To Kat & Kara

Hi!!!

As you have probably deduced by now, I am your mentor! Sorry it has taken me a hot minute to reveal myself, moving home from college is kinda crazy. But the time has come, sooo here is a little blog about myself and my mentor (you G Mentor like a grandma lol). Hope you Enjoy!

About Me:

Well my name is Abbey Claes and I am a Senior in LAS. I have one brother who is also at Central in LAS which is pretty dang cool. Also, I have two very important redheads in my life who are my boyfriend Derek and my best friend Emily (who is also my mentor). As you noticed in the insta account I am from the Upper Peninsula, a town called Escanaba. Being from up north I really enjoy being outside even sometimes in the winter. My favorite things to do up here are going to the beach, hiking, kayaking, cross country skiing, and downhill skiing. However, I also love curling up on the couch and binge watching a show or movies. A few of my favorites currently are Parks & Rec, Game of Thrones, Brooklyn 99, Riverdale, and This is Us. Movies I like are To all the Boys I loved Before (my house crew this year watched it at least 30 times), any Marvel, Age of Adaline, and Say Anything (literally cried when they took it off Netflix). I am I am a big food lover, especially breakfast foods, my favorite place in Mt. Pleasant is Roz’s Diner! A few random facts about me are I love waking up early when everything is quiet and calm. Coffee is my bestest pal along with ice cream and popcorn. My favorite activity of all time is Goat Yoga, literally the best experience I have ever had. And the best fact of all is Dr. Davies and I were born in the same place which is wild. Besides food, shows, and other things I like to do here’s what I do at CMU. I am studying Communication Sciences and Disorders with plans to get my Master’s in Speech Language Pathology. My minors are in Child Development and Leadership. I work in the Office of the President which is the coolest job around. Being able to work there with such amazing people is a highlight of Central for me. Also, I am in a sorority, Circle K, Leadership Safari, and Order of Omega. You can always find me in either Warriner Hall or the Health Professions Building, I basically live in them lol.

About Emily:

Emily is my mentor, and she is the most genuine person on this earth. While she has already graduated and is in the real world she is one of the most important individuals in my life. Besides being my mentor she is also my Big in my sorority and basically my everything. She loves her dog Berklee who is the best dog in the world and will steal all scrunchies. Em is from the metro Detroit area so we still see each other when we are able too. She and I share a love for Parks and Rec and really relate to Amy and Leslie lol. If you want to check Em out her instagram account is @baierems.

So there is a little bit about the family you are joining. I am so excited to meet you both and take on CMU together in the fall. I can’t wait for all the adventures we will have like the Jonas Brothers. If you need anything over the summer let me know, I am always here for you! My number is 906-280-5647. Also, I somehow deleted the instagram account I made for you two (sorry) so if you want to text me your address and I will send you a cute little thing soon, thanks a bunch. ILY

Here are some pictures of me, what I love, and a few people who I am super close with!

LDR 200L

{Reflecting on my time in the LAS section of LDR 200}

As a member of the Leader Advancement Scholarship, we take LDR 200 the spring of our Freshman year as a cohort. Every Wednesday evening, myself, and the rest of my cohort attend a 3 hour class solely on building our leadership skills. At the beginning, I was a bit nervous about being in class for 3 hours because I do not always have the longest attention span, but LDR is not your average class and we were constantly doing activities in class. Let me share a few of the things we did or learned about in LDR 200. To learn more about some of them, I included links to other blogs that were specifically written on that topic.

Leadership Theory Workshop

All 50 people in my class were randomly assigned to groups where we were then  assigned a theory from our Leadership textbook. Mine was, the Adaptive Leadership Theory and I worked with Allie, Jake, and Blake. In general, Adaptive Leadership is about adapting to challenging situations or change as a leader and how you can do that in the best interest of your followers. For me personally, this theory was very interesting and helpful to learn about because we are constantly adapting as leaders and people. Our workshop and my findings will now help me be more of an adaptive leader who knows how to navigate tough challenges and lead an organization or group through change. This project was valuable because we were able to learn about so many different leadership theories, which will be very helpful in the long run. To learn more, click the link above.

Leadership Initiative

We took on this project at the very beginning of the semester. The class was  separated into groups of two and given themes to base our initiative off of. The theme my partner and I were given was motivation. As leaders, not only do we need to stay motivated, but we must be able to motivate others. With that in mind, Sadie and I asked all of our participants to pair up and write something motivating about one another. We did not want them to just write something nice about each other, we wanted them to dig deeper and motivate one another. Next, Sadie and I had everyone watch a motivating video about leadership. Finally, when all of the tasks were done, we debriefed and talked about how they felt about both activities and whether it was easy to get beyond saying something nice and actually achieving a level of motivation. In the words of John Maxwell, “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them”.

LAS in the D Trip

This was one of the most outstanding activities in the class. As a cohort and class we were able to spend 30 hours in Detroit learning about the city, helping the city, and touring different parts of the city. My other blog talks about this experience more in-depth but while there we went to Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, Quicken
Loans, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Outdoor Adventure Center, and Cass Community Center. With each new location came a new experience and view of the culture of Detroit. It was just an all together valuable time our cohort spent together outside of the dorms and Central. To find out more, click the link above.

Signing our Leadership Minor

For those that do not know, the Leadership minor in mostly built into our LAS protocol. Due to that, most of us decide to minor in leadership because we only have to take one extra course. One of those people is me {yay}. So as a part of our class, Jamie Brown, the Leadership Minor Academic Advisor, came into our class and talked us through details and requirements of the minor. At that time, we are able to fill out the form and sign our minor. For me it was very relieving because it was one thing I didn’t have to worry about. With my Leadership minor signed, I have now signed both minors and my intent to major!

How to Be the Best Mentor

As a Leadership Scholar, we get mentors who are in the cohort ahead of us. Then at the end of our Freshman year in LDR 200L we pick our mentees for the coming year! To prepare, we learn about being the best mentor for all of the mentees. The workshop is based on the mentees and how we can make their experience the best. Also, we talk about what we want for the mentees and how to help them through their first year in college. It was a very helpful part of LDR 200L and really made me think about my mentee and what I want for her. To learn more, click on the link above.

Blogs

As you can see, I have this lovely blog documenting my freshman year at CMU. What you may not know about it though is that this blog is a part of LDR 200L and we have specific experiences we write about to display what we have done and how it has impacted us. A large part of blogging for us is the “What, So What, Now What” outline. “What” explains just that, what did we do at this event or in that RSO (Registered Student Organization). The “So What” section includes what you learned from the experience. Finally, “Now What” is the hardest piece because it discusses what you will do because of that experience. Overall, I actually enjoyed blogging and it has become an outlet for me to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Leadership Philosophy

This part of LDR 200L is the most deeply reflective portion. All of us were put up to the task of writing a paper and blog page about our personal Leadership Philosophy. It challenged us to dig deep into our beliefs and ultimately the core values of our leadership. This paper encompasses who I am as a leader and what I believe as a leader. The paper itself is personal and delves beyond the values I hold for myself and into what I value in other leaders. Finally, it has my philosophy which {spoiler alert} has to do with empathy and being an empathetic leader. This blog and paper will be a constant reminder of who I believe I am and who I continue to become. To read more, click the link above.

{After Everything}

Summing everything up, LDR 200L was an interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable class. Not only was I able to bond with people in my cohort, but I was also able to participate in activities that led to learning, and pushed me to further develop my leadership skills. LDR 200L was a perfect way to end my freshman year in college as a student in LAS.