I was thinking about a fun memory from one of my favorite jobs while attending San Diego State University.  I held this job during the entire time that I attended college there and worked part time during school and full time during the summers.  It fit my schedule like a glove and the people there that taught me a lot about how I treat others today were part of this executive administrative team.  I worked for one of the vice president's of the university and he had three subordinate associates.  One of my favorite people among them had the messiest office you could ever imagine.  As you entered his office there were stacks of paper lined up along all four of the walls.  Books and other printed materials lay on top of each other, creating this collage of paper that I am sure if the fire marshal ever saw, would have declared this entire area a fire hazard.  The person that inhabited this space was named Steve and above all else, he had the most outgoing personality along with a heart of gold that was larger than himself.  Over his main desk area was a sign that read, "A Sign Of A Clean Desk, Is A Sign Of A Sick Mind".  It never failed to amuse me every time I walked into the office to deliver something for him to sign or to pick up a document that I needed to transport.  Although I was student administrative assistant, I felt that many of the lessons that I learned from that experience, has enabled me to succeed in where I am in life today.  I learned what the mechanics of working on a team looked like, which was the good along with the bad.  I began to adopt the qualities that I felt were valuable for me to succeed in life after that, among them was to treat everyone with respect and to not be defined by what ever your title happened to be.  Saying less and listening more, was sometimes the best thing that you could ever do, given the situation that you found yourself in.  Having a sense of humor about yourself and the things that you have no control over in life, will enable you to get past some of the more difficult periods  in your life.  Finally, the art of communicating and having a sense of finesse with your words, put the finishing touches on the portrait of where my life was at.  To this day, I still notice that paint all over the edges around me that created who I ended up being as a result.  I saw Steve only once after I graduated from college, which was probably about 3 years later.  I ran into him at an event that was related to celebrating the work that farm workers do and it gave me the best opportunity that does not happen to many of us as time goes by.  I was able to say "thank you", to someone that taught me so much and gave me a good example to follow with regard to proceeding in the world of work.  I have never forgotten him and I hope he has enjoyed a wonderful and fun filled life.  I am also sure that he was able to touch more people's lives as he did mine, in making us all not just better future leaders, but also better caring individuals with a big heart.