying. What’s changed here? The only thing that has changed is your perception.” You get angry based on what your definition of an ass is, that’s all.

The cat doesn’t care if you call it an ass… why should you.

“Keep It Simple” Desktop

Travis Hill @ RightThought.net — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:41:45 +0000

It’s Springtime, which for many people means Spring cleaning. This extends itself from our homes to our cars to our workspaces. I am a big believer that not only should we keep things simple and basic around us, but we should keep it tidy. For me, this includes the computer desktop.

I know a lot of folks who keep every file and folder right on there desktop, but I just see this as clutter. It also gives me a great glimpse into how their mind works…

I recently cleaned up my desktop (for work and home), and went with a simple Zen theme.

You can find all you need to make your own:

Yoritsuki Icons: http://vistaicons.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/yoritsuki-icons/

Bamboo wallpaper: http://missnysha.deviantart.com/

Clock and calendar: Rainmeter- http://code.google.com/p/rainmeter/ with the Enigma theme: http://lifehacker.com/5158878/enigma-desktop-20-released-adds-installer-widget-manager-and-templates

So where do I keep all of my files and applications? In the dock. Oh, you don’t see it? How about now?

I keep the dock below the screen until I need it. Yes, you can have a dock for Windows, just like a Mac. It’s called ObjectDock: http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/

Enjoy, and good luck with the Spring cleaning!

Kaizen

Travis Hill @ RightThought.net — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:02:58 +0000

Kaizen (Japanese for “improvement”, or more literally, “good change”).

Kaizen is the idea that of making small, incremental improvements. This is done to for many reasons, but mostly to prevent the large swings in progress and withdrawing that so many of us are accustomed to. Kaizen was implemented as a workforce productivity tool to help workers keep a consistent pace in the forward movement of a company. However, this concept has been carried over into personal development as well. The method has been used by Toyota, Anthony Robbins, and Six Sigma.

This idea keeps us focused, balanced, and in control of our emotions, as it prevents us from becoming to excited about progress or sad/angry over drawbacks. It prevents us from rushing into things and taking a more rational, non-attached look at problems in order to gain better perspective.

*in order to keep the idea of kaizen in my mind, I have a personal journal with the japanese kanji for kaizen on the front