And the budgets are... balanced!

Last night was the big night for presentations in Critical Thinking! It seems that each class has a group project defined in the syllabus, and so for Critical Thinking we had a 20 minute presentation with 10 minutes of Q&A on balancing the Federal Budget.

As I've mentioned before, our 20 person cohort is divided into 5 teams of four people. My team is number 1! Literally. So being numbered 1, we had the opportunity to kick off the night of presentations by going first. I recently took a course from iSpeak on Presenting 4 Success, and so this was my first time to present to the class with some new skills. Generally teams start by a greeting, and introduce our team members, however using the information I gained, I immediately connected with the audience using a picture and a personal story of when I had worked with the State Department and tied that into federal spending. Its amazing to see the differences within the groups. One group was highly visual offering several representations in tangible ways to explain the concepts they covered. Another used technology most effectively with a killer PowerPoint. I feel that our group's strength was something you don't usually attempt when putting on a presentation, but I felt we were highly relational. I know we had great facts, but through use of personal examples, we were really able to connect with the audience, so much so that time had to be called on our Q&A, or we would have kept right on going. I know there is room I can grow to utilize power point to greater levels or have engaging props, but I just wanted to share how proud I am of my group in our ability to reach out and connect with our audience. We'll find out next week how we scored, and our big papers are due.

These past 2 weeks have been a mad blur. This week I haven't gotten to bed before midnight, and I am up at work by 7:30 each day. Tuesdays, with class, are generally 15 hour days. This week will be focused on writing and incredible paper, wrapping up equations for Accounting, and then the next week will be our cumulative final in Accounting. That means a mad push for 2 more weeks, but the finish line is in sight! An MBA can be hard work, but I am already astounded by the personal growth I've seen. I'll try to give you a glimpse in the summary of this semester after the additional 5 weeks of the next class we will take on- Organizational Behavior and Change.

A growing focus- How my MBA and work are walking together

Several weeks ago I posted about our group project in Critical Thinking and my work with the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce's Legislative and Public Policy Committee. From our Briefing, I was able to talk for a moment with State Representative Larry Gonzales, and meet his Chief of Staff. As a result, I have scheduled them both for a tour next week. This timing couldn't be any more significant as state budget cuts threaten the programs our STARRY Agency has for those in need here in Central Texas.

Also, if you will remember, the group project our class has been given is to balance the federal budget, and as an individual project we are creating a Critical Thought Paper. Having seen what I've learned in our group project, I determined to make my individual paper related to the state budget and how it will affect vulnerable children and families in Central Texas served by STARRY.

This has lead to some exciting developments. Tomorrow I have been invited down to the State Capitol to meet with some movers and shakers to learn specifically what is in line for Health and Human Services. These will be great connections not only to use as resources for my paper, but to keep abreast of the latest developments, so I can do all that I can to protect those we serve, who are often unheard in the Capitol halls. With this experience, I hope to be utterly prepared as I meet with our State Representative, and share our passion for the hurting and abused children and families of our community.

Wish me luck!

3,5,7,A, WOW

This week Dr. Thom met with those students who had an interest to provide a short writing workshop. He gave freely of his time, as we met before our scheduled class time. As you can tell- we had a great turn out.

We discussed the rule of odd numbers... writing paragraphs of 3,5 or 7 sentences. Formulating paragraphs into 3,5 or 7 per section and so on. He gave us some great tools to make our writing almost into a formula, but I have to tease- with all these uses of specific numbers to write, I joke that writing is seeming a bit superstitious!

We also got back our midterms in Accounting this week. Hours and hours of hard work have paid off, and I got an A. We had to turn those back in at the end of class for adjustments, but when I get home with it, it's going right up on the fridge! With both my husband and I in grad school and no kids- these are the types of things that make it to the fridge.

Today held a bit of personal excitement. I was interviewed by Austin Woman Magazine. Turns out, I will be featured in the March Edition. I only make mention of this, because I shared with the reporter the importance of my MBA, and how I love the program. I'm not sure if the material will make the cut, but be on the look out for the WOW (Women of Williamson County)when March's Austin Woman Magazine hits news stands all over Travis and Williamson County!

The Blur that is MBA

It's hard to believe this journey started just 6 months ago. The time seems so short and yet the coverage of topics has been almost unbelievable. I remember just like it was yesterday when my fellow students and I were at the launch event and trying to imagine what life as a full time student would be like.

Last semester was a warm up... we had one 10 week class and that class, marketing, felt a bit like drinking from a fire hydrant, while economics had 15 weeks to set a manageable pace. This semester has been built with two ten week classes and one 4 hour block 5 week class. Both Accounting and Critical Thinking are on a warp speed timeline- each week covering 2 or so chapters in Accounting and 2-4 chapters and articles in Critical Thinking. Add to that the midterm in Accounting last week and a group and individual project to be accomplished in addition to these weekly expectations, and you can get an eye for the next five weeks of what we hope to call the downhill slope.

Today my group met to discuss the upcoming project. For a moment we reminisced of what our expectations were, and how great getting an MBA in two years sounds so alluring. Now we understand fully this commitment, and how much work and outside class time are required to make those two years happen. The encouraging note is what we stand capable of, just 6 months into this commitment, and to note- already we are 1/4 of the way through the program!