Author Archives: Alison Gentry

Be Today Who You Desire to be Tomorrow: 3 ways to insure you reaching your desired career

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1st – Invest in yourself
Do you have a tendency to put yourself on the back burner? Do not worry, you are not alone. Many people do including wives, husbands, parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters in order to take care of their loved ones. This is what we are supposed to do, however we are not supposed to neglect ourselves in the process. If we take better care of ourselves then we are able to better take care of others, right? Makes sense! Many times we are tricked into thinking just the opposite. We think we have to neglect ourselves, our needs, our wants and our desires. Continue pushing hard in school, sometimes it will be tough but you must, invest in yourself, YOU are worth it!!!!
2nd- Couple Your Education with Your Work Experience
Working in education I have heard time and time again that people have numerous years of experience, but cannot get that promotion or pay grade they want due to not having a degree. I can personally testify that after I completed my degree I gained an array of options pertaining to my employment, one of which I hold today as Director at Belhaven Houston. I felt many years ago that God was moving me to get my degree. I personally did not start college until my late twenties. I am so glad I did because otherwise I would not be encouraging you today to consider doing the same. If you felt the Lord lead you here to get your degree, go for it with all of your might, and when you get weary, call us we are here to help!!!
3rd- Understand Your Value
Too many times we go into an interview thinking, “I need this job.” The demands of bills and debt cause us sometime to settle for jobs that we would not want otherwise, but feel obligated to take due to necessity. What if we changed our way of thinking and decided to not settle for anything less than what we want. Instead of letting the employer interview us, what if we interviewed them? Just changing this perspective going into the interview will boost yourself confidence. Know your value, the asset that you are going to be to the company you are interviewing for and articulate it in such a way that you are not cocky, but confident. Whatever you do, do not settle for less than God’s best!!!

dowhatulove

13 Lies the Enemy May Say, but God Says……..

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The life of an adult learner has its ups and its downs. The enemy has a tendency to attack one who is trying to advance themselves more than the average person, but we have tools to help us overcome. God’s word is always present and available to help us fight. This is why we must use his message, which is our double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), to fight the enemy’s voice.

Here are 13 things the enemy may say to us, but God says:

The enemy says: You can figure it out.

God says: I’ll direct your steps.

Proverbs 3:5-6

The enemy says: You are too tired.

God says:I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28-30

The enemy says: It’s impossible.

God says: All things are possible.

Luke 18:27

The enemy says: Nobody loves you.

God says: I love you.

John 3:16

The enemy says: You can’t forgive yourself.

God says: I forgive you.

Romans 8:1

The enemy says: It’s not worth it.

God says: It will be worth it.

Romans 8:28

The enemy says: You are not smart enough.

God says: I will give you wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:30

The enemy says: You are not able.

God says: You are able.

2 Corinthians 9:8

The enemy says: You can’t go on.

God says: My grace is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:9

The enemy says: You can’t do it.

God says: You can do all things.

Philippians 4:13

The enemy says: You can’t manage.

God says: I will supply all your needs.

Philippians 4:19

The enemy says: I’m afraid.

God says: I have not giving you fear.

2 Timothy 1:7

The enemy says: You are alone.

God says: I will never leave you.

Hebrews 13:5

Do not ever give up! Remember to use these scriptures as a weapon when the enemy tries to attack you.

Blessings,

Alison Gentry

Overcoming the Fear of the Unknown

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Going back to school can be scary, especially if one has been out for a long time.  Thinking of how one is going to manage juggling family, work and school is enough responsibility to overwhelm anyone.  Not to mention the fear of subject matters such as Math and English. These subjects may not have been our favorite in high school.  So how do we overcome the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, or the fear of math?

I am going to suggest a few things that may help you.  Consider these when you’re  contemplating the decision to take the plunge to complete your degree, make that career change or whatever dream you may be avoiding due to fear:

  • Having strong self-esteem is essential to being able to accomplish what you want to achieve.  If one lacks self-assurance, it will be nearly impossible to accomplish one’s goals.  Your belief in yourself, in addition to your faith in Christ of course, is going to be what gets you through  adversity.  This is also known as determination and will.  When the going gets tough, will you fight or will you fold?  “A man is as he thinks” Proverbs 23:7– so make sure you are constantly positively affirming yourself.  Tell yourself that you are smart enough, you are strong enough, and that you will accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish.
  •  Having a strong support system is also vital to your success.  Rid yourself of the negative naysayers and the people that may hold you back from accomplishing your dreams and goals.  Surround yourself with cheerleaders and like-minded people. If you do not know any people like that, there are plenty of groups you can join to meet some.  Usually church is a good place to start.  
  • Lastly, make it a goal every day to do something that you will thank yourself for in the future.  Notating and completing short term and long term goals help us to gain momentum by giving us a sense of accomplishment.  Have a plan because when we do not, we can usually plan to fail.

Succeed Rather Than Survive

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A common dilemma is that many individuals are taught to survive and not to succeed.   The great news is that it does not have to be this way.  According to Schatzel, Callahan, Scott, & Davis (2011), “An estimated 21% of 25–34-year-olds in the United States, about eight million individuals, have attended college and quit before completing a degree.” (p.47)  In today’s economy this is detrimental because the repercussions are that individuals who drop out of college are still left without a degree and  a majority are left with larger debt.  This creates a greater national deficit with regard to America’s income to debt ratio.  So what happens is that many continue on welfare, default on student loans, and never complete college. This contributes poorly to their self-esteem and results in a lot of college student dropping out to merely survive.

Most nontraditional students are first generation college students. A first generation student is defined as a student that comes from a family where neither parent/guardian graduated from college. What this means is a majority of these students have not been shown the perseverance it takes to endure the challenges of completing a degree.  Other disadvantages for first generation students are that as they enter college, they are usually working more hours, have lower family incomes, and have more financial dependents (Mehta, Newbold, & Sanjay, 2011). As a result they are faced with odds that can make attending college through to completion very difficult.

What are some solutions to these common found problems?  First word of advice is to make the goal of graduating from college not an option but an absolute.  Every time discouragement, fear or circumstance tries to detour students away from their goal they must draw a boundary according to the absolute and decide quitting school is not an option, “absolutely not”!!!  Another suggestion is to write down this goal where it is visible and write down all the positives that will occur as a result of this goal.  For instance graduating from college will allow them to make better money, which will allow them to advance in their career.   Another positive result may be that the individual will be the “1st generation” graduate in the family producing a model of discipline and perseverance, thus breaking the cycle of low income.  The benefits can be numerous, but one must really sit down and think about the positive ramifications as a result of completing the goal.  Another suggestion is speaking positive affirmations to one’s self.  Eliminate all destructive thought and self-talk and replace it with encouraging affirmations. One must become very accurate in how one speaks to one’s self. For example, “Because I sincerely care about myself, my family etc. and the quality of my life, I will graduate from college.”  This seems like a simple technique, however more often than not people tend to discourage themselves rather than encourage themselves.   So, it is important to write down positive affirmations that can be repeated internally to remind one’s self why it is important to accomplish their goal.

Life is too short to spend it full of regrets.  There is much more to life than just survival. Upon overcoming adversity and successful completion of difficult goals, one can reference with joy 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. (ESV)

~Who do you know that wants to break the cycle?

Resources

Mehta, S. Newbold, J. & Sanjay M. (2011). Why do first generational students fail? College Student Journal, 45 (1), 20-35.

Schatzel, K. Callahan, T. Scott C.& Davis, T.(2011) Reaching the non-traditional stopout population: A  segmentation approach. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education21 (1), 47-60 doi: 10.1080/08841241.2011.569590