What Is Your Story?
In life we learn through experience. One of the ways that we learn is through the stories and the advice of others. I can remember when I was a young man riding in the car with my father. It was my senior year of high school and I was really up in the air about what direction to go. I had always wanted to be in the military, but I was also tracking to play baseball in college. On this car ride I asked my dad for advice. To this day that conversation was one of the most important talks I have ever had. See, my dad had been there and done that in my eyes. He was an expert. He had gone to college at OU and was initially in Navy ROTC. He never made it into the military because of medical reasons. He had coached me throughout my early baseball career and was there for me as a supporting parent. In life he had a few lessons learned that he had wished he could have changed.
See, my dad had been there and done that in my eyes. He was an expert.
The Conversation
My dad told me that he had wished he would have finished college. The 1960’s were different times. My dad met my mom and they were married shortly after. A year and a half after being married they had my older brother. The priority became making money and supporting a family so he stopped going to college. In these times a college education was not as important as it is today or in 1990. My dad also wished he would have had the opportunity to continue in ROTC. What he did impress upon me that night was going to college first and then joining the military. The last thing that he said to me that night was “You have worked so hard in sports your entire life that if you do not go to school and give it a try you will regret it the rest of your life.” I would always wonder about the ‘What if?’
The Future
I listened to my dad. I listed to his story and gained from life experiences and lessons learned. Our conversation shaped my life. I went to college and I played baseball at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I also was lucky enough to become an Officer in the United States Marine Corps and serve my country in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Becoming a pilot in the Marine Corps has allowed me to become a Helicopter Air Ambulance pilot today. This one conversation helped me shape the person that I am today.
Convene First Responders- The Difference Maker
Convene is a difference maker. We all have stories and I listen to them each and everyday when I work. I listen to the med crews turnover to the oncoming crews and I recognize that they are sharing their experiences, as they discuss together the previous shift both crews are learning. Some of these experiences and lessons learned are as important as any story that can ever be told. These stories may give you the key piece of information that may one day help you save a life. The problem is that these stories may only be passed to a small group of people, (the oncoming crew – perhaps a manager).
What if these stories could be spread throughout your entire organization or even better across the world.
The answer is here- Convene Communities offers you that solution by providing a Shared Learning Community that allows you to share your stories.
Your Story May Save a Life. Become part of Convene First Responders.