Who do you love more?

I undoubtedly asked my parents this question. My daughters will undoubtedly ask me this question. My mom’s response was, “I love you each differently.” My response to my daughters will be the same.

This past was week the first week of classes for the fall semester, and the week before that was MBA orientation. So last week was the departure from the comfort of our summer LGO teams to our MBA core teams.

 

I compare my summer LGO team to my almost-two-year-old daughter, Olivia, and my new MBA core team to my two-month old, Emily. I love Olivia unconditionally. We have developed a great relationship and we have a special way of interacting. She is my first child and will always hold that special place. I also love Emily unconditionally. With her, it is a newer love with excitement about experiencing a relationship with her and incorporating what I learned from my relationship with Olivia. I don’t love one daughter more than the other. My love for each is different, and my capacity to love has grown.

 

Similarly, I don’t “love” my summer LGO team more than my MBA core team. Rather, the LGO team is special to me and I am grateful for the relationships that I developed with my classmates. I hope to apply what I learned in my LGO team to my MBA core team. The LGO team allowed me to grow personally and my MBA core team will allow me to increase my capacity to learn. I could extend this analogy to my entire LGO class and my entire MBA class.

 
So I’m excited about the fall semester and look forward to the chance to get even closer with my summer LGO team and build great relationships with my MBA core team.

A Romantic Drama

Have you ever been in a relationship in which you fell head over heels immediately with someone and felt like things were moving too fast? You made an instant connection and the relationship was very open and intimate right away. As the relationship progressed, each person grew more and more in love with each other, but at the same time another dynamic developed. Each person began to notice things that sort of bothered them. Since it was generally a healthy relationship with good communication, each person was able to address the things that the other person did that bothered them, and each person experienced great personal growth. There was no lack of commitment in the relationship.

 
Unfortunately, there is eventually a mutual break up. Accordingly, the healthy nature of the relationship allowed for a break up on good terms. The nature of the break up also allowed for each person to still love the other deeply and allowed for hope that maybe, one day, you would get back together.

You remain great friends. Now, when you see the other person with someone else, you are happy for them, but, because you still love them and have a hope that you will reunite, you are also somewhat jealous. This is a feeling that you are surprised at. But it’s okay because you know that you will always hold a special place in the other person’s heart, whether you end up with them or not.

 

If you are curious about the first LGO summer, this is an over dramatization of it, but there are many parallels. During The Universe Within, the first week, everyone is extremely open and goes all in to the new experience. You are put into your summer LGO team, and the openness and willingness to work together grows. Since the team is founded upon an open and healthy culture, the team is able to address issues throughout the summer. Unfortunately, the summer ends and the summer  team is broken up, though the teams continue to get together.

A couple weeks later, you begin MBA orientation and the entire LGO class is scrambled into MBA core teams with one LGO per core team. Whenever you see another LGO, you are excited but at the same time, oddly just a little jealous when you see them getting along with a non-LGO or their MBA core team.

 

The progression of this relationship symbolizes the entire LGO and MBA experience. You experience great personal growth and establish great relationships. The LGO summer is the perfect setting to become more knowledgeable but, more importantly, grow as a person.

This is what I took away from the summer

- I am better whenever I ask for help and get input about my ideas from others
- An open environment of feedback combined with a commitment to the success of the team is the recipe for success
- I learn more from getting to intimately know others and about their experiences than from courses, though the courses are extremely informative

Meet Emily, the first baby of the LGO Class of 2015

Thanks to Adam and David for the best onesie ever. My fellow LGOer’s are awesome. They constantly impress me in surprising ways.

 

My second daughter was born on Saturday, June 22. There’s a little more to the story…

 

I showed up to Boston to begin the LGO program with my wife 8 months pregnant, except she wasn’t actually with me. She was still in Los Angeles with her family. The plan was she would stay in LA to have the baby, then I’d fly home for the birth, fly back to Boston by myself, then fly back to LA again for a wedding a couple weeks later, after which we would all fly back together. We planned for her doctor to induce labor on a Saturday in order to minimize the amount of class that I miss.

 

The point I want to make is that the support of my teammates (the class is divided up into teams of six during the first summer) and the LGO program in general was huge in allowing me to do this.

 

Look for an upcoming blog about health insurance while in the LGO program.

My first blog, ever!

My name is Steve Fuller. One of my favorite jokes is one about me.

Someone (after they are done eating): I'm full.
Me: I'm Fuller!
Everyone: Haha!

Though I'm very comfortable telling this joke over and over again, even to the same people, I'm taking a step outside of my comfort zone with this blog. I naturally feel that what I have to say is not important enough to warrant typing it out for others to read. However, as an LGO, I intend to step outside my comfort zone as much as possible in order grow as much as possible in these next two years. So my blog is one way of doing just that.

The purpose of my blog is to share my experience as a member of the LGO class of 2015 with family and friends, and with prospective LGOs.

Here's a little bit about me.
My beautiful wife, Stephanie, and I have a 1-year-old daughter and another daughter on the way. I'm originally from southern California. I spent six years in the Army as a Medical Service Corps officer, worked for Target on the distribution side, and worked in sales for a commercial HVAC manufacturer's rep before coming to LGO...a very diverse work history.