Mistake below ...

For some reason, my post below isn't showing the website link that I typed. When you get to the spot that says "(If you want to check it out, you can find it at ______)," insert the word/link "asunshinehouse.org". Sorry...

Tips for the Incoming Class...

Well, as you're reading this, you've probably just been told to get online and create a blog of your own on which you'll need to write a post about yourself. The post should be detailed so that your fellow classmates will be able to get to know you and be able to decide who they think that they'll work best with in a group setting. Am I right? Is that what you're doing? Checking out what I wrote this semester so you'll have an idea as to how your posts should sound? No problem ... that's what I did too. :)

Anyway, I'm sure you've also gone over the syllabus for the semester and seen that you have a lot of work to do: portfolios, mock interviews, presentations, proposals, etc. I'm not going to lie to you; it is actually a lot of stuff that you'll have to do, BUT Angie is a great teacher, and she'll help you get it all done. There were actually a couple of times this semester that I felt really overwhelmed by all of the stuff that I had to do, but it all turned out well. Everything ended up coming together nicely.

One tip that I have for you guys is to be open about the stuff that you're having to do. Instead of getting a little frazzled because it is a lot of stuff, just think about the fact that you're actually getting real business practice out of it. Also, if you do something similar to what we did this semester, you'll be helping out a real client, which is always great. This semester, we were able to really help the Anderson Sunshine House by making a website for them. (If you want to check it out, you can find it at ). Needless to say, now that I am finishing the semester, I have a real sense of accomplishment. You'll be feeling that, too, come Christmastime.

Anyway, I hope that your semester is excellent and that you do well!!!!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Wow! This semester has flown by! It is just about the last week of classes, which also means that it is almost the end of our big group project - that means that it's time for a reflection on how the project has gone. :) I feel like the project went very well. I really liked the fact that this project involved doing something for someone who really needed the help. In this case, we made a website for the Anderson Sunshine House. It's a great organization who is out there helping others, and we were able to pay them back a little for all the help that they give to Anderson County. I also thought that this project worked very well with our business writing class because while we created the website, we also had to write proposals, memos, letters, business emails, etc.

I feel that this class as a whole (not just the project), was a great class to take because it really did prepare me for the business world. I learned about things that I will definitely need to know in a few short years. Everything about the interviewing process is great to know such as making sure that you attach a cover letter and also remembering to send a thank-you letter afterwards. I really enjoyed this class and thought that it was worthwhile to take.

Now ... on to the Virginia Tech massacre. The whole thing was so shocking and just absolutely terrible. It is really frightening to know that that could happen anywhere. And that is the exact problem: I really don't think that there is any way to prevent something like this from happening. If someone is already planning on taking their own life, there is no way to stop them from taking others'. The only thing that I could think of to possibly prevent this would be to install weapon detectors at entrances to buildings. However, that would be extremely costly seeing as campuses are very open and that there are probably no less than five entrances to just about every building on a college campus .... Maybe that could work, though, if they started allowing you to only enter through certain doors; all of the others would be for faculty and people with keys .... Then, ofcourse, there's the possbility of the person with the keys also being the one with the gun - it's a very tricky situation.

So ... these were my thoughts ... hopefully someone in charge of this has better ideas than me. :)

Phase 3

It's all coming together now! Very exciting. My group, Tiger Web Design, had our web design picked, so we will be responsible for creating templates and organizing the links. We can also do usability testing, but I actually think that all the groups will be doing that in the end. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As for me, personally, I will probably work on organizing the links in an understandable and instinctively usable way. Crystal and Jocelyn are the "web design" people, so they will be working on the templates. However, that is A LOT of work, so I will also be completely willing to help them in any way that I can, whether it be by doing research, or by writing something, or by finding pictures.

I am enthusiastic (not anxious (this time anyway)) to see how all of the groups' collaborative work comes together in the next few weeks. I think it'll be great!

Dual Coding Theory

Dual Coding Theory is a very interesting theory that we discussed in class on Monday. It is definitely something that is pertinent to our class and important to remember because of the fact that it can be used to help people process information more easily through business writing. As was shown through one of the group's proposals, the clouds on the title page and the sunshines in the headings really made people feel happy. When someone reads about the Sunshine House on that proposal, maybe they will think of good times in the sun at the beach or at the park. Thinking these things would help them remember the Sunshine House at later happy times, and maybe they will want to donate their time or financial resources.

Dual Coding is something that is extremely prevalent in our society today. It seems as though almost every advertisement on television is using this theory. Laundry detergent commercials, for example, will show a comparison between some bland, generic brand that doesn't work and their vibrant, brand-name detergent that will return a stained, muddy T-shirt to its original white. Theses commercials that show kids having fun jumping in the mud and then getting their stains removed while at the same time comparing their brand to a brand that doesn't work, use all the different parts of your brain.

Technology has definitely changed over time and taken advantage of dual coding. Think back to before the television was invented and the only way of advertising was through the radio. It was much more difficult to use this theory then because nothing was visual. However, with television, advertisers and others have begun to take more advantage of this physiological phenomenon. Nowadays, on new channels we no longer just watch a show and concentrate solely on that. We can now watch the news, but at the same time study the ticker screen going across the bottom and discover breaking news topics and other top stories. Not only that, but if you come in in the middle of a news story, there is normally another line that lets you in on all of the pertinent facts so that you can catch up and understand what is going on.

Dual Coding Theory is all around us.

Posted on Team Blog

I actually posted on my team blog a couple of weeks ago, but I was required to write on this one during one week because I had to do a mock interview reflection. The next week, I posted on here because I had forgotten that I could be exempt. Now, I am remembering that I can skip one week of writing on this one, so this is going to be the week. Check the team blog for my post.

Time for the Proposal ...

Oh man ... I feel like the week before Spring Break is always so packed with things that need to be done. I have 3 tests next week (all on Wednesday), and this proposal with the web site layout is also due. Ugghhhh.

Oh well. I am feeling a little bit better because our group met last night, and we have devised a plan as to how to get everything accomplished by Wednesday (eeek!) of next week. I really wish that there was some way that our proposal could be due next Friday, though. lol. That would take SO much pressure off of me ... especially since we can't really even start writing it until this weekend because we don't know for sure what's going into it until after class tomorrow morning. :(

Either way, I know that our group will be able to somehow get it all done. I think that we work well together, and we will be able to get an impressive proposal together by Wednesday ... I just wish that it could really be put together by FrIdAy instead. :0)

Mock Interview Reflection

I had my mock interview today with Angie. Before going into the interview, I was extremely nervous. I was so afraid that she was going to ask me some tough questions to which I was going to have no response. I did not want to sound like a babbling fool.

However, once I got in there, things just started to flow naturally. My main concern was that she was going to ask me questions that would pertain to experiences from prior jobs. I was worried about this because I have never actually had a "real" job - I have nannied the past two summers. Luckily, Angie paid attention to this fact, and when she would ask me questions, she would say something to the effect of "think back on past experiences in your life". This made it seem like I could talk about any type of experience that pertained to the particular question.

I feel as though I did really well in the interview. She told me that the examples that I gave were very good, and she also told me that I put a good spin on the fact that I had changed my major a few times. She said that normally, when companies find out that you have changed your major, they think of it in a negative light. However, I explained that changing my major so many times had helped me to find my true calling in life. The only thing that she said I should work on was my eye contact. She said that I occasionally looked other places when answering questions and doing so gave the impression that I was nervous.

Overall, the interview was an excellent experience. I think that it is something that has actually prepared me for the career world. This is something that I will be doing in the future, and now I have an idea as to what it will be like.

Presenation Reflection

Whew ... I'm happy to say that I am now finished with my first presentation. Yay!! I always stress myself out soooo much before I have to give a presentation because I get really nervous about having to speak in front of everyone. So, not only am I now happy to have it "over with" because I was nervous about it, but I am also now happy because that means that I have completed one of the three things that I have coming up for this class. Now I'm starting to feel accomplished. haha.

I feel pretty confident that I presented my information to the class well today. The point of my speech was to persuade everyone that cruising is the best way to travel (in my opinion). I think that I did indeed entice some people to think about cruising as a vacation option, which was my goal. I think that pointing out how much you spend on food at other places made people realize what a good idea cruising really is.

I'll definitely have to put some pictures up on the blog after spring break. I can't wait! Just a month until I get to "sail away"!!

Slightly Overwhelmed ...

After reading what all is coming up this next week in class, I am beginning to feel slightly stressed out. I get anxious pretty easily, so having so many things all seeming to be due right around the same time is extremely nerve-racking.

One of the main reasons that I am feeling overwhelmed is a result of the fact that I normally try to do things as soon as they are assigned. I like to finish things as quickly as possible. However, I am somehow behind on ALL of these upcoming assignments. :( I feel as though we are extremely behind in our group project. For some reason, I just don't even know where to start on that project. I won't go into all the details, but we are not where we should be.

As far as our first presentation goes, I feel as though I know on which topic I will speak, but I still have yet to start on it. I have been so busy with other classes - it always seems as though all of your classes start to pick up the pace at the EXACT same time. uuugggghhhh. Hopefully, I will be able to get that finished this weekend.

I am also worried about the interview. I need to fix up my resume a little and also write the cover letter. My biggest problem with the interview is that I truly do not know what kind of a job I want. I have only been majoring in Accounting for one semester, and I am doing it because I really liked the subject. I figured that I could decide exactly what I wanted to do with Accounting after I had finished a few more courses. So, as of right now, I haven't finished those courses, and as a result, am still not sure as to what I want to do. I am nervous that I will not have any good responses to the interview questions.

Anyway, needless to say, this upcoming week should be great fun. lol

Presentation 1

I think that for this first presentation, I will probably talk about traveling. I love to travel, and I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to go on some pretty awesome vacations. "Traveling" is a pretty broad topic, though, so I will probably just talk about one of my favorite places. Instead of talking about one place in particular, though, I could also talk about either the pros and cons of cruising, or I could talk about .... DISNEY WORLD: the happiest place on earth. lol. I've been there a number of times, and I actually just went again last weekend, so it's fresh on my mind.

If I didn't talk about traveling, I could talk about softball and baseball, because I played softball for a while, and I have always loved baseball. I will most likely talk about traveling though.

The only reason that I am worried about this presentation is because sometimes I am not as creative as others when it comes to using PowerPoint. I'll just have to see how it goes. :)

Reflections

"Reflections on what?" you may ask. Reflections on the project so far: questions, concerns, ideas, etc. Until today's class, I was getting a little nervous about the project. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, seeing as our client can't even come and visit us until March 2. I wasn't sure what kind of information we would need to put on the website. I wasn't exactly sure as to what we were even doing on this project.

Luckily, today's class answered a lot of my questions. I am not as worried, now, about the client coming at such a late time. Angela went and talked to them, and as a result, she was able to find out a lot of vital information. We can now begin to research because we have an idea as to what the Sunshine House is looking for. Also, after today's class, I now understand that each of the groups is going to make a website, and then Sunshine House is going to choose one of them to actually use. That was the subject of my greatest confusion because, before today, I didn't understand why we were all making a website for just one client. I had thought that maybe the class as a whole would work together to make the website: one group would do the web design, one group would make the copy, one group would talk to the Sunshine House, etc. It all makes sense now. :)

One more thing, an idea that Jocelyn brought up in our group discussion today: if the people in charge at Sunshine House don't want to put their email addresses up, why don't they just create a non-personal g-mail account or something?

In 10 Years...

It's kind of hard for me to think about where I am going to be and what I am going to be d0ing in 10 years - it seems so far away. At the same time, though, I know that these upcoming years are going to fly past me, so it's definitely a good idea for me to be thinking about my goals.

In 10 years' time, I hope to be married with at least 3 kids, one of whom will be adopted from either Guatemala or Romania. After getting married and before having kids, though, I hope to have had some time to travel around the world with my husband. I've never been to Europe, so I would love to go there. That's only the beginning of the list of places that I want to visit, though, so hopefully we will be able to save our money and do these things. In 10 years, I want to have a beautiful home with a lot of land. The land is necessary so that the 1 or 2 dogs that we will have will be able to run around freely and also so that the kids will have places to get some of the energy out of their systems. I actually don't really care where, exactly, that beautiful home from my dreams is located; I've moved so many times that it wouldn't bother me to live in a place that is not too close to my home now. However, I wouldn't be opposed to staying somewhere on the East Coast.

Now, on to professional goals. I hope to have graduated from Clemson University in the top of my class with a major in Accounting and a minor in Financial Management and then gone on to get my CPA. In 10 years, I hope that it is not too ambitious to say that I want to be the CFO of a company. I think that with my personality and my drive for hard work and perfection, this goal is a real possibility. I want to do something with my life that matters - something that proves that all of my hard work throughout my whole educational life paid off. I want to be able to make enough money so that I can give it to churches and orphanages and to people who need the money more than I do.

In 10 years' time, I also hope to have continued to grow in my faith. This is the most important goal, for me, I believe.

Well, I hope that I am able to meet all of these goals ... and I really hope that the time doesn't literally fly past me. :)

Introdution ... the first post EVER!

So, it's time for me to introduce myself. First things first: My name is Ashlan. I was born in Jacksonville, FL, and after having moved 8 times (one of those times being to Puerto Rico), I finally ended up at Clemson University.
I am a first semester junior, and I am majoring in Accounting. Most people think that I am cRaZy when they hear that that's my major, but I really do love it ... so far. :) I had actually never taken an Accounting class before I came to Clemson, but as soon as I took the introductory course, I knew that I had found my calling.
Outside of school, I really enjoy hanging out with my friends, playing tennis, softball, and flag football, and going to all of the Clemson sporting events.
Let's see ... what else? My favorite music is always changing, but right now I am LOVING The Format. My favorite color is green. My favorite subject is Accounting (I also like English but hate any Science or History classes), and one of my favorite book series is Harry Potter. Haha.
Things that may be good to know about me when deciding on group members: I am a perfectionist. I am extremely organized. I like to get things finished. I am not extremely creative, but, when necessary, I am able to come up with good ideas. I am a very hard worker. I am driven, and I give everything my best.
Oh yea! I'm nice and pretty fun to be around (that's what my friends tell me, anyway...) haha.