Sunday, November 16, 2008

Team Work

This group project has taught me about efficiency. I tend to have a love/hate relationship when it comes to group projects. Some people like to participate and others don't which always puts stress on people. However, my group members have been excellent. Everyone does all their work on time so that everything can be compiled together in advance before the project is even due. This group has demonstrated that if everyone does equal work then the project is completed in a timely manner.

The best thing about this project is knowing that we have the chance to help this organization. Helping Hands does not have the resources it needs to spread the word about their organization and the things they do. However, we do and by creating a website we can try to address this issue.

The biggest challenge throughout this project would be getting everything needed for the website and blog. When taking pictures and trying to collect the information for the PayPal account, we ran into a few obstacles. The volunteers and employees for Helping Hands are from an older generation which often do not keep up or understand the new technological advancements. We tried explaining the purpose of the PayPal account, how to set it up, and how they would benefit from it. However, even after an explaination they did not understand and did not see how it would be useful.

Next time I have a group project, I will want to make sure that everyone does their own part and that it is done well before it is due. Knowing that the project is complete before its due is such a relief.

Working with my group has been a great experience :)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Dual Coding Theory

Dual Coding Theory takes three cognitive systems and allows them to function together. The first system allows for language to be processed. Next, visual displays are processed and then the mental representation is activated to relate the two.

In this Nike ad, the words are read first. The words over the locker room "Practice Like Champions" are the first words noticed. Next the words "We Believe" are read and are located just below the others and slightly inside the locker room. These words say that if you put your all into practice, then it is believed that you will play like a champion. Those words show that people believe in the players if they try their hardest.

After noticing the words, I next looked at the condition of the locker room. The outside of the locker room looks used and worn down. It appears to be the inside of an old gym from high school. I connected the condition of the room with the words and came to the conclusion that Nike is saying that it does not matter the conditions you play in, as long as you play hard (and in Nike gear) you will be a champion and people
will believe in you.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Miscommunication

One of the first jobs I had was working in a vets office. I was all excited because I love animals and thought it would be a great experience. Key word here is THOUGHT. I was mainly in charge of the animals that were boarding. My main duties were to clean their cages, give them food and water and document how much they had consumed to make sure they were eating. However, whenever I was done with all of that, I was usually completely clueless about what needed to be done. I would usually just ask other employees and help out around the office.

The vet ran and owned the office I worked in and most of the time I tried to avoid her because she had a nasty attitude and was NEVER friendly. One day in particular still sticks out vividly in my mind. The vet had taken the cat out of the carrier and left the carrier sitting on the floor while she went about finishing her business. She never mentioned that I should clean the carrier and put it back to together, but instead she just left it lying there. Several minutes later she came back in and started yelling at me for not cleaning it and removing it from the floor. I was stunned.

Instances like these happened often during the whole 3 months that I worked there. The vet never mentioned what she wanted her employees to do, she just expected them to magically know. I feel this caused barriers and miscommunication to occur frequently. When you do not specify, especially to someone new, tasks that need to be done and what they could do to help, you typically get outcomes you don’t want. These situations usually ended with her getting mad and being meaner than she normally is which was highly unfortunate. I feel that all these situations could have been easily avoided if she had delegated different tasks at the beginning of the day to certain individuals rather than letting them stand there completely clueless of what needs to be done. Communication is key in businesses. Managers need to tell employees what is expected of them and they need to create a system of delegating tasks so that everyone is on the same page of what needs to be done.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Mock Interview Reflection

As I was going into my mock interview I was slightly nervous. I seem to always get nervous before any type of interview whether it is a mock interview or the real thing. In order to help ease the nervousness I thought about what questions could possibly be asked and a few answers that would be the most appropriate. This calmed my nerves a little because I knew that if anything I would be able to answer at least a few questions and would have solid answers.

For the most part I was able to answer all the questions appropriately and with ease. The only questions I had a tough time answering referred to my greatest accomplishment. Unfortunately, there is not one huge accomplishment that I can think of that would just completely blow someone away. Hopefully as I continue my college career and move on into my internship, I will find one accomplishment that I feel really proud to share during an interview and one that makes me stand out.

Besides that one question, I felt the interview went really well. I was able to answer all the questions and felt confident about my answers. For my next interview, I will prepare a few answers again to questions I know will be asked. Hopefully, I will have completed or be in the middle of my internship so I will have experience that relates to my field.

I found this mock interview to be very helpful. I have had interviews in the past but they have been mostly for jobs I had in high school and throughout the summer. This interview will prepare me to answer questions that are usually asked by potential employers and those accepting people into graduate programs. I learned which gestures are appropriate and can express enthusiasm while others may convey that you did not like the question or do not know how to answer it.

Overall, the mock interview was a very useful tool and will help me in the future. It was a positive experience and I learned how to prepare for the interview and how to maintain a happy disposition and communicate that to the interviewer.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Presentations

This past week everyone gave a presentation based on something they were interested in or something they enjoyed doing. I found all the presentations interesting and enjoyed listening to all the topics. Some of my favorites included Adrienn's wine presentation, Lauren's presentation on how to facebook stalk, and Morgan's presentation on how she spends her Christmas.

Adrienn was very informative on how to properly open a bottle of wine and present it to the table. This summer was the first time I have ever worked as a server and let me tell you, those wine tools are tricky. I can say that I have never completely opened a bottle of wine with one of those things by myself. I usually made my tables help me which is embarassing I know. Adrienn did a great job explaining how to open the bottle properly and showing how and who to serve first. And I am always impressed when someone can actually use a wine tool. :)

I also enjoyed Lauren's presention on "How to Efficiently Facebook Stalk". I thought the topic was very entertaining and appropriate for this generation where facebook is so popular. I thought she did an excellent job and I definitely laughed. The facebook rap also added a nice touch.

Morgan did a great job presenting her nontraditional Christmas trips. I enjoyed seeing her pictures from Finland and Slovenia. It was interesting learning about different countries especially Slovenia since I've never heard of it. I think its really awesome that she gets to travel each year to places all over the world. I know I'm jealous!

All the presentations taught me something that I did not already know. I found all of them to be very interesting but these are just a few of my favorites.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Next Weekend

Next weekend I am going home and I could not be more excited! Every year when I come back to school, I always get caught up with everything going on here...schoolwork, FOOTBALL, sorority stuff, and just hanging out with friends, that I always forget that it has been so long since I've been home. I am an only child and my dad died when I was four. So, it has always just been my mom and me in our household. My mom has become my best friend and I talk to her all the time. Over the summer she was diagnosed with an autoimmune muscle disease. She's been getting a lot better since she found out what was wrong and we are hoping that it will go into remission over the next few years. Just being able to go home and spend time with her will make me happy. I am looking forward to next weekend to be able to relax, enjoy my mom's company, and escape from all the craziness of school. Home is where I always feel the best. :)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Cover Letters

Some advice that I agree with is that you, as a potential employee, have to be proactive and contact the company instead of just being passive. Putting yourself out there and getting in touch with the hiring manager is the best way to get the job. Also, I agreed with the parts of the tutorial that mentioned selling your abilities and what you can do for the company. You need to research the company and know how you can benefit the company. Being able to explain your abilities and the benefits you have given to other companies will make you stand out more to managers.

The one thing that I disagreed with is putting a postscript after the cover letter has already had its closing and signature. I find that to be slightly tacky. It may be a good technique and it may really work in getting a hiring manager to read your cover letter. However, I do not see myself using this technique when writing my own.

The section that I found most helpful were the sample cover letter and the cover letter checklist. I found these to be most useful because they give me a direction in writing my own cover letter.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Interviewing Tips

The first article I read,"Worst-Case Scenerio Survival Tactics for Job Seekers", gave helpful hints on how to avoid problematic situations that can occur before or during an interview. Some of the situations given included being late for the interview, forgetting to bring copies of your resume, not knowing how to answer a certain interview question, and calling the interviewer by the wrong name. This article is especially helpful at this point of my life because I will have interviews coming up over the next year or so. All four of these scenerios are realistic and seen throughout numerous interviews. The article gives suggestions about calling ahead when running late, apologizing for not bringing copies of the resume beforehand, stall or ask for clarification if you do not know how to answer the question, and apologize and correct yourself if you call the recuiter by the wrong name.

The second article is titled "Minor Matters that Make Your Interview". This article included information about how to prepare for the interview. The article suggests that you lay your clothes out the night before to make sure that you have everything all neatly pressed. Other suggestions included eating a light breakfast and staying away from food with onion and garlic, knowing how to get to the interview and where to go once you get inside the building, and how to present yourself once you get out of your car. This article shows that first impressions are really important and that you should be aware of your surroundings when you get out of your car and are preparing to enter the building.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

In the next ten years...

There is so much that I want to accomplish over the next ten years. I feel like the majority of my life has lead up to this. I would definitely say that my biggest fears are failure or being unsuccessful. Because of this, I have always set goals for myself and look forward to watching everything pan out over these upcoming years.

First and foremost, I see myself graduating from Clemson, which will happen in December of 2009. I see myself spending the remainder of my time here getting awesome grades and preparing and applying to pharmacy school. If all goes well, I will end up at MUSC. If not, I don’t exactly know where I will be but it will be a school just as challenging- just a little more expensive because of out-of-state tuition. But post-graduate life is all about paying off student loans right? I know I’m looking forward to it. I plan to graduate from pharmacy school when I am about 27 and finding a job quickly after that.

I plan on getting married and starting to have kids. I want 4 children as of now but that could change. Two or even three kids would suffice. However, before the children start coming around, I would like to travel around the world. This would be a great way to gain experience of other cultures and see what the rest of the world has to offer.

In the next ten years, I want stability. I am very independent and need to be able to stand on my own two feet without depending on someone else. But most importantly, in the next ten years, I just want to make an impact. I want someone to say that I impacted their life and it meant something. I want to continually show my mama that she did the most amazing job raising me single-handedly.

And while these 10 years are happening…I want to enjoy ever minute of it :)

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Web 2.0

The title of the video, “The Machine is Us/ing Us”, means that people are dependent on computers and the growing technology. People depend on the web to communicate and do work. The computer is using us because it allows you to visit different websites in order for ideas to be created. The web helps us help ourselves.

Someone who is ready to enter the workforce is probably familiar with Web 2.0 and knows how to operate and move about the web. Someone who is just entering the workforce would have worked with Web 2.0 and knows what it is capable of doing. One of the downfalls about the new technology would be that everything about a person can be accessed through the internet. So, all those crazy pictures taken in college could somehow turn up again when applying for a job. However, someone that is already in the workforce may have trouble with the Web or may not understand how to work with the new system. For example, older people are use to a more simple method and may not know how to upload pictures and videos. They may have trouble finding people or not understand how to the web to effectively communicate with people.

At the end of the video, it is mentioned that we will have to rethink everything. I think that means with the growing technology, we will have to rethink our lives. We will have to take more extensive measures to keep our information and our lives private. We will have to think about communicating with people so that person-to-person interaction does not become infrequent.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

About Me :)

Hi! My name is Callie and I'm a senior at Clemson majoring in Health Science Pre-professional Studies. Whenever I graduate (which is still to be determined) I plan to go into pharmacy, pathology, or something along those lines. I am a member of Kappa Delta and have been the historian for the past two years. I am also a bat girl for the Clemson baseball team and work in the University Housing office.

I am from Columbia and graduated from A.C. Flora in 2005. I am an only child and throughout the years my mom has become my best friend.

Some of my favorite things to do are hanging out with friends, laying out and floating around the new, amazing lazy river in Highpointe, listening to music, anything spontaneous, traveling, hiking with Beccaboo, and basically anything entertaining.

I hope that I have the opportunity one day to travel around the world. This past spring break I went to Rome and it was one of the best experiences that I have ever had. Not only did I get to see the breathtaking architecture but I got to learn about the history and everything that happened in the city.

I am looking forward to this semester and getting to know ya'll! :)