October 2009 Archives

Congratulations everyone! We've made it to Halloween!  Let's go out and NOT study... just kidding.  I'll be studying this weekend for my 4 tests next week.  I love it how teachers plan for the coolest weekend of the year to be bogged down with studies. 

But, enough about my lack of social life.  There are a couple of topics I'd like to discuss in this entry.  Most importantly, let's talk about parking.  The parking here at our university is getting ridiculous.  Just 2 days ago, I saw a car parked on a sidewalk (mind you, there was a ticket on it's hood).  Seriously?  Can't we find a way to furnish another lot?

Secondly, the food at the cafeteria is overpriced.  I paid $6 for a salad the other day.  Had I gone to the supermarket and paid for $6 worth of salad, I'd be fed for days.  Even better, had I used that $6 on bread, lunch meat, and a bit of mayo, I'd be set with lunch for close to a week.  And, to top it off, I could go to Taco Bell and get $6 worth of burritos or chalupas.  Oh yes, I think I am overpaying a wee bit.  Let's get some competition going on in the university.

Third, I am really noticing the absence of Pepsi products on campus.  I know Coke is very popular, but there must be avid Pepsi fans cringing at the vending machines.  What causes this absence... and I where is my Pepsi? 

Last, but not least, I would like to thank the professors at Kelley.  During my high school years, I was told to have general questions; if I needed help on my math homework, I was asked not to use numbers, but to just ask about the concept.  Here at Kelley, the professors actually work with you.  I won't mention any names, but my advice is: if you have a question about assignments or if you need help with homework, just go and ask your teacher.  They'll be happy to help. 

I can't wait to hear your ideas and responses. 

A few weeks ago I went to Chicago Badminton Open-- an annually badminton games sponsored by Midwest Badminton Association. (For those who don't know what badminton is, please check Wikipedia.=) There were hundreds of players and the event lasted from 9am to 11pm-- with unfinished final matches for the second day. To encourage the athletes and keep them endured, (and of course mostly because of sponsorship, my Kelley fellows) the association provided free Red Bull on courts. 

It is now 7:30 on Friday and I sit in my office at home wondering how I made it through the week. I am sitting here staring at my W430 book telling myself that I can do this...I only have one chapter and case to do tonight and if I don't, I will pay for it tomorrow; for tomorrow brings a whole lot more stuff that I have to get done. Here's a recap of what feels like a 9 day week...

Monday

4:30 AM: Get up to be at a distribution center at 6:30 AM for data collection for our P429 Green Belt project.

5:45 AM: Freaked out the Starbucks people when I walked in the door for a quad Mocha. I am a night dweller at Starbucks, not a day dweller.

6:45 AM: Standing in the middle of an inbound receiving dock, starting data collection.

8:45 AM: Wondering exactly how much concrete is used to poor those floors; still collecting data.

11:00 AM: Got French fries from the cafeteria (and sat down).

2:00 PM: Wondering why in the *&^!#  I wore these shoes. Standing on a concrete floor in one place all day will make feet angry.

3:30 PM: Done with the standing - heading home (glad that W430 was cancelled tonight).

5:00 PM: Apologizing to my feet...and legs. They are very angry for all the standing.

6:00 PM: Start reading the 200 pages that was assigned - quiz on the material on Thursday.

10:00 PM: Made a dent in the 200 pages - photocopied pages with really tiny type - I am now apologizing to my eyes.

10:30PM: Bed

Tuesday

9:00 AM: Try to register for Spring semester - can't until 3:30...glad that was the problem - for a minute I thought I forgot how to use OnCourse (almost called an academic advisor - that would have made me look smart).

10:00 AM: Back to the 200 page reading marathon...

1:00 PM: Leave for campus

3:00 PM: Classes

4:15 PM: Weird in between class time - not really enough time to study, but too much time to sit...it really is "lost time."

6:00 PM: Class - last X320 class...woo hoo

8:00 PM: Home from class; case study

11:30 PM: Just realized its 11:30...hurry and go to bed

Wednesday

Same as Monday - up at 4:30, DC at 6:30...standing on concrete floors all day for the Green Belt project. Except this time, I wore different shoes. Then I came home and had a case study to do...and back at the 200 pages of reading. I just realized, I haven't blogged...

Thursday

Up at 5:30 AM to meet Jake and Robert at the campus at 7:15 AM. One positive note about being at the campus at 7:15 AM...YOU CAN PARK.

8:00 AM: Seminar on Toyota Culture (uber cool seminar)

2:20 PM: At campus for 3:00 class

6:00 PM: Quiz on the 200 pages of reading...people asking me if I got it done...most of it; say a little prayer about the quiz...Got another 155 pages to read by next Thursday...really?

9:00 PM: Leaving campus - forgot where I parked. Had to find my car...

9:30 PM: Found my car (I NEVER park by the Campus Center)

10:15 PM: Home...

10:30 PM: Thought about blogging...

Friday

4:30 AM: Got up to be at DC by 6:30 for final day of Green Belt data collection - yeah.

11:00 AM: Data collection done - went to lunch with DC managers. You know, this was great. When the group gets away from what we "have to do" we get to know each other as people. In classes, we are fellow students - we know and understand each other on a "student" level. Away from that, we get the chance to get to know each other as people...things we do outside of school. I think that makes the "student" part better.

12:30 PM: Leaving DC, wrecked my mom's car...in the rain (not my fault; tickets were given, but not to me).

1:30 PM: Standing in the rain waiting for IMPD to show up

1:45 PM: Watched IMPD drive by...but not stop

2:30 PM: IMPD stops and asks if I was in an accident - no, I always stand in the rain next to my car that is propped up on the curb with car parts laying around...I'm good - keep going (didn't say it, but thought it).

6:00 PM: Staring at my W430 book - trying to pump myself up to crack it and do the case.

6:10 PM: Went to Starbucks - Quad mocha

7:00 PM: Realized I still have to blog...

7:35 PM: Clocked in and started blogging

So, that's where I'm at now...blogging with my W430 book open, highlighter on stand by, glad to have made it through the "9 day week."  I have now just realized that I suck at the short blogs - going to have to work on that.  

Hi, my name is Daniela, and my background check finally came through.  I am a sophomore in the Kelley School of Business; my majors are Management, International Business, and Marketing, with a minor in International Political Science.  I've thought about going into pretty much every major at IUPUI and I am still unsure of my choices. 

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Power Ranger.  That phase passed and turned into.... Daniela K. M.D.  I wanted to be a doctor so much!  That phase passed too, and turned into... forensic scientist!  And after those phases came: lawyer, graphic designer, veterinarian, immunologist, virologist, English professor, math teacher, (during my senior year) beach bum, and finally, undecided.  What was I to do? Over the summer before freshman year, I finally decided, with my family's approval, to go into business. 

Why did I choose business?  I figured, why not?  My passion is philanthropy and problem-solving (and my friends would say "planning"), so I could definitely contribute to the world with my business expertise.  If I wanted to successfully navigate and manage a rescue shelter, that would possibly be more helpful than designing their website.  And, with that knowledge, I came to IUPUI and started my college career. 

I got involved in many clubs from the beginning and enjoyed myself.  There really are some great clubs on campus, which I will try to mention in my coming blogs.  I started my sophomore year unprepared for my workload.  Some of my classes this semester are very difficult and time consuming.  Because of those classes, I have cut down on my club involvement, and sadly, on my philanthropic involvement.  Those hard classes now have me questioning myself and my choice of business as a career.  Did I choose the right area of study?  Will I be happy through my life?  Will I be able to get a good career?  Is there something else that I would be happier in? 

With all those questions in my mind, I would love to know how other people are making decisions about their career goals.  How did you choose your area of study?  Are you happy with your classes?  Share your comments!

 

This is what an instructor told me last week. My knee jerk reaction - really?  As I am working on becoming more "polished" in my responses, I didn't say a word. I simply grabbed my 400 pound backpack and walked out of the class bewildered and amazed.

 

Thinking about it more, here's what I have concluded about that little interaction: Instructors see us (students) during one class period, I think that sometimes you believe that you are the only instructor that we have; that it's okay to assign reading that covers 200 pages to be completed in four days (that was what I questioned) - we should be able to manage our time and get that done. For one class, I would agree - that isn't a lot to ask. The problem comes when that request is multiplied by...say, four classes...that's when instructors get the "deer in the headlights" look from students. It's not a look of refusal, it's more a look of panic as we quickly calculate "80 pages out of textbook 'A," 40 pages out of textbook 'B,' another 40 from textbook 'C,' 20 from gigantic textbook 'D,' and now 200 from this guy." The look you see is the realization that over the course of a week, we will be required to read the equivalent of a fourth of War and Peace; not only read - but retain. And that is just the reading part... there are also the case studies, homework assignments, quizzes and exams for each class.

 

Now, I know this door swings both ways. As students, we generally see you only during that particular class time. I think that there is a belief among students that when you walk out of that room that you are done - you walk off into the sunset and don't have another thing to do...your job lasts an hour a day. I'm not really sure where we think you go, but for the most part there is an assumption that you're off doing whatever it is you like to do when you're not standing in front of us. We are impatient...we don't understand why you can't have our exams graded the instant we walk out the door and check OnCourse ...we wonder why does it take two weeks to get my assignment back ; after all you only have this one class, right? I'll come clean - I'll admit that I've walked up to the offices to speak to an instructor, and if you're not there I wonder "really? What could you possibly be doing? We're not in class."

 

 So, we both have the same problem - we believe we are your only students, and you believe we take only one class at a time. The big question now is how do we fix it? How do we blend to two little worlds so we can see where we are both coming from? How do we as students understand that you as instructors are trying to balance teaching with grading and with staff meetings and with school activities and with home (I think that we forget sometimes that you are actually people that live in homes and have home responsibilities - you don't just pop out of a box every morning) along with the multitude of other things that magically appear when we walk in for that one hour a day? How do you as instructors understand that we as students are trying to balance your class with another class and another class and another class, with student activities (as we are so strongly encouraged to participate in) with work and home and other things such as sleeping and eating?

 

I have decided to extend the olive branch and let you, as instructors, peer into the world of a full time student. I know that everyone of you have gone through this - you have lived this life; you "know what we're going through." However, I think you have forgotten - I no longer relate to 17 year olds...and I was one of those once...it happens. So, I want to give you a peek into the life of a full time student. Here's what a four week snapshot of 15 credit hours looks like...

 

 

 

 

That doesn't include the time I'm actually in class...just what I have to do when I get home (don't judge...I'm a supply chain major...dry erase boards and flow charts is what I do). Scary right? Scared me - don't think I'll ever take a picture of it again.

 

So, next time you give an assignment and you see that "deer in the headlights look," don't assume it's because you have just assigned something that we really don't want to do - we are just trying to figure out how to get it done.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here I am, 11:00 PM...blogging for Kelley. How does one become a Kelley blogger - the answer is in the super stretchy laptop cover. Here's how it all happened...

 

I was in a professor's office for some reason that I can't remember when I looked across the room and saw it - the super stretchy laptop cover proudly displaying the Kelley logo...the same super stretchy laptop cover that I saw in a marketing staff members' office in Bloomington during a campus visit. I tried to get one when I was in Bloomington, but couldn't (a conversation that is probably better to not re-visit in this forum, but one that ended with my comment of "you realize we are a business  school, right?"). After I was denied in Bloomington, it became a personal mission to obtain one for no other reason than the thrill of victory (obtaining Kelley gear is one of the great quests of a Kelley student), and there it was...within reach.

 

I'm not going to lie, I thought about grabbing it and running out of the third floor offices, down the staircase, and escaping through the congestion of the second floor - I think I could have made it. But then, within a nanosecond, I realized that I would have to return to the third floor someday; being "wanted" on the third floor was probably not a position that I wanted to be in.  So instead, I asked "where did you get that?" That was the moment that I realized the super stretchy laptop covers were being held for ransom...I could have one, but like most things in life, it comes with a price. Now truth be told, it's not that great of a price - I can have my super stretchy laptop cover in return for spending a few hours a week blogging about life as a Kelley student in Indy.

 

So here I am, logging on for the first time to the Kelley blog (within that 48 hour window). I'm a little freaked out to find that I am now a "category," but even more freaked out to find that the postings from other students include trips to London, France and some other exotic things - my life is just not that exotic, the farthest trip that I have taken in the last year has been from the parking lot on North and Blackford to the business building.  So, I can't promise the most exciting posts in the world, but they will be real - the good, bad and the ugly about being a Kelley Student on the campus of IUPUI.

Hey, my name is Dan and I'm a senior here at the Kelley School. Its funny how I always thought my senior year in college would be like my senior in high school..kind of laid back, a lot of fun and a breeze. Haha not at all..so far this has been my hardest year. My schedule is jam packed with group meetings for projects and I feel like I never have time to just sit down and enjoy the finer things in life..music, a good book, or just hanging out with friends. When that time comes though, it really makes you appreciate it. So, I guess my expectations were very wrong to say the least. I sit back now and think how great it will be able to go to work, come home and not have to do homework. Who knows, I might be in for a surprise..

I'm  glad to be able to blog about our school and have the opportunity to let people know whats going on around campus. It's pretty cool that we have technology like blogging available at our campus to let students get more involved and even have a part time job in between studying and going to class. I never knew that blogging existed until a professor brought it up in class. I'm glad that this found me and I'm looking forward to keeping these coming!

That's right! IUPUI Health Services will provide FREE H1N1 Vaccine for IUPUI faculty, staff and students with priority to those who are in the CDC list, starting from next week! (I tried to find this list but no result.)

I enjoyed writing journals since I was kid, especially on my middle/high school period. That was the time when we (mostly) were all confused about things but didn't know who to talk to and journals helped me got through the hard time. I found out that journal could actually become a friend, a teacher or even a parent. Journal was my friend because it let me vent out my emotions. Journal was my teacher because it showed me what I did and how I felt when I read it again the next day. Journal was also my parent because it taught me what actions cause what consequences to me and to my surroundings.