Week 9
Week in Review
Monday November 27, 2017
It’s Monday, which means it was another day in our Toastmasters class. Most of us have gotten over the nervousness of giving a speech in front of an audience. In Toastmasters we are required to give 10 speeches. Most of us are on speech five or six. The content and quality of speeches have greatly improved since our first speech. We are all becoming more confident and comfortable standing before our peers and delivering speeches.
We had a wonderful meal last week. The cooks did a great job preparing our Thanksgiving dinner. This year we had smoked turkey legs, fried chicken, green bean casserole, corn bread dressing, yams, cranberry sauce, rolls, cheesecake with caramel sauce and peach cobbler. We were all quite pleased with the food, especially the cheesecake! On Friday, December 1, we will have our Excellence in Etiquette event. Tables will be set up in a formal dining style, and all of the PEP participants and executives will sit down together to dine. The purpose of this event is to teach us proper dining etiquette so that we are equipped to carry ourselves properly while dining with business associates.
We are all looking forward to spending the day with the executives. Every time they grace us with their presence, we have a great time. But it’s not just about the fun we have – they are also very helpful to us with our business ideas and business plans. The executives help us shape our ideas into a practical business plan. And for that we are grateful. We would like to let you all know, family and friends, that we love you and appreciate your love and support, which keeps us motivated.
Jason M. (a.k.a. “Baby Huey”)
Tuesday November 28, 2017
Today my classmates and I were surprised with a pop quiz at the very start of class on Chapter 6 in our entrepreneurship textbook. We are a very tightknit group – we both play and study together, so I’m sure everyone did very well. After we took the test, it was time to celebrate.
Several of our classmates have been blessed to be granted parole. We had to let them know how proud we are of them and wish them much success after their release. Timothy S. made parole after eighteen years; his pray-out was really good. We celebrate all accomplishments as a group. When one of us does well we all do good; when one of us falls short we all fall short. We have a lot of fun together, and “Fun” is one of our 10 Driving Values, so we certainly know how to have fun!
Class just kept getting better; we have Excellence in Etiquette coming up December 1, where we will be taking on the executives in a friendly game of Jeopardy, etiquette style. To get us ready we played a mock game against each other that got pretty competitive, and the stakes were very high: the losers would have to endure the Wheel of Doom. We had a lot of fun. A lot of pressure is being put on us not to lose the Jeopardy game to the executives, as no class has ever lost before.
All in all, it was a very productive day. We had fun and learned a lot. More importantly, another day done means it’s another day closer to going home to be with our families.
Steven M. (a.k.a. “Cleveland Brown”)
Wednesday November 29, 2017
Today was another day to give thanks and to give God all the honor and praise. Some of us were in the computer lab at 6 a.m. The excitement of possibly receiving a letter and helpful information for our business plans from our business advisors is overwhelming. Most of us who didn’t have computer lab today studied and prepared to take our chapter six test out of our entrepreneurship book. It has become a habit to check on one another, to encourage our brothers to perform to the best of their abilities and to exchange knowledge with each another. This is our brotherhood – we have established a bond and we build on it each and every day.
Sometime after noon, Kevin called us out to the PEP room. It was test time, which is a time that some of us dread, some of us look forward to, but we all want to get over with. After the test, everyone was expecting to see Bert S., but to our surprise, we had a guest speaker. Mr. Jimmy W. arrived out to enlighten us on the contents of Chapter Seven from our entrepreneurship textbook. We enjoyed Jimmy’s teaching style because it was short, sweet and straight to the point. We thank him for his time and support, and we look forward to seeing him Friday at our Excellence in Etiquette event. We finished class with “issues and tissues.” As we left the PEP room and concluded our day, there was an excitement in the air because tomorrow we will finally get to meet Mrs. Colleen R. Until then, may God bless you all.
Byron M. (a.k.a. “Professor Klump”)
Thursday November 30, 2017
Today we were able to meet and learn from Mrs. Colleen R., author of the book Be on Your Best Business Behavior. We learned several things, with one of the most important being how to act properly in a business setting. Another was how to be properly groomed and dressed, and we also went over how to receive and present a business card. During her presentation we were very attentive, asking questions about proper etiquette and dress wear for different settings. She also taught us how to set a table for a dinner or business meeting, as well as where people can be seated so that they won’t be offended or so people could properly get acquainted. It was a very good learning experience for us, since most of us are not aware of any of these things.
Many of us started asking questions when she was explaining the H.O.W. technique for when to introduce people to one another. The way to introduce people is Higher, Older and Women, in that order; of course one of the most difficult questions asked was about how to properly tie a tie. She showed us a method on how to “snoop and loop and tuck” to get a nice look and make sure that you let the tie fall at your belt buckle to be presentable. Through the course of the day, we all enjoyed Mrs. R’s time and her expertise. She shared with us several personal situations to help us grasp what she was saying. Overall, today was a great learning experience, and we are looking forward to our event tomorrow. Today was definitely another great Thursday.
William M. (a.k.a. “Nikki Minaj”)
Expressions
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
~ II Corinthians 4:7-9
As I sit back and let this pen do the talking, I want to thank God for this time to be able to express what these valuable words mean to me. You see, I am one that has been hard pressed or afflicted from all sides, perplexed, persecuted and time and time again have been struck down; but I also know that I am not done in these respects, that I am one of more than I can count of those who have tasted the same or worse. What helps me is knowing that we fight this together; we are not crushed, not in despair, never forsaken and still we stand, undestroyed; not letting situations and circumstances affect us; unaffected by external shots fired at us by the evil one with internal strength, hope, love and faith; knowing that it’s not the situations or circumstances that define us but what we do with them that defines us.
For our light affliction which is but for a moment (temporary) is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things with are seen but at the things that are not seen, because everything that we can see, such as (everything our eyes touch) is only temporary and won’t last, but faith, hope, and love are three of the things that will last forever, and those are more valuable than anything.
Jonathan M. (a.k.a. “Energizer Bunny”)