January 2, 2010
Blog Purpose and Welcome
My name is Vernon Young and this is my first blog post. In attending the University of Nevada, Reno as an undergraduate student for the last 4 years I have come into a lot of contact with networking events. It has taken me this long to truly understand the importance of building social associations with people who share a common interest with you and this understanding is fueling a new need to reach out to others via the web. What would happen if we lived in a world that was full of people who could not communicate what they know or interact with others? The availability of information would surely shrink and the total possible amount of knowledge would be constrained. People take on the role of teacher or student consistently throughout life and the quality of performance in these roles contributes to the quality of society. My personal goal is to strive to be a successful teacher and student to the best of my ability to help others and create passion for living and thinking.
After high school I immediately joined the workforce testing my providence with several companies in hopes to build the foundation of a career. I worked for Pizza Hut for a short time, Posh Bagel’s and Noah’s Bagel company for a couple of years and realized that the food industry was not my forte. While taking some time off to analyze my situation better and form a plan to leave the food industry I was approached by a friend of a friend who believed that I had a great personality for teaching children. He invited me to learn how to play chess and teach during after-school hours in the public schools through a company called Academic Chess. Without this network connection I may never have realized my true passion and calling in life is to teach children how to play the game of chess. This emphasizes the importance of networking. Chess is only used as the device or tool for learning, but learning itself became more and more important to me as I spent time delving into the exponential world that lives on 64 squares where 32 pieces battle for control of time, space, material and squares themselves. Children, in turn, showed me the importance of approaching everything with that sponge like need to soak up their surroundings.
So now I am approaching my final semester as an undergraduate and plan to enroll into grad school immediately following graduation with a BSBM. I recently received my AA in the mail from the nearby community college and this reminds me that the goals we set that feel so vague at times can become reality with a little bit of hard work. I am the founder of the ChessKidz Company in Reno and still dedicate a majority of my time to teaching kids how to play chess and improve their game. By working with people in the community and communicating our goals and mission, the instructors and I bring a program of value to our neighborhoods and actively participate with society.
The following blog posts will be dedicated to learning, teaching, entrepreneurship, motivation, passion, and most of all chess. If any of these topics interest you or provoke to seek more information, please follow the conversations and bookmark this blog-site http://vernonryoung.wordpress.com or leave comments to help spark the conversation into real dialogue. I would love to communicate with other people rather than just rant about things that I alone find interesting. Feel free to email me through VernonRYoung@gmail.com and send me messages if you feel the need to have a more private conversation. You can add me as a friend or contact on FaceBook, LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter. Please subscribe to my content using the subscription link in the tool bar on the right. I look forward to writing future posts and meeting some new people online. Hopefully you learned a little bit about me and I hope that you find value in this blog. I am sure that I will!
christinalewis said,
January 2, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Great first post Vernon! I look forward to reading more in the future. I have had classes with you in the past but had no idea how involved you were with the community. Congratulations on finding your true passion and acting on it!
vernonryoung said,
January 2, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Christina, thanks! I know I’m very lucky to have been exposed to something so great. You will enjoy your journey in becoming a better manager for yourself and the others around you! Hopefully it is your passion and if not, a learning process on the path that will lead you to yours. I also enjoy managing so we share something in common. It’s a very flexible background for the future. Thanks for the comment!
Jake Nady said,
January 2, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Nice article Vern! How can you get kids to play chess in the day of the Nintendo DSi?
vernonryoung said,
January 2, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Hi Jake! – You make a good point and it’s probably the cause for my passion. Chess is a game that can catch the attention of anyone very quickly, but it can lose its glamour after people start to realize that it’s not easy! The key is to be as motivating as possible at all times and optimistic for the student’s sake. Also, the ever-heavy battle of winning and losing is always at stake and a few initial losses can cause someone to stray from the game. As an instructor it’s my job to understand all of the psychological, environmental and comprehensive factors and the effects on the learner to provide avenues to master the challenges. At that point its up to the student to make a choice to work hard or just enjoy the ride. Either way I’m happy to bring the possibility to their world. Thanks for the comment!
Bret Simmons said,
January 2, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Vern, you blog looks GREAT! This is an excellent first post. Looking forward to more of what you have to say. Bret
vernonryoung said,
January 2, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Thanks Bret – I am very happy to become part of the network that you have provided and reach deep into the internet! Thanks for the inspiration and the opportunity. Your material is very insightful and can help me accomplish the things that I have set out to do. Always a pleasure!
CMoB said,
January 2, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Sounds interesting. I’ll put you up on the bar and feedreader to keep track of your writings. Welcome to the blogosphere.
vernonryoung said,
January 3, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Thank you for your support and for the welcome! Your last post was a treasure of photos I hadn’t seen yet. wow. Thanks!
Shyla Pheasant said,
January 3, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Vern,
I love your first blog post. My favorite part was at the end of your blog where you communicated that your purpose is not to rant, but to communicate with people and offer value; and then how you provided other avenues for people to communicate with you. I think I might borrow putting my email, and other connections at the bottom of my blog, like you did, if you don’t mind. = )
vernonryoung said,
January 4, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Thanks Shyla! You are more than welcome to do that and I appreciate your comment. Yeah, I would rather not be just another internet ranter =) Providing a way for people to communicate is a good idea. People may just forget sometimes so it doesn’t hurt to remind them.
chesstiger said,
January 3, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Welcome to the blogosphere!
As a chess youthtrainer myself i will be very intresting to read further (chess related) entries of you.
vernonryoung said,
January 4, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Thank you for the welcome. I am glad to meet other trainers! There will be content related to that specific subject so I look forward to hearing from you again!