For Spring 2009

To be successful in this class, pay attention in class. Everything you need to know is gone over in class and if acknowledged properly, shouldn't take that much work outside of class. The client project is the most important part of the class. Make sure you choose people who you can get al0ng and have fun with. The project will get very boring very fast if you don't enjoy working with your peers. Further, make sure to distribute work evenly and make sure everything is running smoothly. The material covered in the class will help you become more acquainted with writing in the business world such as resumes, cover letters, follow-up letters etc. The technology used will help you distribute this information and become more aligned with the technologies we will use in the future. This was the most challenging for me. If you have any questions dealing with portfolios, blogs, or any other computer-based utility, please ask your teacher. She will most definitely help you as much as she can and answer any questions you have. If neither of you can figure it out, she will be understanding. To make the most of the class, picture yourself in a couple years when you might actually be using this information and the writing processes.

Client Project

My group, Team Lend-A-Paw, created a brochure to help attract more attention to the needs of the local Helping Hands organization here in Clemson. They already have an existing brochure but it contains many repetitions, run-on sentences, and depressing, dark pictures. We revised this brochure, added new colors, took new pictures, and allowed it to give off more of a hopeful candor instead of a feeling of pity. My team members were great and we worked really well together. Each of us continuously held up our ends of the project and completed tasks in an efficient manner. The best thing about the project was getting to know my team members. I enjoyed working with them and we all had a good time while performing a noble action. Our biggest challenge was probably getting a hold of the finished brochure file from a team member that frequently missed class. Since we worked well together and got along, we didn't really encounter many problems though. What I can bring with me from this project is how important it is to work with people you enjoy being around. Working with good company really allows you to express your opinions and ideas freely without apprehension. You should try your best to always enjoy what you're doing as much as you can.

Dual Coding Theory

The first thing to stand out in this Nike ad are the words. Both phrases are presented on contrasting backgrounds which initiates their prevalence. At first, the two sayings don't appear to be connected but as the second system of dual coding becomes more involved, I established that this is a picture of a sports locker room probably on the wall before the team marches on to the field. The "We Believe" appears to be behind the phrase on the wall above it. These two phrases are very common thoughts among athletes whether in pee-wee sports or professional levels. This ad appeals to the athlete which is a generous portion of Nike's customer base. The third system of dual coding obviously connects these phrases to pre-game inspiration and thoughts of hope. Hope to do well and succeed in whatever sport you may participate in. Perhaps patriotic themes of red, white, and blue could also be discussed. All in all, these phrases are motivating and any athlete can connect personal experience them. It is a great ad to attract the athlete on any level to try Nike apparel or at least look into it. It shows that Nike cares if you do well and they want you to do well athletically and to do that, purchasing their equipment can help you towards that goal of exellence.

Miscommunication in the Workplace

I've worked in restaurants for the past four years. And for those of you who share similar experience know that communication is crucial in that environment. The Waitstaff needs to communicate with the customers, the cooking staff, the busers, bartenders, and management. Though management is responsible for large decisions and how the restaurant is run, the waitstaff is responsible for a large margin of the actual communication that goes on. Directly, everything depends on them. Cooks communicate with each other and the same goes for every other group of employees but the waitstaff brings all of these groups together to get drinks and food out correctly, clean the tables, make sure the guests have a pleasurable experience all together. With modern computers, this process occurs much faster than it did twenty years ago even. If something is entered into the computer incorrectly, the cooks will make it wrong or the bartender won't make the drink you intended. But the entire process begins with listening to the customer which proves difficult many times given crowd noice or in house music. SOFT TALKERS! AH! Many times people also want to change their meals after it's been ordered which requires the waiter to go back to kitchen directly and manually fix the problem. Any number of things can go wrong at any time: The ticket printer runs out of paper so the order you typed in doesn't print out and therefore doesn't get made (sometimes you don't realize this for a good ten to fifteen minutes which will delay the order that much longer, the cooks can mess up, the bartender may need more booze to make your drink and needs you to get more out of the liquor closet, dropping food or drinks is always a possibility, you may have put an order in wrong or to the wrong table, or the worst thing....The computer system shuts down. This requires one to manually write up the ticket and look up the price as well as the tax calcuation to go along with it. (In South Carolina, along with sales tax, there is Federal liquor tax and State liquor tax, two seperate calculations.) This happened to me once. It's amazing to see how much chaos occurs when technology fails like that. Everything takes so much longer and is more likely to not come out right. Plus the stress level increases because you section of five large tables was meant to be run with a quick computer system, not a note pad and a calculator. Then one has to explain to each and every table why their food will take longer to come out. Without the modern computer communication tools we have, working as a waiter would have been more agrevating and less precise.

Mock Interview

Going in, I wasn't really nervous. I usually don't get very nervous in situations where I have to talk to a couple people or just one person. I actually enjoy it and find myself very comfortable in those situations. Usually I tell myself that it's not the end of the world and that I should just be cool and collected. That's how I will impress them. One question that threw me was the question about how my parents feel about me working oversees. I answered it well but I did not expect questions about family members. The worst question was, "Tell me about yourself", cause honestly, how do I answer that. I could say anything but I just thought of what applied to my position the most and eliminated what to say based on that.
I think I did a really good job so I don't think I actually change anything I did. I don't know if that sounds conceited, but I was happy with my performance. I learned how it felt to walk into a room knowing you need to remain calm and keep words from spilling out of your mouth. It also got me acquainted with talking to someone older than myself because I usually talk to peers my own age, and obviously language can be different.

Presentations

I enjoyed all the presentations given in class by my peers, but there were a few that stood out to me. Margaret did a great job with the Balsam Woolly Adelgid. It astonished me that she took something that was happening around her, researched it, and came up with something. We've all seen those dead trees, but she actually took another step in actually finding out what was going on and I respect that.
The presentation by Ashleigh on how to make a Spanish friend was entertaining and helpful. I already know Spanish but I could really tell she was authentic in her feelings. She had probably used her recommendations before and knew they worked. Ashleigh also helped to break the taboo of why we don't become friends with or talk to people of different ethnic backgrounds. I enjoyed that because I have many Spanish speaking friends back home, and I have had to stick up for them on more than one account just because of their ethnicity.
Traveling is my favorite thing to do. So I took interest to Morgan's travel checklist. I've traveled to many places, so I understood the basics of traveling, but it was really cool to hear where she had been and her destinations for the future. I was also very jealous of her ski trips as I am an avid snowboarder.

Technology and the Imminent Future

We are living in exponential times. Globalization and the growth of technology are setting our generation up as the guinea pigs to a new set of rules, a new set of boundaries, and the most information ever available in human history. Did you know, a week's worth of New York Times contains more information than a person living in the 18th Century was likely to have come across? There are five times as many words in the English language than existed in Shakespeare's time. 1.5 exabytes of unique information will be created this year! That's more than in the last 5,000 years. The top 10 jobs in 2010, did not exist in 2004. The United States ranks 20th in broadband penetration (just behind Luxemburg). We spent less than 70 million dollars on research and development in education last year as a country, while Nintendo spent over 140 million in product research and development alone. One eighth of couples married last year.....met online. If myspace were a country, it would be the eleventh largest country in the world. Anywhere from 2.7 to 6 billion searches are performed on Google every month. 3,000 books are published everyday in the world. Fiber optics now exist that can transmit 10 trillion bits per second down one strand (1,900 CD's or 150 million phone calls per second). All of these facts are leaning towards the demise of the "American Rule" as leader of the world. China's time is approaching as our's was in the early 20th century. The top 25% of China with the highest IQ, is greater than the total population of North America. In 2010, 90% of all science and technology graduates will be asian. These signs are obvious and with our own failing current economy, our attributes will be tested. I am a huge patriot, but our time as head honcho is coming to an end and if you can't except that, you may think of pleading ignorance.