Be Prepared: Lessons from the District of Columbia

By Keisha A. Mitchell, PhD

Be Prepared: Lessons from the District of Columbia is simply a gift to my audience of some of the major lessons that I learned from living in Washington, DC, the US Capitol, for two months during the Summer of 2017. The lessons are simple. They include: Be prepared to listen; Be prepared to travel; Be prepared to take responsibility; Be prepared to learn; and, Be prepared to encourage others.
Each lesson is illustrated by an experience that I had in the US Capitol. Each underscores the importance of preparation, not just in the classroom, but also in the streets of the cities and towns in which we live and travel. My hope is that this little gift will challenge you to prepare for the season ahead with great expectation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387360093

Book preview

Be Prepared: Lessons from the District of Columbia

BE PREPARED: Lessons from the District of Columbia

Keisha A. Mitchell, PhD

©2017

Lulu Press

Contents

BE PREPARED:

Lessons from the District of Columbia

i.Dedication

ii.Acknowledgements

iii.Introduction

Chapter 1: Be Prepared to Listen.

Chapter 2: Be Prepared to Travel.

Chapter 3: Be Prepared to Take Responsibility.

Chapter 4: Be Prepared to Take Risks.

Chapter 5: Be Prepared to Give a Recommendation.

Chapter 6: Be Prepared for the Next Generation.

Chapter 7: Be Prepared to Learn.

Chapter 8: Be Prepared to Encourage Others.

ix.  References

x.  About the Author

i.                Dedication

To the people of Washington, DC who embraced me. 

To my Jamaican Family who supported its production.

ii.            Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ms. Patricia McDougall who first introduced me to Washington, DC through her radio show, Patricia McDougall On the Scene; then spent time taking me to these wonderful events.  Without you I would not have been introduced to the beauty of the city and all the very warm people who call it home.

Thanks to all my Jamaican family and friends who hosted me, enquired about my trip, and pulled this book out of me.  All our conversations have borne fruit once again.

Thanks to Mr. Kevin Sinclair who would accept nothing less than excellence for the cover photo and book layout.  It took approximately 20 iterations, but we got it right.

Thanks to Mr. Ian-Keith Goldson for assisting with the graphics on the cover photo.

Thanks to Lulu Publishing for providing a platform for authors to market their creations.  

iii.       Introduction

I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, 'Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared' (Pele).

Did you ask for the gifts that you have?  Did you ask to be the one that people find when they have a specific need?  Do they beat a path to your door again and again for the same thing?  Do you always handle it correctly?  This Summer I was invited to Washington, DC.  Why?  Because I had the gift to communicate effectively what people needed to hear.  

As an excellent communicator, verbally as well as in written communication, I have always been the one designated by family and friends to speak or to write on their behalf.  As a scholar, I have developed the gift to articulate issues in a systematic way.  The final product is generally a logical argument including supporting data as evidence for my conclusions.  Hence, I was asked to serve as the Communications Director for the Caribbean and African Faith Based Leadership Conference (CAFBLC) during the Congressional Black Caucus week in September 2017. 

It was an experience beyond anything that I would have ever imagined for myself as a foreign national traveling to the United States that Summer.  Being articulate and having the ability