Live Life to the Fullest

For this week's blog, I would like to discuss the importance of living life to the absolute fullest. A fellow Clemson student was killed this weekend in a terrible and still unexplained tragedy. We are not invincible. This could have happened to any of us. In times of mourning and hardship, it is especially important to pull together as a community and also to reflect upon one's own life because it can be taken away at any second. Contribute all that you can to those around you. Do all that you can to better the world around you. Act in a way that will make you will stand apart and be remembered always. RIP 10.28.2007

Mock Interview Reflection

Interviews are a key element in making a strong and lasting impression on potential employers. The resume and cover letter are also important, but it is the interview that allows employers to analyze one’s personality and potential to excel in a certain area. The mock interview, therefore, has been the most important assignment that we have completed thus far in Business Writing.

I think that the most important thing that I learned in the interview was to be organized and early. I was a bit late getting my things together the morning of my interview and therefore felt a bit flustered when I got to Strode. Luckily, I was early and was able to gather my thoughts before my turn.

Having been interviewed numerous times before, I felt at ease and was able to stay calm and collected, for the most part. I am outgoing, so it is not difficult for me to talk to the interviewer, but I think that I could improve on the fluency of my answers. I also need to work on preparing certain questions for the employer so that I seem interested and ready to be a part of the company.

Overall, I had a great experience with the mock interview. One can never have too much practice in interviewing because employers can ask a number of different questions.

Response to Presentation

I thought that Hilary's presentation on Clemson rowing was fabulous. Rowing really is an underappreciated sport at Clemson; I had no idea that we had such extensive facilities! I did not know much about rowing previously, and Hilary did a wonderful job of explaining the sport by giving us an overview of not only the different types of rowing, but also the time and effort that the sport entails. Her PowerPoint presentation was great for keeping everyone's attention and guiding the audience through the presentation. The facts and pictures that she presented on PowerPoint really helped in supporting the points that she was making orally. It was evident that she has a great amount of passion for the sport, which definitely came through in her presentation and contributed greatly to her ethos. The video that was presented at the beginning of the presentation was very effective in providing a visual introduction. She also was able to visually support her explanation of the rowing motion by showing the audience what one needs to do with all the necessary parts of the body. Overall, I was extremely impressed with her enthusiasm and ability to effectively present her topic.

Free Blog: Family

This week I would like to share a little bit of information about my family. My parents, little brother, and two dogs all live at home in Boulder.

My parents are absolutely fabulous, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. My mom is energetic, positive, bubbly, personable, and extremely social. She grew up in Texas and has travelled all over the world because my grandfather was part of an oil company with a large number of internationally based offices. I can tell my mom everything and would be completely lost without her advice. My dad is the most responsible, ethical person I know. He is obsessed with being active outdoors and would die before setting foot in a gym because he does not believe in indoor excercise. Being retired, he is fortunate to be able to take up random new hobbies like roadbiking and kayaking. He built our log house in the mountains ten years ago and now spends a lot of his time up there hiking, fishing, jogging, kayaking, and water skiing. I can always count on him for guidance and support.

My seventeen year old "little" brother is honestly one of my best friends. He is over six feet and is an avid lacrosse player. We have always gotten along, and as we both grow older, we become closer and closer. I am so proud of the honest, loyal person that he has turned into. We have always been able to have a wonderful time together. When we were young, we travelled internationally with our family a number of times, and were forced to have fun with one another and make boring situations fun. Since then, we have never been in a situation that we could not make entertaining or comical.

My two dogs are definitely part of my family. Cassie is a eleven-year-old lab mix, and Chase is a two-year-old Malamute. Cassie is mellow, sweet, and lovey, but she can sometimes be overprotective. Chase, on the other hand, is crazy. We could write a book about the funny things that dog has done in the time he has been with us. He has eaten ten raccoons, two baby skunks, three pigeons, five chipmunks, and who know what else. Malamutes do not bark, but when they are angry, happy, sad, protesting, or needy, they howl. Chase's mission in life, unfotunately, is to torture poor Cassie.