Rachel's Masterful Journey

I've started prepping for my first class starting in June, "Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership". The summary explains that we will be learning about the difference between just learning about different subjects, and instead truly digging down specifically into one area of expertise; immersing yourself in it, absorbing what you can from experts in the field, and ruminating on the outcomes until you can come up with your own personal perspective on the subject and how you can start to become a master in your own right.

I've started reading the course material, "Mastery" by Robert Greene. I've completed the introduction (a long one) and I'm intrigued by his ideas on the evolution of man. He believe that one of man's greatest tools for advancement was not standing upright or opposable thumbs (although they helped); but the capacity to be able to take time to observe and learn to change the outcomes of the world around us.

He states that while raw talent is definitely an advantage, it is by no means the only way that people can achieve a level of mastery or a subject. Even an "average" person can excel in their chosen field or talent if they take the time to really study and understand the subject. With enough time and practice, anyone can rewire their brains to fully grasp an area of study.

But if you depend on "God given talent" to pull you through alone, you are likely to be disappointed on the distance it will take you. He uses Charles Darwin as an example of a man who had a natural talent and curiosity for biology - but only became the influence he is to this day due to the dedication and time spent focusing on his subjects.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of usable advice I'll be able to get out of this text. Granted, I'm only on the introduction - but I read a lot and several books similar to these give you a hopeful first impression, only to leave you with a "just really work hard and you can do it!" final message that falls flat.

This month has been an interesting start to my new experience perusing my Masters Degree at Full Sail University. I have some rare insight into the school since my husband has worked there for the last 14 years. Even though I have lots of television, media, design, PR, and promotion experience in the past - I didn't attend FS for my Bachelors degree. Way, way back in 2000 I graduated from a small university in South Dakota with a Mass Communications BS and an interest in all things media related.

I have had a lot of previous experience as a promotional video editor for both an NBC station and for Fox Sports, but I've also enjoyed several other positions in the public relations/event planning/volunteer management world.

I discovered while working at the Girl Scouts, I could use my previous experience to enrich the trainings and recruitment events that I was hosting. Promoting the Magic or the Heat can be surprisingly similar to promoting Girl Scout events or membership pushes.

After COVID hit this last year, I found myself not working (you can't go classroom to classroom to present about Girl Scouts when all the schools are shut down) and helping my two kids acclimate themselves to online classes. I saw the videos and lessons presented to them and was amazed to see how interactive and productive they were. My mind ran through a 100 different ways I could have used programs like these to teach parents about the benefits of becoming active in the Girl Scouts. Our biggest hurdle has always been finding adult leadership and volunteers to keep the programs going.

As the year progressed, and everyone had to deal with their "new normal", I began to notice that things weren't going to go back 100% to the way things were. So many people and companies saw huge success with remote working and it's obvious that it isn't going to completely go away once the masks come off. And while the 500% growth of Florida Virtual School attendance will probably drop off significantly in the fall - I strongly believe that they will still maintain a much higher level of registration then they had before this crazy year.

So this spring, while contemplating where I go from here - I realized that all my particular skills combined were a fantastic mix to start looking into this rapidly growing field of Instructional Design.