Nerds and Positive Deviants Unite: A Weekend of Listening to Global Initiatives as Future Leaders Head to Washington

By Davi Kallman

This past weekend I traveled to Austin for an Orientation dealing with the graduate program of public policy in Washington D.C. for the Archer Center. Sixteen graduates were selected from the U.T. system at large, 9 were selected from UT Austin, 2 from UTSA, 1 from UT Tyler, 1 from UTEP, and 3 from UT system Medical Schools. The graduates chosen were chosen on their political interests, dedication to social justice, GPA’s, educational background, and their extracurricular activities. I knew this weekend could go either two ways: either the 15 other graduates were so extremely intelligent that I would not understand a word they were saying or I could be a complete nerd with them and talk Star Wars or about how urban development in particular areas actually has an effect on the poverty in a certain area. I was hoping that the second alternative would be true and as I was picked up by three complete strangers from the Austin Airport for the two hour road trip to a small town on the outskirts, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were these individuals smart and outgoing, but they were hilarious and brought their own personal goals and talents to the group. Right away I got along with Jessica, a girl from UTSA, the driver of the tenacious trio. Two hours driving in that cramped Ford SVU made us realize we were meant to be roommates in Washington this summer.

      So I am sure many of you are wondering what this has to do with Positive Deviance? I was actually wondering myself when I was thinking about using this as a focal point for my blog contribution this week, but then everything came full circle. This contribution has to deal with listening, which I have mentioned in many of my works so far because I believe the concept of listening is so crucial to positive deviance that it needs to be restated over and over again to resonate in the ears of our listeners. When you have a room of leaders many times it seems difficult to get in a few words because everyone is trying to say something that is important to them, but this weekend I found that this was not the case. Not only did everyone give everyone a chance to speak but it was done without the help of a group coordinator of agenda. These 16 students took it upon themselves to get to know everyone in the room by asking questions about their initiatives, what they like to do, or simply asking questions to get to know the person better. Not once did I feel like I was not being heard, I was even able to talk about the positive deviance initiative that is happening at UTEP this semester. So if a smart group of top leaders are able to put their feelings and biases aside for two days in order to get to know their fellow colleagues, would it not be possible to do this in everyday circumstances? Why can’t we talk about five minutes of each day to get to know a classmate a little better or to ask our friends if they prefer ice cream or yogurt? Simple questions bring out heartfelt answers and allow for the positive deviance practice to take hold. If we try more to listen in our everyday lives then we might understand our surrounding community that much better.