Speaking Up

I am working this summer for my university with the office of orientation. It's my first job and I really enjoy it. We have a great program that does a great job welcoming freshmen and their families to campus.

Recently though, fellow employees and myself are having a few issues with how the job is run. So today, I was lucky enough to give a little feedback to the director. My main qualm is that we are not given a decent amount of time for sleep.

I have to say, I am very proud of how I presented my argument. I researched my rights as a university employee, my rights as an Indiana worker, and how those functioned with my contract. In addition to this, I found articles from scholarly journals to support my argument for a full night's rest. After printing out all of these articles and documents, I read and reread them highlighting and annotating important passages. During my meeting, I presented this information very professionally and made my argument and the supporting evidence very clear. Hopefully my efforts made a difference.

But, even if no changes are made to the program I am still proud that I spoke up. I have a tendency to talk about the changes I want to see but I never follow through or tell the right people. Finally, I was able to speak my mind and not do it offensively to my boss.

It is so important today to stand up for what you think is right. Too often, I have just let things that truly bother me just slip by. This quote may be slightly hackneyed but I still believe in it: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." It's true, and I will try harder to live by it.

It's time to speak up for what I believe in.