In 5 days, I will experience my last Dale Carnegie class, as well as celebrate my graduation.
So now what?
I have mixed feelings about the class ending. I’m thrilled to have my Monday nights back — no more driving to Novi every week and no more speeches to prepare. But at the same time, there are things I’ll miss, too.
I’ll miss all of the jokes about being young, directed at a particular student in the class — a high-schooler — because I know they come from a good place. We’ve grown to respect this person for his courage and poise, and he absolutely gives us hope for future generations.
I’ll miss the warm-up exercises before each class, because not only did they often get your heart beating a bit faster, but they also helped to jump-start the enthusiasm that flowed through each session.
I’ll miss the role-playing sessions, in which each of my classmates was asked to take on a different persona — from Tarzan to a truck-stop waitress — and leave all inhibitions at the door. It was during these sessions that I was able to witness people jump out of their comfort zone and sometimes just be plain silly.
I’ll miss hearing the stories from my classmates. So many of them have experienced more in the first half of their lives than I likely will in a lifetime. I’ll miss their candor, their openness, and their kindness.
But I know as this chapter closes, another begins. I’ll explore more later what I plan to do with all that I’ve gleaned from taking the Dale Carnegie Course through Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan, but for now, I plan to soak up the rest of the remainder of the experience, and take time to thank those who have truly left a lasting impression on me.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter.
Send to Kindle