Week 5

 

Week in Review

 

Monday October 29, 2018

We had a blast in class today. Toastmasters was really fun. We are all learning and growing progressively. Most of us were shy and completely against public speaking in the beginning, but now that we are becoming more comfortable around each other, everyone’s true colors are being revealed. The entire atmosphere inside the PEP room has changed significantly since our first Toastmaster meeting. It is no longer full of frustration, boredom and awkwardness. The newfound confidence can be seen in all of the smiles and heard in all of the laughter between those four walls. Our speeches are getting funnier by the week, and our hand gestures and movements are a lot more entertaining. Among these good times, professionalism is also thriving.

We also had a computer lab class today. We were planning to attack business strategies from a different angle, using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. It’s hilarious to watch grown men scream and shout at lifeless computers, enraged by the feeling that technology is far from their second nature. This is a learning process for us all. The use of spreadsheets, word templates, and PowerPoints will be the key to our success in most of our businesses. Although this can be nerve wracking at times, these programs will be greatly appreciated once they are mastered and put into action. So far, our journey has been surprisingly useful in more ways than one. Professionalism, a business mindset and business strategies learned here will serve as the sprouts to future businesses in the near future. At the root is our brotherhood, bound by a shared desire to redeem ourselves. PEP is setting warriors free with the tools and life lessons to take the world by storm, and that’s exactly what we plan to do. We are Redeemed ’19!

Jeffrey D. (a.k.a. “Little Chili Pepper”)

 

Tuesday October 30, 2018

There was an atmosphere of comfort in the room as class started today. We didn’t have to attend class until 12:30 pm so everyone was well rested and full of life. For the first 10 minutes of class, everyone was interacting and showing each other brotherly affection. We’ve come a long way from where we started, and it was evident that lifetime friendships have been made in the class of Redeemed ’19. The first order of business today was to celebrate the birthdays of two of our brothers. So we sang them “Happy Birthday” before we got into the education part of class.

Once our emcee began to tell us about what we were going to do, all the light-hearted joy came to an abrupt stop, because we knew that on any given Tuesday our study material was subject to testing. So we weren’t surprised when our emcee told us to face the library (every time we take a test or quiz, we are instructed to face the library). We had 12 minutes to finish our test on Chapter Four of Living in the Village. Afterwards, two of our graduate brothers lectured us on Chapters Five and Six. We learned about what steps we need to take to dispute claims and clean our credit report, how to report identity theft, what elements determine our FICO score and the importance of a will.

The next order on our agenda was to pray-out three of our brothers, including two who had already been released.  After this, we watched Art History. These lectures on Art History are definitely not the most interesting. We also had to take a pop quiz on these lectures. All together, we had a well-rounded day full of laughs, challenges, vital knowledge and, most importantly, love. Today was a true blessing from God.       

Eric D. (a.k.a. “Low Budget Romance”)

 

Wednesday October 31, 2018

At the start of today, everyone was scrambling around to grab their IDs and turn in extra credit work. The line for extra credit started at the peer educator’s desk and stretched all the way to the back of the room. After about ten minutes, all the extra credit was turned in and everyone sat down, ready to pray in. It is a ritual to show your brothers some love after a pray-in, so once the prayer was over we embraced each other with handshakes and hugs. Once we all settled, it was time for the word of the day, which is a daily devotional going into detail about how to apply the Word of God into our lives.

Then it was time for our emcee to give us our daily announcement, but first he had to go the back of the room. Every time someone wants to speak to us, that person has to dance their way to the front of the room and give us the announcement that we have been waiting for. He greeted us and then told us, “It is now test time – face the library.” We were ready for this test because every Wednesday is test day. We had 25 minutes to complete our test over Chapter Five in the entrepreneurship book. This test was a little more challenging than previous tests we’ve taken, because there was a lot info to be learned in Chapter Five. After we were through with the test, it was time for our guest volunteer to dance up from the back of the room so that he could speak to us. He gave us a detailed lecture on the importance of marketing. There were many things we learned about marketing, such as how to target customers, pricing floor, loss leader, pricing, promotion and a sales management system. Once that was over, it was time for our weekly “issues and tissues,” where we can challenge our test answers that were marked as incorrect. After praying-out, we called it a day.

Clayton D. (a.k.a. “Dandelion”)

 

Thursday November 01, 2018

Today was a great day overall. We started off the day with computer class at 7 a.m. We are working on vital skills that will be of great assistance to us all as we learn to work with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. All these skills can be used in the near future, whether for personal reasons or to help us gain employment. Collectively, we all think Excel is the most difficult to master but also one of the most functional. We also completed a letter to our advisors, thanking them for their support and active involvement in helping us complete our business plans.

Once computer class was over, we all went back to our respective living areas. There we worked on assignments that further developed our business idea and plan. We also got into groups to practice our business pitches. We have to practice them every day until our event on November 10th. It is vital that we memorize and work on our delivery so that we can do our very best in front of the executives who will be at our for Venture Capital Pitch (VCP) event. We all are also studying for the next week’s entrepreneurship test on Chapter 11. Each week, we need to be ready and well-versed on the previous chapter on entrepreneurship. For example, this past week we learned about mission statements and those who are key in the development of a firm. All of this is meant to develop our business minds and make us better businessmen. We don’t only focus on business however. The most important part of this program is personal development and improvement of our character. All of us are not only becoming better businessmen but also better human beings.

Samuel D. (a.k.a. “Mary Poppins”)

 

Expressions

Because I work so hard throughout the week, I can’t put words together to express how overwhelming it is to see the weekend approaching. I can say that Friday is like a holiday, because the whole world is looking forward to this day. Most of all, if you were to think about your children, how do you suppose they would feel about Friday? I’ll answer that: they’d feel relief because there’s no school. Also, they won’t have to wake up early in the morning for classes – or better yet, the school bus – for a couple of days. If you’re a working parent, you feel that same relief because you have the option of sleeping in bed for the rest of the day. Then there are the teachers who work so hard during the week. I’m pretty sure they love Fridays. I can name a couple of reasons why: 1. Let’s just say no loud noise because working with children can be loud. 2. Avoiding a lot of sickness because the common cold is something young children tend to carry around often. I also can say our children enjoy Fridays, maybe more than us adults, because they get to run parents up the wall. While we’re shopping, they will be off into everything because this is what they do. Fridays get everyone’s attention. The world is a better place, as long as we have our Fridays to look forward to.

Cortez E. (a.k.a. “Mini Mike Tyson”)