Week Seven

Big news: I have two job interviews today! I had one this morning and will have another one after work today. My current job is fine, but I have been there for over a year and I am ready to branch out.

Anyway, I debated whether or not to even go because interviews make me nervous and I hate dressing up for them and actually doing my hair (I know, sad). After talking about resume/interview tips in class, I decided to just do both interviews. I told myself that interviewing for the positions wouldn't obligate me to take the job and also that it would be good experience.

This morning's interview covered EXACTLY the stuff we covered in class. As soon as I sat down, they said, "tell me a little about yourself." I mumbled on about where I was raised, bragged about just getting admitted into my program, and shared my exciting wedding news with them. While I was talking, my mind went to the discussion we had in class about already having a 1-2 minute response prepared and I wish I had done that beforehand. The two interviewers switched off asking the questions: "how do you handle stress? What is your ideal work environment? What type of management do you work well under? Can you describe a time you've had to overcome a major problem? When you've had to have an attitude adjustment?" Then, towards the end, she brought up the thing that I had been dreading: "Describe three of your strengths and weaknesses."

THREE?! Oh man I was not prepared at all. How badly I wished I had taken the advice in class and prepared a list and a way to describe my weaknesses in a more positive way! I stammered on about being a high-energy, organized person who loves to socialize and get to know people. For my weaknesses, I said that I get too comfortable in what I already know and feel confident with and have a hard time branching out...probably not a good response. I also said I get stressed easily...probably not what a potential employer wants to hear. 

So this is a testimony of what we have been learning in class this week. Those interview guidelines and tips are real and I want to spend more time reviewing them on my own. I'm also getting very excited about the PAR paragraphs, since I have seen how this will be beneficial in an interview.

Here's to hoping that interview #2 goes swimmingly and I keep these things in mind! 

Week Six

This week was hard. I had a doctor's appointment, which is never fun. I had like seven papers due... not fun. I had printer problems in one of my classes and had 10% deducted for turning it in electronically, wha wha wha. I also had the hardest time getting my briefing article and the graphic and the sources to all fit on one page...I threw the biggest fit with Microsoft Word.

To top it all off, I just found out this morning that I made a huge mistake on one of my midterm exams for another class. I walked into class and my professor asked if he could see me outside (never a good sign). We went outside and he told me that I completely forgot about one of the essay sections of my exam. It wasn't that I had an incomplete thought written down or grammar mistakes...I just didn't even fill it out. Like what?! Who does that?! I was so embarrassed and so frustrated with myself. I had studied so hard for the exam and even got 100% on the photo/artist id section. However, because I had left that one essay section empty, my grade was brought down a whole letter grade.

So what? My grade's a tiny bit lower. I'm lucky that I did okay on the other sections of the exam. But I still can't stop thinking about that one section that I missed. How did I skip over that box entirely? Could I have gotten a perfect score if I had filled it in? I can't stop thinking about the exam and this dumb, dumb mistake.

Now what? This is a lesson to me on paying attention to detail. Especially with our grammar section, we are taught that every little detail is important. Sometimes it's just a comma or quotation that's missing, but it changes the entire meaning of the message. This attention to detail applies to so much: work, personal life, and definitely school. This stinky situation has taught me to pay attention to these things and go over my work again, even if I am confident that nothing is missing, because you just never know.

ILP: "I Like Pizza..."

About a week ago, my fiance asked me if I wanted to go to an event he was planning on going to at the Provo library. I had never been to the Provo library and I comment on how pretty it is every time we drive by it, so I thought maybe I'd go if I didn't have anything else to do that night.Then I found out that there would be free pizza. Show up and listen to their presentation and get free pizza for dinner?! Of course I jumped at that opportunity! I like pizza...and hanging out with my fiance...win-win!

We signed in at the desk and I found out that the meeting was for ILP, the International Language Programs. The girl who greeted us, Ovie, had just gotten back from her mission in Estonia about three months ago and was so sweet. We picked up the ILP pamphlet, which included information about the programs, fees, and volunteer opportunities. We also picked up a flyer for each of the countries we were interested in (which turned out to be every flyer available). Right off the bat, the ones that caught my attention were China, Thailand, and Russia.

We sat down, got pizza (!!!!) and then one of the ILP representatives, Kendra, began talking about the program. ILP, she explained, is a program that sends students to foreign countries to teach children English. The program is volunteer-based and individuals must pay to participate. I have always been interested in doing a study abroad at BYU, so she caught my attention immediately! She spoke about the different countries offered and gave a little description about each. She also spoke about her own experience this past summer in Mexico. The part that surprised me most was cost! For each trip, which lists anywhere from three-five months, it costs about $2500 and includes food, housing, and travel! That's about as much as tuition at BYU for a semester, not including food, housing, and textbooks! It gets better though--some countries, like China and Russia, have a two-for-one deal! That means my fiance and I could both go for $2500, which usually wouldn't even cover airfare for both of us! I was shocked.

Afterwards, they allowed time for Q/A and people asked great questions: where will the couples stay---with a host family or in their own apartment? Will couples get to teach together? What subjects are taught? How many hours a day are the volunteers teaching? Do they stick with the same group of kids the entire time? It was so informative! We left the meeting and I was feeling so excited about life.

So what? Now what? Well...to be honest, now I find myself very distracted from my school work. When I know that opportunities like this are out there, it is so hard for me to concentrate on life here at BYU! I love school and my professors, but I want so badly to make a difference and do something more than homework everyday. That being the case, my fiance and I have discussed it and we feel like this would be an incredible opportunity for us; for our own benefit and for the benefit of others. Now we just need to figure out a time that would work for both our majors and make it so we can still graduate when we want to!

I am so grateful for ILP and programs like it that offer opportunities for students to experience life outside of the norm and meet people from all over the world. I'm especially grateful for pizza and it's ability to bring people together!

(Professional Networking Event: Extra Credit)

Week Five

This week I thought a lot about the major I am trying to get into, Public Relations. I interviewed for the program about a week ago and am currently waiting to hear back. Obviously it's been on my mind a lot as I've prepared for the interview, but I've also been thinking about it as I brainstorm ideas for my briefing article.

We were prompted to choose our topic based on a current event or issue in our field. What immediately came to my mind was the issue with Chick-Fil-A a couple years back. The president made remarks about gay marriage and made it clear that he did not support it. This caused a lot of backlash against the company and the PR representatives were largely responsible for repairing the good reputation that Chick-Fil-A is usually known for.

This has all made me think about how careful we need to be about what we say. Whether that be with those around us, people we communicate with online, things we post on social media, etc. Our words often stick with people longer than we think. Things posted online literally stick to the Internet forever.

As a hopeful PR representative, I must especially be careful of this and make sure I always choose my words carefully. I want to be genuine, but I can be genuine and tactful at the same time. 

Week Four

I LOVE that this post is now listed under October and that September is behind us! Granted, September 2014 is the month that changed my life for a lot of reasons and I am so grateful for it. But October!! Everything looks and smells so good in this glorious month and I love it more than I can explain.

Now...CLOUD: coherence, length, organization, unity, development. This was one of the topics discussed in chapter three of our reading this week. At first I was worried about remembering what each letter stands for but when I actually started to analyze each step and what they meant, remembering it became much easier. It all just makes perfect sense.  Of course it needs to all be cohesive and have unity. Each message we give needs to be focused on what exactly it is that we're trying to get across. Keeping organized (like with an agenda) will help with that purpose. Length seems obvious since we all have experience with messages we didn't even give a change because of their intimidating length. Lastly, we need to support our topic with details! Just like it's important for us to have support from family and friends or arch support in our shoes, it is important for us to support our claims with evidence, details and explanations.

As a Public Relations Pre-Major, I am so anxious to apply these CLOUD principles in my writing. It is going to be so important for me to get my point across clearly, whether that be for the benefit of my superiors or clients or coworkers or anybody else.

Happy October ya'll!

Week Three

This week has been stressful and wonderful and just really crazy. For one, I have been preparing to take this terrible, awful, scary, hellish delightful grammar exam and find myself just as nervous for it as I was a few weeks ago when I first found out about it. As it turns out, English is rather difficult and full of many, many exceptions.

I'm also finding it hard to concentrate on the material like I need to be because as of Saturday night, I am a betrothed woman! I got engaged to my wonderful handsome at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City and am now not only trying to pass my classes but also plan a wedding! Gotta love what life throws at us, huh?

Tonight I went to a review session for the grammar exam in the TNRB. I found it to be very helpful and comforting, as I realized that many students have the same struggles and concerns that I do (especially with case and agreement and sentence structure). At one point during the review, the instructor reminded us that in our writing, "that" is used for things that are essential and "which" is used for nonessential items. This was the biggest thing I took away from the review for two reasons:

1. This exam is going to kick my butt and I need to find ways to remember all of the grammar rules that will be covered. This is a great way for me to remember under what circumstance to use each word.
2. It reminded me to relax, regardless my feelings of stress and inadequacy. Several things are essential in these next few months: notifying family and friends of the wedding, setting a temple date, preparing to enter the temple worthily. However, there are also several other things like flowers, tablecloths, wedding shoes, etc. that are nonessential and do not need to be dwelt upon .

I'm grateful for this reminder to sort the "thats" from the "whichs" in my own busy life. So what now? I must constantly be reminding myself of the things that matter and directing my attentions and efforts into whatever that may be.

Week Two

I have thought a ton this week about the next ten years or so and what my future holds. More specifically, I've been thinking a lot about where I see myself professionally. I want to have a family so bad but I also would like to spend a couple of years in the workforce before dedicating 100% of myself to my kids. A lot of this consideration has been triggered by our most recent discussion on networking.

I love people so much and I love the idea of networking; having a support group of colleagues and classmates that act as connections in the workforce and even in personal life. I feel strongly that every person has something to learn from the people around them and that it is so important to keep a strong network. It is easy to sometimes receive help or advice from someone just once and not follow-up with them or keep the relationship going. Although that may be beneficial in the short-term, it will be most beneficial to keep tabs on that contact and follow-up with them in the time that follows. That is how a strong network is maintained.

After Skyping with our guest speaker on Wednesday, I started thinking of people I have met here at BYU who would be good contacts for a future in PR. Two people especially stood out to me: a Communications professor I took a class from previously and a PR professional who's lecture I attended last week. I introduced myself to him and we talked some, but I did little to make sure we stayed in contact.

About an hour ago I decided to take my own advice and apply it to my life right now. I found the speaker on LinkedIn and connected with him there, as well as sent him an email thanking him for his lecture. It really was such an incredible presentation and I would love to stay in contact with him if I have questions later down the road about job positions or just general career advice.

So here's to networking! And not just to get stuff from other people...but to help others and build strong relationships with all different kids of people. Remember: networking is about exchange. You give to others what you have to offer and they may have something to offer in return.