Discovering and Using Your Gifts and Talents in College: Dr. Shandra and Dr. Dar

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:01:38]:
Hey. Welcome back to the Academic Survival podcast. Today, Dr. Dar and I are diving into what it really means to know your gifts and talents. Why it matters, how to spot what makes you stand out, and how to actually use those strengths in college and beyond. If you've ever wondered what makes you special or how to find your wow factor, you're in the right place. Let's get into it. This is the Academic Survival Podcast, and I'm your host, Dr.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:02:15]:
Shandra McDonald. Statistics show that approximately 40% of students drop out of college every year. In fact, nearly 30% drop out their first year. Well, I am on a mission to improve these stats. Welcome back to Academic survival. This is Dr. Dhar and Dr. Chandra.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:02:37]:
And today we are going to talk to you about knowing your gifts and talents.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:02:42]:
Oh, that's not an easy one. This is.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:02:48]:
I'm going to let you kick this one out. I will chime in, but this is your life right now.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:02:53]:
So. So first thing I think is, like, there's the difference between knowing, using.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:03:03]:
And.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:03:04]:
Like, figuring it out.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:03:07]:
All right, which is first? Knowing. I'm going to write this down. Knowing, using, and figuring it out.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:03:17]:
And so I think we can use this episode for knowing and using, because knowing is a lot more simpler than people realize. Using is still can be talked about, but figuring it out needs its own. It needs its own episode.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:03:39]:
Okay.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:03:41]:
What I really want people to know as a Way to knowing your gifts and talents is a couple things. One, you have to believe.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:03:51]:
I'm writing these down.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:03:52]:
You have to believe. You have to believe that you have gifts and talents. Okay, so like, this is where a lot of times people believe that they don't have gifts and talents because they're comparing themselves to other people. And so you live a whole life where you see all these amazing people doing amazing things. And that is true all the time. There's around us doing something awesome for you. You talked about your, your friends getting into gifted programs.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:04:28]:
Yep.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:04:28]:
For me, I felt like I was always around talented people athletically. I was always around talented people academically, even leadership wise. Like, I never took a leadership role in college ever or high school. I never had an official position. And so that's because I really didn't believe that I was a leader. And it was other people who was like, no, like, you should be a part of these conversations. You should have a say. So what is your perspective? What is your thought? But I never just took the time to say, here's my perspective.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:05:00]:
This is what I think we should be doing.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:05:02]:
Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:05:03]:
And so your, how does it go? Your beliefs turn to your thoughts, your thoughts turn to your actions, your actions turn into your outcomes. And so if you don't believe, you will never think that you have gifts. If you don't think that you have gifts, you never act on any of your gifts. And if you never act on your gifts, you literally don't know the outcomes that you specifically like, you can only create.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:05:38]:
Okay.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:05:39]:
Right. If you do like strengths finder, there's like I want to say 20 some or 30 something strengths. And usually if you do it the assessment, you get your top five and they don't tell you your bottom 30 or your bottom 20 something. And what that really goes to let you know is that there's over 300 million different combinations. Combinations. Yeah. And so there's a 1 in 300 million chance that you will have the same combination.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:06:12]:
Really?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:06:13]:
As somebody else special.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:06:16]:
I'm that special.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:06:17]:
You are that special. And that's where people don't get like, as a student or even a young professional, there are certain things that you just do when it's like flow. Like it feels like minutes went by, but it's been hours. And so for me, like, I knew in a lot of ways that I was like a type of person that always went hard. Like, I just, I'm a maximizer. That's my top. That's actually my number one strength. And so I didn't know this in.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:06:51]:
In high school. I didn't know this in college. I just knew that when I dedicated myself to something, I'm gonna give everything, okay? And so, like, when I played sports, like, I never was super athletic. I was never really gifted like that. But if somebody was the line across from me in football and took a playoff, I'm gonna make you look foolish. I'll make you look. Because I don't have only have one speed. It's not no rest.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:07:22]:
It's all, go, go, go, go hard right, okay? Or let's say, for example, if I was planning an event, I'm always thinking about, how do we take this event to the next level, even if it's already great? It's like, yo, we got to add a mountain and put some snow on it so that people can sled in the middle of the gym, right? And they can slide right outside into the parking lot. And then you're like, extravaganza, right? Like, just that guy, like, always had wild ideas to take it up a notch. And so for students, you gotta know that you got something that adds a wow factor, okay, to whatever it is that you're involved in. You have something.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:08:11]:
Everybody has a wow factor.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:08:13]:
Everybody.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:08:13]:
How do students know what their wow factor is?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:08:17]:
So there's a couple things. First and foremost, I think is wherever you feel like you have the most confidence in yourself. And so, like, for me, I never lack confidence standing in front of people. That would never be the thing that people be like, oh, my God, you look like you were so nervous. Never. And I think part of that is training. Part of that is life experience. Part of that is, like, knowing that, like, I've always been in positions where I had to stand in front of people.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:08:46]:
When I think about my speaking career, my teaching career, even if I'm feeling nervous, people don't see it. And it's because my confidence is always coming to play. And so always knew that I need to be working with people. I always knew that I needed to have some kind of major that's social in nature or some kind of career that was social in nature. Because working with people is something that I can totally do. Having conversations with people is something that I can do easily. I wouldn't say that I'm, like, the most friendliest person, but I will say that I'm. I can understand context for any conversation.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:09:24]:
Okay?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:09:25]:
And so for students, where do you feel the most confidence in yourself? What do you feel like? I know what is expected of me, and I know how to deliver on that. Right. And so usually we make confidence very complex, but really confidence is just knowing what is expected of you and really practice. And so where have you really spent time where you knew what people wanted to make this a great experience or knew what people wanted from you to make them have a great experience, and then where have you practiced?

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:09:56]:
So how does a student get to that, though? So I think back to when I was in college, and I probably would have thought, I don't know what my strengths are or my gifts or my talents. You know, I didn't get to school on an athletic scholarship, so I just figured, well, I'm not going to be an athlete when I get to college. I was more in tuned with what I didn't like, more in tuned with what I wasn't good at, or at least what I thought I wasn't good at. Can you be wrong about that or is that helpful in any way in getting to where you know what your strengths, certain talents are, or should you be relying strictly on assessments to assist you?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:10:38]:
Yeah. So no and yes.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:10:42]:
Well, that's helpful.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:10:44]:
So. So this is why I say no. We never get to what we like by focusing on what we don't like. You're seeing yourself in a deficit, and that can lead to depression, that can lead to anxiety, frustration, confusion. Think about it like this. Have you ever asked a person what do they want for dinner? And then they say, I don't know, what do you want? And then you say, oh, well, I got a taste for this. And they're like, no, no, what about this?

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:11:17]:
No, but what do you want? I don't know. Right. And then it's like, okay, well, then I'm just gonna go get this, let you figure out what you want.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:11:33]:
It becomes a distant conversation. That doesn't build relationship. That doesn't help you connect deeper. And it's really because you don't know what you want. And somebody can't give you what you want based on what you don't want.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:11:45]:
If that makes sense, that makes total sense.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:11:48]:
And so now you have to literally spend some time reflecting on what makes you great. You can't focus on what makes other people great. All right, again, you send yourself into a deficit thinking. You send yourself into a deficit mindset. You looking at yourself as a person who doesn't have the value of whoever you're comparing yourself to.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:12:10]:
So what makes you great?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:12:13]:
Yes. Like you can take a roundabout way of checking off all the types of food that you will not eat to, then eventually Be like, this is what.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:12:26]:
I want longer, right? That's the long list. What you don't want is the longer list. Let's get to the short list.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:12:32]:
Takes time.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:12:33]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:12:33]:
Yeah, it takes so much time. And so I prefer to focus in on what do you want, what do you like, what do you feel like pulls out the most in you. Your greatness, your. The flow, the energy, what makes you happy. That's how you know it's for you. We got to keep it simple. Does this, whatever it is that I'm doing, make me smile? I cannot remember a criminal justice class. I cannot remember one class.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:13:09]:
Oh, my gosh. You know what this reminds me of? There's this show on Netflix called Tidying Up. Tidying Up. And the lady talks about. I think her name is Marie Kondo, and she talks about what sparks joy. So when you're cleaning out a space, take everything out. So if you want to clean out your closet and you want to organize your closet, take everything out of your closet. So let's start with a blank slate and then picking up one item at a time and looking at it, does it spark joy? If it doesn't spark joy, it doesn't go in the closet.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:13:42]:
So does it spark joy? And if it doesn't, you thank it. You know, thank you for your service. Thank you for the time that you have brought to my life up till now. But you know, it's over. And then you set that aside. You're not keeping that. You only bring back what sparks joy only.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:14:03]:
It can be very complicated for people who only focus on what they hate, what they dislike. And that is a mindset shift that you have to focus in on if you want to find purpose, because you don't find purpose out of things that you disdain, things that you don't feel connected to. And we're talking about academic survival, right? So, yeah, you can get a degree, but the competition has a degree. Internship has shadow, got networks, been to conferences, has flew across the country with faculty, has connected with professionals across the country. Right. Since the emails, finds the research, you don't want to be the person that has done the bare minimum when you're trying to thrive in an academic setting or a professional field. And so that's what I learned about myself, is that criminal justice allowed me to do the bare minimum to get the degree. And I.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:15:01]:
And I took that route. And this is why I didn't find no purpose in it. But the thing that I was doing, the spaces that I was already leading in, I had a lot of purpose in. And I wanted to see people be great. And it's so crazy because. So I talk about being a maximizer. In order for me to fully be okay with myself, I had to also maximize my own life. I couldn't just be a master's level professional.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:15:31]:
I had to be a doctor. I couldn't just be a staff member in a college. I had to be a faculty member. I had to maximize my own career to fully actualize my own confidence in myself as well.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:15:44]:
Okay.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:15:45]:
And so I'm not just talking about this from a lens of like, oh, this is what you got to do. I was a whole PhD student. Didn't believe in myself. I was already a faculty member. But since I didn't have a doctorate degree, I didn't go to graduations for students that I graduated. Right. That literally finished my program. I was too, in my own head because I'm like, oh, well, I'm not a doctor.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:16:10]:
Ah, the regalia.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:16:14]:
The regalia. I was going to have a flat top master's hat. And I was just like, they don't want to take pictures with me looking like that. Like, they probably not even proud of that. And then they will send me messages after graduation, being like, I thought I would see you there. And I'm just like, I'm too ashamed to tell you that I'm literally suffering from imposter syndrome. So this is where we have to also see our strengths. Because if we are not applying our strengths to our own lives.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:16:49]:
Mm. We really can't fully actualize because we don't see it operating in our own selves.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:16:55]:
Yeah. So when I was speaking about what sparks joy, I want to make sure I bring some balance to that, because there are going to be things in life that don't spark joy. That's not fun. And if you were given the option to bring it back in or. Or not, or to leave it out, you'd be like, no, I'm a pass on that. There has to be balance. You know, not everything in life is going to spark joy. There are going to be some times where you just kind of have to buckle down and do the thing that doesn't bring you joy because of the.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:17:29]:
Of the joy, as the scripture says, like, as a. The joy that was set before. Like, you have to endure the pain of the cross. Right. But there's a joy that is set before you, so, you know, it's balanced.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:17:43]:
Yeah. And, you know, you made me think of something that I wanted to bring up as well. Do it. Afraid. Do it nervous, do it scared, do it confused, do it frustrated. And that's how you know it's for you. Because what I feel like. Inky Johnson talks about this a lot, is.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:18:01]:
Is not. And I mean, even you can even take this back to mlk, Right. It's not in the comfort that you find in build character. Right. It's in discomfort. Are you still committed when you're uncomfortable to something? Right. Are you still showing up as your best? Are you still giving 100%? You know, ET says 120, right. Are you still going above and beyond? Even when you don't feel like you got it for yourself, do you still provide it for others? And that's another space to know that it's a strength.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:18:32]:
Because when you're strong, you're able to not only hold up yourself, but you're able to hold up others. Right.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:18:38]:
Mm.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:18:38]:
And so strengths allow you to do that with others. It's not something that operates in isolation. When I think about strengths, when we look at the communities that we are in, when we look at the people that want to be around us, when we look at the people who value us, the people who respect us, the people who want to see us be successful, they always see us through a lens of our strengths. And so they want you to be amazing. They want you to cc. They want you to grow. They want you to have the promotion, they want you to get the raise because they know that you deserve it.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:19:10]:
What do you think about the role that other people play in helping you identify what your strengths are? Do you see that happening?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:19:17]:
It's critical. It's critical we can look at ourselves and say, this is what we're good at. But is that as valuable as somebody else saying, this is what you're good at? Yeah, I know athletes and rappers and musicians, they oftentimes do this. I'm the best. I'm the best ever. Right. I'm the best ever. I believe in myself.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:19:35]:
And it's a thing that you have to do to show that you are amping yourself up, that you believe in yourself, that you have competence. But it's another thing for somebody else to say, you're the best athlete ever. It's another thing to say, oh, you're the best musician ever. That's a whole different.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:19:52]:
Right, right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:19:54]:
And so it's coming from, I don't necessarily have to be your competition, or if I am your competition, that makes it even more valuable that a person said, you're one of the greatest.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:20:05]:
What would you recommend for college student what would be the top three things that they can do to help them identify what their strengths are, what their talents are?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:20:16]:
So now we're getting into how to figure it out, right? And I'm not using it, because now we're moving past using it, right? And we're moving into how to figure it out. And so you gotta use your community and ask them, literally, like, the people who know you. Well, some of the people that know you. Okay. Associates even work as well. People who are definitely friends, family, for sure. Ask them, what do you think I'm good at? What am I known for? If I can help you do one thing and one thing only, what would that one thing be? And if you can ask those questions to get some insights into that. For example, if you have a friend who's like, girl, I always come to you because you always give me best advice, right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:21:05]:
You always give me some of the most sound, some of the most understanding advice. What that could mean is that you have a listening gift, right? That could also mean that you have a wisdom gift. Right? And so how do you then take that and say, all right, I got a wisdom gift. I got a listening gift. These are the different places where that can connect. So if you're good at listening, you can listen in a therapy session, but you can also listen to music. You can also listen to audio recordings. Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:21:36]:
Be an audio engineer. You can also produce maybe something. Listening is not just about being a therapist.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:21:45]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:21:47]:
But oftentimes it's like, oh, you should go like, no. Like, it's a gift that can be used in many different ways. Or maybe you got a person who's like, I'm trying to think of another good example. All right, so maybe you're the hype man for all your friends.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:22:05]:
Mm.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:22:05]:
Right. Like, you're the person that makes people feel like they can run through a brick wall. They just gain all the confidence in themselves. Right. Maybe you have a belief gift. Maybe you have a trust gift, and that can be used in many different ways. Right? And so for belief, maybe you're a detective, because you know when people are lying, Right. You know, when people.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:22:30]:
Right. Or maybe you are an advisor for a. It could be a fund. It could be a college student, Right. Where you literally help them see that they can move themselves forward however they see possible.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:22:47]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:22:47]:
Right. Yeah. And so, you know, we talk about happiness, right? Talk about joy, talking about finding your. Using your gift. And one of the things I want to make sure I mention is that because I'm in this space again, Spirituality is a part of my work, right. There's even a spiritual leadership frameworks out there that could be used that are researched. And so for me, there is talent, there's skill, and then there's spiritual gifts, right? And so your talent is the thing that you're born with. So for me, talking to people born with that, that is something that I, even if I don't want to talk to people, people still want to come talk to me.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:23:26]:
And so that's just a part of me, right? It's an energy that I give off. And so you all have a talent, something that you're good at, that's like an energy that you give off. Right. For you, I'm assuming it's probably organization.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:23:37]:
Why do you.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:23:38]:
Management.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:23:39]:
Why do you assume that?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:23:39]:
You're just so detail oriented, which is great, because you can do you. And I'm going to just deliver on my side of the thing, right. Like, you care about processes. I care about showing up and producing. That's what I care about. I don't necessarily care about the background processes, but people should care about that, Right. Because that's important stuff. Then you have skill.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:24:07]:
And so this is the thing that you like, invest your time in. You have to put hours and hours and hours in. They talk about Steph Curry and how his practicing of his shooting became so rigorous that he practiced until he couldn't miss. It's not that he practiced until he made a whole bunch, right? It was like, no, I'll practice until. It's so normal for me to make it that when I don't make it, people are shocked. Right? So that skill that takes hours and hours and hours and hours. And then there's spiritual gifts. And how I like to explain spiritual gifts is more about.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:24:50]:
It's not for you, it's for the community. It's for the people that you're serving or a part of. If it's just serving you, if it's just helping you, if it's just for your benefit, then it's not a spiritual gift, okay? So people got to use that like, see that as important because we can get all the skill, we can get all the talent, and then nobody want to work with you.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:25:16]:
You know, it matters. It matters how you treat people. It matters how you talk to people. It matters how you make them feel.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:25:24]:
What did Mighty Angelo said? It's not what you said, it's not what you did, it's how you made people feel. Yeah, how you made or people forget what you said. People forget what you Did. But people never forget how you made them feel.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:25:36]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:25:37]:
And so your spiritual gift is the. Literally the thing that helps people see you as a value add in the community. And so people see me as a value add when I'm teaching, when I'm speaking. Because even though I use my story, I use and talk about my experiences, it's never about me.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:25:57]:
So you've got your freshman year through your senior year. How would a freshman start off with identifying what their gift is? Is it more finding where your strengths are? Are your strengths and your gifts, are they the same thing? Are we just using those terms synonymously, or are they indeed something different?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:26:15]:
Yeah, so I compare it to juggling.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:26:17]:
Okay.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:26:18]:
So, like, if you ever learn how to juggle, nobody starts with eight. Nobody starts with eight items. Right? I'm gonna try to do all eight. All at once? No, they probably start with one or two. And so I say the same thing for freshmen. Get involved in a community or two, maybe three, that you really feel like pulls the best out of you. Something that you're passionate about, something that it feels like minutes went by, but it's been hours. That's the type of stuff that you want to make sure that you're committing yourself to.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:26:50]:
Maybe if they're like you, where you're like, I can only be an athlete and a student. I can't get no job, whatever. Right. Or maybe like, like me, where it's like, I need a job or I ain't gonna be in school no more. I gotta pay for this. And so whatever it is, it's got to be a community where you feel like somebody sees you for your potential so that you can have potential to grow. Because then we will move into the sophomore year. Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:27:20]:
And as the sophomore year goes, you want to be thinking about, how do I get into a leadership role? Or how can I have some leadership responsibility? You want to definitely either be on an executive board, be supporting in an executive board, you know, be in some kind of role where you're taking responsibility for some critical activities that happens within that community, whether that's an event, whether that's some kind of initiative, even if it's just a budget.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:27:50]:
Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:27:50]:
Like, you know, what people spend their money on that's huge. Or what people spend their time doing.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:27:57]:
So your freshman year is exploring.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:27:58]:
Absolutely.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:27:59]:
Your sophomore year is okay, you've explored. Now jump in and participate, Contribute. Find the community the next year. Participate in the community at a leadership level.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:28:10]:
Yeah.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:28:11]:
All right. What about your junior year?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:28:13]:
You definitely want to be in a Leadership role. Right. Where you have some decision making power, where you understand the decision making power that you have within that community or you want to be in a role where you're connecting to people who have decision making power. Right. So internship for the marketing director or a shadowing the head of sales or interviewing a CEO, cfo, somebody that has decision making power. You want to be in the space. So it's like you can talk about, like, let's say you get that example of. Tell me about a time that you handle a conflict.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:28:54]:
Maybe you didn't yet, but maybe you saw somebody who did. Maybe you was an intern or somebody who did. And so you can talk about, yeah, I was interning for the CFO of the schools for the county. Right. And I saw them having to cut 3% of every school's budget and articulate that to every principal for the entire county. And were they mad? Right. But this is how they did it. This is some of the strategies that they use.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:29:24]:
This is on the things I thought went well. These are some of the things that I thought could have been different.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:29:29]:
But.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:29:29]:
Right. You want to show that you know how to solve problems. By the junior year, you want to be able to say, I am a problem solver at this or I understand some of the ways that we can solve this specific problem.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:29:45]:
Okay. So recapping freshman year, exploring sophomore year, exploring a community, what community do I want to get in? You know, you're. You're sampling them now, second year, you are in some type of leadership capacity. You're trying to give back. You're participating in this community. Third year, you're not just giving back and participating, but you actually have a leadership role where you are solving a problem. Because solving a problem is where you add value. Right.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:30:18]:
People will pay to get their problem solved.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:30:20]:
That's all a professional is.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:30:22]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:30:22]:
Think about it like this. If somebody comes and you say, hey, my toilet is broke, and then you call a plumber and they come to your house and they say, you're right, how to fix it? Get out of here.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:30:37]:
I called you to fix it, not to ask me how to fix it.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:30:41]:
Right. That's all a professional is, somebody who gets paid to solve specific problems. Doesn't matter what industry you're in.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:30:49]:
Okay, so then now your senior year, what should that look like?

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:30:53]:
You're reinforcing the problems that you solve at a higher level. That's the goal, at least. And so if you have seen the CFO fix the budget now, as your senior year, you should be dabbling in the software that helps CFOs fix and figure out budgets. Right. If you are in criminal justice, you should not just be shadowing and watching how to address, you know, juvenile behavior, but you should be developing initiatives, giving ideas, maybe even organizing a program that helps juveniles in probation. Right. If you're a business and you're going into maybe sales at this point, senior year, you should be selling something. Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:31:37]:
You should have a number of, like, I've sold this product this many times for this community, and it has done well in these areas, this, you know, these districts, these states, et cetera. You should have a stronger understanding of the way in which that you solve that specific problem.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:31:58]:
So your senior year is up in your game, getting some practical experience. By practical experience, I mean being able to articulate in a job interview what the situation was, what you did to solve the problem, and what was the outcome.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:32:19]:
Yep. You should be strongly connected to outcomes. And so this is where I can say 100% my senior year, I couldn't talk about how I helped anybody in juvenile justice.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:32:33]:
Right. Because you don't really have that access. Right.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:32:36]:
Had no. No experience.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:32:38]:
No.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:32:38]:
But when I did my interviews for my master's program to get into higher education student affairs, I can count how many students I've worked with over how many years, how many students I supervise, how many programs I put on, how many students showed up to my programs, how satisfied they were with those programs. Right. I can really talk about metrics. And so I was like, wow, I'm most. I'm literally a higher education professional. Didn't even know it.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:33:05]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:33:06]:
And I think there's also a flip side. So, like, let's also, like, add this other piece to it. You know, we always talk about the haters.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:33:12]:
Okay.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:33:13]:
Right. And we can conclude on this. Right. We can conclude on this. When you're operating in your strengths, people hate on you. People don't hate on you when you're not operating your strengths. And so think about it like this. You don't want your competition to not see you as competition.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:33:30]:
And so if you're not being like.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:33:33]:
If someone knock you down, then you're not a threat.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:33:37]:
Exactly. Right. You always want to be a threat. I mean, I'm not saying, like, threaten people, Right. With your gifts and talents. I'm not saying that. But when you're trying to secure an opportunity, it could be an opportunity of a lifetime. And so you got to know that if it's an opportunity of a lifetime for you, it's definitely an opportunity.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:33:58]:
Of a lifetime for somebody else. Right? And so if they look at you and they ain't worried.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:34:06]:
You'Re not in your gift.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:34:11]:
But when you operate in your gift, you might be gaining capital in ways that people are not ready for. This happened to me a lot in my career. I'm not saying that I wanted that, but oftentimes I didn't let people use me in ways that I didn't want to be used. And so that made me a threat, because I can get social capital. I can get the social capital of a vice president, and I'm just a coordinator. And so while that might not necessarily directly connect to my. How much I'm getting paid, it might not necessarily directly connect to how many policies I can change in higher education. What it can do is get people to revolt or not revolt against what a VP is saying.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:34:52]:
And they don't like that. They want to make sure that I work under them. Right. And so they want to make sure that everybody who listens to me indirectly listens to them for me when I'm operating in my gift. Right. Which is, again, being in front of people, making sure people know that this is the direction that we're going. This is what I believe in. This is what I think.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:35:11]:
This is what I care about. People buy into me. Not necessarily where I work now, certainly my role. And so you can't replicate me. You can't be me.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:35:21]:
And because like you said, there's how many different combinations of. What was that number? Was like, crazy.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:35:28]:
300 million.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:35:29]:
Yeah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:35:30]:
And so people can't be you. People can operate like you. People can see things like you see them. And when you step fully into who you were called to be, who you were born to be. Right. Your gift mix and operate in that it can be seen as dangerous. And that is a good thing for your development.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:35:49]:
Okay, I like it.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:35:54]:
Skill, though. Talent, skill, spiritual gift. Right. Talent, skill, spiritual gift. You gotta make sure that you're developing all three of those. Oh, and before you go, I want to make sure I say this, that I didn't come up with that. I got that from Dr. Darius Daniels.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:36:11]:
He's a. He's a pastor. So do you have a gift? Use it.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:36:16]:
If you think you are operating in your gifts and talents and nobody cares if you coming or going, that's probably not your gift.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:36:27]:
That's a good one.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:36:33]:
Like, nah, nah.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:36:38]:
That'S good. That's good.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:36:40]:
All right, well, on that note, go someplace meaningful and be impactful.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:36:46]:
Be wanted, right?

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:36:48]:
Be wanted. Yes.

Dr. Dar Mayweather [00:36:51]:
Go someplace where you're wanted.

Dr. Shandra McDonald [00:36:53]:
Yes. Let those gifts and talents shine in a place where you can thrive. Yeah. That's it for today on Academic survival. If you want to share your story on how you survived your freshman year of college, you can reach me at info@shandralmcdonald.com we'll be back next week with more ways to survive your academic journey. Until then, happy studying.