Adivce for Future Projects

My advice for future classes with projects is to start early. That's what my group did and we were done with the proposal about 1.5 in advance. This was a lot less stressful than it could have been and we were able to come out with a great proposal that ended up winning. To accomplish this we met once a week starting after the project was assigned and worked on it a little bit each time. Our group members were very responsible and we always did what we were assigned each week. Being able to count on your group members is huge, so do your best to be someone that others can count on.
I really enjoyed working on our project, and I think having such an awesome group made the difference!

Late Blog- Free Response

Out of all my favorite holiday's, Christmas has got to be my favorite. I love going home to see my family and friends and celebrating this time with them. I think it is really fun to get presents for people and watch when they open it, especially if it is something you know they are going to like. This year my boyfriend and I are making each other our Christmas presents. I think this makes the gift all the more special when you know the person has put a lot of time and thought into what they are making you. However, the one person I have a really hard time buying a present for is my dad. He never really wants anything, because whatever he wants throughout the year, he buys for himself. Thus, this makes it difficult to buy him a present that he will enjoy. I know though that its the thought that counts- but really, you can only have so many pop sickle stick picture frames and packs of golf balls. This year's Christmas is going to be great though, and I can't wait to go home and enjoy it with my family!

LATE BLOG: DUAL CODING

One example that I can think of for the dual coding theory is the commercial for pepto bismal...
They have old people signing and dancing around and it's really funny! Anytime I see or hear of pepto bismal I think of that commercial. This was probably the idea behind the commercial because the company knew that people would find it comical and remember it. One can see this especially during the Superbowl. People always remember who had a commercial during those few hours and from what I understand people pay big money to get a spot during the breaks. This is probably because so many people are watching and everyone always loves to talk about the commercials afterward, so they feel the need to remember them. Timing and content are the biggest playing cards that companies have to sell their products and it seems that these are the most successful products probably in part to the dual coding theory.

Employers Study Applicants' Personalities- Thoughts

I thought this article was really interesting. I guess I have always thought that working with well with people is important, especially the people that work at your main job. However, I don't guess I ever thought that employers would go that far. I remember in high school when we would take personality tests, and when we got the results we would go a informational meeting on how to read them. They told us that we may even consider putting this on our resumes. I can remembe thinking that this really was not that important; after reading this article, I now think otherwise.
I do think it is a little unfair to try and put applicants through some sort of "test" though. I can understand why a company would do it, but it also seems to me that when one is aplying for a job, they are probably under quite a bit of stress. Therefore, they may react differently than they normally would. I also think that people can learn to work well with others, they just need a situation to be presented. I guess the counter argument to all this is that if before hand you know that someone is going to work well, due to the applicaiton process, then you do not have to worry about any personality complication with them. I guess there are two sides to every story...

Group Work

My experience with group work thus far has been a really positive one. I feel that our group works well together, and we have all been responsible and done our portions of the proposal well and turned them in on time. We have not really had any miscommunication. I feel that our group is relaxed and focused. If someone could not make a meeting and re-scheduling was not an issue for other members in the group, there were no hard feelings and the person who was absent was just filled in through email and caught up at the next meeting. I thought it was really helpful that our group had a weekly meeting time. This allowed us to get started early on the proposal and get it almost completely done a week ahead of time. The weekly meeting time was decided upon early on and proved to be worth it.
Callie in particular did a great job with the web design and had three templates for us to choose from on practically our first meeting. Laura was diligent with the agendas and is great at making sure everyone has what they need in terms of information about the meetings, etc. Jessica was always taking notes and did a great job preparing the minutes for each meeting. Danny was helpful in proof reading and always was willing to help out where he could.
Overall, I think we have a great group, and I look forward to continuing to work on this project with them!

This post is a day late....

I am really excited for this weekend. I am going home to Chattanooga, TN, for a race called the Head of the Hooch. Our races will take place on Saturday and then the rest of the team is going back to Clemson. I am going to stay in Chattanooga and visit my family and boyfriend. My younger brother is in the school play, and I am excited to see it. My sister, who goes to school in Chicago, is coming in for the play because she was very involved with the plays when she was in school. I am really excited to see all my family and spend some time at home.

I can't really believe it is almost November! This semester has gone by fast! I am excited to see what the AHF chooses as its Web design- this project is the most meaningful assignment I have ever done associated with school. I think it makes a huge difference knowing that the work we have done does not only count towards our grade, but will make a difference in another person's quality of life.

Mock Interview Reflection

I thought the mock interview was really helpful in preparing for life after college. I have never had to interview for a job before so this whole experience was new for me. I find it is relatively easy for me talk to people, but the added pressure of them having your fate in their hands makes it a little more challenging. This opportunity was a great experience and great preparation for our first steps into the "real world".

I think I did relatively well in my interview. I tried to answer questions honestly in order not to misrepresent myself. I did not feel as though the questions were too challenging, and if the real interview is like this, I have confidence that with a little more practice it would go very well.

I think I could have answered some questions a bit more concisely, as I felt sometimes I talked a bit too much and drew out my answers longer than they needed to be. I also would try to be more prepared with questions to ask the interviewer.

Overall, I am thankful for the experience, and I think it will pay off in the long run.

Favorite Presentation

My favorite presentation for this class was Joel's presentation on the Invisible Children. I was familiar with this topic and had attended the viewings of the documentary made about them. I was neat to see that someone else thought of this as a pertinent issue and that someone also wanted to help in his own way. I think that awareness is key to making a change, as nothing can be done about a problem no one knows anything about. I think Joel took this opportunity to make people aware, as over half the class had no idea about this cause. I also thought it was neat that it is closely related in a sense to our class web design project. I think it is great that our class seems to have a passion for helping those in need especially on an international level and that we are in the position to express that.

I thought Joel had great colors, pictures, and video clips to show during his presentation, and it was a good reminder for me to try and get involved in this project if at all possible. GREAT JOB Joel!

Fall Break

Sorry last weeks blog is late, but I thought I'd do it and try to earn some of the points at least.

The thing that is foremost on my mind this week is Fall Break. This is the first year I get to go somewhere for break and not have to stay here to train, so I am really excited for that. While I'm not going anywhere glamorous, home is enough for me. I am from Chattanooga, TN, and I miss it terribly while here at school. Unfortunately my parents will not be there as they are on vacation in California, but I have friends and a wonderful boyfriend to keep me company for my few days off.

I know that I am going to have a car and doctors appointment, but other than that, I have the weekend free to do whatever I want. I am going to go for a hike and to some of my favorite restaurants, and I hope to get some good sleep as well. I am going to leave for home on Thursday night because I have to be back here on Monday to train, so leaving the night before gives me a bit more time.

While this break does not seem all that eventful, it is definitely one I am looking forward to!

I am on the team blog this week!

"Ability to Pull an All-Nighter Can Be as Useful as a B.A.".....?

After reading through the list of articles that we were to choose from and respond to, it seemed that the first title was the one that I really was curious about. This article is titled "Ability to Pull an All-Nighter Can Be Useful as a B.A." Being a college student myself I have pulled an all-nighter on one occasion and that was enough to make me realize that is not a skill I think I could acquire. The article mainly tells the reader that there are many skills that one might acquire in college that one might not consider marketable; however, there are ways to spin things that make them sound like they are real assets. The article calls these skills "soft skills". The example that the author provides is that students have the ability to write a paper, talk online, and watch TV all at the same time. While this may be a product of a weeks worth of procrastination, it could also be thought of as an extreme form of intense schedule handling.
The article suggests using some of these "soft skills" in an interview. Things like facebook and myspace, if worded right, could be used to show that you are Internet savvy and are able to communicate in the most modern of ways. According to the article, all these examples, if used correctly could help you in attaining a job. However, you would not want to crowd your interview or resume with these soft skills- other, more traditional resume builders are still very important, but these other abilities might be of interest to some employers.
I thought this was a interesting and pertinent article considering our mock interviews and resumes are coming up. These examples cited in this article were not skills that I had considered marketable before, but I will now re-evaluate what might be worth mentioning in these up-coming assignments.

My Life in 10 Years...

My life in 10 years is an exciting thing to think about. I hope to be a successful lawyer practicing international human rights for the UN. I want to work throughout my life, and my biggest goal in the working world is to make a difference. I feel that my life will be well lived should I change something for the better. I feel that I have been given a lot; therefore I feel an obligation- one that I am have to indulge- to give back.
I hope to be married at this time as well. I see my husband sharing the same values and beliefs that I have. I hope to live in many different places, and at some point I would like to settle, but I don't know where that would be. I want to travel to Haiti for a significant amount of time, and I want to go to India, Tibet, Africa, and many other places for some short stints as well. In terms of children, I think I want to adopt, and right now, I am pretty convinced that I do not want any of my own. However, I am aware that this opinion might change.
It is hard to imagine my life in 10 years, but in the most basic sense, I hope that I am happy and well on my way to accomplishing my goals. Thankfully my schooling will be finished, and I will be starting and establishing my career. I hope for a loving and faithful husband to share all this with and as far as a family goes, I can only leave that to fate.
Whatever happens, I feel that it will happen for a reason, so I can only trust it.

Reactions to Web 2.0

I have never been one that is in the know with all the new things that technology has to offer- in fact, my skills when it comes to computers are very limited, and this video really helped to hit this point home. The title "Web 2.0" does not really mean anything to me, and I could only speculate what its implications are. If I had to guess from a very word based perspective, the word web implies something connecting many different things, which is fitting for what this short film was trying to convey. The web is how we communicate and the extent of that communication is growing daily. As for the "2.0" part of it, I guess maybe it is describing some sort of upgrade as compared to what we have had before.
For those entering the workforce, Web 2.0 can be a huge help. One can now submit resumes online, in fact places of business can now search for potential candidates on their own. This film made it seem as though the extent of what we can do and share on the web is for all intents and purposes endless. One might even conduct an interview via web cam.
However, with all the new technology one has to be careful of what he makes accessible over the web considering how companies now do in fact check who they might potentially hire.
People already in the workforce most likely have to learn the new systems and how to use all the new technology. It seems a daunting task; however, because technology is constantly changing. Once a company learns a new system, a better on is bound to come out the week after.
When the video says we will have to rethink everything, I think it is saying that we will have to be conscious of how we portray ourselves online, as now, almost anyone can find anything they want or need to know. Technology is amazing in the sense of the fact that an enormous amount of information in at our fingertips and two mouse clicks away. This is the positive side. The negative aspects are how this might affect our privacy and how far we are going to let it go. Pretty soon, people are not going to have to leave their house, much less actually interact with anyone else. Everything is available to them at their desk at home. We are most definitely creatures of convenience and we must remember this as technology continues to grow, and we cannot let it consume us.

Introduction

This is the first blog I have ever written, so hopefully, it all works out ok.

My name is Julia Young, and I am a junior here at Clemson University. I am a member of the Varsity Rowing Team and have been rowing for seven years. I am a psychology major with a religion minor. I will graduate in the spring of 2009 and from there, I hope to attend law school for international human rights. My dream job after completing all this schooling would be to work for the UN-who knows what the future holds though.

I was born in Syracuse, New York and lived there until I was about 4 years old. My family then moved to Tennessee where I was raised on Signal Mountain located right outside of Chattanooga. I am the oldest of three- my sister's name is Madeleine, who is a freshman at Columbia College of Chicago pursuing a career in acting, and I have a brother named Eric, who is a freshman in high school. My father, Dr. Chris Young is an anesthesiologist and my mother, Vanessa was a nurse until she had my sister and I.

I really enjoy being outdoors and traveling. I love to hike, ride bikes, go for runs-really just anything that keeps me active. I also love to lounge around and hang out with friends too. I have been to Haiti three times so far (hopefully many more trips to come), St. Marrten several times, Cabo, Mexico, Arizona, Utah, New York City, and several others. I hope to travel to many more places throughout my life.

As I'm sure many of my classmates' blogs do, this one only scratches the surface of who I am. However, hopefully this gives a little more information than was known before. Until next time...