Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! I am having a great winter break. It is very nice to have some downtime, where I can do leisurely activities and catch up on sleep.

Here's the video to 'N Sync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays." I hadn't watched the music video for this song until this year, even though I hear the song every year. I think the video is funny, and I'm loving all of their frosted hair.

Sweet Home, Chicago

Well, I am back home in Chicago for a couple of days. Then I am off to Tucson until the 23rd for a pre-Christmas celebration. I am so glad it is finally winter break...even though it's only 20 degrees here! I got home around 4pm Chicago time, and I've already managed to squeeze in dinner with my parents, a little Christmas shopping, and time with some high school friends - a very productive day indeed.

Finals went well. They seemed to end really quickly, since I was done on Monday. I've never had so few written tests before (I only had three). I stayed in Bloomington until this afternoon because I wanted to spend some time with my friends and boyfriend before I skipped town for a couple of weeks. I just love the feeling of not having any more finals to worry about for a while!

While I Should Be Writing A Paper...

I am pretty sure my Marketing Research (M303) final went well today. I love when I come out of a test feeling more confident than I thought I would.

Now I'm sitting in the Union computer lab about to start typing my final paper due tomorrow for my sales class. I have outlined the entire paper, and I feel that I know what I am going to say. It actually seems like it will be interesting to write. For one of the three sections, I will be creating a dialogue between a sorority member and a potential new member, where the sorority member uses the SPIN Selling model to persuade the potential new member to join her chapter. My professor wanted us to write about a real-life situation where the SPIN model could be applied, and he seemed enthusiastic when I told him my idea to write about rushing a Greek house. Within the final paper I also was asked to write a book review of a sales book we did not read in class, so I read You Can't Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar by David H. Sandler. Hopefully I have a little fun while writing tonight.

As of right now, I am feeling that I am ending my semester very well, and I will be getting a relatively high GPA. Going into my Database Marketing Final on Thursday, I have a 97.5% in the class. I assume the final will be very challenging, but it is nice to have a pretty big cushion. On the same note, I have a 97.7% in my Creativity & Communications class, but I am still waiting for three more projects to determine my final grade (that class does not have a written final exam). As long as I manage to do well on the final exams in Marketing Research and International Business, it is possible for me to have all A's and A-'s this semester. I hope I'm not going to jinx anything by writing about it!

The first snow calls for a new update

This is my first time trying to update my blog from my blackberry. I'm sorry if there are any blatant typos!

So big news- this morning I woke up to the first snow of the year. All five of my roommates were excited except for me. Since I'm from Chicago, I'm kinda over snowfall. I like having a white christmas, but not a white walk to class. On top of that, as I was walking to yoga just now, the shortcut I usually take through Woodlawn Field across from my house was closed for the rest of the semester. So now my walks to class will be longer I suppose.

This past weekend was 19 party, which went very well. I met girls from all over, and
enjoyed talking with and getting to know all of them. I hope they had fun and weren't too cold standing outside 19 separate houses! I remember loving 19 party because I was able to see all of the houses and get to know the personalities at each.

This week is my finals week. I'm done with the semester a week from today! How scary and weird to think about.

The End-of-Semester Scurry

I am sitting in the Union computer lab right now, trying to work up the courage to complete my research paper for my International Business class. I find the topic incredibly interesting, yet it is getting late and my attention span has reduced significantly from a non-stop day.

For this paper, my team and I are analyzing a documentary created about Wal-Mart and its effects as a multinational. Specifically, our Professor is asking us to focus on cultural comparisons between China and the US.

While I was abroad, I took a class called International Human Resources Management, where I learned about several cultural philosophers. The most famous, Geert Hofstede, uses five dimensions for cultural comparisons. These five dimensions are widely analyzed internationally when a multinational corporation is considering opening an operation (subsidiary/joint venture) in a foreign country. Because I enjoy learning about culture and psychology, I think these cultural comparison theories are fascinating. I only wish I was not so sleepy!

When I drove back to Bloomington from Chicago on Sunday, it took nearly eight hours to complete the journey instead of the usual four. I feel that every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving it inevitably rains, which causes long backups on a road that has more cars on it than usual anyway. Since I-65 has students travelling from/through Chicago on their way to Purdue, Ball State, IU, Miami of Ohio, and Butler all on the same stretch of road, the Sunday after Thanksgiving I easily consider the busiest travelling day of my year. It's almost comical how slow it takes to get from point A to point B on that day.

A happy thing that happened to me today was that my friend Heather and I went to dinner at Cracker Barrel off of highway 37. She is in my last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and neither of us had plans for dinner so we decided to accompany each other and catch up. She and I were on the same Honors I-Core team last fall, and we talked about how busy the Honors I-Core students are right now as they finish up their last 36 hours before their final business plan reports and presentations are due. I hope it is going well for all of them! I know one of my sorority sisters has already asked me several questions about how my team completed certain tasks last year. I am glad I have been able to help.

I should get back to my report. Don't be too jealous, but I have a light at the end of my tunnel. Two weeks from tomorrow I will be in Tucson, Arizona escaping the cold!

Stella McCartney Knock-Offs

Having interned at Stella McCartney this past spring while I was in London, I became very familiar with her collection. For this reason, when I saw these shoes on Charlotte Russe's website just now, I recognized them immediately as Stella McCartney knock-offs. I even wrote about these shoes in one of my blog entries last spring.

The Stella McCartney pumps:


The Charlotte Russe pumps:

It's interesting the new information you are exposed to while working at various companies. While working at Earth Knowledge this past summer, I had the opportunity to post this article to the Earth Knowledge website. Not only do I think this tennis ball chair is incredibly creative, but it also is sustainable because it re-purposes dead tennis balls. I sincerely want to figure out how to construct one of these chairs myself, and I even presented about this chair in my Creativity and Communication class this semester.

My End-Of-The-Semester Schedule

It's finally Thanksgiving break! I drove home yesterday afternoon from Bloomington to Chicago, and managed to escape the rain. The weather in Chicago is pretty dreary, but it is still nice to be home.

With that said, I have a lot of homework to do over Thanksgiving break. Next Monday I have a paper due for my yoga class (try not to laugh). Next Tuesday I have a 15-page group paper and 15-minute group presentation for my Marketing Research class. Next Thursday I have a group paper and 15-minute group presentation for my Creativity & Communications class. Next Friday I have a group research paper due for my International Business class. It's going to be a very busy week.

The week after next I have two written finals on Tuesday and Thursday, and also a 15-page individual final paper due in class on Wednesday. I'm very nervous about how my performance on my finals will be, because I have "19 Party" for my sorority the weekend before. 19-Party is always fun, but also a lot of work. Spanning the entire weekend, there are 19 rounds of women coming to my chapter who want to rush a sorority, where each round I talk to at least three of the women individually.

Suffice it to say, I'm going to be pretty busy in the next few weeks! Wish me luck!

Like A Gypsy

Well, a lot has happened since my last entry.

Last week I flew to Chicago from the Indianapolis airport, and I was interviewed by Fox News Indianapolis. The cameraman was wearing a Purdue sweatshirt, so I had to tease him a little bit. Also, this week I was able to fly to Atlanta for two days. It was my first time to Georgia, and Atlanta was a very pretty city. I got back to my house very late Wednesday night.

Last night we had our senior bar crawl for my sorority, which was a lot of fun. Each team had two team captains, and the theme was high school cliques. I ended up going to eight different Bloomington bars, ending up at Kilroys. The bar crawl was like a scavenger hunt, where each team was competing based on a points system, such as getting a certain number of points for singing karaoke at Bears or taking a picture on the statue at People's Park on Kirkwood.

On Monday I had my second exam in my sales class, which I studied for all this past weekend. Now I am at the Union computer lab trying to get all of my homework done that is due next week so that I can go home for Thanksgiving....but not until after the IU/Purdue football game on Saturday!!! I am very excited, and I hope that IU wins with an upset. We will have to see!

Weather in Bloomington, IN

Being from Chicago, the weather in Bloomington shocks me sometimes.

Today the high is 70 degrees. It is November 9th.

I love warm weather, and I have no complaints about this temperature. I just find it funny that the weather in Bloomington is so unlike the weather in Chicago, where there are hardly ever such large temperature swings. In Chicago, I feel the high temperature just gradually trends downward as you approach wintertime. Here in Bloomington, these temperature swings are not only common, but expected. Two years ago on January 7th (bid night for my sorority where I met my little sis), the temperature was also approximately 70 degrees - and we all were able to stand outside at night wearing only sweatshirts as wraps. Don't get me wrong, it does snow in the winter in Bloomington, but the snow doesn't tend to stay on the ground until March like it does in Chicago. Because of this, my roommates and I regularly check the hour-by-hour forecast on weather.com to see what we are in store for each day.

Here's a picture of me and some of my sorority sisters outside of our house on January 7th, 2008:

Starbucks at IU

I just want to write a brief entry about Starbucks. I listed it as one of my interests in my blog profile, so I'm sure you're not too surprised that it is finally being mentioned.

First, I want to disclose that I am not affiliated with Starbucks in any way other than the fact that I am a huge fan and loyal customer. I know the company has many criticisms, but I think it does a great job at trying to be as customer-focused as it possibly can. Why else would it have created an entire microsite devoted to receiving customer complaints and suggestions? (www.mystarbucksidea.com) My Honors I-Core team and I created an entire marketing plan and corresponding presentation for Starbucks after conducting extensive research on the company, so I consider myself knowledgeable enough about the company to write about it.

This week the Starbucks holiday cups were released. My friend Heather (yes, the same friend who was homecoming queen that I mentioned earlier) and I had an excited conversation about how happy we were that the holiday cups were out. We both feel that the holiday cups put us in better moods. Also, I am currently drinking my first official Starbucks holiday beverage of the season - the Peppermint Mocha. I got a venti, which cost me around $4.50, but the joyful feeling and great taste made the expense worth it to me. This beverage actually reminds me of happy holiday memories, and blocks out the fact that at this time last year when I was drinking many peppermint mochas along with Heather we were both struggling through Honors I-Core final exams and the Business Plan proposal/presentation. All of those stressful memories are somehow completely unassociated with my Starbucks Peppermint mocha.

With that, I think the Starbucks location in the Student Union has the best restaurant location on campus. It was an incredibly smart business move to put a Starbucks in that location. The store is not in the food court, and instead on the floor above. Adjacent to the Starbucks stand is a very large, open, well-lit study room (the IMU Gallery) filled with tables that can be arranged for individual study and group meetings. The Starbucks music that is played in the study room is not distracting, and the entire environment is very welcoming - just like a Starbucks brick and mortar store's environment. I have many friends who go there to study, and Starbucks almost always profits from the people who study in the IMU Gallery. Also, I am in the computer lab at the Union right now, and I can see four Starbucks drinks right now within a twenty foot radius from me.

I realize that not all IU students drink coffee, but Starbucks is definitely making itself convenient to the ones who do.

Stella McCartney Spring 2010 Collection & My Halloween

This week went by really fast!

Today I contacted my old boss at Stella McCartney for the first time in a few months, and I looked over the new spring 2010 collection beforehand. I think the collection is absolutely brilliant, and I like almost every "look." Each look resembles modern art to me, where there is a lot of movement and interesting lines in the pieces. I also really like how Stella McCartney tailors her blazers. I was able to wear one of her blazers from the Spring/Summer 2009 collection for an event, and it fit me perfectly. These are my favorite looks from the new collection:

With that, I had a great time at Halloween this year! I dressed up as Carmen Sandiego, and attempted to steal my friend's Eiffel Tower figurine. I'm not sure if many people outside of my generation would know who Carmen Sandiego is, but my costume was a big hit. Plus my costume included constantly wearing a trench coat, so I was able to stay warm the entire night! Total success.

Online Media, My New Committee, A Free Concert, and My Senior Formal

This summer I learned a lot about how companies should monitor and participate in social media. According to the experts (my favorite being author and blogger David Meerman Scott http://www.webinknow.com/) , the new rules of online marketing is that companies should engage the people who write about them in online conversations - especially internet dissenters. However, it is important to do one's research due-diligence and figure out where your customers and potential customers are using social media before diving into the social media universe. For example, I worked at the environmental consulting firm Earth Knowledge last summer, and I safely concluded that Earth Knowledge did not need a web presence on Myspace because its consumers and potential customers do not use Myspace for environmental knowledge.

With that, I have my first meeting today for the new marketing committee I joined this month - the marketing department's Student-Faculty Relations Committee. Through this committee I chose to join the Community, Communications, and Social Networking sub-committee, so I can share my limited knowledge about communications and social media marketing. One of the goals of this committee is to improve the already stellar reputation of IU's marketing department, both inside and outside the Kelley School. We have noticed that within the Kelley school the marketing department has suffered from some negative stereotypes, but we hope to improve the brand image starting this year. I'll keep you posted on what the committee's progress is.

On a final note, this weekend was very fun. Victoria's Secret PINK sponsored a free concert in Dunn Meadow on the IU Campus, which featured Cobra Starship and Girl Talk. Since it rained while we were there, the field was completely destroyed, and what is currently left is a giant mud pit that Victoria's Secret is paying to re-sod (according to the IDS). Also this past weekend I had my sorority formal at Bloomington Country Club, and it was extremely fun! I missed having my boyfriend there, but I still managed to make the most of the night. Here is a picture from formal where some of my roommates and I are standing outside of the line of limos that took us to the dance:


Well, I have to register for next semester's classes at 2pm, so I am going to get going! Wish me luck on getting all of the classes that I need to take for my....LAST semester at IU! (scary thought.)

Interviewing & Homecoming Football

My interview season is in full swing this week. I am balancing four interviews, four pre-night presentations, and one call-back interview tomorrow morning! Also I just got offered a second round interview in Chicago with the first company I interviewed with last week. All very exciting, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the company I interviewed with on Friday. What a thrilling and jittery time in my life!

To top it off, I've had a lot going on in school this past week, and I've been trying to balance it as best as I can. I went to office hours today for M303 (Marketing Research) because I had to miss class due to an interview today. At the end of the office hours, my professor asked me about my job search process. I told her all about it and handed her an extra resume I had with me from my interview...just in case she wanted to learn more about me. She just sent me an email tonight saying she enjoyed reading my London blog.

Lately I've had a lot more of my friends approach me saying that they noticed that there's a link to my blog on the Kelley Undergraduate website. I get excited and joke around that I am very important. Just this morning I ran into someone I have not seen in a while and he said he saw me on the Kelley website the other day.

The last thing I want to say is that I went to the football game this weekend. I also went tailgating, and I am definitely one of the few tailgaters that also prioritize going to the games. First of all, I want to congratulate both of my friends Heather Schaefer and Cale O'Brien for winning homecoming king and queen. I know both of them fairly well, and it is a really exciting honor for them! Next I'd like to say that although it was cold at the game, I am SOOOOOO happy the Hoosiers beat the Fighting Illini. Since I am the sole offspring of two University of Illinois alumni, it is always nice to be reassured about my correct college decision. (AND my Mom and Dad both read this blog and I'm sure will agree that IU was the correct choice......absolutely sure.)

Me, two of my sorority sisters, and my boyfriend at the Sig Ep tailgate on Saturday before the Homecoming game.

P.S. I missed formal dinner tonight at my sorority and now I'm just cracking open a Burger King double cheeseburger I bought an hour and a half ago thinking I'd eat it right away. Be jealous.

The Transitive Property

If Midterm Week = Interview Start Week, and Interview Start Week = Homecoming Week, Does Midterm Week = Homecoming Week? And do all three equal every other school's fall break week? If you are familiar with geometry, you may conclude the answer.

I'll admit it, this week I am feeling slightly stressed. I completely forgot it was homecoming week, since I won't be doing anything homecoming-related until I go to the football game. However, my friend and Honors I-Core teammate Heather Schaefer was nominated for Homecoming Queen! I'm very excited for her.

This entry is going to be brief, since I am currently studying for a final exam I have tomorrow morning for my 8-week class. Then next week I start the second 8-week class. The two courses are taught by the same professor and meet at the same time (for me, Monday/Wednesday 11:15), but the two courses cover two separate marketing software tools. Each course is 1.5 credits.

I had my first exam in my sales class on Monday, and we already got the grade back today in class (very fast turn-around time for a non-Scantron college exam). I studied a lot for that test, and I feel it paid off. However, what threw me for a loop was that when I got to the class for the exam, our professor said he was only going to give us 30 minutes to take it instead of the 45 he told us prior to the test. I just barely finished in time, but he was mostly right in his justification that people do better on his exams when they do not agonize over their answers. Well, I did not agonize (like I usually do on tests), and I did very well.

Also to note, my boyfriend accepted a job offer this week. He will be working for Perella Weinberg Partners in New York City starting next summer. He is very excited, and I am proud of him for landing a company he wanted. I'd like to think I played a role in his success, because I helped pick out the shoes and socks he wore to his second-round interviews. (Humor me.)

The last thing I want to say is that last night, when I went to a company's information session, someone stopped me and told me they recognized me from my blog! I can't tell you how excited I was to hear that. I now know that I have at least one fan outside of my friends and family. What wonderful positive reinforcement.

Many Jumbled Thoughts Placed Into A Blog Entry

This week went by so fast! I have a very busy week next week, and it is approaching too quickly.

I share a room in Theta with five other girls, and one of them is also a business major going through the interview process. Because she is interested in financial positions, she has been interviewing all week long (I think her interview count this week alone was up to 9). We've been talking about her experiences, and she has been providing me with some great feedback. I'm really happy to be going through this process with her - and I am starting to feel more ready for my first interview of the season on Tuesday!

I feel that I also need to mention that I watched The Office tonight where Pam and Jim got married. It was a very happy moment in a very drawn-out romance. I love watching that show, because I never fail to laugh at something awkward one of the characters does or says each episode.


Getting back to important topics, I feel that I should share what classes I am taking this semester in case anyone is curious or has a question about them:


M-303 Marketing Research
M-344 Creativity & Communication
M-342/M-342 Statistics (Marketing)
M-330 Consultative Selling
D-301 The International Business Environment
HPER E-190: Yoga


I'm sure the first question you will ask me is whether or not I am enjoying yoga this semester. Suffice it to say that I am indeed learning a lot in yoga about relaxation and flexibility, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to feel more balanced in his or her life. Seriously. In fact, I just had to write a paper for yoga that answered the following questions: who am i?; what are my unique qualities?; what do I know about myself?; what is my purpose for living?; what does yoga mean to me personally? Let's just say yoga gives me a break from my Kelley classes.


Reader, now that I've answered your questions about yoga, feel free to ask me any other questions about any of my Kelley classes.


Also to note, I volunteered to attend a senior panel in Professor Heidewald's X-205 class today after she sent out an email asking former students who had received an A in her class to talk about their experiences to her current students. Currently in that class, the Kelley sophomores are just getting into their Target case competition ideas, and I hope I was able to help out the group I was later assigned to meet with after the panel. They seemed like intelligent gentlemen who are passionate about their idea, and I hope the advice I gave them was well-received.


Since this blog entry is so random anyway, I am going to end with a random thought. Today, the saying that 'you should never shop when you're hungry' was reinforced when I ate lunch. Don't make the mistake I did and give the library food court $10.70 of your hard-earned money when you are a petite young woman whose stomach is smaller in volume than the amount of food you buy bunched together. The food probably won't all fit in your belly, so don't waste a single extra penny on Chick-Fil-A waffle fries.

(A visual aid of the Chick-Fil-A waffle fries you should avoid if also purchasing three other meal items at lunch.)

What's Going On This Week? Let me tell you.

This weekend is Dad's weekend at my sorority, and my Dad made the drive down from Chicago today. Tonight we went to Nick's sports bar with a lot of the seniors in my chapter. Tomorrow we will have brunch and a silent auction at the Hilton Garden Inn, which will benefit the Theta bike team. It's a yearly tradition to have the auction, and this year I bought some Starbucks products and a gift card to donate to the auction - which I hope will be a big seller since it is right before midterms. Then tomorrow afternoon Theta is sponsoring a tailgate for us and our Dads, which should have delicious food in comparison to what I'm used to at tailgates. With that, my Dad and I are going to the Ohio State vs. Indiana game tomorrow night starting at 7pm. Finally, on Sunday morning we have a brunch at Theta before I have to say goodbye to my Dad until Thanksgiving! It's great to have him in town.

Me and my Dad during Dad's weekend 2008 in the stadium before the football game.

Also, this week was the first annual Greek Week, and I didn't participate at all. I feel really badly, but all the events were during my classes. I bought the Greek Week tshirt, though. At least that's a little support, right?


Not much has happened this week except I had a presentation and took two exams - one exam in Marketing Research (M-303) and the other in International Business (D-301). We'll see how those went when I get the results back next week. I also figured out that I have an extremely busy week the week after next, complete with exams, projects, quizzes, and presentations (and hopefully interviews). Stay tuned for that. Just kidding. I wont bore you with descriptions of all of those.

The Marketing Career Fair

Last Thursday I attended the Marketing/Management career fair at the IMU's (Indiana Memorial Union) Alumni Hall. It was raining fairly heavily as I walked over in my suit, which is never a fun element to deal with when meeting potential employers. As I walked into the union building, instead of heading straight for the fair, I had to first find paper towels to dry off my legs and shoes. (I had mainly used my umbrella to cover my hair and purse full of resumes.) Luckily, I had success in finding paper towels to dry off with, and my umbrella worked in preventing my resumes from getting wet.

The fair had dozens of companies visiting, and I tried to talk with as many as I could. There was a large spread of organizations in attendance, which was very exciting. I came to the fair familiar with a few of the companies, and I also spoke with several others that had opportunities which sounded interesting.

Every recruiter was very nice and on their game. I first would ask them all about their full-time positions, and I received a very complete answer from every firm (even if they had been repeating the same thing hundreds of times that day to potential recruits). I also offered over my resume, and I spoke to each recruiter about my own experiences and what I could bring to their organization. Then we would talk about how I would go about applying for their positions, which always involved either applying on the company's website or "dropping my resume" to be preferenced for an interview on the UCSO (undergradate career services office) website.

Overall, I felt I learned a lot about the different companies recruiting at IU by attending the career fair this year. I look forward to building the relationships more with the recruiters I spoke with in order to find the best post-graduation full-time position for me.

What You Should Know About Honors I-Core

I have had several juniors in the Business Honors program (who are friends of mine) approach me over the past few weeks with dozens of questions about Honors I-Core. I hope I haven't scared them too much with how intense it sounds to the naked ear, but I promise my experiences sound worse in stories than they actually were. Granted, Honors I-Core is a LOT of hard work over the course of an entire semester, and it is not for the faint of heart.

Honors I-Core defined: I-Core stands for the "integrative core" at IU taken during one's junior year. It is a block of four honors classes (marketing, finance, strategy, and operations) taken all at once during the same semester. There are three blocks of time when Honors I-Core meets, and each honors student is assigned to one block. I was assigned to the 2:30 block, so I only had class from 2:30-5:15 every Monday-Thursday and then a Career Perspectives class every Friday morning. On Mondays and Wednesdays I would have Operations from 2:30 - 3:45 and Finance from 4 - 5:15. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I would have Strategy from 2:30 - 3:45 and Marketing from 4 - 5:15. The professors who teach Honors I-Core are some of the best in the Kelley school, and my strategy professor from last fall was promoted this year to the position of Undergraduate Dean of Kelley. It is considered very prestigious to be part of Honors I-Core, and every member from my year had a GPA of 3.7 or higher upon acceptance.

When I took Honors I-Core last fall, the program had undergone a lot of change over the previous summer. While I was a sophomore, I heard from older friends that Honors I-Core "was easier than regular I-Core" - as did many other 2010 students in the program. However, when we came to school in September 2008, we found the program had added many new group projects to the total work load to combat the "easy" rumor, thus creating the need to develop extreme time management skills. Every other member of my group (you are assigned to the same group throughout the entire semester, spanning every class in Honors I-Core) had outside activities and classes that they were also juggling. In order to feel more organized, I volunteered to maintain the entire group's schedules throughout the semester, and I would input group meetings into any free block of time I could find.

Along with learning how to manage your time as well as work around four or five group member's schedules during Honors I-Core, you have many assignments to tackle throughout the semester along with quizzes and midterms. In Operations, you are given a group project where you digitally simulate a manufacturing process. In Marketing, your group chooses a company with a current marketing problem and you then perform a market research analysis in order to write up/present a marketing plan for the organization based on your findings. In Finance, there are four individual quizzes throughout the semester that cover your readings and class lectures. Finally, in Strategy, your group is given the assignment to write up an industry analysis using the analysis techniques you learn during class. (Strategy class consisted entirely of lectures about industry analysis models and then discussions of case studies from the Harvard Business Review.) The career class on Fridays taught by the UCSO would involve listening to guest speakers and/or the development of personal resumes, cover letters, potential employer research, and mock interview sessions.

I hope this gave a brief but informative overview of Honors I-Core in the Kelley School. If you have a further question about the program or want my opinion about a certain aspect of an Honors I-Core class, feel free to ask. I've already answered five current honors juniors' questions, and I don't mind answering more!

P.S. I have nothing but nice things to say about the two honors advisers at the Kelley School - Gary Raad and Alyson Kvetko. They are both very good at their jobs, and have been extremely helpful to me throughout my career in the Business Honors program. Gary was very influential in helping me figure out how I could study abroad, double-major, and still graduate in four years, and I am very lucky to have him as an asset. I promise I don't work for them - what I just said is sincere.

My Revew of the New Computer Lab at the IMU

The front page story of the IDS yesterday was about the re-opening of the computer lab in the Student Union! My Theta sisters and I were all very excited about this, because the Union is much closer of a walk than any other computer lab if you need to print out your homework or class PowerPoint slides really fast. Since I had two computer projects that were due today, I decided to go check out the new lab last night.

(This photo was taken from http://www.idsnews.com/: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=70070&search=computer%20lab&section=search)


First, I'd like to mention the positives of the lab and say that it looks incredibly more modern. The design is very nice and aesthetically pleasing.

However, I do have some complaints. For starters, there needs to be a large sign pointing to where the computers are, which is the main reason why anyone would go to a computer lab. The computers are completely hidden from view to anyone first walking through the entrance. Once through the entrance, there is a row of computers to the left in the first room, which is where I decided to work. I sat down at the computer at the end of the row next to the windows. However, when the sun started to set, it cast a bit of a glare on my eyeballs, and I had to keep re-adjusting my sitting position so that I wouldn't have to squint. Also, the row of computers that I was at is right next to a sitting area. I'm glad there is a waiting area so you do not need to stand in that awful line down the hallway anymore, but it is somewhat distracting to have everyone talking behind you while you work. Instead of couches and chairs for students to sit and wait, the Union could perhaps have instead put another row of computers in. That completes my list of initial criticisms of the new lab.

Reader, I hope you don't take my list of complaints as reasons not to visit or use this lab. In actuality, it is probably the best computer lab on campus. Also, the best perk about this lab (in my opinion) is that it is super close to the Starbucks in the union...which came in handy when I needed a pick-me-up as I was working. I highly recommend visiting the new lab and forming your own opinion about its merit. Also, I'd love to know how anyone's printing experiences go - since I did not need to print anything there yesterday but may need to in the future!

Whitney King Golf Outing

Today I volunteered for 5.5 hours at the Whitney King Golf Outing at Eagle Pointe Golf Resort by Lake Monroe. The golf outing was in honor of my Theta pledge sister Whitney, who was severely injured in a car accident near the resort in early August. From what I hear, the golf outing was really successful in raising money for her recovery fund!

One of the great perks about being Greek at IU (other than the terrific networking opportunities), is that you always have an entire house to support you, along with an entire Greek system. I feel my chapter has really come together to support Whitney's long-term recovery. Every woman in my chapter volunteered for the golf outing in some way. Also, members from other greek chapters at IU as well as other Theta chapters at different universities have contacted our chapter with condolences for Whitney or attended her golf outing today. Last weekend I drove up to Indianapolis with another of my pledge sisters and my boyfriend to visit Whitney in her rehab hospital, and she already had seven other visitors there with her! Currently, there are also about 95,000 hits on the recovery blog that her family updates daily about her progress. It's amazing to see the number of people that can come together to support the recovery of one beloved Theta from IU.

My M-344 Reading Assignment

In conjunction with my online reading assignment for M-344 (Creativity and Communication), I had to take "the color quiz" (colorquiz.com) and decide if I agree with the results I get. Here is what my results were:

Elizabeth's Existing Situation
Sensuous. Inclined to luxuriate in the things which give gratification to the senses, but rejects anything tasteless, vulgar, or coarse.
Elizabeth's Stress Sources
Wishes to be independent, unhampered, and free from any limitation or restriction, other than those which she imposes of herself or by her own choice and decision.
Elizabeth's Restrained Characteristics
Feels cut off and unhappy because of the difficulty in achieving the essential degree of cooperation and harmony which she desires.
The situation is preventing her from establishing herself, but she feels she must make the best of things as they are.
Elizabeth's Desired Objective
Needs a way of escape from all that oppresses her and is clinging to vague and illusory hopes.
Elizabeth's Actual Problem
Feels restricted and prevented from progressing; seeking a solution which will remove these limitations.

Today In M-342

Today I went to the first meeting of my marketing statistics class, M-342. I thought the teacher gave us some good advice about "how to have success in corporate America."

He said there are three things that are the most important. In order of importance:

1.) Exposure
2.) Perception
3.) Performance

He was saying this because he wanted to encourage all of us to network as much as we can while looking for jobs and internships. He is concerned about the tough economic climate, and wanted to mention that if we network and have others perceive us as pro-active or talented, then it wont matter AS much about how well we've done at Kelley. It really resonated with me, because I have been working so hard to get my grades up, but I have not be utilizing all possible resources to meet people who may want to employ me in the future. It's more that I've been very now-oriented, instead of future-oriented. In my senior year, I am going to try to meet many people in corporate America, so that way I can prove that my academic success is relevant to my capability of being an outstanding candidate for employers. Wish me luck, because I'll need it!

Funny Marketing-Related Video

This past summer I watched several Hubspot webinars for my internship to learn more about social media marketing. Along with webinars, the company also produces many internet videos and podcasts. I thought that this video that I am posting was the most creative one that I viewed...especially if you 1.) understand all of the marketing jargon and 2.) know the song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A Lot. Enjoy!

My Face Is Still There!

I have been representing the Kelley School bloggers on the undergraduate homepage for nine months straight! I feel so honored. My PR department is also very pleased. Here's what the web pages look like:

This is the undergraduate homepage for the Kelley School of Business.

This is the list of Kelley Student Bloggers after you click on the link (my face) on the Kelley Undergraduate website.

Studying Abroad at the Kelley School

There are a ton of opportunities to study abroad while you are an undergraduate at Kelley. Since high school, I had always wanted to study in London because of my interest in the culture and my own ancestry from the UK. (My father's side is part Scottish, my mother's side is part Northern Irish, and both sides have a significant percentage of English ancestry.) If you are really drawn to a country, chances are IU already has a program that can take you there...and if not they will definitely help you find one.

When I was a freshman, I started doing research about what my options were to study in London. I found this list of programs on the Kelley website that can come in handy for any business student looking at different options: http://kelley.iu.edu/ugrad/academics/abroad/programs.cfm.

Also, there are more study abroad programs that are not listed on that site that I have learned about while at Kelley. IU overseas study office has even more opportunities to look at, but usually you cannot take business courses while studying outside of the listed classes on the Kelley link I posted. However, there are also certain classes that take students abroad. When I was a sophomore, the honors students in the Sophomore Block program travelled to India for two weeks in November. There are also classes that take students abroad for a few weeks, and luckily the professors blog about their program happenings via blogs listed at: http://kelley.iu.edu/ugrad/blogs/index.cfm.

Application Process

Many programs have informational meetings annually for students to learn about the application process. For the London program informational meeting, I watched a PowerPoint presentation and was able to ask questions to a representative from Arcadia University (who organizes my London program). Also, it is important to be in contact with the Kelley overseas office as well as the IU overseas office if you have questions about the application. Mine was due in early September 2008, and I had to write six essays, submit several passport-sized pictures of myself, and re-arrange my resume to fit British standards. It's a time-consuming process that requires a lot of organization, so working on the application far in advance is a must.

Orientation at IU

IU gives a mandatory pre-departure orientation for every student signed up to go abroad the following semester. There, I listened to a lot of information about health care and culture shock in a big lecture hall with students attending every program, and then we later split into groups of our individual programs. That was the first time I learned who would be going to London with me.

Receiving Grades Late

For many programs, you do not receive your final grades with the same speed as you would at IU. In fact, I finished my spring semester at the end of April, but I was told that I will not be receiving my final grades until September. I also know that many students who travelled to Spain did not receive their grades until well into the summer months. It is not uncommon to need to wait many months to see what grades you received while abroad. In England, not only do professors grade you final exams, but they also have another professor grade it to be fair. The process takes a lot longer than the speedy-return scantron exams that are commonplace for IU finals.

Link to My London Blog

I wrote a frequent blog while I was abroad talking all about my experience. It gives a perspective of what my life was like while participating in my overseas program. You can find it at: http://elizabethinlondon2009.blogspot.com/

Summer Internships - A Reflection

When you are a junior in the Kelley School, you are strongly encouraged to find a summer internship position between your junior and senior years. In fact, you may even feel pressured to do so. Not only does it look good on your resume to have work experience, but many of your peers (future job-market competitors) will have completed summer internships. During Honors I-Core, which I took fall semester 2008, a required class was Professional Development. That class geared every junior Kelley Business Honors student for internship interviews through resume prep, mock interviews, cover letter writing, and other career building exercises. It was also a scare-tactic to inform us how competitive the job market was last fall - even for paid and unpaid interns.

During the past two summers, I have been lucky to secure a marketing internship at the environmental consulting/web-services firm Earth Knowledge. This past summer I completed an eleven-week marketing experience. During this time, I devoted my efforts to researching and implementing a social media marketing campaign for the company. In order to produce a social media action plan for the company, I attended numerous webinars, read several books, researched social media news/trends, participated in media agency meetings, experimented with various platforms, and created informed recommendations. Out of seven social media recommendations for the firm, I was able to assist with the implementation of the first four - which was very exciting for me. Overall, I feel confident that the knowledge I gained this past summer will carry over to success within my marketing classes during my senior year as well as my future professional career.

Now that I feel I have learned a lot of up-to-date marketing knowledge, I cannot stress the importance of finding an internship that caters to the knowledge base you should create for your post-undergrad career. I know it was very difficult for many juniors this year to obtain an internship due to the struggling economy, but I hope my positive undertaking can help motivate interested students to actively search for any beneficial work experience they can find (regardless of whether it is for their dream employer or not). I have been in interviews with prominent companies where the interviewer has asked me all about what I learned through interning at Earth Knowledge, even though the interviewer had never heard of the company. I truly think that it pays to have experience to talk about...especially to use as examples for commonly asked interview questions.

A blog I enjoyed reading during my internship this summer was written by the faculty at the UCSO, which is the undergraduate career center at Kelley. It gives some great tips for how to be an outstanding intern: http://kelleyinterns.wordpress.com/