Reflection by Ro

So unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Fall Career Prep Day(s). But, we thoroughly discussed it in class so I’ll blog about that.

One of the things that interested me the most was the question of ‘Where did you go to college?’ I now realize that assumptions can be risky, but taking that question and altering it into ‘What’s your story?’ is a more constructive way to learn the history about the recruiter or person you’re talking to. Because in reality, that VIP is also a human being and should be treated as such. That really struck me and I’ll try to remember that for the future.

Another thing that really stuck out to me was figuring out how you would fit in a company. Whether that’s decided by my major or how they integrate diversity, I thought it was a really cool topic to bring up when learning about a company. I believe that’s one of those tough ideas that even those recruiters will struggle with. But keeping them on their toes when you’re essentially trying to impress them speaks the type of character you have:

I know what I want, so let me see if you are/have what I want.

That mindset is something that I think makes me unique–just because I’m the one looking for an internship or job doesn’t mean that I should sell myself short and not make it clear that not only should I be grateful for their company, but that they should be grateful to be getting me. What I can contribute to a company or organization is just as important as what I can take away from that job or experience.

When I think about the work I have already done as a student, I get overwhelmed. This is part of the reason that my resume hasn’t been updated in a while. It’s also why I get so lazy when filing out scholarships–they ask for school awards and activities and give you 5 spaces. How can I  consolidate all that I’ve done and choose the most important things?

I’ve been to multiple networking events and workshops. Some have been useful and some I’ve helped organized, but that’s some experience that I can build on. Those relationships can grow into something more or disintegrate into something less. It all depends on my pro-activity, really.

I am in multiple organizations at the University of Oregon: my sorority, Building Business Leaders, CEO Network, I am also a Career Ambassador for Lundquist Career Services, etc.

And then I have some sort of leadership position within these organizations. I am the Vice President of Finances of my sorority and am currently running again for that position. Next year I will run for president. My position has helped me learn about personal and institutional financial processes as well as learn how to manage stressful situations involving parents and members while trying not to blur that line between sister and responsible executive member.

My job at the front desk of the primary business school advisory center gives me a behind the scenes look on all things business and I get connected with those types of advisers (with this and with Tayah’s class/club). I also get customer service experience as I talk to other students and GTFs on a daily basis and answer questions.

I have a lot of things that I can say but only a few key, takeaway examples of what these experiences say about me. And I think they say that I’m superwoman.

So I’m just going to type and try to organize what I’m saying in the segments of short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals.

For starters, I of course want to graduate from the Lundquist College of business. I am studying  accounting and I am going to get an internship with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and eventually become an audit/assurance associate. I eventually will move to a smaller company after getting a few years of experience there and jump in at a higher level, preferably CFO. As opposed to starting my own business, I want to climb up the corporate ladder. The more experience I gain, the more clout I will gain. I like having positions of authority and I am definitely going to be an important leader in whatever company I end up settling in.

I am going to become one of the most powerful women in the world. I want to be that person that when I need something done, I just make a phone call to make that happen. I will have connections, I will have respect, and I will have responsibilities. I want to represent black women in the business world and take what is mine and strive for what is not yet mine. I want to rise so high that I want future business students to study me. I want to make history. I want my strategies to be remembered, I want to make a difference. And eventually, I want to give back. I want to set my parents up with a life where they will never want for anything, as I did when I was a child. I will go back into my communities and school systems and chance the systems. I personally struggle with financial stability and I did not let it hinder me, but I want to make that easier for other people. I want to be a business tycoon, I will become the person that everyone will want to aspire to but also want to help.

I want to be president. I want to be an ambassador. I want things to change. I want to become that change. I will become the change I want to see in the world. I want to become a symbol for any and all persons that I started from the bottom and now I’m here.

Whenever someone asks me to describe myself in one word, it takes me a while. How can I sum up something as complex and unique as myself with one word? There isn’t a word in the English vocabulary that can completely encompass all that I was, all that I am and all that I am going to be.  I’m also quite indecisive, so that’s why I like the idea of having there power words that describe how I think, lead, and work. I will leave representative pictures of how these words pertain to me, but will leave them up to your interpretation.

Power Word #1:  I am an INDEPENDENT thinker. 

It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me (even a little) that I like to fly solo. I find that doing things myself results in better outcomes. Not to say that working with other people isn’t great, because groups of people make the world go round, but I am oriented towards working hard and working alone. It’s just the way I’m programmed and I enjoy it. I believe this is one of the most pertinent things about me because if I can hold myself up, I can also hold others up. I want to succeed and bring other people with me through the path I create.

 

 

Power Word #2: I am a BRILLIANT leader.

So I’ve chosen a research focused liberal arts college. Though I didn’t really care either way when I applied, I do see the value in having a general education during my four years at the University of Oregon. Though specialization is important for a major, making sure that you have the basics is always advantageous. Not only will I come out to be a somewhat well-rounded person, dabbling in multiple different areas will provide an opportunity for me to try out new things and make sure that what I think I want to do is actually what I want to do.

It’s a lot stricter process at college than it is at high school. High school is basically all general education, but if you knew how, you could circumvent certain subjects. For me, I didn’t want to take history. It does not interest me in the slightest and it bores me to death. So, I took AP Psychology and AP Government and Politics so I didn’t have to take US History. And now, I’m not saying I regret those decisions, but I am more aware of my lack of historical things concerning the US and other countries. Sure, I know the big things like everyone else, but sometimes I feel quite dumb when my history major friend starts talking China or Stalin. I’d just check out and try to steer the direction of the conversation somewhere else. It’s a good thing that I am quite proficient in doing so.

To compensate for what I lack, I try to do the most in the things I do know and enjoy. I like to keep up with current events and I like to involve myself in many different things–similar to the purpose of general education. And now that I’ve gotten better at being who I am and striving to who I want to be, my work is finally starting to pay off. I’ve finally decided that I want to be an Accounting major, and I got the first ever awarded Devotion Pin at my sorority for being recognized as the most dedicated to my chapter and sisters. So yes, gen ed is useful, it allows students to expand their horizons while still doing what they love to do–the way I’m maximizing my general education is through the honors college. For example, we have to take literature and history sequences; regardless of our major. And at first it seemed like kind of a drag, but I do admit that I am learning and I do enjoy that.

If I didn’t, why would I be in college?

– Ro

I’m not sure how to cleverly begin this blog post…

Segues are weird.

At this point, I have no idea what kind of knowledge I want to compliment my major area of study. I did take French all four years of high school. And as much as I love the language, I have this inherent concept that I will never be good at it enough to confidently say, “Yes, hire me, because I am fluent in two different languages.” I’d feel like a poser and I don’t really think any amount of learning or class-taking is going to ever make me believe otherwise. So I’ve since given up on it; though I may just take the two hundred levels since that will take care of non-business breadth requirements.

So, what am I going to do instead? I’ve considered pursuing a minor  Originally I wanted to do a sociology one, but since then I’ve learned that no such thing exists. I would also have liked to minor in law or something because the legal system has always interested me, but that’s completely out of the picture now. Not because I’m not interested anymore, but because ‘minoring in law’ not only isn’t possible, but just sounds weird. I’m moved on to perhaps majoring in accounting and then minoring in one of the business concentrations and/or psychology–since the study of people is what business is really all about. I took AP Psychology in high school so I know it’s interesting, but I have yet to summon the courage to take another 2 hour class. But we shall see.

If I could customize six courses into my own themed major, I’d probably have a lot of difficult. I’m quite interested in classics, but it’s useless knowledge in any other field besides Greek, Latin, and of course Classics. I know I don’t really want to do anything with sustainability because really, I couldn’t really give a shit about ‘going green.’ I think it’s an awesome concept, so I’ll leave that to those that are passionate about it. But leave me out of it. I’m not an artist, nor am I interested in science or history. Perhaps I could do some type of leadership minor? Do they have those? perhaps I can combine some management classes with service-learning classes and marketing? Geez I don’t know. It seems I’ve gotten a sort of stream of consciousness going here. As if though.

I think what will compliment my being a business major the most are the things I do outside of class. Sorority events, leadership positions in different clubs, community service; things like that. I hope that farther down the road I will be more aware of what I want to come out of college with, but I hope it will be more than just a degree.

– Ro

I’m not quite sure how to start this since I’m kind of in between majors at the moment, but I shall try my best. I am just going to mention a few of the upper-core division classes for the Accounting major. I don’t see a lot of stock in talking about the actually ACTG XXX classes since they are all about accounting and what I’d get out of them are pretty obvious.

FIN 316 Financial Management – This would prove useful from a finance standpoint. As similar as they may seem, accounting and finance are different majors/concentrations, so getting a glimpse of it in this class would be helpful when I’m actually in an accounting position at some firm or business; I’ll be able to understand a lot more.

MGMT 321 Managing Organizations – I have a very leadership oriented personality–accountants are seen as the people that work in the background, but hopefully this class would teach me a better way to use accounting and my natural leadership skills to get the type of position I would best fit in.

BE 325 Global, Legal, and Social Environment of Business – I’ve always been interested in law, though I’ve never seen myself as a lawyer, so this would be a nice refresher course on the other side of business: legality and ethics.

BA 453 Business Strategy and Planning – I see majoring in Accounting as a base for the business-like things I plan on accomplishing. Being able to function in the business world with the basic skills of strategizing and planning will be very useful to learn.

These are just some of the classes I think would be quite interesting to take once I get in the business school. If need be, I’ll add more.

– Ro

 

 

So as I was attending the University of Oregon Diversity Career Symposium; the rest of the class had what sounded like a stimulating lesson by David Tam on goals. Since I wasn’t there, I discussed this topic with a few of my classmates and am now ready to see if I can post about them. Though, don’t expect this to be as long as the others; there’s only so much I can say from getting the material in a second-hand fashion. But here I go:

The first thing I learned was about micro-term goals. I believe this to be ones that are about to happen in the next few weeks or months or so. Mine is to figure out whether or not accounting is going to be a good fit for me as a major. I plan on doing this by getting the most of my soon to come PwC Explore Program experience; if I enjoy myself as much as I hope to, I will switch from Business to Accounting (though I’ll probably end up minoring in some business concentration anyway). But I also have yet to take an accounting class, so I hope I’m not putting myself in a strenuous position. BUT, I also would like to run for my sorority’s Vice President of Finance position, so perhaps that will also wet my appetite for a bit. Go numbers–says no one ever. But in all honesty, I do enjoy math more than I used to.

Second step was about short-term goals. I see those to be goals for the next year or two. My short-term goal is to get into the business school and the honors business program. And eventually, graduate with a successful GPA and with connections I can use for future endeavors. I plan to do this by staying on top of my priorities and keeping myself on the upwards business track with help from my friends and BBL.

The third type of goal is the mid-term goal. Those I think are the ones that will happen right after college. I am not sure whether or not I am going to go to graduate school yet, but I do have a goal of getting an internship/job with PwC or Kaiser Permanente. I met the recruiter from the latter at that conference I was talking about earlier, and she liked me so much she gave me all of her stuff and tried to give me her card twice. Our conversation started off with me asking what Kaiser Permanente was since they aren’t where I live. A bit rocky, but informational nonetheless. The problem with that is they obviously don’t have internships/jobs where I live, so I’d have to live in Oregon or something while I was doing something in the summer which comes with a few setbacks. But I really liked them, and they really liked me; so we’ll see.

The last kind of goal is the long-term goal. These are obviously years and years into the future; kind of like those questions interviewers ask: where do you see yourself in ten to twenty years. Mine is kind of general–I just want to become a successful businesswoman who can give back to her mother and father for providing her the means to educate herself and climb the ladder of society. My parents have done so much for me, and I want to make sure they live the rest of their lives as comfortably and as loved as possible.

Hopefully I can achieve all of these on the correct timetable. If I do, my life is certainly going to be awesome. Like me.

– Ro

 

 

So, during first term, we were prompted to write a similar post about our leadership styles. Upon re-reading what I had blabbed on about, I’ve decided to digress. Instead on focusing on the fact that I’m a closer, I am now going to write about my personal strengths and weaknesses. So instead of using the ‘definition’ of a closer as a lens  I’m going to break away from the description and just write what I know.

And I know myself.

I believe myself to be very antisocial. This is not say that I do not enjoy the company of others, but I’m also not saying I’m particularly socially awkward. I just don’t mind silence, and I don’t mind being alone. Now I realize this may be a problem in the business field as a big part of it is networking, but don’t misunderstand, I know how to socialize. I just think that in general, compared to the rest of the population, I reach out to people a lot less than most. Which makes me very appreciative to those who actually make an effort to get to know me since I know for a fact that I am almost never the one to initiate contact. Though, I did just that by pledging a sorority, but that’s a tale for another time.

Time for a strength: I am tenacious.

Most of the time, I know exactly what I want and I have an idea of how to get it. Some of my determination stems from my impatience, but most of it is because I like to be efficient, and I think that trait will get be rather far in life. Just sitting back and letting things fall into place whenever they feel like seems very unproductive to me, and to those who know exactly what I’m saying or have heard this spiel before, you know what I’m talking about when I say I’m a minimalist. I don’t believe in always doing the most to achieve something. I’m not saying I’m inadequate in my work, but a straight line is a straight line–I don’t play games and I don’t beat around the push. I push for what I want. Passion is my superpower. (For I was unlucky enough not to be granted with a real one).

I see no problem in being a bit abrasive when trying for something I want; because I know that if I don’t get it, no one else will get it for me. This can be applied to many things–academics, connections, friendships– I don’t do anything half-assed because then what would be the point? I’m not afraid to hurt feelings, because in the end, it’s better for me and for them. I do what I need to get done and they learn something about themselves that other people have probably noticed but have been too shy or too afraid to share with them. I tell it straight, which I see as a gift and a curse (but a gift mostly). I don’t have the most refreshing of personalities, but I thrive around people who accept me for who I am.

Don’t we all?

– Ro

The Event:

Is it me? Or is it hot in here? Cuz we were on fire for that skills workshop.

I genuinely enjoyed that night, despite how stressful it was leading up to that point. Everyone looked sharp, and there was a better turnout than I thought there would be. I came an hour early (along with some other peeps), whipped out that PowerPoint with a few other people, figured out a schedule and then; we simply executed. I do agree that the first part of the presenting was short (which is what my roommate said as well), but overall, it was good. We probably could have benefited more from actually practicing the speaking parts ahead of time, but you live you learn.

My favorite part was the question panel. That turned out SO much better than I had expected. Even though most of the people we expected to show up were replaced by randoms, it was still very helpful to learn what they had to say about the business experience. I regret that we didn’t have any sports business representatives, but there was nothing we could do about that. While it was all going on, I wished I could have presented too, just because I felt so in my element. Being in Lillis, dressed professionally, and sharing our knowledge with the audience was awesome; I felt so proud to be in the CEO Network and the BBL Cohort. We got to enlighten those students on what it means when passion and determination really do meet. Slow claps for all.

The Evaluations:

It was nice to see that my hard work hadn’t gone unnoticed by my teammates. Though, I do acknowledge that once things really got down to it, I may have cut them off. My worst category was “How often did your teammate help others use their strength?” And I get that I didn’t treat this as a group assignment when it came to volunteer coordination, but I did reach out in the very beginning. And when I didn’t get the results I wanted, and knew we needed, I changed my strategy; so i don’t really see how it’s my fault that by the time my teammates were all on the same page, I had already moved on to the next library. I didn’t want to drag them along, so I just ran ahead. And I know that the end doesn’t always justify the means, but we had volunteers, we had people to talk and educate. I think that if we had more time to just collaborate and get to know each other, I would have felt better saddling tasks with my group members. And I understand that it’s something I need to work on; I’m not much of a team player. And it’s not that i can’t work well with others, I just sometimes see other people as a burden to my path. I find that if people aren’t on my level, I see no benefit in trying so hard to make sure they keep up. It’s been something I struggle with–thinking I’m better than everyone else. I am not afraid to admit that I have a very large ego and a bit of a superiority complex. But the problem is that it works for me. Being independent and working alone has always worked, and what I need is an instance where I need to rely on other people to get the best result possible.  I need something to knock me down so I can get back up again with a different perspective. My head is too big, but I do enjoy a challenge.

The End:

I’m not gonna lie; I didn’t think I would get very much out of this BBL seminar this term. And that mostly stems from the delusion I have that I already know it all (even though I know I don’t). But the biggest thing I got from these ten weeks, is knowing my label. I’m a closer; and we have certain tendencies. Knowing my habits has helped me figure out how to break them. I have found that I I enjoy leading a lot more than I prefer running in the background. And that was not something I expected; but I find that my impatience and my desire to get things done quickly and efficiently are actually assets in my leadership style. Closers always take too much time, but now I’ve found a way to break out of that mold.

Perhaps I can create my own leadership style?

– Ro