So What? Now What?

Wow, another semester has come and just about gone! Finals will be over in a week from tomorrow!!! As I was studying for finals today, I was starting to realize everything that I have learned in a short few weeks. One particular chapter in MCOM really caught my eye. This chapter was about presentations and giving effective presentations. I realized how throughout my life, whether in my career, or in church, I will be giving presentations and how helpful the information that I learned this semester was. Eye contact, hand gestures, bringing emotion, and telling stories will all help me throughout my life. One thing that particularly hit me today was three major attributes that audiences look for in effective presenter. These are if the presenter is (1) knowledgeable, (2) likable, and (3) genuine. These will be important for me as I prepare to serve a mission for The Church as Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint in Naga Philippines. I will be able to lose these traits as I teach the people the gospel that I love so very much.

The Christmas Spirit

Christmas for me always starts early, I love the sounds and sights of the season and the joy that it brings.   A highlight of the Christmas season is the First Presidency Christmas Devotional when I hear the words of latter-day prophets and their thoughts and feelings of the season.  It is always nice to remember that the season is not just about the hustle and bustle, but most importantly about the service that we give to others.  President Thomas S. Monson today spoke about the spirit of Christmas, and what it means to him.  The Spirit of Christmas makes our hearts glow. Why do our hearts glow so much? simply because we are serving others. It seems only natural then that we can keep the spirit of Christmas alive in our hearts by serving others.  So what do I learn from this experience I think the most important thing is to remember the spirit of service throughout the year and live a life that so that you will be full of that spirit throughout the year.  So now, this Christmas I want to focus serving others this Christmas season, particularly right now as college students about to have final exams.  I don't want to get too caught up that I forget the Christmas spirit.

I recruited by roommates, to share a few thoughts about the Christmas Devotional!!! :)

 

The Value of a Name

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone.  This weekend was a much needed break and gave me time to chance up on some homework.  One of the assignments I was working on this weekend was reading the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  It was an interesting book and had some great points.  One of my favorite was highlighting the value of a name.  Carnegie said that most people are more interested in his or her own name than anybody else’s name (pg 73).  The more I thought about this idea the more I realized, how nice it is if someone remembers your name after the first greeting.  It makes you feel special when someone uses your name. Taking the effort to remember a name can go a long ways to make another person feel good about them.  As a result of this little lesson I learned this week, I have made a resolve to remember people’s names better and use their names when I talk to them.  Currently I am really good at avoiding using someone’s name if I can’t remember their name.  Dale Carnegie shared how he remembers people’s names; after he hears someone’s name he repeats to himself several times and finds ways to relate that name to something in the conversation.  Doing this will help people respect me more and be a better leader.  

 

Always look towards the future

I had an experience this past week, where I learned a very important lesson.  I had a giant test in one of my finance classes that I had been preparing for, for a while.  I took the test and after seeing my score was very frustrated that I could spend so much time studying and not get the kind of grade I feel that I deserved. At first I was really angry with myself, and was trying to piece together what I could have done better.  I thought at the time that everyone in my class surely did better and I simply was not as smart as the rest of my talented class.  The following class after the test I found out that everyone had actually done about what I had done and I started to feel good about myself again. This made me feel so silly getting so worked up over this test.  So what did I learn from this experience-don't focus on the future. And remember not to let things such as test scores define you.  Now I will hopefully be able no to let things that don't really matter get the most of me and focus instead on constantly improving. 

Follow the Holy Ghost

This week in my lecture series class, we had a guest speaker Dan Paxton, who talked about leadership.  He said that everyone who can influence another person is a leader.  Basically everyone is a leader.  He gave us a list of several items that great leaders do.  One that touched me the most was that good leaders will follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost--Even if it doesn't make sense.  He told of a story where he had to let go of someone in his organization.  He did it carefully and sincerely.  That night he got a call from this man's wife telling him that the man he let go suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital.  After that phone call he got the feeling to go and visit him in the hospital.  This was not the logical thing to do and really didn't seem appropriate.  Yet he did and he talked to this guy through the night. 

Sometimes the Lord tells us to go things that don't make sense, but if we follow him he will bless us.  SO What? -The Lord will tell us to do things and So now I need to act on promptings I receive even if its inconvenient or I don't know what to say.  The Lord will help us once we take the first step.

So Grateful

This week I found myself swamped with homework and projects and simply trying to survive the rigors of college.  In the mist of all this I finally found the time to go the grocery store.  As I was leaving and had just backed up my car, I found that it stalled in the middle of the parking lot.  Just what I needed, now I had to find a place to take my car, and somehow I knew that it was going to take a lot of my time.  Thankfully I was with my friend Ashley and she pushed my car out of the way.  While another complete stranger came and helped to try to jump the battery on my car.  Unfortunately the battery was not the issue and he told me some others things it might be.  After getting someone to come and pick me up I called my dad and explained to him the situation my Dad (who works about an hour away) immediately told me that he would be on his way to come help me get my car to the shop.  I was so grateful for my Dad and is kindness and love he showed from me.  I learned a lot from this situation about the love that my Dad has for me, but it made me answer the question would I do the same for someone I love and care about or even someone I didn't know.  Going forward I want to make sure that I don't get too caught up in my world that I forget about other's people life.  So now I will make sure to take every opportunity to help others, because I know the difference it can make.

Mock Interview

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to participate in a mock interview with a BYU Alumni.  Going into this interview I really had no idea what to expect and I definitely learned a lot from my time with him.  We first started by going through my resume.  There were a lot of things that he particularly liked, and other stuff that he showed me that I could improve for any employer.   His philosophy about resumes was to have an executive summary at the being of where you wanted to be with your career and have your education and experience to back it up.  He also told me I was a little up tight in the interview and told me to relax and act like I am talking to my mom.  While I don’t think a job interview is like talking to my mom, I think it is a good idea to get a lot of practice job interviewing so that I am comfortable with it when it actually counts. So after hearing all this wonderful advice, what am I going to do? I am going to practice, practice and practice.  I am going to try to take advantage of more mock interviews in the future to become comfortable interviewing with people.  Interviewing is an important skill that I will need throughout my career, and it is worth practicing for.

 

CONFERENCE!!! :)

General Conference is always a very exciting weekend. I love every bit of it. This year was no different, the talks were wonderful and I left feeling so great and ready to conquer the world. At the end of each conference President Monson always gets up and asks "in the coming weeks and months" to read and ponder the messages as they are printed in the Ensign Magazine. It was at this conference that for some reason, I realized that this is the exact phrase he says every conference. This to me told me how important conference is and that we should not take it for granted. We need to ponder on the words that were spoken so that we can know what we need to do in our own lives. So now that conference is over, I am going to remember the words and find something to improve upon, so that I can keep the spirit of conference within until conference comes again.

 

 

Learning to Work with People

For one of my classes this semester we are required to read the book How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  To be honest I thought the book sounded a bit weird.  I mean I usually don’t try to win over my friends and gaining friendships usually isn’t some kind of game to me.  To be honest I am still a bit skeptical about the book, but what I have read thus far has been really rewarding and valuable.  The first three chapters are about handling people, and gives three different principles.  The one that stuck out to me was not to criticize, complain or condemn.  As I read this chapter I was astonished by the simplicity of this task, but how it can really go so far.  Thinking back in my life about the days when I worked customer service in restaurants and at a hotel, it was always such a welcome relief to have someone that didn’t complain, in contrast to those that were upset and criticizing me for things completely out of my control.  Ever since I worked with such people, and reading this book, just confirmed it, I have vowed never to be such people.  I vowed that even if something goes wrong, don’t ever belittle and condemn a person for it.  Kindness can go a long way, and will help you go far in life.

Networking, Networking, Networking

This week in MCOM class we learned about the importance of Networking.  Prior to this class, I had heard the word “Networking” all the time.  I heard it from my professors, my friends, everyone in the Marriott Schol, but I guess I really didn’t know what, and how to go about doing this extremely important action.  The MCOM class I had this week made it very clear to me.  I always wondered how I was going to offer any thing as a student to professionals.  After going to class, I realized that there is something I can offer.  I realized that the best way to Network with others is to find something in common with someone and a way to help a person in a need that they have.  In fact it is kind of like visiting teaching in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was taught that when you go visiting teaching, you should go looking for a need and then solve that need.  The same principle can be applied to Networking.  If we go to a networking event looking to help we will have a positive experience.  Going forth I will apply these Networking techniques and work on always seeking to help those I come in contact with, because I would want the same thing in return. 

2 tasks a day

This week I was able to hear a speech given by George Bunt, an absolutely amazing guy.  Mr. Brunt is the CEO of what seemed to be five different companies-the biggest one being biologic.  He touched on some great points that inspired me to be a better person.  When he went through his day, it made my daily tasks seem small and menial.  His biggest point was about action.  We can make all the decisions we want, but without action, they will be just decisions.  He gave us a challenge to list each area in our life, be it social, spiritual, emotional, school or physical, and make a list of two things we can do each day to fulfill that area.  For physical it could be to go on a quick run, and eat 3 servings of vegetables that day; for social it could be to spend 10 min on Facebook and eat lunch with a good friend.  Whatever the two things are, if you all of them in your life, you will find much more time and you will find balance in your life.  So what have I begun doing, I have begun to make lists of tasks, and hopefully that will make a big difference in my life.

Its the Climb!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to hike Mount Timpanogoes. I enjoy hiking, but this is one of those hikes that, for me, is super hard. It is not necessarily a hard hike, but what makes it hard is its length.  It is steep and challenging, but the view at the top is so worth all the effort.  Now this might seem a little cliché, but the song that always came in my head as I hiked was The Climb, by Miley Cyrus. In this song it says that, “Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side, It's the climb…These are the moments that I'm gonna remember most.”  To me this means that it isn’t about the big events in our life that we remember, but the small things that add up to the big events if our lives.  The things that really shape our lives in the journey that we take to reach certain points.  In the gospel it is the little everyday things such as reading our scriptures and saying our prayers that makes us who we are today.  Sure Giant spiritual experiences come, but they also fade and what we are left with is the little things.  So what am I going to do now- I am going to find joy in the journey and focus on the little things and living each day to the fullest.  Sure I will remember the view that I say at the top of the Mountain, but I will remember more the conversation I had with some great friends that I hiked with.

BYU is great!!!

The first week of a new semester is always a little crazy. Between new classes, new roommates and a new ward, it can be a little stressful and this week was no different. With all this going on, sometimes I forget the many blessings that I have been given. I was just trying to survive this week, when I had one of the most powerful lectures, which reminded me of the wonderful opportunity I have to be here at Brigham Young University. I am taking an Executive Lectures series, and on Friday we watched a presentation made by Professor Stice from the Marriott School. In his address to MBA students, he explained about the opportunity he had to travel the world to interview prospective BYU MBA students. He told of one lady in Mexico that he interviewed who was very intelligent and talented, but unfortunately didn't know enough English to make it through the program. He told her the sad news and a little later he saw this women getting on a bus. He asked where she was off to and she relied that her kids were waiting for her. He asked how far away home was, she replied 13 hours.

Professor Stice was quick to point out that she was not able to come to BYU, but her tithing comes to BYU so that we can attend this university. So what did I learn from this. I cannot take my education here for granted. I need to work harder than I ever have. Once I leave this university I need to the things I learned here and bring them to the world, so that the world can experience the things that I have learned and felt at BYU.