Week 5

Week in Review

Monday August 7, 2017

Today is Monday and, well, you can tell because everyone is feeling those “Monday blues.” It’s the start of a new week and the countdown for our next event: Venture Capital Panel (VCP) day.

Even with the excitement and stress over our pitches, we still have to get ready for our Economics of One Unit (EOUs) test this Wednesday, and let’s not forget that every Monday we go to Toastmasters. We have all completed the “Ice Breaker” speech and most of us are into our second speech, so everyone is a bit more comfortable with their speaking capabilities.

We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but if today is a good indication, with everyone studying and practicing their pitches, it’s going to be a busy week. However, we are more than up for the challenge, for we are the “Legends of the Fall,” the class of Fall ’17.

Andres M. (a.k.a. “Sweet Empanada”)

Tuesday August 8, 2017

Today started off with going to the Health & Wellness class, at least for those of us who are enrolled in it – we got a good leg workout. We did the “Leg Matrix” and then we all finished with a stomach workout.

Then in the afternoon we went to pray-outs. It was an honor and a privilege to say farewell to three of our PEP brothers: Javen P., Wesley W. and Torrence T. It was a good afternoon indeed.

We also received some good insight and inspiration from each and every pray-out. We all hope that our brothers get out and make a difference in the world, because we are taught priceless skills in PEP, so now it’s time for these brothers to use those skills in the real world. All in all, it was a blessed day for the Legends of the Fall ’17.

Steven M. (a.k.a. “Snookie”)

Wednesday August 9, 2017

We walked in class today, looked at the overhead to see where we were supposed to sit and got adjusted accordingly.  First we put everything underneath our chairs and got ready for test time. We take a test every Wednesday over the chapter we studied the previous week. This Wednesday we tested on the “Economics of One Unit.” We have a class of 106 people, and overall we made a 76 average.

In addition, our fearless leader, Bert S., danced down the aisle to a new song, which was “Turn Down for What.” That had everybody turned up with energy. We also went over chapter six in our entrepreneurship book, which elaborated on the importance of cash flow in a business and how it’s not the same as profit.

We also learned about floating – the difference between when the money goes out and when it comes in. For example, if you deposit a check or receive an electronic transfer in payment for some good or service, you typically do not receive the money immediately. Instead there is a period of delay called “float” before it is credited to your account.

Miguel L. (a.k.a. “La La”)

Thursday August 10, 2017

Today all the brothers woke up bright and early to rehearse all of our Venture Capital Panel (VCP) pitches to one another to better prepare ourselves for Saturday’s event. We did this by setting up a mock panel that would be similar to the real thing. We each went up to the panel, one by one, and presented our speeches, while the Servant Leaders gave us positive feedback and advice on what we could say or do to give a better performance.

To our surprise we were called out to class on our scheduled day off at around 8 a.m. Everyone – and I mean everyone – was terrified that we were going to take the “names” test. We all started brushing up and asking everyone their names to make sure we had their names and spelling right. Our assumptions quickly came to a halt after about 30 minutes of test-induced fright.

We were only there to turn in our calculators that we borrowed the previous week and receive our thank you cards for the executives who are coming on Saturday. After that we went back to our dorms to help each other study for our test tomorrow. Overall it was an eventful day, but it was definitely a blessed day.

Cassidy C. (a.k.a. “Chocolate Pudding”)

Friday August 11, 2017

All the tables in the dayroom were filled with my brothers studying for our Living in the Village test. Learning financial literacy and seeing the one-sided numbers of how many people actually plan for their retirements and how many people are a burden on their family members because of their lack of planning, was a huge eye opener to us.

Legends of the Fall ’17 will not only be legends in PEP, but we will also be legends by being proactive and taking care of our responsibilities as husbands, fathers, sons, uncles and friends by being active in our communities, volunteering our services and being productive men in society. We gladly accept our roles as head of our households, while being legendary leaders in this world.

After we got called out for our weekly Friday test, most of us took the rest of the day to relax and prepare for tomorrow’s event. However, some of us are a part of the “Health & Wellness” class, which assists us in becoming balanced individuals socially, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically.

We are the 7%, so stand up Legends of the Fall ’17!

Julian R. (a.k.a. “Buzz Lightyear”)

Expressions

 “It does not matter how slow you go, so long as you never stop.”

~Confucius

We all undergo change – from age, to maturity, to appearance and so forth. Change is happening all around us. However, some people try to deny change, which is impossible. In one way or another, change is bound to happen.

Another truth we have to realize is that not everyone’s change is going to look the same, or occur at the same pace. My change is going to differ from someone else’s change. Take running for instance. If you run a mile for the first time in your life, you’ll run it somewhere between eight to ten minutes, and if you continue to run a mile every day, you’ll see minutes drop off of your time. Now consider an Olympic runner who is clearing a mile in four minutes. With every run he’s only shedding milliseconds, but does that make his change any greater or less than the beginning runner? Of course not! They’re both making progress toward their goal of success. The key is to keep pushing toward your goals, one step at a time.

Michael G. (a.k.a. “Baby Simba”)