14A - Halfway Reflection

I would tell any student that tenaciousness is a requirement in order to be successful in life. It is not willpower. Willpower can break. It is not stubbornness. Stubbornness leads to foolish mistakes. It is not blind faith; blind faith has no proof that something can be accomplished. It is a quality that can be learned and developed and honed. It requires that you have grit, the unwillingness to give up despite everything in you feeling like you should. You don’t give up because you know the thing you are reaching for is possible despite what anyone else says or does. You don’t even allow your human weaknesses and frailties to cause you to quit.

Personally, I am not one to give up on something I have committed myself to do. However, during one assignment for this class, I had to dig deep to complete it in time. See, I didn’t check to see how many assignments we had for the week. On one Friday morning around 10:30, I was checking to make sure I had submitted my work and I realized I had forgotten two assignments. I had about an hour and a half to complete them. I finished them on time. Correctly.

So, three tips I would offer to the next set of students: make up your mind before you start that you are going to finish whatever you do because it’s worth it; don’t listen to your feelings when they tell you to quit, listen to your head; and know that things are going to go wrong and choose to deal with it on the way to achieving your goals.

13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

The book I read was “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough. It tells the story of Orville and Wilber Wright, the inventors of the first airplane. 

The book was a very entertaining read. What surprised me the most was the fact that neither brother went to college (that’s funny). They only had what we would call a home-school education and yet they are the first inventors of a machine that could carry a man in the air. They built a successful bicycle manufacturing business that financed the pursuit of building their famous invention. Their work ethic was outstanding, and always took Sundays off. This impressed me, along with the fact that they refused to give up. 

To me, the least admirable thing they did was to fight with each other, but I guess it is to be expected when you are working so closely with someone for such a long period of time. But in the face of adversity, they supported each other and pulled together towards the common goal. They crashed plans, had engines blow up and sued competitors. The U.S. government would not support their work even after the first successful test flights. But they kept going until they succeeded.

The brothers had a complementary skill set. Orville was more mechanically inclined, while Wilbur was good at concept and design. Wilbur was the driving force of the team. He is the one who came up with the idea of “wing warping” which is a way to bend one wing up while bending the other down at the same time, like birds do. This helps the plane to turn. Orville, to me was more of a people person and Wilbur was curt and to the point. Wilbur was well read and good at speaking. Orville was the one who flew first.

One part of the story that was confusing was the time spent in France. Wilbur didn’t particularly care about staying in nice lodging, he preferred a simple setup and simple food. He couldn’t quite enjoy French cuisine. If I could, I would probably ask him what made him think that man could fly because to do what they did basically required a lot of faith. Maybe watching the birds do it had a big influence. I would ask Orville if he thought if Wilbur would be the first to fly because Wilbur was older and the one who took the lead, so naturally he should be the one to fly first. Wilbur won the coin toss, but failed in his attempt, it’s kind of ironic. I would ask both why they never married because it seems strange to me that they never married.

Again, the thing that stands out the most to me concerning the brothers is their work ethic. They systematically and methodically figured out what it took to fly.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

In conducting the three interviews, I was able to identify triggers for someone to seek healthcare coverage. In one case, the person lost coverage due to their company employer suddenly going out of business. There were rumors that the company was in trouble financially, but the person thought that the business would survive. It did not. Furthermore, becoming a new parent enhanced the desire to find coverage. For another individual, their insurer pulled out of the state, leaving them 30 days to find coverage. The third person did not have a sudden loss of coverage, but rather realized that they needed to be prepared for an event since they did not have current coverage.

When the need arose, the interviewees sought information from the internet, an affinity relationship or met someone unexpectedly who was able to provide the necessary information. For two, the cost of coverage was a shock because it was very inexpensive, but for another the shock was finding out how expensive it was. The discrepancy was attributed to the fact that the individuals with the inexpensive options received federal subsidies to pay for coverage and the other did not.

What struck me as interesting was that the issue is not just about getting coverage. A secondary and just as important issue is getting affordable coverage that provides the services that are desired. In some cases, a person would probably feel as if they did not have any insurance at all if the deductibles are high or the office visits are limited to just a few per year. Just because premiums are affordable does not mean the person can pay to actually use all the benefits that are available with their plan. Affordability is key. All interviewees were aware of the need to have access to medical services and were capable of doing research to find solutions to the problem.