Speaker Reflection: Robert Carter

 

Robert Carter came to speak to our class about taking chances, gaining experiences, and connecting with others last Monday. The primary idea the speaker introduced was “riding the elephant” which was a reference to one of his childhood experiences. It basically was a new analogy to the well-known idea of going out of your comfort zone. I don’t think any new viewpoints were taken but the approach the speaker took was different due to the unique circumstance of the speaker being blind. The speaker didn’t really teach anything new but he reemphasized a lot of key life lessons which included being thankful for what you have, taking chances, and connecting with others.

            The idea of taking risks and getting out of our comfort zones is incredibly valuable to business majors. We need to learn to overcome our fears and doubts to be able to present ourselves confidently and professionally. Since I naturally tend to avoid things out of my comfort zone, his words relate to me particularly since he might influence me to change that. Since his presentation was concise and to the point, I agreed with everything he had to say. He may have further developed his idea with more examples but ultimately his presentation was strong enough as it is. I learned that I need to be more open to experiences that may initially seem strange.

            I plan to get out of my comfort zone more frequently and work hard to improve human connection and trying my best and trying to figure out any issues. A habit I might change is disregarding anything I don’t initially agree with and give everything a chance. I also might stop complaining about the little things that really aren’t worth complaining about. These are all practical ways to apply everything I learned from Mr. Robert Carter.