Go Blog yourself!

I think the Blog was a great idea to include into our course. It really did give a lot of insight on the students from the very first blog post that was assigned. I've read people's blogs whom I probably would never speak to in class and found out a lot of interesting facts about other students, their background, and ways of thinking. You can tell a lot about a person by their style of writing and ability to express themselves. This tool definitely gave a lot of people in class a voice who might have been less outspoken in class.

I feel like the blog also helped us resolve a lot of unfinished business in regard to activities. Not everyone got a chance to speak their mind and the blog provided that for them. This turned out to be a great communication tool for the whole class. It also is a very easy way to bring up your grade. The posts that were required of us were very simple and to the point.
As to whether I'm going to continue bloging I'm not sure yet. This is first time that I've done a blog and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this class that's a first timer. Its been a fun experience over all because its out of the ordinary which is what this class came to be after all. Prof. Kurpis you were right!!! This is nothing like any class I took before! I applaud you! You sure knew how to keep us interested in the material and got us thinking outside the box :)

Please eat responsibly!

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I came I saw I conquered !!!

I wasn't really surprised when i got my results. I was an Influential Dominating. I pretty much knew this of myself, I tend to be observative so I notice how I respond to my coworkers' different personalities and they all definitely see the dominating side of me. So the test was dead on. I certainly wouldn't want to be anything or anyone else other than what and who i already am. I love myself! LoL I do think though that people change, their experiences shape the views and opinions. So when I'm older have more experience in certain things i think that I might become more of Controlling or something else.
In terms of this test being helpful I totally agree with what professor said: "this says a lot about the dynamics in the class". A lot of people were ID or DI and this is easily projected in our classroom. We all get along well, we haven't had any heated arguments during most group exercises.i think this test could really be useful in the work environment so when you hire people you would know where  to place them and what to expect of them considering the accuracy of this test. I would definitely like my future employees to take this test so I could understand them better and know what their strong qualities are. 

I can see! I can see!!

The video is definitely something that I wont forget especially the star fish LoL It does give a good insight on what a vision should be and as we've seen before all major companies display their vision on their websites or in other forms.
Having a vision for your future is a tricky thing you know. There is a great Russian saying "if you want to make God laugh tell him about your plans". when I was 19 I planned by 25 to be married with a degree and having a first child.
I'm turning 25 in 2 months. Im not married, dont have a degree, and certainly not having a baby.
Now I have different goals set out for myself. Since it didn't so far work out for me in personal life, I figured I would focus on my career. I'm finishing an accounting degree by next year hopefully. This summer I registered for LSATs prep classes. By next year, October, I will be taking my LSAT exam and hopefully will get into a good law school. With an accounting background I would like to pursue in the field of tax attorney . NOT FUN! But good money and good connections :)
One of my main visions is to get out of dept. In this country having a bad credit is like having a bad criminal record. It is impossible to even get a cell phone today with a bad credit. I've recently joined a hardship program with AmEx and did a 40% debt settlement with my other bank that has accumulated quite the large amount. This means that I'm only paying 40 % of what I owe and they agreed to give me installment payment plan so I didn't have to come up with the lump sum of money.
Another vision of mine is making headbands!! Me and my sister are building small capital right now to start our own little headband company. Im dreaming of anything big. I just want to sit home in my spare time glue and sow some beads on a headband and hopefully sell them. We decided that this would be a good way of coming up with extra cash while both of us are in school. I got this idea from a friend. she started selling bracelets that she made and made pretty good money. she doubled her profits in just 2 weeks. I figured that I can do something with my hands and perhaps make money. so once the merchandises are ready I'll be forwarding them to all the girls in the class :))

Still deciding

Since I did not indicate in my previous post what approach I took during the decision making I figured I'll elaborate. Most might think that I took an aggressive/assertive approach. I some way that might be true but only to an extend. I tried my best to accommodate the class and hear everyone too. But I still had my own goals an opinions to this decision. I wanted to show others where their decision might backfire especially to those who wanted to eliminate the essay all together. But people tend to be a little stubborn and obviously don't want to hear some girl that is trying to out-yell them. I still get the last laugh though since the essay is there ;)

decisions, decisions

Well, well, well... I guess my prophecies came to realize themselves after all considering the fact that the class mean was 63. As for decision making, its pretty hard to come up with a unanimous decision for 77 students without having someone take charge. As professor has stated previously (when we had a group project) sometimes natural leaders emerge, which is in my opinion exactly what happened yesterday. Some people were just more inclined to take charge and try to somewhat organize this exercise. As far as the decision itself, I think some people (not pointing any fingers) could have been a little more rational in their choices. Maybe I'm a utilitarian at heart, but I really think its unfair when an option has to be withheld just because ONE person out of 77 doesn't want to have an essay. The girl is the second row, don't know her name sorry, also opposed one of the choices but she clearly stated that if she is the only one she will comply with the rest of the class. When it comes to these type of decisions people need to understand that a compromise is in order. You're not the only one taking this test! We're all in the same boat, so if we all have to row, you better grab that oar and get to work. I understand that some people lack in writing skills, but don't forget, at least you can some what bullshit your way through on the essay and get credit for it.
P.S. Whoever came up with individualism view, was really thinking about themselves and totally contradicted their theory

WAwaWEEwAA

well, I hope the rest of you did soo much better than me on this midterm! LoL I am pretty sure that I have failed with flying colors. So much for the big victory over the first project. But, as they say, the truly powerful are the ones who know how to relinquish it. Potter's boxes definitely did got get me to think outside the box. The essay was pretty simple, I just wished it was more like: what would Harry Potter do? and not Ralph Potter... I feel like ( and I'm sure that most of you would agree) I was just memorizing everything that was NOT on the test. You always think that the things that you already know you don't need to brush up on and when you see that question in front of you, you blank out. Its like i never even read about the 4 steps to control.

But, thank GOD! that this a midterm and hopefully we'll get a second chance to redeem ourselves at the final. I have a feeling that speaking collectively is quite appropriate ;)

Eggin ON!!

Well boys and girls, I'm sure you've already heard this but I'm gonna say it again, we rock!!! I've seen some very interesting contraptions through this exercise. Wow! People's imaginations really do run wild LOL But never the less, our design wasn't anything overly complicated. And no we did not steal it from the internet if you wanna know. We came up with that concept from the very beginning.
So here it is:

Step 1. Define your goals and objectives   Our first goal was to come up with the design. We just wanted to ensure the safety of the egg with enough of the shell showing at the same time. The group dynamic was perfect so we didn't have any conflicts throughout the deliberation. Sarah suggested the triangle based pyramid structure and we all agreed. We wanted to make sure that no matter what side the egg falls on, it will be protected by the structure which will absorb the shock in the aftermath and leave the egg unharmed. When we started to draw out our design, we decided to change the base to a square (classic pyramid form) figuring that it will give the egg more support and perhaps over weigh the top and land on the base of the pyramid. The egg itself would be fixated at the top of a pyramid with extra straws on each corner pole. It didn't take us long to finalize the design for our structure and we actually did it before the first time frame elapsed. Once that was complete we moved onto the next task.

Step 2. Evaluate your resources compared to objectives     Since we still had time left in the first 25 mins, we started figuring out what would be the fastest and most efficient way to build our pyramid considering that we only had 10 mins to do so. When we were told the amount of materials that we had, our group right away recognized that having on pair of scissors will create a problem so we decided to have one person (or two) to go out and find and extra scissors. And so we did! I can't really think of any group weaknesses that we had. We all worked very well together and everyone contributed evenly.

Step 3. Develop premises and several alternative strategies This is the step that we skipped. It was unnecessary for us to develop any alternatives. We were firmly confident in our design from the very beginning (clearly for a reason, since it was executed perfectly).

Step 4. Analyze alternatives and make a tactical plan   Knowing that we only had 9 straws and 2 feet of tape careful calculations needed to be done. So the plan was to use two full straws for the base and bend them half way forming a square. Four more straws were used for the poles, and the rest (3 straws) were used to fixate the egg in place. Having our own set of scissors was a huge advantage because everything was done right when we needed it. We cut the tape into two strips doubling our tape amount. We did not assign specific jobs to anyone. We kind of just had natural flow. I started drawing the final design while the rest began building. When I finished, I joined my group in assisting building.

Step 5. Implement the plan and evaluate results

While building the pyramid, we altered the contraption because the alteration was safer. Then we changed the original design sketch to match the actual figure. It seemed steady and we were all quite assured that it will work.

-I read Sarah's (Seecr) blog before I wrote mine and I must agree with her on the part that we really didn't have a group leader. We all agreed that the shortens person in the room will be throwing the egg because that shortens the distance of the drop and non of us really cared who the other presenter would be.

Synagoge of Bishops

Well, I do know a little about the diversity in the work force. In fact it is promoted at my job. I work in a Russian Orthodox church, in the administrative department. When I first joined this organization majority of employees were devout Christians. as an assistant to the treasurer, me and another person were given a task of replacing the current staff. Me and the other person sat down and talked about this for a while. We both decided that the best solution would be to diversify our work force. I was probably the first non christian person that they've hired and after showing great progress, the administration agreed with me that we shouldn't be reluctant to hire someone just because their religious views are different. So now I have at least two Jewish girls working with me and people from all kinds of different backgrounds. at least the work gets done, as apposed to the previous religious staff that was running around all day trying to get a blessing from the Arch-Bishop. Cultural diversity is a very positive thing!!! Oh and to refer back to the title, this is actually a mailing postage that we received that I couldn't not laugh about :)

Here I am!

Well, what can I say? I'm 24, I've worked in night life for the past 6 years and when spring semester was over I quit my job that supported my lavish lifestyle and started work in a church!! Most people that know through my previous occupation still can't believe that its true. But now I am closer to god (mind you, I was born and raised Muslim). My life before consisted of traveling, going to parties and organizing them. I was a hospitality consultant for a membership club and PR agency. Now it consists of balance sheets and bank consolidations. Fun! I do like my job though and it gave me a lot more structure in life. Partially why I took this job to begin with. But thankfully enough my new boss is still cool enough so he doesn't mind me traveling. Over the break I went to Sundance Film Festival and ended up getting stuck out in Utah during the snow storm, my boss said to take the rest of the week off so I flew out to LA till Sunday. It's all fun and games till you start realizing that your financial resources are about be drained. I'm especially excited about this class in hopes of figuring out a better managing strategy when it comes to my money. My income has shrunk but my spending didn't :o/