Last Week of First Semester!!

I can't believe that it is already the last week of first semester. I know everyone said the time will fly by but I didn't think it would feel so quick! I still don't know if I'm used to the idea that I go to Saint Mary's and am in college! This first semester came with some challenges but I think that overall it was pretty successful and surely memorable! I have met some great people here that I am so happy to have met and I have also learned some stuff along the way. Being  away from home was hard at first and I still miss all of  my friends but I am getting used to the idea of living in South Bend. Without leaving my friends and family I don't think I would have been able to have the same experiences I have and will have here on my own at SMC. Classes are keeping me busy academically but I hope to get more involved in other outside activities come next semester. I hope that I do well on finals this upcoming week and that my final grades are good! Maybe even after HUST is over, I will continue my blog and update on what is going on in my life!

Advising Module 4

1. Reflect
At this point, selecting a major/minor is pretty uncertain for me because I don't know what kind of career I want to have in the future. 

What are the experiences, information and opportunities you'd most like to get out of a major? I want to be able to be successful in whatever I do, so if I stick with the business major which I am leaning toward, then I want to be able to get experience in how to run a business and what it takes to own your own business. I want to be able to get an internship that would give me the experience, information and opportunity to see how a real business is started. I think I also need to learn communication skills in order to communicate with employees, or employers, and customers.

2. Research

"With a degree in business administration, your opportunities for success in the business world are countless. From marketing to accounting, finance to management, graduates have held top positions at many prestigious companies and firms. Our business administration graduates are attorneys, account executives, financial analysts, and sales group managers at companies like Accenture Foundation, Inc., Bank of America Corporation, Arthur Andersen LLP, Nestle Foods, and the Gap, Inc." Reading the accomplishments of many alumnae especially who graduating with business majors gives me the hope that I too will be successful with a business career because Saint Mary’s will prepare me to do so. A business administration graduate is now “at JohnsonRauhoff she works as the liaison between clients and the creative team, a group of copywriters, graphic designers, and art directors. She is involved in market research, budgeting, and estimates. Recently, Zars worked on two photo-shoots for lifestyle guru Katie Brown and even got to appear on Brown’s PBS-TV show “Katie Brown Workshop.”

Reading the description of the business major does make me think it is a good fit for me because it applies to what I talked about in my reflection above. It says, “As a business major, you will develop strong quantitative, problem solving, communication, and interpersonal skills. You'll exploring international business and learning to become an ethical leader in the workplace.”

Susan Vance, a professor of business here at Saint Mary’s says, “College is the best time for women to learn about good spending, saving, and investing practices. At this point in their lives, they have the time to learn and are just beginning to form habits that could last forever.” This intrigues me because as a women I think it is very important to be financially independent and understand how to make good financial choices especially right out of college. It is important to me to understand the economy that we live in because that will help me know how to make good career decisions and be a successful, involved member of society.

The Saint Mary’s website had a lot of information about what current students are involved in as well as what alumnae have been up to since graduating. I found that many business majors had the opportunity to study abroad and also learn about their major and be involved in international business. Students also had the opportunity to get some great internships, which they all said Saint Mary’s prepared them greatly for.

Two courses that seemed interesting to me were Principles of Marketing and Strategies for Financial Success.

       - 231 Principles of Marketing (3)

Introduction to marketing emphasizing the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services for not-for-profit organizations and business firms. Includes study of end consumer and organizational market needs, marketing research, marketing planning, market segmentation, product development, promotion, advertising, personal selling, publicity, sales promotion, direct marketing and channels of distribution. Occasionally taught in Rome.

       - 244 Strategies for Financial Success (2)

This course will provide the financial knowledge that will help make informed decisions in the real world. Topics covered at a basic level may include: investing, including 401Ks and IRAs, credit management, budgeting, taxes, and insurance. No prior knowledge of business is required. Free elective credit only. Appropriate for non-business students. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.

The Principles of Marketing interested me because if I am thinking about possibly owning my own business I will want to know how to market my company. Also the fact that it is taught in Rome interested me because I plan on study abroad there. The strategies for financial success course also interested me because as I mentioned before I think it is important to understand how to be financially independent and smart about business decisions.

Cara Grabowski is a Saint Mary’s alum that while a student was able to be involved in a marketing projecting right here in South Bend. I think opportunities like that while still in school are great for gaining the experience needed and also are real life situations that can help you determine if you enjoy doing something like that or not for a career. Also she double majored and doubled minored which surprised me because that seems very ambitious!

3. Resume

Two experiences that I would like to highlight about myself: I think that some of my skills that would be important to highlight is my ability to work with others and my creativity. I think my qualifications will come in time throughout college with the more experience I get.

Two experiences I would like to include after three years would be studying abroad in Rome and having an internship or two in my area of interest. 

Israeli Palestinian Conflict Reflection

At first I thought I wouldn't be able to have a full understanding of the film because it is a parody of the West Side Story, which I have never seen. However, this was not the case and I actually learned a lot from the short film. I have heard about the conflict before in school, on the news and in other media but didn't really know the history or specifics about it. The obvious conflict between two different cultures was apparent and I think it can be related to many different kinds of people. I thought it was interesting and surprising how the film made jokes about this issue because many people are suffering in Pakistan and Israel. However the comedic, musical type of film did give across the message of the severity of the conflict and the suffering it caused. It also showed that it needs to be resolved by making peace. I was also surprised by how short the film was, bring only 25 minutes, and yet it gave across the message it was supposed to. After the film I was happy that there were professors who briefed the audience on some of the history of the conflict. I didn't know that because the religious laws is what run the country that an Israeli couldn't marry a west bank person. Also it was interesting to hear that children are Jewish if their mother is Jewish and therefore Muslim men can't marry Jewish women because then their children will be Jewish. These religious laws are foreign to me that it is hard to imagine people not being able to marry someone because of the family and religion they were born in to. For me, as I said earlier I knew a little bit about the conflict from media and such but I think media can be biased and distort things so I will never really know the extent of the conflict. It made me sympathize with the people suffering because they really have no choice and can't get away from it because they are not allowed to move. It is sad that people are being controlled unjustly and living poor lives because of where they were born.