Tower of Power (point)

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to listen to my classmates make presentations on various topics. I especially enjoyed the wide variety of issues discussed and I have learned a lot of new information. It was also interesting to see that people presented for different reasons. Some people used humor while others were serious and were trying to persuade the audience. The three presentations I enjoyed most were Laura's, Scott's, and Harry's topics.
Laura's gymnastics topic was very interesting, informational, and persuasive to my ears. The issues and evidence supporting a Clemson gymnastic team were very convincing and seemed relevant and pertinent. I learned a lot about the quality of South Carolina high school gymnasts and the simple fact that there is no collegiate gymnastics program available in South Carolina. Also, I learned all about the revenue available when gymnastics programs are in place. All of the evidence that Laura provided were explained concisely and appropriately. Overall, the topic was very effective in informing me of the issue at hand and persuaded me to possibly support the program.
Scott's presentation on the JetLev-Flyer was incredibly informational and I got a huge kick out of the whole thing. It was definitely one of the more memorable presentations based on content alone. The delivery of the information was parallel to a stand-up comedian telling a joke. I thought that the subject matter Scott chose to inform about immediately got the audience's attention. Interesting information paired with humor will always keep me rapt in any situation.
Harry's talk about Asian stereotypes could have been the funniest presentation of the group so far. I think that Harry immediately set a great rapport with his audience by effectively making fun of himself and saying it was okay to laugh with him. I especially enjoyed his use of visuals. Also, Harry did a great job of "talking off his slides." He did not write too much on his slides, but was able to communicate exactly what he wanted to based on limited, but effective text.

Overall, the presentations were very fun to watch, and I learned a little bit about a lot. I hope that I educated my peers about my issue as well. Most recently, 5 rockets were fired into Israel today from the Gaza Strip. No casualties have been reported, but Israel responded with air strikes. When will this end?!

Select any three presentations that your classmates gave in the last few classes; base your selection on how much you enjoyed the presentation. Write about what made this presentation so enjoyable. What did you learn? What made this person an effective presenter?

Cover this!

These articles were very extensive and provided some good tips. There were also parts that I was not a fan of. The following thoughts are not in any particular order, more or less just a ramble through my mind (isn't that what blogging is all about?)
These people claim that cover letters are the last thing read. Bologna! In all of my several work settings, my experiences have been that cover letters are first. One of my past employers told me that the cover letter will indicate to him whether or not he will even look at the resume. So, for the authors to say that a good-looking resume will grant the decision to look at the cover letter does not make any sense to me.
Then, the speaker talks about how the cover letter should not be about you, but more about the company. I agree 50% with this statement. I believe that a job applicant should focus on the company's needs and how the applicant will help meet those needs with his/her given skills set. This will give a good idea about the person's personality and work style/ethic/etc.
The cover letter should be specific and personal. This was a good tip. The employer will notice a cover letter and thusly a resume if he/she realizes how much time the applicant spent to ensure the personalization of the letter. It is very common to see very similar cover letters and even resumes (especially out of college), so you must set yourself apart from the "rest of them" if you want to succeed in today's workplace. Being specific, driven, and personal in your cover letter will show your employer what an asset you will be.
Then, these people gave a sample letter with the appropriate format. I liked the format because it allows you to explain who you are, why you are writing for this job, and how you will meet the company's needs. Also, the "closer" allows you to make this "sale" what you want to be.
I hated the idea of a handwritten postscript. This seems completely cheesy, fake, and unprofessional to me. If you are going to enter a new branch of the workplace, you must get off on the right foot, unless your right foot is your left. I think that you should remain classy, and professional throughout the interviewing process, unless that is just me. If you want to exude a level of cheesiness and fakeness and unseriousness, then go for it, write a P.S.
Also, I believe that references and testimonies should not be offered unless requested by the employer. It makes you seem like what you have to offer is not enough on its own. Let your resume and personality in your cover letter explain why you are the right person for the job. If your potential employer wants to know about your past work experience further, he/she will ask for references.

P.S. Just kidding!

this is where the redfern grew/is growing

Our client project is to promote a healthy campus initiative for Clemson by restructuring Redfern's communication to students in some way, shape, or form. Our client, Jennifer Goree, has left the nature of our project wide open, which is somewhat trying on our group's ability to think. I think that because we do not know exactly what is expected of this project, we are having a tough time getting started. However, our group has come up with some preliminary ideas to help expand the healthy campus initiative. One idea is to formally structurize all of Clemson's "healthy" resources into one central location on a Facebook group page. This way, students and others interested in how to improve their general health and well-being will be able to visit this site and gain useful information to better themselves. There are concerns for this project. One of my concerns is how to attract students to this site or group. Simply inviting every Clemson student to another Facebook group will not gain many retainees. Also, there are people that are potentially interested in a healthy campus initiative that are not "on" Facebook.
Another idea that our group has come up with is to create a Clemson reality show. Our goal would be to hold auditions for people that are really interested in leading a healthy lifestyle and create a buzz around campus. The people on the reality show would get excited and tell all their friends about it and a chain reaction would take place. The reality show would consist of elements from all of our favorite "non-dating" shows such as the amazing race, top chef, the biggest loser, trading spouses (roommates), MXC, so you think you can dance/american idol, etc. Contestants would learn healthy ways in all 6 categories of health.
Our group is getting along and there is generally good information exchange. However, it seems that a line has been drawn between the two ideas and thus people are picking sides. Although I have somewhat sided on the video series, I do not see why we could not incorporate both ideas to have the videos posted on the facebook site OR to have one of the challenges to go a week without Facebook!
This should be a very fun project and I am looking forward to working with my group :)

interstellar overdrive?

The article on job interview mistakes was a good introduction to what can go wrong in an interview. However, this list does not include everything that you should consider when going on an interview. I believe it brings out a lot of good points that must be evaluated before and during the actual interview. The article touches on preparing for the interview, but I believe that should be a huge focus. With proper preparation, you eliminate a few different mistakes mentioned by the article right off the bat. First of all, if you know a good deal of background information about the company and job itself, you will not need to ask any "stupid" questions. Personally, I do not believe there are such things as stupid questions, but there can be silly questions that could and should go unasked. Also, if someone does good research before an interview, you should not be worried about giving unreliable answers. You will establish good ethos and employers can usually tell who has prepared for interviews and who has not. I found some other information in this article useful. Such descriptions include the importance of the follow up and the "little things" such as mood, mannerisms, and body language.

I myself have had several job interviews for internships and such. I have experienced phone interviews and face-to-face interviews. They can both be stressful, but also rewarding. The phone interviews I have had were mostly very comfortable. I remember being told further about the job description and what they were looking for exactly. Also, we discussed the resume I had submitted to the given company. The face-to-face interview was a little bit more stressful, but I tried to make it as stressless as possible. I did research about the company and how I could fit in with their goals. During the interview, it was very little question and answer. I sat down with the Director of Golf and the General Manager of the facility and we more or less talked for 20 or so minutes. Through talking, they were able to see what I was all about and get a sense of how reliable my resume was. We did discuss some items on my resume that would potentially relate the position at their facility. Also, some direct questions were asked (tough ones I might add). Some questions included "tell us about a stressful situation and how you reacted." and "why do you want this job? why would you be a good fit with our company?" The best thing you can do in these direct question situations is to stay calm, and think about your answer before you blurt it out. Staying calm has been the most helpful idea that has helped me through the interviewing process. P.S. I got the job :)

Stop! in the name of love!!! please...

Will this violence ever end? I am writing this entry to open the discussion floor to my classmates and the world. I am seeking a solution to the evil that has enveloped the great (or not so great) world we live in. The main focus of my blogging this evening will be on the current conflict in the Middle East. If you look at a map of the world or a globe, you may conclude that the entire center of the world appears in a little area the size of New Jersey (but not actually NJ, I'm speaking of Israel). This stretch of land has become a topic of discussion for centuries, but the current conflict started with an agreement reached in 1948. This agreement arose after the 1948 War of Independence. Prior to this war, partition agreements were tried to be put in place so that Arabs and Jews would be able to co-exist peacefully. However, after acts of aggression, various groups of Arabs started riots and proceeded to try to blockade parts of Jewish territories. Long story short, Jews won the War of Independence and the then British territory declared Israel a Jewish state. Eventually, Arabs did not like this, so they attacked Israel again and again. In 1967, Israel defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the famed Six Day War. Again, in 1973, Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria during the most holiest of holy days in the Jewish year, thus naming the war, the Yom Kippur War. Israel, was again victorious in this venture. As a result of these military victories, Israel was able to capture such land from Jordan, Syria, and Egypt as the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. These such areas have become to be known as the "Israeli-occupied-territories" until lately. In 2005, Israel decided to withdraw all of its citizens from these areas (that they won through victories) in order to try to maintain some sort of peace agreement. Throughout the last decades, we have all heard about "the conflict in the Middle East." So, we all know that things are happening that are less than ideal. What has been going on? Well, since 2005, Palestinians have launched over 8,000 rockets and other forms of missiles into Israel from the Gaza Strip. When a country sends that much firepower into a neighboring country without any retaliation from the other side, there needs to be something done. As a result of these missiles being launched up to 25 miles into Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces decided retaliation was necessary. I agree with the IDF in their decision to defend themselves. After a late December 2008 retaliation (in which I was in Israel when the retaliation began), global media latched onto this story and viciously reprimanded Israel for their actions. They believed that they were not being considerate for civilian lives because they were reading Palestinian reports of casualties. In any warzone, (not to mention one of the most densely populated areas in the world), there will be civilian casualties. But, were many of these casualties even "civilian?" To fully understand the situation, you must consider the parties involved. Hamas, the governing body in the Gaza Strip has been known to use questionable war tactics. Some of these tactics include dressing up as civilians and shooting rockets as "civilians." Also, the IDF has conclusive evidence that Hamas has launched rockets from hospitals as well as schools. So, when Israel (after dropping leaflets and informing the civilians about their plan of attack) bombs these launching pads, Hamas uses these images to their advantage with the world media. How would you fight this group of people? All I can say is that history tends to repeat itself. We need to find a solution to this very very complicated situation before entire races are wiped out. Ideally, co-existing is possible, we just need to find some way to accept that different groups are different. I would like to think that evil is learned and can be unlearned, but realistically, I cannot believe this. Other worldly conflicts such as the crises in Sudan, Sri Lanka, Columbia, and Pakistan have to be observed closely with open minds so that we do not let history repeat itself. I am afraid to witness another tragedy such as the Holocaust, but if we let conflicts go unnoticed, it is all too possible. I hope that this article does not come off as ignorant, but all I know is that I am trying to learn as much as I can before taking a stance about certain issues. I think that education is the greatest way that we can stop violence and promote peace in this crazy world. Read some!