Reflection Lab

Seba is wearing a Black Panther mask. It’s the day before Halloween.

Michael had an interview this week and didn’t know Seba was watching him through the glass wall. He only found out today.

Somewhere between the costumes and the staring, the topic turns out to be mentorship.

Next week: motivation.

What does hard work actually mean? In this 9 a.m. episode, we compare physical work like construction with mental work like studying, and ask whether it’s something only the individual can define. We talk about Angela Duckworth’s speaking event and her idea of grit, how perspective can turn a long day into training, and why hard work doesn’t always have to be fun. We also get into why some classes put everyone to sleep, how hard it is to hold the attention of 20 or 30 people, and what changes when you stop trying to do everything and focus on a few things. Next time: mentorship

Seba played a pledge-class soccer game and gave his soul to the field for thirty minutes. Michael spent the same afternoon on ping pong at Johnson Center, watching from the sidelines between matches. Neither one walked away feeling rested.

They spend the hour sorting real rest from fake rest, a sunrise walk around Colonial Lake, ice cream with a mentor he hadn’t seen in two years, versus phone scrolling mid-homework and a free concert ticket that sounds exhausting just to think about.

Michael’s been carrying a pickleball bag around for weeks. Seba keeps hearing about tennis from every direction and can’t tell if it’s a sign or a coincidence.

Then, ten minutes before recording, Michael’s walks up to a professor and asks for something he’s never asked for before, purely because he knew he’d need a real example by the time the mic turned on.

This week, Reflection Lab kicks off with Michael describing the moment five recruiters started talking to him at once, arguing tax versus audit right in front of him.

Then things take a turn. Michael somehow ends up eating in the employers-only food lounge at a career fair, and Seba does not let it go.

Later, a pamphlet question catches Seba off guard, one he wrote himself, that he still doesn’t have a clean answer to.

Next week: opportunities.

This week, Reflection Lab starts with a joke about mixing up “compassion” and “passion” on the last episode, then ends with Seba reading something from his own journal he wasn’t planning to share.

In between: what it actually means to check on someone without making them feel small, why compassion can feel like weakness before it feels like strength, and a moment neither host expected the conversation to reach.

Next week: career.

This week, Reflection Lab tackles learning, and the two hosts land on very different definitions.

Michael frames it around growth and discipline. Seba compares it to something out of a video game: the discomfort of discovering what you didn’t know was possible.

Along the way: a brutal ruck, a two-step rule from a guest speaker, and an honest test of where real focus actually happens.

There’s also an open question neither of them fully answers. Some things aren’t ready to be settled yet.

Next week: compassion.

This week, Reflection Lab is back for the 2nd episode of the fall semester

The topic: Courage.

Seba comes in with a theory about talking yourself into fear before it happens, not during it. Michael tests it against a test week, a cold plunge, and a gym routine he almost skipped. Seba tests it against a fraternity event, a senator he didn’t approach, and a friend he still hasn’t asked a simple question.

Not every attempt works. That’s kind of the point.

This week, Reflection Lab is back for the 2nd episode of the fall semester, and it comes with news: Michael is officially my new co-host for the semester.

The topic: rejection.

Seba had 30 no’s to collect for an entrepreneurship class, and this episode traces what that actually did to him. Cold-calling Domino’s for a free pizza. Asking the Charleston RiverDogs for a meeting with Bill Murray. Trying to get his name on the gym wall. All rejected, all expected.

What wasn’t expected was the low point. A near-miss crossing the street after freezing up at the sight of a girl he wanted to talk to. Sitting on a stopped treadmill, almost in tears, four asks out of thirty with the deadline closing in.

Then a shift. A run of boat companies said yes to a fraternity event. Someone did agree to code review. The number started moving up.

The two also get into what asking for things they didn’t expect to get, and getting turned down for them, is teaching them about the difference between fear of rejection and the actual cost of it, which is almost always smaller than the fear.

Next week’s challenge: courage. Specifically, saying what’s actually on your mind instead of interrupting it, deflecting it, or letting it die at a crosswalk.

Welcome to the show, Michael.

This week Seba kicked off Season 2 solo. Noah’s gone, so it’s a new chapter, literally recording alone in the room for the first time.

We got into what it actually means to build your own path instead of following someone else’s:

* The internship that looked right on paper but didn’t fit, and what that says about needing more control over your own path.

* Why the intentionality class works but also felt like a cult at times, and the line between learning from someone and putting them above you.

* The 30 rejections in 10 days challenge starting this week, and why real stakes (a grade, not just a promise to yourself) change how seriously you take a commitment.

This is the first episode without Noah.

Season 2 starts with a search for a new co-host, one who treats this like it matters, not a side quest. Same mission though: show up, be honest, reflect.

Next week’s topic: rejection.

Thank you for listening to Reflection Lab.