Creative Thought

Blogger me this and blogger me that,
Who will make a plan so the egg will not crack?
Tick tock, the clock now must stop,
Manage time wisely to get to the top.
Get an idea and build up the Lego’s,
Need some help? Here, try an Eggo.
Combine efficient use with time and a plan,
And you’ll be known by your peers as the management man!

Communicating via Blog

Okay, I'm going to be very honest - when this blog assignment first began, I used to think it was a drag. I didn't see the point of it and thought it wasted my time. But as the semester is coming to an end, I wish I would have utilized the blog more and used it to get to know some of my classmates better, since after reading some of their blogs, they seem to be quite interesting.

Also, the blog gives us the chance to further discuss the activities or lectures we covered in class, if you are one of those people who don't like to share your opinions in a classroom setting. We also get the chance to see what others thought of the activities as well, and comment on their thoughts and views, thus creating some sort of interaction.

So just a side note to Professor Kurpis -- the blogs are a must! I think you should keep including them into your lesson plan each semester, seeing as how it allows interaction outside of the classroom.

The ABCs of DISC

Upon evaluating ourselves, my result was a D (as in Dominance). I sort-of-do and sort-of-don't agree with this result. You see, around friends and people I know, I tend to be the one who takes initiative and give out orders; but around people I don't know, I tend to remain quiet and reserved. In my opinion, a dominant person is one who acts with dominance no matter who they're surrounded by, which is not me. I am more of the I, or the Influence, which is the second result that I got, meaning that I try to shape the environment by influencing or persuading others.

The fact that managers use this method to determine what kind of employee they may potentially hire is ridiculous to me. There are so many areas of this "test" where things can go wrong, such as that the person taking it can be giving answers on how they view themselves, instead of how others view them, which can completely alter the results. So to answer another question - no, this test would not help me in other personal interactions. I think you can tell what kind of person someone is just by casually interacting with them or asking them a few basic, unstructured questions.

The Power of Vision

Like [hopefully] many people, I too have goals that I wish to achieve after graduating from Baruch this June (finally!!). One of those goals begins this summer, since I have just booked a 2-month trip to Europe. The first month-and-a-half will be spent in eastern Europe, where I plan to visit family and friends in Bosnia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. During this part of the trip, I hope to spend as much quality time as possible with the people that I love, seeing as how I haven't been back home in 3 years. The second part of the trip will be spent in western Europe, in Spain, France, and Germany. For this part, my goal is to see and learn as much as I can about the cultures of these three countries, and to meet many interesting people along the way. In order to achieve this, I plan on keeping an open mind and trying out new and different things.

My second goal is to find a full-time job that has a pretty decent starting salary with the chance to get health benefits, starting in September. I'm not exactly sure what kind of job I want yet, but I just want something that will be sufficient enough to support myself. I have already started this goal by applying online at STARR Career Center and websites such as monster.com.

The third goal is in case my 2nd goal doesn't work out, and that is to apply for grad school. If I can't find a job within six months as of September, I want to apply to grad school for either International Logistics or Sports Management. If I pursue Sports Management, then I would hope to move out to southern California since that's where they have the best programs for this field. To prepare for this goal, I would have to study for an take an MBA exam, as well as gather recommendations and/or write an entrance letter.

My final goal is to move out. Although I am happy to be living with my parents (what's not to love - I get free housing and food), I would like to experience living on my own. But in order to do that, I would have to complete my second goal in finding a full-time job.