Taking Critical Thinking to Politics

This week in Critical Thinking, Dr. Thom briefed our class for our individual and group projects. The individual project will be a paper following an issue or editorial and developing thoughts regarding what issues are being neglected or even hid from the discussion. The group project is related to the budget issue our state and country is currently addressing. We have been given a value related to the deficit and then line items of expenses, and their projected values a few years down the road and then a few more years past that. Our goal- balance the budget.

I sit on the Legislative and Public Policy Committee for the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, and this morning, Friday, we had our first Public Policy Forum to the community. We had such a great response for attendance that we had to move to the Library next door. In attendance we had State Reps Gonzales, Schwertner and Strama. State Representative Mark Strama is a friend of mine, and so I was glad to personally invite him to the forum.

All three did a great job of addressing budget cuts, redistricting and funding strategies. This peeked my interest and provided a great lens through which to begin my approach of the Critical Thinking group project. Also, afterwards, I had a small audience with Larry and Mark, and we were able to briefly discuss budget cuts, and ramifications to social services. Mark asked how this may affect Children At Heart Ministries, whom I am a fundraiser and champion for. Intentionally our structure has sectioned any state funded programs to our STARRY organization, which provides services such as foster care, adoptions, emergency shelter and no-cost counseling to our community. I mentioned my individual project in my Critical Thinking class, and asked them both where would be a great source to follow the issue of budget cuts related to social services. They both provided resources, and we will all be waiting to see the appointments they receive, as Larry may be working on a committee with a related article.

What this all will mean to my project, but more importantly, the children served by our services is yet to be seen. A greater amount of clarity will be pursued through the use of this project, and I am so appreciative to have an assignment that will compliment the impact of my position in the real world.

I'll keep you updated on the project and the things I learn as we continue the path towards Critical Thinking!

T Minus 2 weeks til midterms

If I haven't shared before, my husband is also in graduate school. He goes full time. He started a year before me, however his degree and mine will conclude within 3 months of each other. It's really enlightening to see his experience versus mine. He goes to TX State for the School Psychology Program. He also has a cohort program, which I think was helpful to me in deciding Concordia instead of some of the other local programs that are not cohort based. He has more of the "regular" school schedule- getting a month off for Christmas, and what not. This week he heads back to spring semester, and our programs are quite different in this regard, because I have my midterms in two weeks!

The Concordia MBA is somewhat of a fast paced program. A total of 6 semesters, allowing me to start in Fall of 2010 and conclude the program in August of 2012. To get this done quickly, generally there are two weeks between semester.s I found that the last "break" was just enough for me to catch my breath. I will say, that since I am working full time, removing a class one night a week from my schedule was hardly noticeable, especially since there was pre-class assignments to be completed over the break. So I personally like getting back in the swing of things especially if it means graduation will come a semester earlier than some of the other local programs.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy this experience. I will be really sad when it's over. I love all the people and the opportunity to challenge myself and learn new things. This program fits me like a glove, and I'm thriving...I will eventually be ready to have the weekends back. Can't think about that now... we've got an accounting midterm, and for two weeks, that will be my primary focus!

Kicking it up a notch... the work, school, and personal life balance

This semester, I anticipate, will teach me much about perseverance. Just this week we had over 150 pages of reading and more take home problems with Accounting. Accounting, I'm finding to be a bit self taught, and never having taken an Accounting class before, the learning curve and time I'm using to pull myself up to speed has been a real challenge. 5 or 6 other students and myself have resorted to study groups weekly, sometimes twice weekly, spending 30 minutes or more on each problem. I even started a weekly skype call with another student in my class to collaborate on problems we didn't quite understand or had questions about, after we finished as much of our homework as possible.

To the point of the Study Groups- Its amazing how after one semester how close knit our group is, and how everyone is dedicated to each other's success. I have really come to appreciate my new friends and fellow students. We're all in this together, and I get a sense that we are proactive about no one getting left behind.

The issue with how much our Accounting class is requiring outside group meeting time, topped off with heading into my Foundation's largest event in April, and trying to be intentional about my relationship with my husband has taken up quite the bandwidth. Add to that Co-chairing and creating a young professional development program for the Round Rock CoC, and creating a new program for WIN (Women Impacting the Nation) to help women achieve their goals, and I sometimes feel that I have nearly zero personal time for myself. And yet I have continual goals like serving on the Chamber Board, and I have even submitted an application for a Governor Appointment. I'm certainly someone who wants to embrace life and all its opportunities, so I'm wondering how do I do this all, get through Economics, and give Critical Thinking the attention it deserves?

I think this semester will be a great time of learning, not just in the courses I take, but how to create a healthy balance and still accomplish it all.

Stay tuned, and I'll share insights along the journey of... Semester II.

And we're off...

First night of classes, and you could tell our cohort was glad to see one another again. We've really bonded this first semester. In our cohort, we have groups of 4 that we were assigned to at the beginning of the year. At the end of this semester, we are changing up our groups within the cohort, and you can sense some have anxiety about leaving the groups they've come to know and love. I really love my group too! Its been awesome to see each of our strengths come to light, and not that we planned it, but it seems on each of the group projects, each one of us has taken turns at being the project lead. I am a little nervous about changing up our well oiled system, but I'm trying to look at it like- I know each person in my group has something great to give and share, and would benefit others just being in a group with them. It will be an adjustment, but we will always be close, since this is our first group.

Walking into the class, Dr. Thom was set and ready to go. Great initiative and preparedness for this first night. while looking forward to what Critical Thinking has to offer, I could sense a buzz of anxiety in the class about what was to come in Accounting. Many haven't taken it in 10 or so years, or in my case- ever. Students met before class asking about the assignment we had received, which would be due the following class. However, 6PM rolled around, and we kicked off the night with Dr. Thom.

First, Dr. Thom called each student by name and requested us to provide our expectations of the class. Through the class we had open interaction, and Dr. Thom used a variety of engaging teaching techniques from Q&A, Brain Teasers, and at one point we gathered in a circle in the middle of the room for an interactive exercise. We closed the night with a journal entry of what we gained from class that night.

At 8PM, we met Professor June. We were to have 100 pages through three chapters read for the very first session of class. We covered one chapter in class, and cemented the basics of credits, debits, financial statements, earnings, and revenues.

The homework has been quite challenging. Most of the problems feel a bit like stretch problems, and we aren't being taught just yet how to work them, so we are having to figure it out on our own. A group has started meeting, for now indefinitely, at the Georgetown Public Library to try and make an impact in the problems assigned. In 2 hours we were able to complete 3 of the problems assigned. We're a little concerned about this, but see that future weeks have less problems assigned and are hoping this becomes a little more manageable.

I'm blessed with a wonderful Controller named Bob, here at Children At Heart Ministries. Bob and I met over our 30 minute afternoon break to review some of the concepts and check the work I had completed so far on this assignment. For 20 minutes we worked on the next problem of the assignment. I'm so thankful for Bob- The picture is evidence of our hard work!

This semester may lead to me pulling back from some of my commitments. I'm just about to head out for a Board Members retreat, and between baby showers and my husband and I still needing to do our own Christmas, it's going to be a stretch to get everything in this weekend. I like to challenge being all I can be, and often that has been by doing more. I think the Concordia MBA is teaching me, sometimes taking it to the next level is focusing most on being the best I can be, and the "doing" will come, but just may need to be scaled back... at least until Aug. 2012.