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Psycho-Social Development & Perseverance at Wake Forest University

  • Mar 23, 2022
  • 2 min read

I had the opportunity to speak at Wake Forest University virtually to the Masters of Science in Management, Masters of Science in Business Analytics, and Masters of Accounting 2022 classes. It was truly an honor to share some words of wisdom as we all know that job searching can be daunting. I spoke about my platform #yesYOUcan and the importance of not giving up. My session consisted of a series of cognitive exercises and words of wisdom. - All forms of learning and mastery require perseverance (Duckworth et al., 2010; Ericsson, 2006). If we did not persist with our efforts to speak; walk; master a bike, new language, or instrument; or overcome anxieties or beliefs that hold us back, we would all remain stuck. It would halt our cognitive, physical, and psycho-social development. There would be no progress. Persistence – another facet of perseverance – can also be understood as a personality or temperamental trait (Cloninger, Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993). As such, it is related to effort, ambition, and perfectionism. It’s important that we never let a 30 minute interview, a competition, a job, a grade etc.. define us. Its crucial that we are persistent in our efforts to keep going because we WILL experience failure. Especially when it comes to interviewing for a job. It’s important we understand that interviews consist of a very limited amount of time of you expressing your qualities to one specific person, with a specific opinion, on that specific day. We can’t always expect people to resonate with who we are, and that’s OK. We have to remember that experiencing rejection is part of acceptance. Growth is necessary, growth requires pain, and sometimes growth requires patience. However, growth will always require you to get back up and try again. What makes you, YOU, is your ability to keep going. Speaking on the opportunities and life skills the Miss Georgia Scholarship Organization and the Miss Macon Scholarship Association have given me, brought so much joy to my heart and being able to share my journey to working for a 25 billion dollar company was amazing. My initiative is to make impact on our youth and as many young working professionals out there. It is important that we are setting up our next generation of leaders for success, and give back to the communities that shaped us.






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Tara Schiphof

Creator of #yesYOUcan

Creativity. Productivity. Vision.

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a candidate for the Miss Georgia Scholarship Organization is the voice it gives us to promote our Social Impact Initiatives to the community and help make a difference in peoples lives. 

 

I created My social impact initiative because I saw an opportunity for growth with how our youth, as well as young adults lack the development of healthy coping mechanisms involving failure. 49% of adults say that the fear of failure keeps them from success and happiness, causing increased rates of anxiety and depression. This ultimately results in kids dropping out of highschool/college and adults settling in an unfulfilling job. I was diagnosed with ADD in the first grade. I began to realize the importance of my mindset and gaining the proper skills to persevere as I was faced with challenges due to ADD. As someone who has overcome the fear of failure and achieving goals I never imagined possible, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do with my life.  As a mental health advocate I have been helping youth and young female business leaders to develop healthy coping mechanisms and gain the skills to persevere through life‘s challenges! Through in person and virtual sessions as well as a blog series,I have been able to work alongside communities, universities, and a fortune 500 company to implement my social impact initiative. Miss America has changed not only the pageantry industry but many women’s lives through scholarships and women empowerment. As a business woman hoping to become the next CMO in a male dominated field, I am very thankful for the opportunity to make impacts on such high levels. With the opportunities the Miss America Organization has given me I plan to continue to make large impacts on the communities around me and for that I am forever grateful.

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