So That I Don't Have to do This Over Thanksgiving Break

I wanted to come back from Thanksgiving break with no more assignments to turn in so that I could focus on studying for finals. I've worked hard all weekend to finish my assignments and turn things in and it feels really good to be going home for break with all my homework done.  I've learned (I don't know why it took me 3 years of college to figure out) that it is really nice to get homework done early and not have to worry about finishing it on time because I waited until the last minute.

So I'm writing my blog post early too so that I don't have to be scrambling to write it Saturday night when I want to be eating pie and leftover turkey.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Networking Event

I attended a networking event for the BYU Corporate Finance Society where Walmart executives came and talked to a group of us.  It so happened to be at seven in the morning (struggle) but there was breakfast and the presentation was actually pretty applicable to what I'm looking to do with my degree.  Afterwards we were able to chat and talk to the executive and a couple of associates that had also come about career options, school, and internships.  It was cool to see how Walmart operates, and it was a good opportunity to practice my networking skills.  It was hard to do so early in the morning, and I'm not super interested in an internship with Walmart, but overall good experience.

Nothing Says Thanksgiving Like Having to Move Apartments

I opened the door to my apartment Monday afternoon to a couple of inches of water in the kitchen and living room, sloshing around like it had nothing better to do.  Our kitchen sink pipe burst and had been gushing water into our apartment and into the apartments below us for a couple hours.  At first, maintenance said they would just need to dry the floors out.

I opened the front door again on Thursday after coming home from classes to find all our flooring, kitchen, and hallway gutted out and gone.  15 minutes later and a phone call, we had to find somewhere else to live.

I'm still trying to think of what I really learned from this...the couple of things that come to mind are (a) housing contracts are actually important, (b) find good housing management because in situations like these, they are the worst to deal with, and (c) if you have soaking wet carpet, putting a fan on it isn't really effective.  

Figuring Out Directions in Manhattan

This weekend I spent the weekend and found myself with some extra time Friday morning to explore.  I wanted to go down to the Met, but realized that I knew almost nothing about how New York streets/avenues work.  But (thank you Google maps) I was able to look the Met up and figure out what streets I needed to take in order to get there.

Then my phone died and I found myself on my own trying to navigate through Central Park and onto 5th ave.  I realized that each block running East/West was numbered, increasing 1 at a time, and each avenue running North/South also increase by 1 at a time.  I don't know how I didn't realize this before, but I was able to get to where I needed to go by using the signs!

I know that the lesson seems pretty obvious, but I've always been pretty bad at directions, and being able to figure out the NY system was pretty cool.  It gives me more confidence in figuring out directions in Provo!

Public Transportation

This week I learned to take public transportation all the way to the airport.

I'm a huge fan of Trax and FrontRunner because it's so convenient and fuel efficient, but the farthest I've ever taken it is to downtown Salt Lake from Provo.  I wanted to meet a friend at the airport one night, and decided to take FrontRunner all the way up there and surprise him.

It was surprisingly easy. I had to transfer a couple of times, and I encountered some strange people late at night, but it was a lot less of a hassle than I thought it would be!  It took about 2 hours to get all the way to the airport and I waited to transfer less than a total of 10 minutes.  It is a pretty efficient system.

I would definitely use it again all the way up to the airport if I needed to, I would just make sure to time it out right again.

Group Project Google Hangout

4 people and a computer screen.  Awkward silences, tech problems, and funny conversations.  It was an interesting (and I didn’t think very effective) way to talk about our group project for the semester.  We talked a little bit about upcoming dates and goals that we wanted to accomplish in the next month.  It was nice to set a timeline again for our project (seeing as we didn’t make the first deadlines we set) and be on the same page.

Although this thing was fun, I really think that the most productive and effective way to work in a group is in person.  It took us as long to set up the video chat as our conversation lasted, and it was hard to hear people clearly.  Definitely an interesting experience though!

Online Interview

Okay, I had pretty much the same experience with this online interview as I did with the group project online meeting.  It was an interesting, new way to be interviewed, but it was weird.  It was a little hard to hear clearly and also hard to gauge the other person's non-verbal ques.  Another problem I noticed during the interview was the background and what was happening behind me.  I was in my apartment, but the white walls and dresser behind me didn't come across as very professional.

It is convenient in the sense that at any time and anywhere you can be interviewed, something that works very well for unconventional situations.  I would use it on campus in a more professional setting, or when meeting in person was impossible.

Overall, I've learned the most that I appreciate and like the personal connection you make when conversing in-person.  I think that something comes with being face-to-face with someone that you can't get over a computer screen.  That connection would definitely help in an interview.