"I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...but there's all this crap in the way..."

One of my group members said this last night, and I can't help but totally agree. We're SO CLOSE...but there's still SO MUCH TO DO?

How is it that the last three weeks of the semester have been busier that all of the others (perhaps combined)? We have so much stuff due, and so many groups to coordinate with, and things to research, and papers to write, and tests to study for, OH, and there's that work thing...ugh

We're at least having a good time with it all. We're all so ready to graduate that we're occasionally delirious, which just makes life entertaining.

Let's see, what do we have left?

• Retail Strategy: we JUST finished our last presentation (like an hour ago), so all that's left in there is the take home final.
• Retail Finance: we have part four of our semester long project left, two cases to analyze (which, honestly, are NOT getting much of my attention or precious time), a final case analysis and prep, and the final work up of our project (yes...all of that...and we only have four days of class left...)
• Strategic Management: we have an exam, a thousand articles/videos to still read, and (we think...) another discussion board to participate in (although we haven't heard anything about it...). We also have an optional final, but I REALLY REALLY don't want to take it...

So, Dead Day is Friday... I can't believe we're almost done! We've got exit interviews and parties coming up, all making it that much more real. Geez...

Okay, gotta go figure out what the IIRR for Kroger is...

I'm fairly sure my brain is rebelling

We have a midterm today. A big, scary, no-one-knows-what-to-expect midterm. I've been studying for three days...my brain has actually stopped absorbing information. So...blogpost!

I have to distract myself for a little while in order to restart my brain. I'm finding it to be more and more difficult to study the closer May gets. I make myself do it, but it's almost like nothing it sticking. It's frustrating. I just have so much to do that my limited mental capacity is overwhelmed and my normally receptive brain becomes a stubborn two year old shouting "Nu-uh! No! No more studying!" *sigh*

I mean, not only do I need to study for midterms, keep up in class (which is WAY harder this semester than it has been...we have SO MUCH TO DO), apply for jobs, keep up with jobs I've applied for but that aren't panning out OR rejecting me (frustrating, BTW), and go to work, I also have all the normal stuff like taking care of the puppy and cleaning the house and being social and grocery shopping and showering and occasionally eating and sleeping and...*system failure*

I need a break - not because I need to rest, but because I need time to actually do stuff for me, not for other people. I need work and school and life to leave me alone for a few days and let me catch up on being a normal, functioning adult. I feel like I'm constantly sitting on the verge of a panic attack, and it's not conducive to, you know, being productive and what not.

So, maybe writing a blogpost wasn't the best plan...now I feel MORE stressed. Great. Exam in an hour and my brain is still whirling around in a spinning rainbow of death and I can't find the force-quit button...

...gonna go get more coffee and google "cute baby animals"...

UPDATE: that was terrible


[remainder of update not included due to the fact that I'm too upset to write an acceptable post explaining why it was terrible - trust me, you wouldn't want to read it]


Is it graduation yet?

How am I busier on the weekends than I am during the week?

No really, how? It amazes me what I can get myself into...

Friday we spent all day at school in a professional development course on Access. I've used it before, but I don't work with it on a normal basis, so some additional foundation was helpful. This particular class was just the "beginner" level - we'll move on to "intermediate" next month. That's when it really starts to become useful. It wasn't a bad class, though, I did learn a few new things that I can put into practice at work. It did, however, make for a long day. That evening I did some prep for the insanity that I knew would be Saturday, and that prep work on top of spending an evening playing catch-up with several friends resulted in minimal sleep. That was probably not the best plan.

I got up at 5 am (no I'm not kidding) on Saturday morning. I needed to finish a few things up at home before heading to campus. If I haven't mentioned it before, I act as an advisor for an on campus student organization that focuses on community service. They work closely with the scouting community, and on Saturday, they hosted a HUGE event (with over 900 scouts in attendance). The scouts come to campus for a day and take merit badge classes - it's a super fun event for them...and a super stressful event for us. The group has been planning the details for about a year now (they start on next year's event next week). I showed up to help with the morning activities and spent the hours between 6 and 10 resolving several minor (and a few major) crises.

I then drove out to Rogers to attend a memorial service - not the happiest way to spend a Saturday, but when you love someone, you're there for them through happy AND sad, right? It was a nice, quite service, and we actually ended up smiling and laughing a good deal more than one would expect at such an event.

Immediately after that was over, I drove back to Fayetteville, stopped at Party City to pick up balloons and then Rick's Bakery for an order of petit fours, then headed home to straighten the house and get everything ready for the baby shower I was hosting at 2pm - the theme? The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Cute, right?

Thanks to some help from my incredible roommate and another friend, we had everything set up and ready by the time the mom-to-be arrived (thank goodness!). The shower went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The highlight was definitely the beautiful goodies by Rick's (they always do a fantastic job).

I spent the rest of the afternoon with my roommate - alternately watching a movie, cleaning up, and pretending to study for the Strategy midterm we have coming up. Sunday was mostly devoted to ACTUALLY studying, with a few meetings thrown in for good measure. I felt quite productive, despite the fact that I STILL haven't done the pile of laundry I've been saying I'll do for about a week now...hmm...

Anyway, this week should be interesting. We've had three classes "cancelled" in leiu of other activities - Finance is cancelled all week because we have a three hour meeting tonight and we don't have Retail on Wednesday so that we can have time on our own to work on our midterm. Then, on Thursday, we have the scary Strategy midterm (eeek/sigh)...

How is it midterm time already? Have we had enough class to justify that? The snow really messed with my schedule. Time is just flying - Spring Break is in two weeks and then we only have six weeks of classes left! Graduation will be here before we know it...if I can pass that Strat midterm, that is...blerg. I'll let you know how it goes. 'Til then!

One for One

Last Thursday morning I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Blake Mycoskie at John Brown University. If you aren't familiar with Blake, you're probably at least familiar with his company - Toms Shoes.

I love Toms - they make me super happy. And I love the business model - every time someone buys a pair of shoes, a pair is given to a child in need. It's brilliant. Who'd have thought that giving something away every time you sell something would make for a profitable business? Good job, Blake!

His talk focused on why he'd incorporated giving into his business model in the first place. As it turns out, the giving was the original concept. He'd been down in Argentina and seen how much the village kids there needed shoes. He decided he wanted to help, but rather than rely on charity work, he wanted to find a way to make it a business - and Toms was born.

He wrapped up by saying that giving back doesn't just feel good, but that it can be a great thing for your business and your own personal brand. He mentioned three ways in which incorporating giving into your life and business is a good thing.

First, when you give back, your customers become your marketers. They do all of the advertising for you - there's a passion there that customers want to share with everyone. They believe in the cause and they become involved.

Next, a company that gives back attracts dedicated, passionate employees. Everyone wants to be a part of something. People want to work at companies that are doing good things, giving back. People want purpose, something to be proud of. A company that gives back provides that.

Finally, when you incorporate giving into your model, other people want to help you, because helping you succeed means helping you give more. As such a tiny start-up, Toms would not have become who they are today without the help of some really big names - Vogue, Ralph Lauren, etc. Those names believed in what Blake was doing and they wanted to help him succeed.

He was a fantastic speaker, I'm really glad I got the chance to hear him talk about the company. He brought even more passion to an already enchanting company.

The rest of the week/weekend was spent in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My little brother turned twenty-one, so we all drove out to help celebrate. Our Christmas was a bit punctuated this year, what with work schedules and my India trip, so getting to spend several days as a family was nice.

Now it's March and time is speeding by much faster than I can process. We've picked up graduation regalia and midterms are already upon us! Eeek! Someone slow this down!

I did get a bit of a break tonight - the Vienna Boys Choir was at the Walton Arts Center, and so I treated myself to a night out. It was lovely. Now I must go organize my thoughts and to-do list so that I don't get even further behind. Happy March, everyone!

No, I'm not dead. There was snow.

I do apologize for the lack of updates. Life has been, how should I put it...jumbled.

There was snow. Then ice ('cause the snow melted and re-froze). Then more snow. Then a little more snow. Here's a draft I typed up in the middle of it, but never published:

We've been snowed in for the past two days, and tomorrow doesn't look promising. In fact, they've already cancelled school tomorrow (and upwards of 500 other places around town). It's ridiculous. Some of the phrases that have been used on Twitter lately to describe the past few days:Snowpocalypse - Snowmageddon - Snowverwhelming - Snowverreaction - Snowverdrive - Snowverboard - SnowMG - Oh, Snow you didn't!...it's getting ridiculous.

Mind you...that was during the FIRST round of snow...not the second round where we got two feet. We basically missed two full weeks of classes. THAT resulted in piles of "make-up" work (the quotations exist 'cause the teachers weren't supposed to give "make up" work, so instead we found ourselves blessed with surprise "extra" assigned readings/viewings/chapters/etc). Now that I've dug myself out of both the snow AND the work, I can breathe a little bit (and blog!)

Okay, first, before you get to bored with this likely long update, I'd like to let you know about two fairly interesting events that will be happening at Walton soon.

First, on Thursday (2/24), GWIB (Graduate Women in Business) and NWAYP (Northwest Arkansas Young Professionals) are partnering to bring a fantastic panel to campus. The event is called "Working the Career Ladder to your Advantage," and features female executives from the area discussing how to balance life and work successfully. It will be a wonderful networking opportunity. Contact info is listed on the flyer below. No reservations are required, but come early - there is a seating limit!

Next, the GSB will be hosting their annual Spring Social on March 10th from 6 to 8 pm at Powerhouse in Fayetteville. This event is always fun, and is a great opportunity to meet current, future, and prospective students and ask questions. I'll update with more info as the event gets closer, but go ahead and put it on your calendar!

Now, on to more of a life update.

Work
Dannon is still awesome. This past week our entire team has been in Vegas for the annual sales meeting, so the office was SUPER quiet (i.e. I got a lot done). We've turned in our first round of reports to Walmart (which is tricky at the beginning of a new year because there are always glitches), so the reports should be smooth from now on. Also, we are awaiting the arrival of a new intern soon (can you believe that tomorrow will mark a year that I have been with Dannon?!?). My job for the rest of the semester will be focused on prepping the new intern to do my job...weird, but exciting.

School
Classes are going well-ish. We're all feeling a bit swamped at this exact moment, but we're making it. I'm only taking three classes this semester (India counted for what would have been my fourth), so my workload is lighter than most people's (a rarity in my world). I really like our profs & classes this semester:

• Vikas Anand is teaching Strategic Management (required for everyone)
• Jim Webster is teaching Retail Finance (retail elective)
• Nicole Cox is teaching Retail Strategy (retail elective)

We'll be doing a good deal of field research and work in two of our classes - that could be interesting. I'll keep you updated.

Life
I REALLY NEED A JOB
that kind of sums it up right now...
I've talked to several maybes, but they've all remained just that...maybes. I'd really like to find a "yes" somewhere among all that. Fingers crossed that happens soon...graduation is in 82 days...

I've been throwing lots of parties lately, so that keeps me happy and occupied. Most recently we had a Valentine's Day gathering at which we celebrated all the classic Valentine's cliches - rose petals, candles, fancy dinners, chocolates. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Also, Gigi had a Valentine's date! Her beau Malbec came over for dinner. Aren't they sweet? (Just nod in agreement and humor me)

That's all for now. I'll do better with updates from now on. Promise. 'Til then!

I'm back! Aren't you excited?

So, India was...intense. It's amazing how emotional the country was - a constant roller-coaster. I'd love the country one minute and be ready to jump on a flight home the next. It was a great trip - and an incredible learning experience - but I'm very glad to be home.

I don't have an extended amount of time right now for a real update, but I did want to let everyone know I'm back home and back to THIS blog (though I probably will continue to update the other one since I didn't get to while we were in India...internet was scarce).

The new semester has started back up and I'll be posting my class schedule and brief reviews of each in the next few days. On top of that, this is our LAST SEMESTER (eeek), so the job hunt is intensifying a bit. I'm still at Dannon for the moment, but there's no guarantee that anything is permanent. BUT, I have two conversations tomorrow with my dream company (no, I won't tell you who it is...I wanna see how this goes first). Wish me luck!

Now, off to homework and other things. More later - 'til then :)

Procrastination Post!

I'm posting this so that I'm no longer tempted to sit here and tell you about my week. I have my one and only final tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be studying...but blogging just sounds so much more appealing.

Latenight-studyoverloadinduced-crazyperson-logic: if I post something short, I won't feel tempted by the option of blogging anymore

...this makes perfect sense!

So, yeah, that's it. Must go study accounting...

All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

For our last assignment in our Leadership class, we had to write out our "leadership philosophy" - basically what we believe leadership is, entails, and looks like. Now, if you can't tell from my blog, I'm a bit of a creative writer (technical stuff bores me). I like adding a spin or a bit of sarcasm or even some "cheesyness" to what I write. It (I hope) makes it more fun to read (sure does make it more fun to write).

So, for this leadership paper, I decided to approach it from a "different" angle. Here's what I submitted:

My leadership philosophy comes from an unconventional place. As an undergrad, I worked part time teaching two-year-olds (yes, voluntarily) at a Montessori school. My job was not to “teach,” but to guide and motivate these children through developmental stages to that they could “move up.” During my two years there, I learned more about leadership than I have anywhere else. Don’t believe me? Think about it. If you can “lead” a group of two-year-olds – lead, not command – you can lead anyone.  

The thought process behind my leadership philosophy is summed up quite well by a poem called “All I need to know I learned in Kindergarten” (by Robert Fulgham). Over time, I’ve added bits and pieces from my own personal experiences, and I have found the following to hold true in almost every aspect of my life.

• Share everything – responsibility, power, credit, and blame.
• Play fair – playing favorites does not foster team cohesion.
• Don't hit people. Use your words, instead – they’re much more powerful.
• Put things back where you found them – organization makes everything easier.
• Clean up your own mess – take responsibility for your actions and mistakes.
• Don't take things that aren't yours – don’t take responsibility for others’ ideas.
• Keep your promises – follow through, with both rewards and consequences.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody – fostering and maintaining relationships is a key part of being a good leader.
• Wash your hands before you eat – habits are hard to break. Form good ones.
• Flush – common courtesy goes a long way.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you – treat yourself every now and then.
• Live a balanced life – learn and think, draw and paint, sing and dance, and play and work at least some every day.
• Take a nap every afternoon – just stop and be still for a little while each day.
• Do unto others as you would have them do to you – they’ll return the favor.
• Make friends with the smart kids – then, if you don’t know how to do something, you know someone who does.
• If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all – praise goes a long way.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together – support, protect, and look out for your team members.
• God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak – listen to your people. How else will you know how to lead them?
• Be aware of wonder – never cease to be curious and never stop learning.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice - they all die. So do we – no one is invincible. Loss and failure are a part of life. It’s how we handle adversity it that shows who we are.
• Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all , SEE – Get out of your office, look around you, and be aware of what is happening. How else can you help your team get to where they need to be?

I got an A, by the way :) Now, off to pour over survey responses and figure out what my data is telling me (thanks to y'all who took the survey!). Happy Thursday!

Turkey Hangover

Just got home from St. Louis...Thanksgiving break was great (it's possibly my favorite holiday - I love family gatherings, and this one is usually the biggest for us), but the Sunday after break is probably my least favorite Sunday all semester. I tend to get "holiday vision" (kinda like tunnel vision, but lined with twinkle lights and snowmen), and coming back to school for a measly two weeks after such a short time at home is icky. My brain does its best to ignore those two weeks and pretends that once I hit Thanksgiving break, I'm done for the semester...I'm not. I got back to Fayetteville and opened my to do file, and this is what I saw:

Yeah...*sigh*

I look at this...and I KNOW I should start working...but I'm overwhelmingly unmotivated. There's Christmas music on the radio, and hot cocoa in the cabinet, and twinkle lights EVERYWHERE, and a Christmas tree in my car just begging me to bring it in and set it up (I'm very VERY motivated to do that...)

So, new plan: I do an assignment, and I get to put up a piece of decor. This will totally work...right?

In other news, the Razorbacks won and are now #7 in the BCS (FINALLY, some recognition!). Also, I got a new camera this weekend! A Cannon SX130. It's beautiful and has 12x optical zoom (and I got it for $150 off!). Expect many photo-ful uploads in the future. Til then. 

UPDATE (10:30 PM): ...the tree is up, I have hot cocoa, and none of those aforementioned assignments has been done...oh well

Hurry up, Thanksgiving!

Life is a little crazy right now - I feel like I'm running out of time to get everything done! Over the next week, we have a paper due, a presentation, another India class, and our first final. Not to mention we need to finish collecting data, start writing our research paper, finish another presentation, another project, another paper, and study for finals (all before December 2nd...eeeek!).

On top of that, I'm throwing a huge dinner party on Thursday (the busiest day I have this week...naturally), and so the house needs to be cleaned, food must be cooked, decor put up, etc. It's a lot and there simply aren't enough hours in each day to do what I need to do (and sleep...which I require...well, the people I interact with require it of me...)

At least work has slowed down. The past few weeks have been INSANE - trying to get this huge report ready for Walmart. We finally turned it in, though, so we can breathe a little (which I need right now).

So, yeah, you might not hear from me for a few days...

But, if you find yourself at a loss for things to do this week, you could always take my survey (in the post below) OR you could go enjoy this open house - I've mentioned Riffraff several times before. Kirsten, the owner, is a U of A grad, and she's brilliant. Her store is precious and if you're looking to find some unique gifts for the holidays, this is the place to go. Yay for supporting local businesses!

Take this survey and I'll give you cookies!

Okay...not really...I can't legally do that considering I have to keep all responses anonymous...but, you'll get a warm, fuzzy feeling 'cause you were helpful...kinda the same as cookies, right?

We're conducting primary research for our Marketing Research class, and we need to know what college students think about "immediate consumption beverage" purchases (i.e. the drinks you buy at a gas station/Walgreens/Club Red/vending machines...you know, the ones you're gonna drink right away? Those). We'd really appreciate your help - we need as many responses as possible.

So, since you're here anyway (and this only takes like ten minutes, tops), would you take it? Please?...pretty please?...pretty please with a cherry on top? Click below.

LINK TO THE SUPER AWESOME SURVEY YOU KNOW YOU WANNA TAKE

If you're still reading, but didn't click above...wrong choice...go back and try again. Thanks y'all!

So, yeah, that accounting test I was so worried about?

Easiest exam EVER! I'm not kidding. I finished in like 30 minutes (which is unheard of for me...probably 'cause I usually check and re-check my answers somewhere around three times, but whatever). I was actually a little worried I'd missed something, like an essay question or instructions that said "please answer in pig-latin"...it couldn't have been THAT easy, right? Wrong. Everyone else seemed to think the same thing.

So, good news guys! Our exams are occasionally simple and to the point. "Did you pay attention in class, do your homework, and study (even a little)? You did? Well, yay you! You'll do great!"

I spent the rest of my day running around Fayetteville, delivering invitations to a party I'm throwing next week (on November 18th...if you can figure out the theme based on the date alone, we should be friends).

I love planning parties...probably more than most things...and this one has been in the works for about a year, so it should be awesome. There will be an entire update dedicated to it, no worries.

To those of you currently judging me (you know who you are): "Psh." I'm passionate about something...and employers like passion, right? This is a good thing!

After my invite delivery adventures, I spent a few hours at Rick's Bakery (one of the best places in Fayetteville to do homework), updating a survey and finalizing it for distribution. Once it's ready, I'm going to post a link on my blog. If you're a kind hearted individual and want to help out a few MBA students, we'd love to have you take it...please? Check back for the link. 'Til then, readers!

GWIB Meet and Greet

I know it's been a little while, but a) life's been a bit routine (i.e. uneventful & boring) and b) I went to St. Louis last weekend to hang out with Mom & Dad and didn't do ANYTHING productive. It was wonderful! We went to the salon, and shopped, and had lunch at this cute little diner, and drove aimlessly around small towns...yeah, I don't feel bad at all for taking a weekend off.

Now, however, I'm back to reality. We have an accounting test tomorrow that I'm NOT ready for (and that I'm supposed to be studying for right now...) and a presentation due, and another paper next week, and a survey that has to go out, and then more tests/papers/projects/presentations in an endless loop until December 11th...sigh. We do get a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, so that'll be nice.

We do have a fun event coming up this week, though. I'm part of a brand new RSO on campus called Graduate Women in Business and we're hosting a meet and greet this Thursday at PF Chang's (in Rogers). It's a time for the girls to get together and talk about life and what not (with other girls that are going through the same types of things). If you're interested in the program (even a little) and would like to come hang out with us and hear a little more about it (in a fun, half-priced-super-tasty-appetizer-filled atmosphere), you should join us. The invite is attached below. Everyone is welcome (yes, you too, alumni, faculty, and staff!) and we'd love to have you stop by! I mean, think about it, girl time AND lettuce wraps...can you really say no? Didn't think so.

Midterms? Psh. No big deal. (Oh, and Lauren & I rock at shuffleboard)

The level of calm that surrounded this semesters midterms (for me, at least) was a little unnerving. I’ve always been one to kinda panic about tests (the Type A overachiever in me freaks out), but not this time. Like I said before, they didn’t sneak up on me – I felt prepared. And so, I didn’t do a whole lot of additional studying…it felt kinda surreal.

We started out with our Leadership exam on Monday. I studied an average amount – I went through and made my “review pages” like I always do, flipped through the book skimming over passages I’d marked and making sure I hadn’t missed anything on my sheets, but that was about it. It went well – I ended up with a 98% (aside: it should have been a 100, the ONE question I missed was rigged…the rest of the class agrees).

The exam I was most worried about was on Tuesday – Marketing Research. I think I was worried simply because there was no “best” way to study…and that just made me nervous. I filled out the study guide then went over it pretty thoroughly with a friend. We discussed the more “vague” areas and looked over the analysis problems we’d done. That was about all we could do, but I didn’t feel super prepared still. I went home and skimmed through several of the chapters and went over the study guide one more time before I felt comfortable enough to sleep. I did alright on that one, too, another 98% (don’t scoff, that’s a 98% with a 12 pt. curve…so yes, it’s “alright” not “good”).

Wednesday was our Ethics FINAL. It’s an 8-week class, so instead of a midterm, we just had a final. I probably studied the least for this one – mostly under the mindset of: it’s ethics…shouldn’t I be able to figure out the answers…? Well…yes and no. The class covered a lot of theory, so I made sure I went over those several times. I made review pages and flipped through the slides (and skimmed through the book that was never officially assigned to the class but that I have thanks to a classmate who’s taken the class before). I ended up with a 92%...for how I studied, I’ll take it.

So, midterms are over now! Yay! We’re halfway through. Does this semester seem to being going by really fast to anyone else?

In other fun news, we had our Fall Social last night. We all met up at Powerhouse and mingled with the part-time (MMBA) class as well as a few prospective students who'd come to hear more about the program. Afterwards, several of us went over to Sideways for a game of shuffleboard. The boys made the mistake of letting us play Guys v. Girls. Lauren and I beat them 23-9. Yeah, we're awesome like that - not competitive at all :) 

War Eagle Arts & Crafts Festival is this weekend. Check back for updates on that. 'Til then.

This is sort of an update

Schedule for the week?

Monday - Midterm, Class, Study, Work, Dinner, Study
Tuesday - Class, Midterm, Work, Study, Dinner, Meeting, Homework
Wednesday - Class, Final (yes, final), Meeting - then? - FREE TIME!

Hopefully I can give a full update on Wednesday. That's about as much as I can handle right now (I'm typing this during my break tonight...during which I'm watching Castle and NOT feeling guilty about it...well, not totally).

More later - 'til then.

Weekends? What are those?

Um, so this weekend was Bikes, Blues, and BBQ - I try to convince myself each year that it wasn't so bad last year and that I might even enjoy it this year. I'm always wrong.

It was also our second India class - more about that later.

In other news, the Hogs didn't play this weekend. Bama did. They won...again...but the way they played made me feel much better about last week.

Yeah, so, I have an accounting exam on Monday. And a paper due tomorrow. And a memo to write. And no clean clothes. Don't expect an update 'til at least Tuesday. Happy DayThatWasSupposedToBeAWeekendButWasn't.

Congrats, you won! Now...go do it again...but for more people

Okay, recap, post 2. The next thing I wanted to tell you about was our Internship Presentations. To get credit for doing our internship this summer (yes, you can get credit for making money), we had to make a presentation about our experience with our company - what our responsibilities were, what learning objectives we set, whether we'd accomplished them, and so on. In true Walton style, they made these presentations competitive. The class was split across six rooms, with about five people assigned to a room. Each room had two or three judges who evaluated each presentation, and the student with the highest score won the room and moved on to the second and final round to be held the next week (i.e. our reward for winning was MORE work and stress...oh well)

Now, I didn't take credit for my internship (something about trying to take too many hours...who me? Never!), but, since I'm a bit of an over-achiever (and a little too competitive for my own good), I did the competition anyway. I ended up winning my room (yay!)...which means I got to participate in the final round the next week. This round was a bigger deal considering the Career Center (who organized the whole thing) invited fifteen judges and had us present in this huge auditorium on a stage...see?

We found out that day who the top four was (I made that cut, too!), but we won't find out until tonight what rank we go (i.e. first, second, etc). The top four are guaranteed a trophy, though, so that'll be fun.

What's tonight, you ask? Well, it's the final portion of our internship review. We all (even those that didn't place in the presentation competition) have created posters detailing the highlights of our internship experience. We have a networking event tonight at the Alumni House, and there will be people from tons of different companies coming to check out our posters. We get to stand there, look pretty, and talk to everyone about what we did. It should be a fun evening. There will be pictures and such available soon, so check back!

I'm gonna keep this entry short ('cause I have to go prettify myself for the event tonight), but I'll talk about one more of the things I mentioned earlier, the networking lunch with the Arkansas Executive Forum. After our first round of presentations, we were all invited to have lunch with the AEF, a group of execs from around the area that meets twice a year on the U of A campus. We all gave our "elevator pitches" (speeches that define who you are and where you're going with your life but that are short enough to be given on an elevator ride), then spent lunch talking with those in attendance. Walton always has such great networking opportunities like this, which is one of the MANY reasons I love this school.

So, that's about it for today. I have to go get ready for tonight, but I'll take pictures and let you all know how it goes! (fingers crossed, right? Thanks). 'Til then, readers. Happy Monday!

Ragweed is mean. End of story.

Yeah, I know I told y'all to "check back tomorrow" like a week ago for another update. As you probably noticed, there wasn't one. The ragweed in the area decided to attack my sinuses and rendered me a bit... loopy to be honest. Well, I guess it was actually the meds that caused the loopieness...either way, I was not in a blogging state of mind.

I'm a bit better today - or at least I've tricked myself into thinking that. So, here's an update:

Let's start with our first India class. As I've mentioned before, I'll be spending Christmas break in India with about nineteen other students. As part of the prep work for that trip, we attend five Saturday classes to learn more about Indian culture, business practices, geography, history, and other fun stuff. During our first class, we did the perfunctory "go around the room and introduce yourselves" bit, followed by some informational presentations by Dr. Anand and Dr. Ellstrand (what will happen in the classes, what to expect, etc). Then, we walked over to Ella's (a restaurant on campus) for lunch. On Saturdays, they do an Indian themed menu, so it fit perfectly into the class. After lunch, we spent the remainder of the afternoon watching a Bollywood movie (which we will do every class in order to better familiarize ourselves with the culture). I LOVE Bollywood, so this was probably my favorite part. This week's movie was 3 Idiots - it tells the story, largely through flashbacks, of three engineering students trying to get through college. It was a nice blend of funny and moving (and had a few of those dance scenes Bollywood is famous for) - I'd recommend it if you can find a copy.

Okay, next...oh yeah, our first Professional Development class. Every semester, Walton hosts several PD Seminars (speakers come in every couple of weeks and speak on a topic for a few hours). This semester, our first opportunity was with Adam Arroyos. He's doing a series on networking. We spent the first session (there are four in all) focusing on our elevator speech - a short schpeel about yourself that you can deliver in the time it takes to ride an elevator with someone. We had our second session Wednesday and focused more on the "how to" of networking and its importance in our future careers. The next two sessions will be on organizational culture - I'll let you know how they go.

Last for today: the Supplier Joint Business Plan Summit at Walmart. Every year, each supplier has to submit this gigantic excel file detailing their plans for the upcoming business year (sales, store promotions, new businesses, etc). International suppliers (so...people like Dannon), have to submit a report for EACH country they sell product in (for us, that's 15) and EACH business unit within that country (taking our total business units up to around, oh, 45 or so). Guess who gets to compile all this info? Yup, me. Anyway, before we have access to these files, we have to attend the summit where we get all the instructions, details, and changes for this JBP file. This year, the meeting was at the new Sam's Home Office (which is NIIICE, by the way). It took about two and a half hours, and we got some good information (some of which means we have some changes to make to the files we've already started working on...oh well). It was an interesting experience - I'm glad I got to tag along.

Okay, now I have about three tons of homework to get through before tomorrow morning, so I need to stop procrastinating. I'll post another update...tomorrow? (fingers crossed). Til then, readers.

Wondering where I went?

Confession: I have been a bad blogger…I’m sorry. I promise to do better from now on.

So, as you might have guessed from the lack of updates, I’ve been a bit busy as of late. In order to give you a better picture as to what has kept me so busy, I’m going to give you the hi-lights in this post, and further elaborate in subsequent posts throughout the week. Good plan? I thought so, too.

Okay, highlights:

¨      First India class

¨      First Professional Development Class

¨      Supplier Joint Business Plan Summit at Walmart

¨      Internship Experience Presentations, Round One

¨      Networking Lunch with the Arkansas Executive Forum

¨      FOOTBALL

¨      Forest Gump and Pancakes

¨      Internship Experience Presentations, Final Round

¨      Farmers’ Market and Ozark Harvest Food Festival (oh, and more football!)

So, any of the above have you intrigued? Even if it doesn’t, you should check back tomorrow. Plenty of fun-packed posts to come. ‘Til then, readers, and welcome to September!

More Back to School!

Okay, so, those "Tuesday/Thursday" classes I said I'd talk about:

Shopper, Buyer, and Consumer Behavior ("Behavior") - Jeff Murray
I am probably far more excited about this class than is socially acceptable, but it's what I love. I would love to eventually work in shopper insights/consumer behavior, so THIS is the class I've been looking forward to taking. It's an interesting format, too. Dr. Murray (who I've never had before but who everyone raves about) hasn't assigned us a textbook. Instead, we're reading more "pop culture" themed books - the Gladwell trio (Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers) and a book called Mind Wide Open (which I like as of the first chapter). The books are meant to complement the lectures and give us references to cite when we write our essays (basically the only graded component of the class). We have six essays, spaced throughout the semester, and one group project. No exams. Quite different from the classes I've taken in the past, but the emphasis is on creativity - so that's just plain exciting!

Consumer and Market Research ("Research") - Scot Burton
Although I may be less excited about this class than I am Behavior, I am still glad to have it on my schedule. With what I'd like to eventually do (focus on shopper marketing/insights and then *eventually* teach in a university setting), I need the skills this class will provide - the basics behind research design, implementation, and evaluation. I've had Dr. Burton before, and I liked the class I took with him as an undergrad, so I see this going well. We do have a HUGE group project that will take the entire semester, but once we get going, I'm thinking it may actually be fun...we'll see.

These are my two "career track" classes, the addition of which is new this semester. Up until now, we've ALL had class together. With the tracks, we split up into four sections (marketing [yay!], tlog, finance, and entrepreneurship). As a result, we are now taking classes with sub-sections of the class...which means my normal little study/social group is split up. It's kinda odd to not see them all everyday...

Anyway, we had normal lectures today, and I'm still just as excited about Behavior as I was on day one. Plus, I'm already getting into the reading (a good sign!). Research seems to be going well, too, with the only hiccup as of yet being the "group formation" time we had at the end of class.

Dr. Burton said we could team up in groups of, at minimum, five people. Well, conveniently enough, the little piece of our "group" that is enrolled in the class happened to be a five person version of the whole...so I assumed we'd work together. Yeah, I was wrong and that didn't work...at all. Team formation was actually a bit tense there for a sec (I'm honestly still a little confused as to how all of that happened, but, no matter). Turns out, this will probably be for the best. Those of us that ended up together are getting to work with some of the class that we don't normally get to hang out with, so, yay new friends!

As mentioned before, we don't have class on Fridays, so I'll spend all day tomorrow at the office. We're gearing up for a big meeting with Walmart on Thursday, so there's a lot to get done before then. After that, it's weekend time! Oh, and we have our first India class on Saturday - yay! That'll be a fun post, I hope.

And, did I mention that it felt like fall today? Oh, it was so nice. Almost football weather! Can't wait for that to start back up - Go Hogs!