How Lan Achieved Her Goal—Or Didn't

Lan is working toward changing the perception of sexual assault on college campuses. She believes that this goal is seemingly impossible, but one definitely worth fighting for. According to RAINN, 23.1% women are sexually assaulted on college campuses. This number could be even higher considering the number of women who do not report incidents.

Source: Slope Media

Just this year at the college Lan attends, a male student was charged under Title IX for sexual assault. This case lasted four months. The girl had to defend her case in front of numerous people telling her that she was lying. She had to recount a horrible and very personal experience over and over again. Even when she won the case, the torment didn't end. The male student was an athlete on the lacrosse team and the whole team sided with their fellow teammate. They remembered seeing the girl go home with the guy and they deemed this enough evidence that she wanted to have sex. This is the perception that Lan really wants to change. Just because a girl goes home with someone, talks to someone, or even just looks at someone does not mean that person has the permission to use their body however they please.

Lan believes that a healthy mindset needs to be taught at a young age through people's parents. She feels that boys at a young age are taught that everything in the world is for them. She remembered seeing a post on Pinterest about how women mature faster than men. This is something that most people have been told. However, this post discussed how this is not actually biological in any way. Women mature faster simply due to how we are treated at a young age. Women are told at a young age that they will be responsible for their own actions, while boys are generally not. This also plays into the fact that women must worry about what they wear and are not able to wear certain clothing because it could be distracting for men. It is this mentality that Lan hopes to change.

Not only does Lan hope to educate parents how they can effectively teach their young child to be respectful and understand that they will be held accountable for their actions, she also believes that sexual education in schools could be improved. She feels as though their is not enough focus on how men can not assault women.

Lan I am sure shares this goal with many other women and men who have been sexually assaulted. Frankly it is appalling just how prevalent sexual assault on college campuses is, but Lan will not stop until sexual assault is no longer a problem.

How Tom Achieved His Goal

"Shoes keep people healthy, happy and thriving." Can Tom break the cycle of poverty? His goal was to collect 500 shoes for an organization called Soles 4 Souls. In the end, he not only achieved his goal, but exceeded it.

Source: soles4souls.org

Soles 4 Souls is a Global nonprofit charity organization to end poverty. Americans throw away more than 70 pounds of textiles per person per year. They collect shoes, which go to children and adults in developing countries. The shoes allow many children to go to school and receive education. For many children in some developing countries they are unable to walk to school due to the sewage in the streets, which can lead to infection if walking barefoot. Infections could include hookworm, threadworm, "jiggers," and podoconiosis. For adults, Soles 4 Souls will hire them to sells shoes providing a source of income for them. The organization originally started after Hurricane Katrina, but grew past it and now focuses on shoes for developing countries.

As I interviewed Tom about his goal and about how he achieved his goal, I learned that for him, achieving his goal was seemingly easier than my goal of going to the gym always seems to be. The major piece that made it seemingly so easy was the support. He tons of support from volunteers and from his parents. Also, knowing the impact it would make to collect these shoes was a major driving factor in what lead to his success. It answers the question, "why am I doing this?" This is often a question that arises when times are tough and you may think of quitting. However, knowing it was all for a great cause and would be truly making an impact on people's lives kept Tom on track to achieve his goal.

Source: soles4souls.org

The final piece that made a major impact on Tom's ability to achieve his goal was a solid plan. Right from the beginning he knew where he was headed and how he planned to get there. There was no room to fail, it was not part of the plan. This kept his on tract and allowed him to achieve his goal and go so much further. In the end he collected 1,051 shoes in three months, which is more than double what his original goal was.

The biggest takeaways from Tom's story is support, cause, and a solid plan. Support from family and friends can go a long way when it comes to achieving a goal. It can help one keep a positive mindset even when times get tough. Having a cause, or reason for achieving your goal, can motivate you to truly want to achieve your goal. Maybe it is not only about yourself, but your goal makes a difference in something bigger than yourself. Finally, a solid plan can keep you on track because you know what you have to do and when to do it. You see how you are achieving your goal; all you have to do is do it.

How Nick Foles Achieved His Goal

Everyone thought he couldn't do it.

Once Carson Wentz, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, got injured, the super bowl win for the Eagles seemed impossible. However, for the back up quarterback, Nick Foles, the super bowl win seemed more than possible. This was his goal.

Source: True Jersey

Nearly everyone doubted his ability to win the Super Bowl. No matter what goal someone has, people will doubt and won't believe. However, one's ability to push past this and find the motivation to keep going and keep fighting makes all the difference. For Nick Foles, he talked about how great it was to have Carson Wentz with him during the games believing in him and cheering him on. That was one component that helped tremendously.

He discussed another important component to his success: don't be afraid to fail. He explained this in an interview after his Super Bowl win. With this idea, he talks about how we view success and failure and that it is important to push through and grow from failures because in order to reach success you will fail a ton.

The final component that he talks about is his faith and his family. I think for a lot of people, faith can help them say focused in their goals. It can help people keep a positive mindset when things are looking down. Faith can be very powerful. And family goes along with having people who support you and also people who you don't want to let down. Sometimes what can get you to continue going even when times are tough are people you care about. You don't want to let them down and so you push and fight through all the failures and don't stop until you have reached your goal.

In the end, Nick Foles was able to achieve his goal of winning the Super Bowl.