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.

Making your Michigan Difference

At Michigan, we are among the brightest and most ambitious crazy college students in the country... "the Leaders and the Best," right?

Well, personally, my freshman year was tough.  I felt overwhelmed, not smart enough, and like I didn't fit into this exciting college world.  I just felt that I wasn't making the most of my Michigan experience in comparison to others.  I mean, what should we be doing here on campus?  Where do our personal, social, and educational lives thrive, balance, or intersect?  Well, I quickly learned that everyone's experience of "the Michigan Difference" is in fact different, and that is what's special about it.

At Michigan, (solely focusing on campus involvement for the sake of this post) there are so many clubs, jobs, events, games, concerts, gatherings, panels, and shows to attend to not only to bulk up our resumes or network with peers and professionals, but to keep us busy, open our minds, and gain value from (phew, run-on sentence!).  Plus, the posting wall is always plastered, sidewalk chalk (except for during Winter... and Fall and Spring snow) is always doodled, mass emails are always sent, and professors are always holding office hours.

Personally, now into my sophomore year, I am happy to say I (kinda) got out of my bubble and have better explored the opportunities that Michigan, and college in general, offers.  This year I gained a campus job, attended career fairs where I landed a campus internship, reached out to a guest speaker earning me a job shadow position, participated in a Kinesiology photo-shoot :), and volunteered to talk to prospective students for Campus Day events all from simply checking flyers, answering emails, and interacting with professors and advisers (and of course, applying myself and following through).

~ Below are a few clearer pictures of some of the vague descriptions I gave above.

Although I am shy and can get overwhelmed by the great things other students are doing, discouraged because I might not be having as much excitement as someone else, or unsure about what my future may hold, I realize that everyone does Michigan different.  I am happy engaging, exploring, and embracing what my "Michigan Difference" is.  These campus experiences I am making at Michigan are both connections that reflect well on my resume but also memories I will hold with me and be proud of (cheeeeesy, I know, but thanks Michigan! *tear*).

Thinking in perspective, as a sophomore I only have 2 summers and 4 semesters left until I am "on my own"... I need to make the most of my Michigan experience while it is here for me, and I encourage you all to do the same!  Go Blue!

Yeah man, it was so fun! We… hang on, let me answer this text

It’s incredible how a little electronic thing can change a person’s entire life. Cell phones play a tremendous role in the lives of just about every college student nowadays, yet they are so easy to slip under the radar when people wonder why they’re behind on their work, feeling tired or just plain uneasy. Phones keeps us connected while we’re far, entertained when we’re bored, can make us happy at times, or irritate the heck out of anyone when it won’t load that darn YouTube video. Don’t get me wrong though, phones are great! But has today’s youth taken it too far?

We use our phones every chance we get. We take them out of our pockets before we even know what we’re going to do with them, and regardless of the situation, we always find a way for them to keep us busy. Phones can help us do a million things everyday (if we had the time), but I wonder, what are the effects of so much cell phone use?

I've come to find that for all the applications that have been made for phones, the hundreds of hours it took to design for convenience and efficiency, and its ability to connect me to anyone nearly anywhere at any time, my phone is holding me back.

So often do I find myself putting in my headphones in when walking around campus that I take away my ability to reflect on my day and my thoughts, instead filling this time with music I really don’t like that much. Too many times have I been so tired after finishing all my work that all I want to do is sleep, but Netflix on my phone has taken the length of one…two…three episodes away from my sleeping time. Repeatedly I have had the chance to simply do nothing and relax, but scrolling through Facebook or reading my email eats up that time too.

It may sound cliché, but my phone has taken a degree of freedom away from me that nothing else could. Even as I write this, I am unable to escape my phone! (Mainly because I’m writing about it though…). It seems that phones have become such an important part of daily life that it is actually harder not to use or have one that not having or using one.

To be honest, I’m not sure how to end this post. I understand how my phone affects me, both positively and negatively (lots negatives really), but it is still hard to envision myself truly putting it down and getting away from it. I suppose moderation is the right answer, though after reading what I have written even I would concluded that my phone sounds more like an addiction than a something to help me.

Regardless of what it is, I will end with a question. Do we control our phones, or are they in control of us, and are they really an invention that has lead to people living better, more comfortable lives? Maybe someday this answer will be clearer and we will understand truly how phones, the internet, Netflix, etc. have/will change us, but until then, I guess its time to take out those headphones while walking and ponder some deep thoughts.

The Search for Home

It's that time of year: the search for the world's best internship season. The season where all of Michigan's most eligible Business and Biology majors alike flock to the Career Center to hear about the most coveted summer internships and upcoming job opportunities or, more realistically, have already applied to a stack of these internships and are anxiously waiting to hear back about their summer's status. Now, I haven't lived a full life yet seeing that I've only recently entered adulthood. However, if there is one thing that high school taught me, it's that good things tend to happen when you least expect them to. In this case, sometimes finding the most rewarding and worthwhile internship isn't really about finding the most prestigious one, it's about finding the right one. Many times, this means discovering things you weren't initially looking for. 

Let's reflect on this concept through the eyes of my favorite bear, Pooh: 

"Well," said Pooh, "we keep looking for Home and not finding it, so I thought that if we looked for this Pit, we'd be sure not to find it, which would be a Good Thing, because then we might find something that we weren't looking for, which might be what we were looking for, really."
                                                                                 -Pooh Bear, The Tao of Pooh

The gist of Pooh's wisdom is simple: sometimes plans…initial tracks, just don't work out. But that doesn't mean life doesn't. Sometimes you will come across things that you weren't initially looking for, but become what you really need. The entirety of the Michigan campus is currently scrambling to snatch the greatest internships out there, yet not everyone will get to cheers to snagging the glamorous internship at Bain or Vogue at Skeeps this Thursday night. But that doesn't mean everyone else is lost. Sometimes the greatest experiences in the world are born of capitalizing on the opportunities we are handed as opposed to fighting for the ones that maybe, just maybe, weren't meant to be. This isn't to encourage laziness or a lack of determination, it's just to encourage acceptance of imperfection and an appreciation for imperfect and altered plans. 

Example: I didn't always want to go to Michigan. I didn't even know what Michigan was until my junior year of high school. I always had another plan for myself…pretty much since exiting the womb. I spent a large portion of my high school career fighting for the school I thought I always wanted. I was relentlessly looking for Home, but time and time again kept coming back to the Pit. As soon as I stopped looking for Home, I found "what I was looking for, really": Michigan. In the end, I could have chosen to follow my plan…but I chose a new path for myself. This example may seem slightly vague, but the moral of the story is: the Pit can be Home. More importantly, the Pit is a Good Thing, "something that we weren't looking for" but "what we were looking for, really." I was never looking for Michigan, but it's undoubtedly the place I always needed. 

So, I encourage everyone reading this post to do one thing: pay homage to everyone's favorite bear and stop searching for Home. Even if the internship or the job of your dreams doesn't immediately come to you, remember that there's probably a reason for that…it's probably not what you are really looking for…really. Trust that the bear knows what he's talking about and you'll find what you need. Pooh's wisdom has yet to let me down. 

"So, why do you want this job?"

With summer fast approaching, I've had interview after interview for various internships and jobs. Since I'm no stranger to the interview process, I don't usually get nervous. Just be yourself, be confident, and be humble while still showcasing your skills. Reminding myself of these things makes interviewing almost fun. The in-class interview activity we did really got me thinking though: what will I say to stand out when employers ask why I am interested in that position?

The honest answer is that I simply need a job. I need to be making money, I want my resume to look good, and I need something to do all summer. But of course, you can't say those things to an interviewer. That's when I realized that I really need to examine why I am applying to the types of jobs that I am and how I can convey those reasons to an employer.

Evaluating what you're interested in and where your heart is (yeah, its sounds cliche, but take it from someone who spent three years chasing after internships and jobs that would appeal to law schools, only to end up with a complete change of heart and a BA in History that is essentially useless) plays a huge role in this process. Listening to yourself and taking the time to consider what it is about certain jobs and internships that appeals to you can have a huge impact on the outcome of your interview.

I recently ran into an opportunity to show off my change of heart at an interview for a position at a summer camp. When asked, "Why do you want this job?" I was able to answer more thoughtfully than I would have, prior to considering in which areas I am interested and in which ways do I want to be impactful. I came up with something along the lines of, "I want to create a positive environment for campers, one which fosters creativity and curiosity, and campers are encouraged to discover their flu potential."

So take the time to consider what tugs at your heartstrings the most, what gets you most excited, and how these things can be crafted into a genuinely heartfelt response. It will reflect on your face if you're truly enthusiastic, so find out what it is that gets you enthusiastic!

Be Yourself

On my first day of college, I had no idea what to expect. A piece of me wanted to be a doctor, another wanted to be a musician, another wanted to travel to the moon, and another thought college was a waste of time and money. Essentially, my indecisiveness was setting me up for a long road of confusion. It's okay though, I'm still on that road and it's helped me understand myself more than ever. By having a go-with-the-flow attitude throughout college, I have come across different academic situations that I would've never imagined myself in. Basically, for the past year and a half, I've taken classes that range from exploring the cosmos to understanding the thought process of a linguist. While I thoroughly enjoy the knowledge I've gained from these courses, they haven't exactly put me on path to solidifying a career after college. Am I mad about it? No. If I could go back to my first day of college, would I take these classes again? Of course. How does this relate to my blog post? Here's how.

At the beginning of this semester, we were required to create a professional resume. This specific task alone required me to think about my work experiences, skills, and academic accomplishments that define me. Since you all now know my past year and a half at Michigan involved a lot of experimenting and trying to figure out my place, I really had no idea what to put on my resume. After spending hours on end brainstorming different topics to cover, I was lost. How was I supposed to create a piece of paper that represents me even though I didn't even understand who I was? My frustration was obvious and my roommate recommended I watch David Brooks' Ted Talk titled "Should you live for your resume... or your eulogy?" You can watch it here. Brooks helped me realize  I was searching for someone I desired to be (creating a resume that didn't represent me) rather than who I actually was. This allowed me to create a resume that properly represents my college career accomplishments without having to lie or exaggerate.

Basically I'm saying that even though you may find yourself in different situations that don't benefit your future, you should use those situations to learn and grow. In my case, I decided to take different classes that appealed to me in the moment instead of my future, and in turn allowed me to still be myself and not force growth. With risk comes reward and no matter the outcome, you live and learn.

Networking, Networking Everywhere!

If I learned anything from the LinkedIn portion of this class, it's that networking can happen anywhere and anytime.

I even noticed it on my latest trip to Salt Lake City with the Michigan Men's Glee Club:

A little backstory here: I am a member of the Michigan Men's Glee Club, the second oldest glee club in the country (20 years older than the football team here). We were selected to participate in the national American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference in Salt Lake City. Over 250 choirs applied to this program, but only the top 15 choirs in the country were selected.

Performing at the Mormon Tabernacle

The conference is designed to represent not only performances from each of the accepted choirs and professionals from around the world, but also to have special talks and workshops designed for choir directors, students, or even composers to learn new skills and network with other participants. I even heard that one program allowed new composers to network with current directors in an effort to spurn new works designed for particular choirs. Even musicians aren't immune to networking!

Networking is huge, since you'll never know when any random events can lead to something larger in the future. One prime example was two years ago at the Michigan-Ohio State basketball game...

If you don't know me, you should probably understand that I am one of the biggest basketball fans ever, particularly in regards to Michigan basketball. My family has had season tickets to the Men's team home games for over 38 years(!), so I grew up idolizing the players. In addition, I've actually held an unofficial role with the basketball team: over 10 years ago, I began finding articles in the newspapers (i.e. Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor News), cutting them out, and giving them to the players featured in each article. Since most of the players aren't from around here, this is a way to send articles home to their parents, so that they can then put them on the fridge (clichéd celebration).

Anyway, two years ago, ESPN The Magazine decided to run the One Day, One Game issue solely on the Michigan-Ohio State basketball game. One section profiled Michigan "Super Fans," and as a result of my article clipping, I was selected to participate. Unfortunately, the game started at 9:00 PM on a school night, so I couldn't go. Thankfully, we were able to work out an arrangement with the magazine to do the photo shoot four hours before the game so then I could leave to go home.

You're probably thinking, who cares? Well, since I couldn't go, my father took the three remaining tickets and gave them to three people at work: One worked for Comerica and was an OSU alum. The next was the President of the bank and an avid OSU fan. The last one was the new Retail Manager at the bank that started working that day, and he was a Michigan fan. A month later, when the issue was actually released, my father told me that the new Retail Manager had overheard about my photo shoot and had bought a copy of the article. I hadn't even met him, and he was already interested by my story.

To bring a long story to its end, I decided to apply for an internship at that bank that summer, and when I arrived for my interview, I was shocked to see that my interviewer (and future boss) was none other than the Retail Manager who went to the basketball game.

My point is: every story that you create can have a purpose, and every person that you meet can become a vital part of your future. It's up to you to determine what you do with your connections.

My Mug Shot

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this was an interesting story and not a complete waste of your time. Either way, if you'd like to take 7 minutes out of your day to watch part of the glee club's performance at the Mormon Tabernacle, please go to http://youtu.be/n2_XwvTNdo8. Hope you like it!

Go Blue Forever.

To Share or Not To Share:

As up and coming worker bees in the professional world, we college students find ourselves at a crossroads: to share or not to share. Many of us find ourselves engrossed in the world of social media, feeling the pressure to share every photo, moment, idea, or status that defines and captures our everyday lives.

The network of social media sites has allowed us to document our lives from the very beginning. Social media is a whole new medium for remembering our lives—dating back to the good old awkward middle school years. However, I find myself constantly struggling to decide whether I am going to want all of my photos on Facebook or Instagram to hang over me forever. It does not seem like the world of social media is leaving anytime soon, and sometimes I wonder what it will be like 25 years from now when my children start friending me on Facebook (granted I turn out to be a ‘cool’ mom) and are able to find everything about my life starting from when I was their age. This sounds like my worst nightmare.

This seems daunting to think about. So my question still remains: to share or not to share.

I find myself living by this rule as a way to ensure that my coworkers, when I start a new job, or my kids, won’t have anything embarrassing to use against me.

Ask yourself this question next time you are stuck deciding whether you should upload that next picture or status: “Am I going to be proud of my children, boss, and coworkers seeing this, and will this even matter 20 years from now? If the answer is ‘no’, don’ t upload it.

Having some mystery online can actually be a great thing.  Now I know that FOMO is very real for our generation, and the fear of not having the best pictures from spring break online can be a little nerve racking now. But I think the point of sharing online should be, most importantly, to remember all of the best memories from the past.

Last semester, I downloaded the app, Timehop, which basically hacks into all of your social media accounts and graciously reminds you everyday what embarrassing tweet or photo from that date you uploaded from the years before. To give you a great example, as I am writing this, Timehop has surfaced the tweet that I uploaded three years ago, which states: “@SydneyJ go Leap Day! Wear blue/yellow and see #LeapDay Williams #30Rock.”

Who is “#LeapDayWilliams” and why am I challenging people to see what happens if they wear blue and yellow (great colors by the way)? This tweet neither makes any sense nor is it something I find worth remembering. Was it worth sharing? No. Will I want my boss to see this? No, he will be utterly confused. And what about my kids? They’ll probably unfriend me on Facebook—there goes my ‘cool mom’ status.

My point is, that mystery can be a great thing in the professional world. If you are applying to a job and your boss goes onto your twitter and sees that you are tweeting random irrelevant nonsense you might not seem like a credible (or sane) employee to hire. Sure life comes with its #LeapDayWilliams moments but not every piece needs to be sent out to every one of your friends and or acquaintances.  

Remember that the pictures, tweets and statuses, you post now could bite you in the butt in the long run. So remain a little mysterious and don’t be afraid to live in the present without snap storying every minute of it.

Good Luck,

Amanda