Tips for English 304 Success

This class is a really great experience. Not only do you learn how to effectively communicate in the business world, you also get the chance to work with a client and put your noewly obtained knowledge to the test. One tip I would suggest for success in this class is to stay on top of your assignments. When you have group work to do, plan meetings quickly and get as much work done as soon as you can. It is a lot of work so it makes the semester go a lit smoother when you are working hard early. Another bit of advice is to go talk to Angie about anything you have the smallest question about. She really does do everything in her power to give people who deserve an A that grade. She will work with you all semester. Good luck in class and enjoy it. It really is a beneficial course, especially when you take it from Angie.

A Good Ole Southern Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving this year, as it is with many people, was full of family. This year, we decided to eat Thanksgiving supper at my new 2nd cousin's Mother and Father's house in Peachtree City, Georgia. Peachtree City is about 35 minutes south of Atlanta. Once we were ready to eat, Amber's Mother told us to split up into the Girl's Dining Room and the Boy's Dining Room. She said that the boys were allowed to watch Football on TV. Little did she know, that I wanted to watch the football game! As we started eating, our conversation was focused along the lines of how women should not have to do anything mechanical or sports related. The conversation was really frustrating and my input was "I know how to change my tire", and "I changed my own oil this summer". The conversation went on and on and I found myself poking my Mom in the side every time something ridiculous was said. Hopefully next Thanksgiving will not be as old-fashioned and I will feel more comfortable in adding my thoughts into the conversation.

Jobs for Personalities

I definately agree that you can teach a person how to do a job, but you cannot teach a person how to be nice and have a welcoming personality. I really do pride myself on the fact that I am pretty easy to get along with and the fact that I am a quick learner. I think that these two characteristics of mine would get me along pretty far in the work world. I liked the example about the playground company who did not ask people to come back for a follow up interview if they did not sit on the swings or at the bottom of the slide. I love articles like this because it lets everyone know that you are not guarenteed a job if you are only nice in front of your boss. Being nice can really get you far and I think that this article really exemplified that fact. It makes a lot fo since that a person looking to hire someone would want to hire someone who was nice.

Dual Coding Theory

I think this theory is so interesting. There are so many advertisements that I remember more than others and It's only because some aspects get to me in more effective ways. One commercial that I always like and remember is one on that is shown on The Learning Channel usually during A Baby Story or Bringing Home Baby. The commercial is encouraging saving cord blood. During the commercial, there is really soothing music playing and various images of babies and mothers. I really love children. I work with them all the time and I think they are just the greatest things in the world. I am in no hurry to have one of my own mind you, but the commercial really get me interested in saving cord blood later on when i do have children. Another example of dual coding theory that I see every time I drive home is for the Shane Company. The Shane Company is a jeweler that specializes in engagement rings. They have a billboard on I-85 heading North that shows a ring hanging off the corner of it and the words, "Ash her already!" I think that if a man was in a relationship with a women and he had been vacillating between asking her to marry him or not, and he saw this advertisement, he just may go into the Shane Company store and buy an engagement all because he saw the billboard. During my Freshman year English class, we talked about Dual Coding Theory also and we were required to bring in a magazine ad and discuss who it was targeting and what it was asking them to purchase. The ad I brought in was for Botox and it was aimed at a Mother of a Bride-to-Be. The said something along the lines of "look the same for her day as you did for your day." I thought this was very smart because I would imagine that mothers of women who are about to get married are very vulnerable and willing to do anything to make the day as perfect as it can be. I think that dual coding theory is something that is efficiently used by a lot of companies and taps into the mind of the consumers.

Group Work

So far this semester, my thoughts about group work have been extremely varied. Initially, I thought that my group was not clicking or working well together at all. Since I started in my new group, I have enjoyed the project much more. The new group communicates very well for the most part and we get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Because I came in late to the group, in Phase two I would really like to establish my group role more and be able to give a little bit more insight and maybe take on a few leadership responsibilities. Group work in general is some of my favorite. I've worked at a summer camp for the past two summers and it has really taught me how to pool ideas together and come up with the best combination of all of them. That experience has really gotten me to prefer group work of individual work. I tihnk you learn more about yourself when you are forced to compromise on some issues and work out minor problems.

Interview Reflection

Unfortunatly, last week I forget to blog so i decided to make up for it this week. Instead of having a free write this week, I will reflect my experience with the mock interview. The only type of interview I have ever gone through was a group based interview for a summer camp staff member. This was definately not as intimidating as my interview two weeks ago. As I was putting on my black dress pants and looking at the lack of nice shoes I own, I realized that this is the first of many instances where I will definately feel out of my element. After sitting my Angie for only a very moments, I was already comfortable with the new setting. Like a lot of people, I do not have too much of a problem talking about myself. I think it is fun to share stories with other people. One thing that really helped was to imagine that the interviewer was not a superior, but a friend that I had not spoken with in a while. After the interview, Angie gave me some great tips for when I have to do this "for real." She said that I should always come up with atleast one question to ask the interviewer just to re-emphasize how interested I am and how much research i have already done on the graduate school or job site. Another thing she told me was to know going into it that I will probably lose my train of thought and that the best way to deal with it is to take a breath, and start over. Overall, I think that the mock interviews were very helpful. I actually have an appointment to complete another one tomorrow and I feel a little more at ease going into the process this time.

Classmate Presentations

My favorite presentation completed by my classmates was the presentation by Jessica K. You could really tell that she knew a lot about her topic and therefore she was able to inform a lot of people about it. Her slides were very bright and that matched her topic of the brightly colored clothes. She was also wearing a great visual aid.

I don't want Garbage! I want Sprinkles!

Since there is no formal blog topic for this week, I decided to blog about what is the most fresh on my mind. Like I said in my introductory blog, The Office is one of my favorite shows. Luckily for me, The season premiere was September 27. It started off with a bang, literally, when Michael Scott, the general manager of the office, hit one of the employees, Meredith, with his car. In this blog, I am going to focus on the episode from last night. Two of the main characters, Jim and Pam, have recently started dating after 3 seasons of extreme sexual tension. Toby, the Human Resources guy, sent out a memo telling people to watch the PDA. Pam assumed that it was a silly way of congratulating her and Jim on their new out in the open relationship. The sad part about this is that Toby has a big crush on Pam. Another office romance is beginning to crumble. Angela and Dwight, who have been having a secret relationship for pretty much the entire series, are running into a wall which they cannot get over. Angela is a cat person and one of her cats was very ill in the last episode. She asked Dwight to go and give her cat, Sprinkles, her medicine. When Dwight got back, he very matter of factly told Angela that he gave Sprinkles her medicine but that she was dead and he put her in the freezer. Angela went home and found that Dwight had put her in the freezer while she was still alive because he wanted to euthanize her. This week, Dwight brought Angela a cat from his beet farm nad he named it Garbage. After seeing this cat, Angela exclaimed, "I don't want Garbage! I want Sprinkles!" Another important occurance this week was that the previous office temp, Ryan, who is now the boss of the office that he used to work at, comes back to do a presentation on new technology. His ex-girlfriend, high maintanence, super girly Kelly tells him that she is pregnant in order to get him back. She is not pregnant. When Ryan finds out she was lying, he gets very angry and tells her that he never wants to get back together with her. When Andy Bernard meets Ryan after his situation with Kelly, he tells hime "You are so money and you don't even know it... but you do!" That was one of my favorite quotes from the night. The episode ends with Michael driving his car into a lake because his navigation told him to turn into it... kind of. "Everyone always wants new things. Everybody likes new inventions, new technology. People will never be replaced by machines. In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me, the choice is easy." This is what Michael says to prove his point about hating technology. He then thinks that he has one-upped Ryan and says, "Game. Set. Match. Point. Scott. Game over. End of game." All in all, I think it was a good episode but not as good as the series premiere. I cannot wait until next Thursday at 9 when I will be sitting on my couch with my roommate laughing out loud, for an hour straight.

Resumes and Cover Letters

The first article that I clicked on was "Words that Score On a Resume And Open Doors to Interviews." I thought it was a cool article because we had already talked about most of it in class. It was really neat to hear advice that I already knew. The article really emphasized the benefits of reading the description of a job listing and then implementing those nouns into the resume.
Another article that really perked my interest was called "A Memorable Cover Letter Will Boost Your Chances." This article went into a lot of detail about the ins and outs of effective cover letter writing. I really had never heard of a cover letter until the beginning of this semester in my internship preparatory seminar. When I had to write my first one, I basically copied the format exactly out of a text book and changed the words to apply to my desired outcome. This article really is helpful because it goes into so much detail. I had never really thought about using quotes from former employers in a cover letter. At the end of every summer, our boss at camp sends us all an email including an evaluation of our performance for that entire summer. That type of resource, according to this bit of advice, would be perfect to include in a cover letter. Most of the points on my evaluation are positive so it would be really beneficial. The article also mentioned a few tricks in order to have things to talk about during an interview. Ideas such as not mentioning money and tailoring the cover letter for the audience. One other aspect I thought was very interesting was to take a risk and include additional "risky" information in a post script. It is true that even if people do not read an entire letter, they always read the post script because sometimes that is where the most interesting information is kept.
I really think that these exercises of reading "advice columns" concerning interviews and resumes/cover letters will be so helpful not only for the tasks we need to complete in this course, but also for the future when we need to do all of this things as close to perfect as possible on the first try.

Job Interviews

The very first article I decided read was titled "How to Answer Any Interview Question." I thought it would be a general rule of thumb for any sort of interview process. This article made the point that no matter what question is asked, the person being interviewed can steer the conversation to a point that he or she wants to make. The Q = A+1 is a very interesting formula for saying exactly what you want to say. Another thing this article stressed is to have anecdotes ready for the interviewer. This is one issue that I worry about for future interviews because as of right now, I have really only had one significant job and if I was asked multiple questions such as, "Describe a time when you had to work with someone who did not like you or vice versa" or another question along those lines, the answers would sound very similar. The final point of the article said that in the case that questions are asked that bring up negative answers, do not dwell on them but rather answer it and turn it into more of a positive or learning experience.
The next article that perked my interest was titles "More Employers Are Using Personality Tests As Hiring Tools." I am a person that strongly believes that the way a person acts could possible make up for their minor lack or experience and skill. If someone, such as myself, has had very little job experience but is very eager to learn, I think the oppurtunity for success is there not only for the person, but also for the company. It's interesting that companies are implementing these new tests in order to hire compatible job applicants and also to avoid and diminish future turnover rates. With turnovers costing a significant amount of company dollars, it seems to be a no brainer for a little extra money to be spent in the application process on these extra tests.
The final article I read was "How Candidates Can Make A Good First Impression." In really any aspect of life, first impressions are so important. It was funny that one of the biggest pet peeves of Mr. Ferber (Don't really know who that is) was when applicants come into the interview chewing gum. I like to think that I make a good impression upon people but I believe that a mistake like having gum in your mouth is a very easy one to make. Small details can really make or break your chance of getting the job that you want. This article reinforced in my head how important first impressions are and made me realize that every detail of my appearance and demeanor is being monitored.

10 years from now...

Wow. That is a question that is so hard for me to answer. It's a bit easier for me describe my hopes for the future because that's all I've figured out so far. This time next year, I would love to be in Flagstaff, Arizona working my way towards a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. After those three years of class, I would like to stay in the west for a few years being a physical therapist. Within the next 10 years I would like to start a family so that I will be able to run around with my kids for as long as they want to run around with me. If I don't make it out to Flagstaff, Savannah, Georgia would be a close second choice. The remainders of the "fantasy" are still the same with just a few thousand miles difference. At the end of ten years, when I'm 31, I would really like to be recognized as a great person in all aspects of my endevors. It seems like such a silly way to answer the question and I know that later when I read this I'm going to wish I had written something different, but that is obviously what is on my mind right now. Happiness is where I hope to see myself in ten years.

Web 2.0

Firstly, the YouTube video was way too fast for me to follow. I had no idea that there were other ways to create a webapge than HTML. All that aside, it was pretty cool.
I think that the Web 2.0 concept is a very interesting one. It reminds me of our first class discussion on whether technology has made communication more or less efficient. I think that communication is much quicker, but maybe not as efficient. There really is no substitute for a meeting in a conference room in my opinion. It think it is a more tangible way of bringing people together. It also shows who is truly commited to a business and its mission enough to really show up. It is a little comprabable to an online class. If students were given the choice to attend a class in person or in an online discussion board setting, many students would chose the online setting if their commitment to the class was low. Again, these are the opinions of one of the least technological person in America, but I still believe that face to face connections cannot be beat.

Allow me to introduce myself...

Hi! My name is Ashley and I am from College Park Georgia. I am a senior majoring in Health Science with a concentration in Pre-Professional Health Studies. My plans after graduation in May are to play for a couple months and then hopefully go to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff to obtain my Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Those plans will probably change but that would be the ideal situation for my future.
Music is one of my favorite things. I have a pretty wide taste for it and so I am always listening to it, singing it, or playing it on guitar. Music really cleanses the soul and mind so I try to make time for nothing but listening every day. I love going to concerts because I think that is how you can truly figure out if you like a band or not. Studio albums do not always tell you everything you need to know.
My favorite color is yellow. My favorite book is Eat, Pray, Love. My favorite bands are way too many to count but most of them are either no longer a band due to death or break-ups. My favorite place to visit right now is Brevard, North Carolina. My least favorite place to visit is Las Vegas.
In High School I played volleyball and we were the State Champions for three years in a row. So that is not bad. I also sang in the chorus and the summer before my senior year, we all took a two week tour of Europe.
This summer I worked at a summer camp in the mountains of Northeast Georgia for my second time. I have been going to this camp since I was about 13 and have really grown up there. It is so neat to be able to see how the staff members saw the campers from their point of view. It has been a completely different experience between being a camper and then counselor and then on staff. I love being a "Camp Girl" and I usually carry over that sort of mentality throughout the year. I love doing things outside. I like to camp out, climb, mountain bike sometimes, and just hike around. I think everything outside is so pristine and beautiful. I love you wake up early enough to see the sunrises and then staying up to watch the sunsets.
I like being funny. It seems like kind of a waste of time to me to be serious all the time so I am usually not serious. The Office is one of my favorite TV shows and it is one of the only two that I watch. The other one is LOST although I may or may not be considered a nerd for following the insanity for so long.
As is apparent, I tend to speak in stream of consciousness a lot and so I confuse my friends sometimes. It is all good. Just about every other statement out of my mouth is "It's fine." I say this sometimes when things are not fine. It is somewhat of a character flaw but things usually "fine" themselves out sooner than later.
I'm really old fashioned in that I love to write letters. A lot of technology confuses me but I try my best. I figured this out sort of so that is a start.

Test Blog

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