Advice...

Spring '08 class:

First of all I would like to say congratulations on picking a great business writing teacher! I think you will enjoy your semester with Angie. I really liked working with a real client on a real project; it made what we were doing seem like it actually mattered. And that was nice.

I don't have much advice to give you. One thing I would tell you, is to remember that each individual is unique with individual tastes and preferences. So, when you work on your project, know that your client may not have the same taste as you. You are not making this project for yourself, but for your client; and ultimately it is for whomever the client's audience is. Another thing is to not underestimate the amount of work that you will have to put into the project. Some days it seems really easy, but other days it is frustrating and overwhelming. Knowing that going into it should help you be prepared.

That is all the advice I have for you.

I do want to tell you how useful what I have learned in this class has been for me. I am graduating in a few weeks, so all the things we did, as far as the actual business writing is concerned, has been very applicable to my life as I apply for jobs and interview at grad schools etc... So try and take something away from this class. Don't just squeeze by, but make it work for you. Someday, sooner or later, you will need to know how to write all these business documents.

Have a great semester!

Free Blog!!!

For my free blog I am going to talk about the woes of trying to find a job for when I am no longer a student. This day is drawing very near, but there has been no luck in the job area so far.

I would love to start working somewhere in the beginning of January. Really, I like working full time. I did it this past summer and really enjoyed it. Last summer I was a bank teller; this was my first "real" job, believe it or not. I mean, I have worked before! In high school I worked at a dry cleaner for a little while, but that was only part time. Then I was a nanny for three summers for two different families. I love that (most days). Now I am a student, but soon it seems I will be nothing (as defined by my job title).

So where am I looking? Well, like I said, I worked at a bank last summer and really liked it. Therefore I am frantically searching any and all banks in the Clemson/Seneca area for openings of teller positions. I would love to go back to First Citizens Bank, which was where I worked previously. Unfortunately, they do not have any openings at the moment. I think I will email my old boss so that maybe if something does come open she will let me know right away. That would be great. But banks are not the only place I am willing to work. Actually, I am willing to work in almost any business setting. I think I would be a great in an administrative assistant type position. I love to organize and to be organized, to plan and schedule, to be creative, and to interact with people. Since my degree is in psychology (and I am probably going to be in grad school next fall for a counseling degree) anything in that area would also be welcome.

The trouble is finding the job openings. So far the Internet is not so good for this. I can't figure out how to find what I am just so sure is out there waiting for me! I am convinced that people are the answer... the best jobs are obtained through connections and a social network (and perhaps through many prayers)...

Group Work

I have really enjoyed working with my group. My group is great because everyone contributes and gets along well. No one has slacked off or been hard to work with.

I don't think we have really had any miscommunications. One time I sent an email to one of my group members that she never got. As a result, the revising I had done to the document we were working on did not get transferred to the document we turned in, but it really worked out okay in the end. There have been a few times when one of us could not make the group meeting, but that has not been a problem in completing the project or with dividing the work.

We email each other if we have suggestions, questions, or if we cannot make a scheduled meeting. This is a good way for us to communicate with one another.

I'm not sure that our work can necessarily be improved for phase 2, but we need to keep working well together in order to have the same success with the final project. We need to keep showing up to meetings and communicating with one another on our expectations and the individual work we are doing.

So overall this has been a good "group work" experience!

The Beautiful Mountains...

Yesterday Matthew and I drove up to the Black Balsam/Graveyard Fields area. It was more beautiful than I thought it would be! It was absolutely perfect. I thought the trees wouldn't change very much this year... or that fall would never come. But it is here! The mountains are perfect. It was definately worth the drive to be up there, even for only about an hour or so.

We are hoping that we can go camping next weekend with some friends... and hoping that the trees will still be gorgeous. We'll see...

Mock Interview Reflection...

Last week I had a mock interview with Angie (who pretended to be from the Admissions office of Covenant Theological Seminary). I was interviewing for admissions to their Master of Arts in Counseling program. This interview was perfectly timed because I had the real interview just two days later! The mock interview really helped me to be less anxious going into the real interview.

What did I learn from the mock interview?
I learned that you do not have to be scared going into an interview. If you are interviewing for something you really care about or want to do, then you will not have trouble talking to your interviewer about it.

What did I already know?
I have only had a few real interviews before, and only one that was truly serious. I knew from those exeriences that I would probably be asked retrospective questions. I also knew that I would be given the opportunity to ask questions of my own. I knew to dress professionally, not chew gum, and try not to fidget nervously.

What would I have done differently?
Two things come to mind. First, I struggle with holding eye contact (or even pseudo-eye contact, like looking at someone's forehead) while answering questions. This is something I need to work on. The reason I don't like to maintain contact is that I feel distracted and like I cannot think well enough to answer the question if I am making continual eye contact. However, the consequences of looking around while answering may be that I come off as dishonest, uninterested, or scattered, none of which are impressions I want to give during an interview.
Second, even though I know that I will be given the opportunity to ask questions, I never have many (if any) to ask. I think it makes a better impression on the interviewer if a person has something intelligent to ask, showing that they are thoughtfully considering the position for which they are applying. If I could do it again, I would force myself to think of at least one good, intelligent question to ask.

Overall the mock interview was a good experience. I feel that it helped prepare me for real interviews, specifically the one I had last week. As they say, practice makes perfect.

On a seperate note, below is the link for my team blog. We are the Habitat Helpers! Feel free to visit this blog and catch up on what we are doing for our project.
http://habittathelpers.blogspot.com/

Class Presentations...

I have enjoyed everyone's presentations. I love that we can each do them on whatever we want. This means that our topic is something that is interesting to us (probably) which means that hopefully it will be interesting to the class.

One specific presentation that I liked was Megan Craig's. She did her presentation on the psychology of color. I am a psych major so everything related to psychology is interesting to me. I enjoyed learning the different feelings evoked by different colors. I also liked how Megan showed us examples of the colors being used by advertising and marketing people for the purpose of the emotion or feeling that they promote. I thought here PowerPoint was good too because it incorporated each color she was talking about and had appropriate images to illustrate what she was saying.

I look foward to seeing everyone else's presentations this week, as well as giving my own.

I'm going to be an aunt!!!


We just found out that my brother and his wife are going to have a baby! I am really excited about being an aunt. They live in Greenville, so they are nice and close.
I am extra excited about the timing because my husband and I will more than likely be about 800 miles away next fall, and I was very sad about them maybe having a baby while we were gone. Now I will get to be around while she is pregnant and when the baby is born. That is good news!