seize opportunities

This past Monday night Bill Rancic spoke at the university.

Bill won the first season of The Apprentice.

A lot of you may know him from the reality show 
he does with his wife, Giuliana & Bill.  

Although I have never seen an episode of The Apprentice, 

I was excited about his speech.

Firstly, I am a geek so I love going to speeches and lectures;

especially if they are about areas I am interested in.

Secondly, Bill beat a Harvard MBA grad to win The Apprentice.

Apparently, he knows a thing or two about business.

Bill seemed relaxed and down to earth during his speech.

I have been to some boring speeches but he was very engaging

and told stories that everyone could relate too.

The main gist of his speech was to seize opportunities.

This is what I gleaned from his speech:

-- the ability to not only recognize an opportunity

but the ability to seize that opportunity is an important trait

for anyone who wants to be successful

--in business and life you have to have a strategy 

and you have to set goals

--if you do not fall down, if you do not make mistakes, 

you are never going to get ahead and 

you are never going to realize your full potential;

a successful person must accept his failures and learn from them

It was nice to see that someone who came from a relatively 

normal childhood {both of his parents were educators}

can make it big in business!

Maybe one day I will be giving a speech 

to a packed house at GSU;)

At the end of the speech, Bill did a Q&A session.

Of course, a lot of the questions were about Giuliana.

So, he called her and let her answer one of the questions over speaker phone.

He even got her to do our football chant!

{click on pics for source}

southern pride!

Georgia Southern University has been named the fourth most popular university in the country by U.S. News and World Report.  Georgia Southern joins Harvard University, Stanford University, and others in the rankings that feature the Top 20 most popular universities.

Georgia Southern was ranked as the fourth most popular university in the country behind Brigham Young, Harvard and Stanford Universities and came in ahead of Ivy League schools Princeton and Yale. Georgia Southern University was the only school in the state of Georgia and one of only three in the southeast to make the list.  

{full article} 

I just needed to brag a little bit on my alma mater!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at GSU. 

However, May and graduation CANNOT get here soon enough.

Only 105 days to go;)

{click on pics for source}

last first day

Today is my last first day of school!

{at least for now}

I am so ready to graduate in May.

I only have 3 classes to complete and I will officially have my Master's degree.

Most of the time I feel like I have been in school FOREVER, 

but other times it seems like the past two years have flown by.

I am now seriously focusing on the job hunt.

I am getting my resume done and once it is ready I will be sending it out everywhere.

If I get offered a job in Timbuktu then I am moving to Timbuktu!

But right now I am just reveling in the fact that I will never have to worry about another first day of school ever again.

Until I start a doctorate program;)

hey stranger!

I have been MIA for a few weeks, sorry!

The end of this semester was CRAZY busy.

Last night was the first full night of sleep I have gotten since Thanksgiving.

But last night was my last final and this semester is finally OVER!

And guess what?!

I only have one. semester. left.

I graduate with my Master's degree

Friday, May 13th @ 1:00 pm!

That is only 5 short months away.

I have a ton of pictures to share with y'all.

Especially some I took over Thanksgiving.

But I am writing this at work so the pics will have to wait for another post.

If you cannot tell by the pictures on this post...I REALLY want to see some snow this year!

Some parts of Georgia saw snow flurries yesterday, which is unheard of this time of the year.

But, sadly, I did not see one single snowflake.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having a Happy Christmas season so far!

Now that classes are over I will be able to comment on y'alls' {where do I put the other apostrophe in this word...lol...only in the South ;) } blogs again, too!

{click on pics for source}

short break

Term A is officially over!!

I took my final last night.

I do not think I did that well on it but all of my other grades in that class are A's so I am not too worried.

We had a group case study due last night as well.

And my team and I actually derived a formula. 

I never thought those words would ever apply to me. 

But we derived a necessity rating for which airplane parts to stock.

All I have to say is we definitely deserve an A!!

We were joking around about selling the formula to Boeing or Gulfstream.;)

We were working on the formula in a study room that had glass walls,

so we know we were freaking out the undergrads.

We were tempted to put a sign on the window saying "sophomore study room"

just to mess with the freshmen minds.

But we all decided that would be a LITTLE mean!

Term B starts Monday so I have a wonderfully, long 3 day break.

I still have to work Friday and Saturday, but at least I do not have to worry about homework!

The BFF's family is visiting this weekend for Father's Day.

Tonight we are going to see A-Team!

I am so excited!!

Then tomorrow after work we are going to Savannah

and taking Uncle J to Longhorn.

I plan on doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING after church on Sunday.

Maybe I will read a book, watch a movie, or even just take a nap.

What are your weekend plans?

Possibly the Greatest Prof EVER!

{via}

I am taking Operations Management for Competitive Advantage this term.

Sounds fun, right?!

Suprisingly,  it has been my favorite class so far in the grad program.

It probably helps a lot that the professor for this class is one of the best.

He makes the subject interesting.

And he does not care about memorizing he wants us to actually understand the concepts.

Well, part of the reason for the title of this post is because of our midterm exam.

The midterm consisted of an in-class portion worth 40% of the grade and a take-home portion worth 60%.

Now the in-class portion was a doozy.

I am usually a fast test taker and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to answer 24 questions.

But I think I did really well on it!!!

The take-home exam was a different story all together.

We had 2 days to complete it and it was open-book and untimed!

Even better, he actually told us which chapters the questions came from.

I am talking about specifics, like questions 1-20 can be found in chapter 1, etc.

Yeah, if anyone fails the take-home part they REALLY are not even trying.
I may actually specialize in operations management because of this class.

{Just because I ♥ Calvin & Hobbes}

finally friday!

I am glad this week is over.

I think I did okay on my test.

I never think I do well on tests but usually do.

I still have the take-home portion to complete

but that is open book so I am not too worried about it.

Hopefully next week will not be quite as busy.

I did wind up making a Georgia peach cobbler last weekend.

And it was delicious!!

I am making another one for a cook out we are having tomorrow with the girls.

I think this may become my go to summer dessert!

Have a fabulous weekend!

pfft...presentation. piece. of. cake!

I had a group presentation tonight in class.

And let me just say...

We. KILLED. It.

I get so nervous before any kind of public speaking,

like to the point where my pulse is racing so fast I think I am going to faint.

But this was worse because we only had a few days to prepare

and we could not use note cards during the presentation.

Three groups presented tonight and I know I am a little biased

but I think our group was the best.

On a completely different note, today was an interesting day at Financial Aid.

We were crazy busy.

It was like the first day of fall semester.

The phones were ringing off the hook.

As soon as I hung up the phone it would ring.

I do not think the phone left my hand once in 5 hours today.

Even the counselors, who have worked there for years, said they had no idea why it was so busy today.

This week is going to be a super busy week.

 I had my presentation tonight.

I have a big assignment due tomorrow night.

{which I should be working on instead of blogging}

And I have a midterm Thursday night.

Ummm, yeah, grad school during the summer is trying to kill me.

{pics via}

first day

Today was my first full day

of working 2 jobs and school.

I think I am going to really like the new job.

Working at financial aid is not all that different from working in retail.

You have "customers" that want a "product."

The only difference is you are giving money away instead of taking it.

I just really have to get used to their computer system.

But it is not rocket science, so I am not too worried about that.

This class, Management Operations, is going to be crazy.

I already have to read 6 articles and the

first 3 chapters of the book by Thursday.

I am definitely going to have to make time to read.

I do not see me getting more than 5 hours of sleep at all this summer.

But I really think I am going to love it all!!

{pics via}

beach day♥

Today the BFF and I spent the day at the beach!

It was so relaxing to just lay there and listen to the waves.

I definitely needed some sun on my legs.

After riding the horses all week my face and arms looked pretty good,

but my poor legs were sorely neglected.

I am so not ready for classes and work to start back Monday.

I am starting a new job on Monday too.

I will be a graduate assistant in the Financial Aid office this year.

So, I will be working 20 hrs there and 20 hrs at my current job,

plus taking a full schedule of classes.

It will be interesting to see how this works out.

The good thing about the GA position is that it pays full tuition

plus gives me a monthly stipend.

Thank you Jesus!

And I absolutely love the people I am working for currently,

so I do not want to quit.

I am pretty sure I will be in a perpetual state of exhaustion.

But I would rather be busy than not.

And it is only for a year.

I can do anything for a year!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

quick update

Just wanted to update y'all on my P90X progress.

I am terribly late, seeing as how I am almost done with phase 2 now.

But after phase 1, I have lost 10" overall.

And 5 of those were in my waist!!!

I am so glad that this actually works.

I still hate to exercise, but seeing results helps A LOT!

Phase 2 is going well.

I have had to miss a couple of nights this week because of evil group projects.

And I just found out this morning that I have yet another presentation to do at the end of this semester. 

And this one I have to do all by myself.

My prof wants me to do it for a paper I am writing on Managing in the Middle East.

So far the count is 3 group and 1 individual presentations.

I am already nervous and I have several weeks.

I HATE speaking in front of people!

i ♥ spring break!

Spring Break! Finally!

I am so in need of a break that I am even taking the week off from work.

I have tentative plans for a couple of days this week.

But nothing major.

Tomorrow I plan on staying in my pjs all day.

Vegging out.

And watching Doctor Who!

Thursday I am going to do a little shopping in Savannah.

I thought about going Wednesday

but did not want to fight the St. Patty's crowd.

St. Patrick's Day in Savannah is amazingly awesome!

But I am just not up for it this year.

I have a couple of projects and a research paper I need to work on so I will do a little of that this week. Other than that I am just going to chill!

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA.

This week is packed with school and work.

I am quickly finding out tonight that I am too old for all night study sessions, especially when my exam is at 8 in the morning.

Spring break is next week...YAY!!!

Will be back then with a real post;)

good news...bad news

GOOD NEWS

• After the summer semester, I only have 7 more classes until I GRADUATE!!! May 2011 cannot get here fast enough.

BAD NEWS

• I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with this MBA. And I really do not want to graduate, student loans come due, and have no job. That. Would. Suck. Royally!

HAPPY FRIDAY LOVELIES!!

{a little taste of spring}

not too bad

I have an 8am class this semester. I have not had an 8am class since my first semester in college. I am NOT a morning person. So I was completely dreading this morning. But it was not too bad. Of course, I wanted to throw my alarm clock out of the window at 6:30 this morning. I met my prof last semester at a networking event and he is really nice. Now I know he is a great professor. The class is International Marketing and I am already hooked on the first day. I know I will still hate getting out of bed that early but at least the class will be enjoyable!

Happy Monday Everyone!

{pic source}

highway robbery!

$604.12= 4 books.

That is not a typo. Four used textbooks cost $600.

I am going into the wrong career.

Note to self: look into the textbook industry.

{via}

woooo-hoooo!!!!!

I am FINALLY finished with this semester! I just submitted my last final! I am going tomorrow to sell my books back and get approximately $20 for $300 worth of books...but that is college for you. My roomies and I are taking a day trip to Atlanta Sunday!! We are going to eat at my favorite restuarant...Chipotle! ***I am trying to petition Chipotle to bring one to Savannah*** And we are going shopping and basically just releasing semester stress. It is going to be a ton of fun even if it is a 4 hour drive one way. I am already making road trip cd mixes! :D

6 more days...

Only six more days and I will be finished with this semester! I still have one big project, one assignment, one test, and four finals until I am through...whew...when I put it like that I do not see how I am going to get it all finished in six days. I should really get off the internet and get to work;) I will probably not be blogging in the next week but I will still be reading your blogs. I am a master procrastinator and at the end of every semester I vow to NEVER procrastinate again...where do I go wrong!!

courtesy of google images

umm...accounting...no thanks!

****warning: this post is full of venting!***I am not one to complain about school much. I mean it is what it is. And when you have been in college as long as I have, you kind of know what to expect. But I am taking accounting this semester and it is kicking my butt. It does not help that this is an online course. I think I would be grasping the concepts a little better if I were in a classroom setting. I took my first acct test this Sunday and it took me 51/2 hours to finish it. Can you believe that? It has NEVER taken me that long to take a test and I have taken the LSAT, GMAT, and completed one year of law school. And it was not just me that took that long. I spoke to several of the people in the class and most of them took longer than I did to complete it.  Now that is just ridiculous. I mean this is not the only class we have this semester. I do not think a professor should be able to give a test online that students would not be able to complete in a regular classroom setting. Ugh...sorry this post is a downer. On a better note, I am planning an awesome bday party for my best friend! I will blog about it later! I hope everyone is having a spectacular week!

welcome reception

The welcome reception I attended with the dean, director and my profs went very well. I decided to wear a simple [but professional] black dress. I always get really nervous and obsess way too much over any kind of networking event. I even made a couple of great connections! Two of the professors who specialize in my area of interest were really helpful. They even gave me an open invitation to their offices "just to chat"...YAY! I will definitely be taking advantage of those invitations. Can I say "great recommendation letters." I am starting a completely new field for me and I was super nervous about it, but after talking to several of the profs I am getting excited about it. I may have to work/study harder than I usually do but for the first time I think I am going to fit right into this world.