Truth or Dare

I've been told by those well-connected to the world of teens, that a game I used to play in high school with friends, called 'Truth or Dare' has now been replaced by 'Two truths and a Lie'. So, since some of you may not be familiar with the basic rules for Truth or Dare, let me provide a brief tutorial.

So, you and a bunch of your friends are hanging out on a Friday night. You've already watched a movie and stuffed yourself with popcorn, pizza and cookie dough. Your favorite tunes are blaring from the stereo, but you're not sure what to do now.... This is the perfect setting for a game of truth or dare. The way it would work, is that you basically take turns doing just that - you must choose which you want - a truth or a dare. If you say, 'truth' then your friends might say, 'who do you have a crush on? Is it Jim? Tell the truth!!!!' And, then you must answer. Or, if you choose 'dare' then your friends might say, 'we dare you to prank call Bob' or 'we dare you to run around the house once in just your t-shirt and boxers (in the middle of winter...in Chicago)'. You get the idea....

The choice is pretty simple with this game. Either way, you're taking a risk of sorts. You either tell the truth or you accept a dare. And, in the game of life, the risks are somewhat similar. You can either look at the truth of who you are.... your passions, your values, your strengths (as well as your weaknesses), your thinking preferences. Then, employed with this knowledge you can make your decisions regarding schools or future careers.

Or, you can take another approach. You can ignore the truth of whatever your strengths and weaknesses might be...of the values and passions that affect your life.... And, just hope that it works out! It is a dare of sorts. For some students, it's not quite as severe as turning their back on the clear cut set of strengths and weaknesses, or passions. For some students, they simply don't know what those strengths are or how to distinguish between what they're good at versus their unique areas of giftedness.

No matter where you fall on the spectrum of self-awareness, you take a huge gamble when you make major decisions without any kind of guidance or spectrum through which to evaluate your choices. u101 is not about making choices for you or giving you the answers, neatly packaged for you to simply unwrap and follow. Rather, u101 is about empowering you to make smarter choices so that it's less of a gamble.

More than anything, we want to unveil the truth of who you really are because we believe that within each of you lies HUGE potential to do great things. I like the way Anne Frank put it: "Everyone has inside himself a piece of good news! The good news is that you really don't know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish and what your potential is!"

So, are you up for a game of Truth or Dare? Whether you realize it or not - you're already in the game. You will make choices. We want to help ensure they're the best possible choices for YOU!