Final Blog Post

Hello Spring 2009 Students! We're here to give you some tips and tricks of how to get ahead in this class.

Here's a hint. Do the work. Show up to class. Use what you've learned. The client projects can be tricky, but just try not to overextend yourself. It's all do-able. Angela is a great teacher and she'll help you out if you ask. My most important bit of advice is to choose your team-members wisely. They can make or break your project. If you have good team members, things go smoothly, the project gets completed, and the client is happy. If not, well I'm sure you can imagine.

Good luck!

Reflections

My reflections on our group project in the class.

I have learned quite a bit during my time doing the group project. I've learned how important it is to be able to adapt to different team members' working styles. I've learned how important it is to have a back-up plan. I've learned how to interact with clients and superiors and how to get tasks accomplished for them. The best part about the project is obviously that we get to help out a group that really needs it. I think what Helping Hands of Clemson is doing is fantastic and I only wish there was more we could do to give them assistance. Our biggest challenge has been designing on a budget. Unfortunately many tasks that we might want to do simply cannot be accomplished with the funds we have. It was tough at first to design an inexpensive solution to the client's needs, but overall I think it made for a better project.

Dual Coding Theory

In the image we have to review, there are a number of aspects of dual coding theory. First and foremost (for me anyway) is the words. I tend to jump to the text of an image first. "Practice Like Champions" and "We Believe" give you a very strong impression about work ethic and pride. The image itself is of a locker room door. It looks somewhat old and kind of worn, but with the words scrolled across it and inside it it adds to an impression of power and strength. Both the visuals (the picture part of the image) and the text work together to connect you to an impression of hard work and commitment that really get you ahead. Nike, a primarily sports-oriented company, appeals to the inner athlete in (most) guys by suggesting that they too can achieve athletic greatest through hard work and perseverance (and of course buying Nike apparel).

Miscommunication

Our blog topic for this week is miscommunication. Interestingly enough, this was also a problem for our group this week. Last week we had discussed each of our parts for the proposal we had to submit. We had outlined that the rest of the group would write their parts and email them to me by friday night. I was tasked with writing up a coverletter and summary of the project and putting the parts together into one cohesive presentation. Apparently there was some miscommunication in there. By friday night I had only recieved one of the three parts I was supposed to. The rest of the team was missing in action and didn't send their individual parts. I didn't hear from them again until sunday, when I recieved one of the remaining two parts (I never did recieve the last part). Obviously this made my job difficult as I was forced to make a summary of our project without an introduction or a conclusion written. This resulted in a mess of confusion and the re-writes of several parts of the paper. This could easily have been prevented had people understood the word 'Friday'. Another easy prevention would have been if the missing group members had checked their emails when I asked them again for their parts of the proposal and stressed the fact that I had not recieved them yet. In order to fix miscommunication, there needs to be communication.

Mock Interview Reflection

This week we had our mock interviews for our job applications. Overall I believe my interview went very well. Obviously it was not very fun running around campus all day in a suit, but other than that, I greatly enjoyed the whole process. I did not feel very nervous coming into the interview. I seem to have a knack for talking to people and discussing things. Sure it was slightly intimidating not knowing what questions they would ask me, but I believe I handled it well. No questions really threw me, though there were a few that I did not have the answers to off the top of my head. I had to think for a few seconds, but I felt my answers genuinely reflected my personality and thoughts. I feel that I learned a lot from this experience. From having to deal with interviewers asking me questions to being under time pressure to come up with quality answers. I learned how to handle myself much better and am very glad for the experience. The only thing I would change is that next time, it will be for a real job.

The presentations...

This week we watched our fellow classmates give presentations about topics that they enjoyed or were interested in. Our task for the blog this week is to write about three of the presentations that we liked the most. Personally, my favorites were Adrienn's presentation on wine, Douglas' presentation on supercars, and Margaret's presentation about the Balsam Woolly Adelgid.

I enjoyed Adrienn's presentation not so much for the wine, but for the chocolate she gave us. Perhaps I am just easily bribed, but chocolate bars can go a long way to winning my vote.

I enjoyed Douglas' presentation about the supercars due to his sources. I am a big fan of Top Gear as well, and it certainly piqued my interest in his presentation when he mentioned it in his opening.

I enjoyed Margaret's presentation because it involves something that I too have wondered about. With the whole, "strange dying trees" things I always wondered what was causing it. When she told us what was causing it, the Balsam Woolly Adelgid, it helped me figure it out.

Honestly some of these weren't even my favorite presentations, but some people conveniently didn't write their names down on their handouts, so matching people to their presentations was rather difficult.

A blog about...

So we have a free blog this week. Seems like kind of a strange concept, a free blog. As opposed to what? In trying to come up with a blog topic for this week I've re-stumbled onto something interesting. I don't have any blog topics to post about. This is actually the same reason I don't keep a blog of my own.

Is it that I haven't done anything? No, probably not. I've done more and experienced more than most people my age so that isn't the case. And as far as how much I've done this week, well this is probably the first free time I've had this week so I know I've been busy. So what is it then?

Do I not blog because I'm a poor writer? No, certainly not the case. I can write very well and sometimes begin to even ENJOY writing (only a phase I can assure you).

Fear of who is reading the blog? Again, I think I'm going to have to shoot this one down. On one hand, there are a lot of very unsavory people out there who could read a blog (not this one, as I'm 93% certain that only the teacher reads these), but there isn't anything too compromising about anything I would blog about. I don't have any dirty secrets or tantalizing confessions to make about things. No shocking tales of intrigue. Nothing interesting.

Maybe it's just that I lead a mundane life? Well I do. I'm happy with that though. I don't want a crazy life. I've done the soap-opera-esque drama thing before, it isn't any fun. I enjoy my mundane life. I enjoy not having anything important to blog about. Too often all we see are more people telling about all of their problems. I don't have many problems to tell about. That quite simply is the answer. There aren't enough problems in my life to put into a blog. I like my little blogless world.

And there you go, a blog about not blogging.