During this month's Visionary Program Cohort 2 session, I was able to join in on an icebreaker that focused on the importance of sharing and listening. I was in a group with two others and we went around sharing stories. I had to stay silent when it was not my turn to speak. When I had to share my story that was based on a prompt about turning lemons into lemonade, however, I felt empowerment since I knew that no one was going to interrupt me. Remaining silent is difficult to do nowadays, but it allows you to closely listen to the world around you.

I was fascinated by how silent the space was when I was speaking. It felt that the other two women were listening. They were not only listening just to follow the rules of the activity as there was something more to the picture. What it meant to me, however, was worth a million words since judgment could not come into play.

The fact that judgment could not take a role in the story that I shared allowed me to interpret the given prompt in a way that was not stereotypical. I could have simply stated about the time that I made lemonade out of sour lemons. If anyone knows me, they would understand how at times I think outside the box.

Making lemons into lemonade translated into ultimately turning the good into the bad. I went off of the example that I worry about my grades up until the due date, and then my stress levels further increase even after I hand in the assignment. An added note to this is recognizing that a student looses all control once the paper is out of their hands. This is a conviction in itself. Using the word conviction in this context is beneficial since it begins with something not so good and then pursues into a change in thought. Overall, this leads into a thought of changing up actions that would result in positive outcomes.