Profs are Friends (Not Food)

(Sorry for the Finding Nemo reference, it just seemed appropriate)

My post is inspired by a lousy day I was having about 2-3 weeks ago. The pressure of my grad school application was building on me, my GPA wasn't as high as I wanted it to be, and to top that off, I had just gotten back an exam grade that I wasn't too happy with. Like I said, it was a lousy day.

The week went on and things didn't seem to get better. I tried venting to my parents, my boyfriend, and my good friends about the workload and anxiety I was having. Of course, they did their best to try and help, but no conversation really "did it" for me. I wouldn't say I was overly stressed, I honestly just felt like I needed to vent. I was in a slump, but I wasn't really sure who to talk to.

I had a meeting set up with my professor in her office hours late in the week. I plopped down my backpack and took a seat. "Hi! How are you doing, Randee?" She asked.

I knew a simple, "Good, how are you?" would have sufficed, but for some reason, I let it all out.

I told her I was stressed about getting into graduate school. Then, I went on about how annoying one of my classes was and how I didn't care about it, and I wanted my GPA to be higher. I talked about all the work I have to do this summer and why I'm anxious about all the responsibilities I have lying ahead.

You might think that this story ends with my professor giving profound advice, listing off ways to adequately manage my time, encouraging me that everything will pay off. But in the end, she listened to what I had to say, and answered with, "Wow, that sounds like a lot of pressure, I'm sorry. But good luck!"

Some might think my professor should have given me some "motherly" academic advice. However, I walked out of that office feeling better than I had all week. Simply listening to my quick vent-session and acknowledging that yes, sometimes life is rough and you need a little bit of luck, was all that I needed from my professor. In college, it seems as though sometimes we get wrapped up in the cliches that tell us to "keep on keeping on" - which is a great motivator. But other times, all we need is someone (someone who understands the academic pressures here at Michigan, like our professors!) to acknowledge that what we're going through is difficult. That's all.

After a great class with all of you, where we were able to share our ideas freely and learn genuinely beneficial life-skills we will take with us in our futures, I leave you with this: the atmosphere at Michigan is competitive and rigorous, and I'm sure you all have had (or will have in the future) a stressful week, or a time when you feel like you're in a slump. While it is great to utilize our friends and family, do not be afraid to reach out to your professors. Let them get to know you personally. Get to know them. Our time here is short, and the faculty at U of M is an underrated and under-utilized group of inspiring people. It's easy to reach out to people in our comfort zone in times of need, but you never know how helpful a simple, "Wow, that sucks. I'm sorry," from a professor could be. Go reach out, go out of your comfort zone, go get to know more people.

And forever, go blue!

Zen and the Art of Bullsh•t

"Fake it 'til you make it." We've all heard this term one time or another. The concept is simple and universal, and virtually every person I know embraces some iteration of the idea.  But I for one have always preferred my own version: "The best bridges are built in bullshit."

I'd developed that phrase in junior high, when playing a card game, accordingly titled "B.S." The game, essentially a pre-teen prerequisite to poker, hinges on being able to effectively obscure the true contents of your hand, whether or not you're actually lying to the other players. And it was a game which I soon found I was really really good at.

This is a tradition that runs in my blood. My mother, a Michigan alum, imparted this knowledge on me at a young age. She'd made it through the undergraduate pre-med program on the skin of her teeth, but managed to bluff her way into a meeting with the Dean of Admissions at the U of M Dental School by simply dressing nice, straightening her back, and strolling with poise through the front door of his office. Months later, she was accepted into the program, and years later, she owns her own successful practice. #TheMichiganDifference

So often in business we're taught that it's not what you know, but who you know. This is certainly true, but to succeed you've got to take it one step further and explore how you get to know those people. And the way to do that is to bullshit 'em. Let me clarify: B.S. is NOT a synonym to lying. It simply means that the more confidence you have in what you're saying, the more confidence the person you're saying it to will have in you.

Take this for example. In helping a colleague with his start-up, I had to contact an electronic producer with an inquiry about the copyright status of one of his tracks. I could've easily sent a "Hey man I dig your style you wanna let us use this song"-type email, but fortunately I stopped and thought twice about the professional etiquette we've studied in this course, and instead sent him a sharp, efficient and detailed email that enhanced my qualifications and the legitimacy of the start-up without over-describing them or unjustly building myself up. Lo and behold, he responded quickly, saying that he usually gets a lot of requests from artists who'd heard his music on SoundCloud, but they rarely sound qualified, and that he'd be happy to work with me... if I put him in contact with my lawyer.

The most important quality in B.S.ing is to not lose your footing easily, so I quickly grabbed my friend, a Polisci major with an Entrepreneurship minor who'd happened to draw up a few mock copyright documents for another club, and had him write up the contracts for which the producer was looking. We got the song, and the producer has collaborated with the start-up a number of additional times after the fact. There was no lying involved, only an embellishment of the truth. We've talked extensively in this class about making your own narrative. B.S.ing is simply adding a bit of embroidery to your story.

But B.S. does not just start and end with email etiquette. Faking it until you make it is a lifestyle. It's helped me achieve honors, win awards, procure jobs (my summer internship in fact, but that's another story...), and just all around experience life to the fullest. Wherever you are, be it in a classroom or on a beach in San Juan del Sur, you may be poised to meet someone who can help you reach your life goals. Don't be caught off guard. Always be prepared and always put your best foot forward. And the way to do this? The cardinal rule of B.S.: believe in what you're saying. Whether it's a universal truth or a bit of a stretch, believe yourself, and everyone else will be soon to follow.

Ignite The Night

Last week I had to give an Ignite presentation in one of my classes, my professor is one of those guys who has been everywhere, done everything. He came across these presentations at campout conference - which sounded to me like it was the professor's version of Woodstock - that ended with a night of ignite presentations. Here’s how they work…

Each presentation lasts five minutes, you have twenty slides and the slides automatically advance every fifteen seconds. The presentations are usually about pretty much anything. My presentation for my class only had to be three minutes, twelve slides advancing every fifteen seconds, which to me seemed like not enough time to really say anything!

Having 15 seconds per slide is hard! You have to get your point across very quickly, without talking at 5x the speed you normally talk. With these presentations it's important to be flexible; it’s easy to get off from your slides so you have to focus on getting your main points across but you can’t be afraid to skip something to catch up to the always changing slides.

These presentations are about telling a story. You really have to be interesting, and maybe these aren’t the kind of presentations you’ll be doing in a professional setting but I think they teach you a few things.

1. You are more important than your slides! When the audience is watching an ignite presentation they only have 15 seconds to look at your slide, but most likely less assuming they spend some time looking at you.  I made my slides all pictures! I only used words on a few slides (1 to 3 words per slide). The slides are there to accompany YOU!

2. How to be comfortable presenting. Ignite presentations are supposed to be fun, you’re sharing your ideas, or things you love, so you really can relax, be yourself and start to be comfortable presenting in front of other people (yes, this is more challenging for some people)

3. How to effectively and efficiently present your point to others. When people give advice about how to give these presentations, they recommend telling a strong story or picking a big theme. You want to engage the audience but at the same time you have to be extremely efficient in getting your point across. Every presentation you give, in every setting, you want to be interesting, and clearly present your points without rambling on - ignite is a good way to practice that

I don’t expect you guys to want to spend your friday nights giving ignite presentations to your friends, but I think it is interesting to look into. It’s a more fun way to get experience giving presentations and even just seeing how some of these people go about their presentations may give you some ideas for making your future presentations even better.

Here are couple presentations to check out...

Ignite - Commutapult

Ignite - Secret World of Lego

Skype Interview: A First For Everything

Let’s be real here, the only reason you wanted that shiny new MacBook Laptop back in 7^th grade was for one reason and one reason only…video chat. It was the gateway into a whole new world of communication for us preteens. Never again would you have to be disconnected from your best friends, your siblings, or even your crush. Hours and hours of time could now be spent staring at 1, 2, or 3 faces on a 13” computer screen, all in the comfort of your own home.

I have always loved video chat and was constantly online talking to my friends when I was younger, but when I found out that my interview for a summer internship would be on Skype, that same love and excitement turned to fear. Not only was it my first Skype interview, but also my first real interview ever and I couldn’t be more nervous. Lucky for me, our class had just spent the past two classes working on interviewing techniques and commonly asked questions, which really helped a lot (s/o to Randee and Maher). I’ve decided to compile a list of Do’s and Don’ts for a first time Skype Interviewee with the hopes that some of what I have learned through my experience might help some of you.

Do’s:

1. Find a secure location.

- It’s really important to find a space that you feel comfortable in and you know will be distraction free for an hour or so. The last thing you need is your roommate barging in on your interview complaining about your dirty clothes scattered across the floor. For my interview, I was able to reserve a study room in the UGLi, which worked great and was very quiet.

2. Dress for success

- Even though you may not be face-to-face with your interviewer, all rules of first impressions still apply. While they might only see you from the chest up, it’s important to look professional and sophisticated. My suggestion is to treat your Skype interview as if it were an in person interview and wear what you normally would.

3. Practice makes perfect.

- You might be someone who is comfortable on camera with tons of interviewing experience, but when that green light flashes and the video screen opens up, those nerves can set in. It’s important to prepare so you feel like you’ve been there before. If you’re camera shy, don’t like hearing your voice on recording, or tend to talk fast/mumble, make sure you do a trial run to work out all the imperfections. I asked my Mom to type up 5-10 interview questions for me, which I then recorded myself responding too and critiqued things like posture, eye contact, and annunciation after watching them over again.

http://giphy.com/gifs/ftXmTBgSnsJ8c/html5
(This is what we want to avoid.)

Don’ts:

1. Don’t forget to make eye contact.

- How am I supposed to make eye contact through a computer screen you might ask? The key is to look at the camera and resist the urge to stare at your own camera bubble in the bottom corner. Don’t worry, I’m sure you still look hot, but look up! Because the interviewer can’t see what you’re looking at, by staring off into a corner of your screen it might give off the impression that you’re unengaged or distracted. I sometimes find it challenging to listen and comprehend what someone is saying when I’m not also looking at their face and mouth. To solve this, I made sure to position myself far enough from the screen so the distance my eyes traveled between the interviewers face on my screen and the camera on top was close enough that it was barely visible. 

2. Don’t forget to prepare your lighting.

- You might be tempted to sit by a window or with a nice scenic background behind you…rookie mistake. Keep in mind that back lighting will render your features invisible to your interviewer. You’ll only appear as a dark silhouette on the interviewers screen. The most optimal lighting is a soft light source about 3-4 feet behind your computer screen facing you. It enables good visibility without too much or too little light.

3. Don’t use technology as an excuse.

- This one is entirely on you. If you know you’re interview involves technology, ensure that everything is working properly in advance. It’s not acceptable to come to the day of your interview only to discover that your Wi-Fi is shut off, camera is broken, and your computer doesn’t have a microphone. 

In a world with constant technological advancements and greater emphasis on global connectivity, Skype and other digital communication interviews will become increasingly common. I really hope you guys can take something away from this post and apply it to your own experiences in the future. Follow these guidelines and you should be fine, it worked for me, I got the job!

No Experience? No Problem (hopefully)!

I think I have changed a lot my freshman year at Michigan, being exposed to so many different people and having countless extraordinary and unique experiences. However with finals around the corner, I am having one experience I am feeling a little uneasy about, and that is having the obligation to start ‘building my resume’. In other words, I am really scared of having a business internship for the first time.

The past two years I have worked at a tennis club. My ‘responsibilities’ included playing tennis with little kids, making them laugh, and making sure they got their chicken fingers on time every day. Sounds like a long and hard day of work, doesn’t it?

I now find myself in a position where starting May 5^th, I will be sitting at a desk in a blazer and tie analyzing Venture Capital firms and helping my boss prepare for the annual Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. At this event, 450 people representing some of the top investment banking firms from around the world will surround me, and I am going to be the kid in the inexpensive suit (becomes my mom doesn’t want me to ruin a nice one) who just one year ago was drinking Gatorade on a tennis court with a bunch of eight year olds.

            Through my anxiety, I have begun to come to the realization that everyone has had their first real job or internship at some point, and there’s got to be some way people actually survive this process and are able to quickly adapt to the working-world. So last week I decided to call my Dad, and I asked “How did you feel comfortable and make it through your first job?” He laughed a little, and said “Buddy, the answer to that question is a bunch of things you have already heard a million times before. You need to be passionate about your work, be confident in yourself, and reach out to people there to help you.”

            Although that wasn’t the divine and perfect answer I was looking for, it made me think a lot about the power of just feeling like I belong, and using that to my advantage. I shouldn’t be looking at my internship as a nightmare, but more as a gateway to opening new doors that will allow me to develop my current working skills and learn so many new things about what it is like to be involved in the business world.

            As I am approaching the starting date of this new and wild journey, I am starting to feel more and more comfortable with the idea of beginning my first real internship. Being confident, outgoing, and taking advantage of the opportunity I have been given is the only way I am going to succeed in this position, so at nine o’clock in the morning on May 5^th, I plan on walking into my boss’ office with a smile and doing exactly that.

Persistence is Key

With school wrapping up soon, everyone is looking for that summer job or internship. Today, it seems like it’s so much more difficult and competitive to land an internship or job. 

For me, I haven’t been on the hunt for just any job such an retail or a waitressing job like I was during previous summers. Now that i’m in college I realize that it’s important for me to work somewhere that will benefit my future career choice. 

Being pre-PA has definitely lead to some road blocks for me. Before applying to PA school (which you usually do your junior year in undergrad) you have to clock in about 400 hours in a hospital or medical facility. The kicker is that these hours can’t be normal volunteer hours, they have to be paid, hands-on clinical hours. Now if you aren’t familiar with the medical field, a job like that is very hard to find for college students because we have little to no experience in a hospital setting.

Anyway, I knew I had to do my best to find someone to hire me being that I only have 3 summers to clock these hours in before I start applying to PA schools. I ended up getting very sick during finals time first semester and was at urgent care. While the doctor was examining he started some small talk and we ended up talking about how I attend the University of Michigan and he continued to tell me how he completed medical school here. After, I told him that I am interested in medicine, specifically being a physician assistant. After my appointment, the doctor gave me his business card and told me to call him if I wanted a job and that he could set me up with an internship at a nearby hospital he works out of, Beaumont Hospital. 

About a month later I realize that I should probably shoot him an email and ask if he could still help me out with the internship. I was really nervous and honestly did not feel comfortable reaching out to him considering we had only met one time and it was only briefly mentioned. I decided to put my hesitations aside and email him. After four days of no response I then decided to go into the urgent care he works out of and talk to him. It was extremely out of my comfort zone but I knew if I wanted something that bad that I would have to work for it. After going in and talking to him again, he was very impressed on how persistent I was and then told me that the reason he didn’t answer his email was because he had been on vacation. 

All in all, I ended up going through and interview process and then landed the summer internship! The best advice I can give to anyone is to really take advantage of any opportunity that is given to you. If you really want something then its up to you to make it happen. It’s up to you to follow up with all the connections that you make! 

Putting Yourself Out There

A professor from my first choice graduate school came to Michigan to talk to students about their program. It was awesome. For sure the most intimidating presentation I've ever sat through, but definitely awesome. I needed a way into this program, and because the spots are limited to about 40 students (out of 1,500 that apply...) I needed to stand out.

At the end of the presentation, I wanted to approach the professor. Introduce myself, thank her for coming... but I was awkward and intimidated, plus the timing never seemed right. As she walked out of the lecture hall, I felt disappointed, like I had lost an opportunity.

So, I recreated an opportunity.

I looked up the professor's email and started a draft. "Dear Professor _______, thank you for coming to U of M to share the benefits of your program..." I probably composed four different drafts trying to think of how to thank this professor in the least awkward way. I wasn't even sure if what I was doing was super weird or totally appropriate, but I knew I had to do something to be unique.

I had a good start, but then I got to thinking...

"I was wondering if I could meet with you to discuss my transcript and resume to see what I need to do to fit the criteria of an ideal applicant to your program."

BOOM. Done. I put myself totally and completely out there.

In the end, I met with the professor and she said she appreciated my "gutsy" move of meeting with her. Yes, I was nervous, and no, I had no idea how she was going to respond to my email. But in the end, you have to put yourself out there to make things happen. As we get older, we are going to face more and more situations where we need to make an impression on others - a good, lasting impression. Don't let external factors determine how you seem as a person. Take control of any situation and make sure you get yourself where you want to be.  People aren't going to hand you opportunities, you have to create them yourself.