What You Put in is What You Get Out

By Ackeem Nugent

Throughout the 2016 New York Regional Conference I learned so many new things. Hearing all of the guest speakers allowed me to reflect on my personal ambitions. It’s always an honor to meet so many individuals and get to network with my peers. When I first joined Phi Theta Kappa I was so excited to be apart of a society and I felt that I could finally be around individuals with similar interests. Overall, this weekend was really dynamic. A trending theme I observed through out the general sessions is “you get in what you put out." As Chapter President over the past months, I pushed the team hard and we worked relentlessly to balance the HIA project, College Project and remain dedicated to our members by providing leadership opportunities. I believe that if we haven’t had put in so much effort and time into what we were doing we wouldn’t have been recognized for our achievements as an officer team.

The quote “you get what you put out” was an idea that resonated with me when I heard Mike, one of our regional officers, conduct his officer reflection speech. He started off by sharing his childhood memory of how he was raised. He shared that he didn’t have many influences or mentors to look up to growing up. When Mike went to high school he wasn’t doing very well academic lay. However that all changed when he went decided to push him self and pursue a higher education. He began to inspire himself to do better and be the role model he never had. When he decided to run for regional officer he had more support by his advisors to pursue his dream to the fullest. And just hearing his story really made me reflect and formulate the idea of how much effort you put into something is the direct result of what you receive. If he had not seen the potential within himself to be better his life and change the predicted outcome for himself he would not be were he is today.

I believe this motto of what you put into something is the direct result of what you receive. When I joined the Alpha Theta Phi Chapter, I really wanted to become a better public speaker and be able to interact with different individuals. I worked really hard to make this happen. If there was a table event that needed to organized, I would do it because I wanted to challenge my self and see how far I could go. One moment when I really realized my true potential as a public speaker was when one of our special guests for our general meeting canceled the day before. I was really anxious because I had not prepared another activity as a back up plan. However I created a power point and rehearsed in my head what I was going to say for each bullet point. The presentation went so well members didn’t even notice the change ins speaker. I say all this because I discovered this saying to be true. If I work hard for something and really put my energy and passion into it, then I will see the result of my hard work eventually. I hope everyone who reads this will also see the deeper truth in this saying and know that the effort you put into something is worth your time and energy.