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.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
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!
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!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, January 28, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, January 21, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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.
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.
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