Laurel Miller

Balancing work can be complicated; therefore, keeping organized and planning ahead is key. I planned my schedule this semester so that I am able to fully dedicate my Thursdays to my internship. I go to class and do school work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This is also easy for my friends and family to remember. It becomes easy to manage my priorities when everyone in my life is also aware of them. I write all of my upcoming tasks, both work and school related, in my planner well in advance of their due dates in order to make sure I do everything I am supposed to do and stay sane while doing it. I feel satisfaction each time I check an item off of my to-do list. In my life, organization is essential.

With this semester being the fourth semester I’ve worked a part-time internship and went to school full-time, the biggest thing that has helped me is getting into a weekly routine. By getting myself into a routine it helps my body and mind acclimate to getting up early and makes it easier to switch my train of thought from focusing on schoolwork to focusing on work. Specifically for this class, in the beginning of the semester I went through my phone’s calendar and made events when status reports and other deliverables are due along with several reminders before the due date. This has helped me stay on top of this class’s work and overall I believe I am managing well in my other classes and internship too.

Balancing school and work can sometimes be difficult and time management is essential in ensuring all my tasks are completed each day. In order to make this possible, I like to dedicate the time I have on the train to work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings to plan out what my objectives are for my work day, and what my goals are for homework the rest of the day. I like to look at the syllabus for each class at the beginning of every week, and have a general idea of what time will be allotted to what homework assignment. Recently, this has become more difficult as classes are progressing and group projects are beginning, but strategically planning my day once I wake up is what keeps me organized and goal-oriented. Lastly, in order to set myself up for success each and every week, I like to use Sundays as my “homework day,” so that my weeks can be as stress-free as possible.

I get this question relatively often. I found the two keys for me are emotional management and time management.

Emotional management comes from feeling in control. With a busy schedule, it is easy to let emotions cascade and feel out of control, and that’s how you get in trouble. When you feel powerless, you become paralyzed and feel drained just from the emotional stress. Instead, set aside some time for yourself. Recognize that you need a break and enjoy it fully; you can focus on your responsibilities later. In addition, get things done early and keep everything in perspective. It is impossible to do perfectly in every realm of your life.

For that reason, prioritization is important. You have 24 hours in a day, so time management is critical, and that relies on your ability to prioritize. You need to decide which domains of your life are important and how to manage them. How much energy will you devote to working? Studying for classes? Maintaining relationships? Watching Netflix? You need to also recognize your goals in these realms. Are you aiming for As or Bs? Would your time be better spent focusing on your internship? Do you want to meet with your closest friends daily, every other day, weekly, etc.? The answers to these questions are independent to you and will help determine how to prioritize your time. “I have no time” is an excuse. Everyone has time, it’s how we choose to prioritize it.

Similar to everyone else, I have a lot going on this semester with going to classes, interning, and holding a leadership position in an SPO. My schedule allows for me to focus on my classes and SPO on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can spend my entire day focusing on the projects I’m assigned at my internship. Being able to separate work from school has really helped me with getting organized. I’ve learned that I need to prioritize my responsibilities each day to make sure I get done what is most important. Also, I learned that I needed to make compromises on certain events in order to get everything done. The structure of my weeks have become repetitive, although the work that I’m doing is always changing –which makes it fun. Having the opportunity to be involved in so much has really helped me and I’m glad I took on the challenge.

Last semester, I was balancing out 2 jobs and my coursework. I had the opportunity to continue working part time at ACE Group last semester and I was also an ITA for Professor O’Donnell (although I worked few hours). I can say last semester has been the hardest semester (school work wise) I’ve had at Temple , so balancing out everything was a bit difficult. However, like some of my classmates, I made sure I stayed organized and set a schedule for myself. I had classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and worked Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 am- 2:00 pm. I set my schedule so that I could come back to Temple from work and do my school work. In addition, my job allowed me to complete some of my school work if I didn’t have any work given to me. This was a good opportunity for me to finish any readings or essays so it helped a lot. Whenever someone has a difficult schedule, I believe setting time for yourself or having free time is really important in order to reduce stress. For me, this was Fridays, where I wouldn’t stress myself out because I’d have all my work done early in the week.

In the beginning, I had trouble balancing my work, school, and extracurricular activities. I had classes all day Tuesday/Thursday and then work Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 7 to 4. However, I found that planning ahead and making a schedule every single day helped me prioritize and get all of my work done. I wrote all of my upcoming tasks in my planner to make sure I did everything I was supposed to do. I also liked to keep a calendar in Outlook to record important meetings, deadlines, and school due dates as a backup to make sure I got everything done. Lastly, I designated Saturday’s to be my homework days where I spent most of my day trying to get ahead of my school work so that I wouldn’t be so stressed out during the week.

This is my second semester working as an intern and also being a full-time student. Honestly, I did not have a problem adjusting to the busy work/student schedule because I have experienced a very hectic schedule for the last 12 years. In middle and high school, I had a dream to be a professional dancer. Since I was very focused on my dance career, I danced over 20 hours a week, even with my school schedule. For the last three years, I also danced on a dance team on campus. The team took about 11 hours out of my week. Therefore, since I was accustomed to balancing school with my dance activities, I did not have a problem fitting my internship into my schedule. Even though dance is quiet different then working in the professional world, it taught me time management and responsibility, which I will use in my career.

Since the Fall 2015 semester, I have been working at my internship Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30AM to 5:00PM and have classes all day Tuesdays and Thursdays. This semester is especially interesting because all of my classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00AM to 4:50PM with no breaks in between. Add that with being Membership VP of a co-ed service fraternity, and life can be pretty hectic. I try to be as organized as possible when it comes to balancing school and work. I use a planner to write down when homework is due and other events I need to go to. I usually set aside time during the evenings to work on homework even if the homework isn’t due for a few days out. If I get super stressed out at any point, I usually just take a few breaths and relax for a little bit. I’m also fortunate enough to work somewhere where they understand that I’m a student first and allow me to take off from work to do school work if I need to. I also get a lot of support from family and friends. Even though my weekly schedule has gotten hectic, I was able to get used to it quickly.

My internship officially ended in January, but last semester I was balancing continuing to work with my internship, being a full time student, and being heavily involved in 2 SPOs. Other semesters I have also worked part time at the Dean’s Office which is what I am doing again this semester. The biggest key to finding the time for everything is planning ahead. I keep a fully up to date Google Calendar that I can access from my laptop and my phone, as well as a paper planner. At the beginning of each semester I write down every major commitment, assignment, paper, test, project, etc. This gives me the ability to plan long term. I can glance at my paper calendar and see which weeks look like they will be busiest, which weeks will be lighter, when I have major deliverables due, etc. I then use my Google
Calendar for daily planning. I put all my classes, work hours, appointments, meetings, etc in and then on especially busy days I block out time for different classes/assignments as well as necessary activities like eating meals. This way I have a sense of exactly how much time I have and what I can realistically accomplish in the time I have set aside. This way I can plan ahead for the busier times of the semester, and work ahead on assignments when I get the chance. Another crucial piece to balancing it all is still making time for myself and seeing my friends. If I don’t take that time I get too stressed and don’t function at my best. So I make sure to find time I will be able to see friends even if it is just grabbing a coffee together or swinging by their house for a bit.

While it may be difficult to balance both school and work, it is certainly not impossible to be productive at both. The key is effective time management and prioritization. I’m not currently working this semester, but I can track back to last year when I was working part time as a Technology Analyst at Nationwide Insurance and had full time school. Time was very important to me, and it seemed as if I didn’t have a lot of it. Each week I updated my calendar (physical and on my phone) with all the meetings and activities I had at school. My work calendar was kept separate and had outlined my goals with the lists of tasks I wanted to complete each week. I also set reminders very frequently on my phone to remind me of any upcoming exams or assignments so I can start reviewing in advance. When you prioritize, you feel more organized and have the ability to adjust if something doesn’t go according to plan. So my tip would be to never wait for the last minute to do anything and always strive to have a plan in mind, a guiding tool for which you can work towards.

Surprisingly, this semester is probably one of the easiest, stress-free semesters I have had in the past four years. This is my 3rd semester juggling an internship with full time classes so i suppose experience with time management has helped. I must say my course load is extremely light compared to normal, with my most time-consuming class being Volleyball. I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and have class Tuesday and Thursday. I try not to intertwine those days very much, and focus strictly on work three days a week and classes the other two days.

Balancing school work and my internship was a little challenging at first. I had two summer classes while working at AmeriHealth Caritas this summer. It is all about time management while being very organized. I had a set schedule of when to focus on certain assignments and when to focus on my work for my internship. Studying for tests was the most difficult. I couldn’t find time during the weekdays to study since of the commute. Most of my studying and homework was done on the weekends. Following a set schedule helps a lot with time management. Some tips that can help is make a planner with all of the work you have to do for the week. Develop time within the week to start the work but plan larger chunks of time in the weekend for the schoolwork. Lastly, don’t try to complete schoolwork at your internship, which looks really bad.

Since I did my internship during the summer I did not have any trouble with managing school work and my job. But throughout the summer I was the president of my fraternity and there was a lot of work I had to manage over the summer while interning. I had to call off days to go to Kentucky for a conference and as long as I did my job well and in a timely fashion I did not have any problems with this. My schedule was very set during my time interning since I was out in LA during my internship. With such a set routine for work and my fraternity it made it easy to get my work done for both my internship and fraternity.

It is certainly not easy to balance a multitude of commitments at once. As a part time intern and full time student, I am experiencing this firsthand. The most difficult part of every week is having limited free time. There are several clubs and organizations within Temple and outside of Temple that I am extensively involved in, which are very time-intensive in and of themselves. Having a full schedule of classes, plus working almost every day of the week, free time becomes very sparing very quickly. Therefore, in order to succeed, I must manage my free time efficiently and effectively. This means that, when I have homework to be done, I will complete my tasks as soon as possible. Then, when these tasks are complete, I use whatever time I have left to myself to relax and decompress. It is important to maintain a positive outlook throughout this process, as I’m aware I’m very fortunate to have these opportunities in front of me. Therefore, a strong work ethic and a positive, upbeat attitude are what help me perform most effectively in and out of school.

Like many others have said, I rely heavily on time management. This semester has been one of my busiest between working three days a week on top of five classes (including the co-op). Therefore, I rely heavily on managing my time and organizing set time slots in a day to complete different work. Breaking up my work in manageable chunks helps me complete focus on individual work and avoid being overwhelmed by the heavy workload. Also, I try to leave some extra time in the week in case some work took longer than I expected. By giving myself leeway time, I don’t stress or try to rush through school work ensuring I do not negatively effect the quality of it.

Last semester it was a lot more difficult to balance my internship with my school work because I had 5 classes. This semester it is much easier because ii only have 1 class that isn’t online and requires I go to a class. I purposely made my schedule easier this semester to fit in more hours after I went through the craziness in the fall I knew I had to plan better. One thing that can be difficult is trying to use public transit to get to and from work; it can add a lot of pressure to an internship if public transit can trip you up and cause you to be late. One thing that made more comfortable with balancing this in the spring was having my daily routes down and understanding that I could always call out if i was going to be late and my bosses would understand.

Right now, I am balancing school, my internship, and a job, and it is crazy. I have a different schedule every day of the week and my only day off from all 3 things is Sunday, which I usually spend at least some of the day doing homework. Besides all of this, I am also applying for jobs and going on interviews. Because my schedule is so tight, I have to take off, call out, or come late to either of my jobs to fit in anything extra. This semester so far, I have had to take off for interviews, career fairs, a funeral, and an ER visit. Luckily, both my job and internship are understanding and have allowed me to miss work for all of these things. On a normal week, with nothing extra going on, I can handle my schedule, but sometimes have trouble getting homework and projects all done. I have certain hours during each day to do these things, and sometimes I just don’t get them done when I want and have to stay up late or wake up early to do them. My biggest challenge right now is coordinating with groups at school to work on group projects. We have had to resort to virtual meetings a lot of times for scheduling conflicts. I keep it all together and keep it all going because I know I am not going to be juggling 3 things forever. I soon will graduate and have just one job to focus on. I also plan trips so I have something to look forward to. Over the winter break, I went to Australia and New Zealand and am currently planning to go to Europe in June.

In this semester, I am balancing my school, internship and SPO activities. It was hard for me in the beginning. It draw my crazy because I have six classes this semester. I go to work each Friday from 7:00 am. I have classes except Friday. I have to plan everything before each week start. To make sure what should I do next week. It is a very tight. I have to figure out what is the most important thing. The google calendar is really helpful for planing those stuffs. I definitely recommend that. But I still have trouble getting homework done well because I did not have enough time to do that. I also stay up late to finish my assignment. But, I found that it is hard for getting up early if I sleep too late. Right now, the most challenge is that I want to attend a case competition and conference. It means I have to spend extra time to do that such as weekend for this stuffs. I am still trying to handle this situation. I think I should go to gym sometimes to get some relax and store more energy.

How Airbnb’s Data Science Team Doubled The Ratio Of Female Employees Last Year

This article discusses how the Data Science team at AirBNB doubled the percentage of females on the team in the past year. I find this concept particularly fascinating because of our discussions about data scientists and equal opportunity in general. Men are by no means necessarily more qualified to perform these roles than women, and I appreciate that AirBNB took initiative to get more women on their team. I also appreciated the fact that they took even further initiative to get women outsiide of AirBNB to apply for data analytics roles. It seems that the company really cares about equality.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hyatt-profit-falls-more-than-expected-2016-02-18

This article references a data breach that happened with Hyatt, impacting 250 hotels in 50 countries. This is one of the most widespread hotel data breaches ever, getting customer credit card information. The article then discusses the financial impact on the year end financial statements and the revenue per room at each hotel. I found this interesting in that they related back to the financial statements to show the impact it will have there, even though they are still growing and expecting to build new hotels this year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/02/12/big-data-35-brilliant-and-free-data-sources-for-2016/#59ae3c2e6796

The article above highlights some credible and useful open data sources that new companies or even existing companies can utilize in their business strategies. The article states that these companies do not necessarily have to conduct their own research or acquire their own data because there are many sources out there that already provide the information they are looking for. This is cost effective and efficient. I found it interesting that Facebook, the New York Times, and Google can be utilized this way.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/new-england-patriots-cleveland-browns-rob-gronkowski-draft-record-021816
The article that I chose is interesting to me because I am a fan of the NFL and the New England Patriots. This article analyzes the Patriots’ and Browns’ draft picks since 2010. It shows the Patriots’ and Browns’ actual draft picks and better options that were available. The point is that the Patriots’ drafted better players in the early rounds than the Browns’ did which is why they are a better team.

Marco Rubio’s Paid Family Leave Plan May Not Work

I chose this article because just today, my environment class was talking about the fact that the US is one of the very few developed countries to not give mandatory paid leave. While some countries give parents six to eighteen months off, it is not infrequent for American workers to spend mere weeks off after having a child. I find the data within this article compelling; it gives me hope that since so many people, regardless of party, want more paid leave that we may progress towards legislating more paid leave.

China Is Splurging On Big-Name Soccer Talent

This article shares data relating to the professional soccer league in China known as the Chinese Soccer League (CSL). The piece reveals figures of the increased popularity of the CSL and how this has affected the money that the league has spent on players in recent times. For example, the most recent season saw a record total attendance of 5 million people and a record purchase of a single player who cost $55 million. I found this article interesting because I am a huge soccer fan and have been following the incredible situation of the CSL closely.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/apple-says-the-government-bungled-its-chance-to-hack-that-iphone/

This article explains the recent news sensation regarding the connection between apple and the San Bernardino shooting. Just on Friday, Apple issued a message to the public saying that they would never compromise the relationship between apple and its consumers to provide the U.S government with unauthorized information. Since the alleged shooter changed the password of his apple id while it was in the possession of the U.S government, no information could be obtained. After apple provided the government with steps of how to crack the phone, and the government tried and failed, Apple and the U.S govt. are now in a major dispute over hacking the phone, because the government did not keep that information confidential. Whether the government will be able to hack the phone is questionable, but Apple will not comply unless legally forced to.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/20/superman-memory-crystal-lets-you-store-360tb-worth-of-data.html
The Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton discovered what they call the “Superman Memory Crystal.” The crystal can store 360TB of data and has a near unlimited lifetime at room temperature. Researchers believe it could store up to 14 billion years of data. Organizations with a lot of data such as libraries or museums could use this storage device for their data.

Kris Dunn’s Improvisational Brilliance Is Good For Providence — And For College Basketball

The article I discovered on FiveThirtyEight is one that I particularly enjoy; college basketball. This article discusses the recent play of Providence point guard Kris Dunn, a player who I pray that the 76ers get in the upcoming draft in June. The article touches on topics of his assist to turnover ratio, a very important statistic for point guards as they are the primary ball distributors for each team. The article uses a scatter plot to compare Dunn’s play from this season and last season, as well as every other point guard on a college team. The scatter plot and background information allow the reader to understand that the amount of turnovers by Dunn has decreased significantly, a strong sign of development in the young player. The article further discusses how Dunn will continue to improve on his assist to turnover ratio as he ages and develops.

No One Can Agree How Much The Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans Will Cost

The line chart in this article shows the dramatic decline in big work stoppages. This chart implies both positive and negative connotation. On one hand, many workers seem to be more satisfied with their jobs and don’t want to stop working anymore. On the other hand, it also shows the deteriorating relationship of union membership which was one thought to be a really strong relationship to help protect the rights of the workers.

The Impact Of Every NBA All-Star, Ranked

I thought that this ranking system was very interesting after the All Star Weekend. I find that using data to rank athletes is easier to understand for a vast group of people due to the fact that you can’t argue with the numbers. Not only did they rank them by how they play, but how they play in important parts of the game, which is the most interesting to myself, seeing how your favorite player is doing when the game is on the line.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/see-how-your-states-temperature-is-changing-160218.htm
I found this article about changes in weather by state to be very interesting. Everyone seems to be talking about the warmer winter we have been experiencing this year, as opposed to the brisk winter’s of the past. The article also has an appealing display of its data. A color-coded map, indicates which states are experiencing the most and least warming every season. This display makes the data easier to understand and more appealing to analyze.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/80c3164e-d644-11e5-8887-98e7feb46f27.html

I found this article to be quite informative as well as important for all of the technologically-orientated individuals across the United States. This article discusses the “future” of technology and technological innovation. Most individuals across the U.S. are heavily pre-occupied and worried about the latest updated “news feeds” or strong WiFi connection, and it is a disgrace. Data is provided in this article that discusses how the majority of nation-wide technological advancement occurred within this past century, and mentions various different viewpoints on whether or not we, as a country, have reached a technological peak or not. I really liked how this article provides an insight on how future generations to come will handle technological advancement, or even technological regression.

Why It’s So Hard To Prove Zika Is Causing Birth Defects

The Zika virus has been a very talked about topic in frequent months. This article talks about why it’s so hard to prove that the Zika virus caused the outbreak of Microcephaly. Microcephaly is a congenital birth defect associated with incomplete brain development. This article also suggests that confirming if the two are really linked together can take months of research, if not years. Although the connection between the Zika virus and Microcephaly remains circumstantial, data is suggesting that the two are closely related.

http://www.dataversity.net/improving-the-supply-chain-with-big-data-analytics/

Here is an article concerning the use of data in supply chains around the world, and how key the idea of big data is in this particular sector of business. The article describes how nearly all supply chain managers are aware of how important big data is and how it may impact their company positively, but out of the managers interviewed, only 17% actually are implementing big data currently. It is quite surprising to me to see resources unused and to understand that these managers are in some ways sitting on a gold mine! The link in the article is also useful, as it shows how SCM can use big data to increase their effectiveness as a business. This short article has quite a powerful method.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/us/san-bernardino-shooter-phone-apple-reaction/

This article is about how the FBI wants Apple to hack the phone of the San Bernadino shooter to uncover data that is in his phone. I thought this was really interesting because the data in the phone is very important but Apple believes that hacking into the phone and creating a backdoor option would give hackers an easier time into hacking other people’s phone. This article is definitely about data and privacy and if data should tried to be access at all costs if it is considered to be very important.

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
I have always wondered how many people use social medias nowadays. Then, I found out this article, which basically shows the statistics of people using social networking. I was surprised to figure out that between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet users ages 18-29 jumped from 9% to 49%, which shows the rapid impact of social networking to human. This article helps me a lot in my understanding such as 71% of online adult using Facebook, women uses more cell phone than men or 46% of adult internet users post original photos or videos online that they themselves have created. I found those statistics really appealing and helpful.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/19/us/2015-year-in-weather-temperature-precipitation.html#philadelphia_pa
This website shows the range of temperature of different cities in 2016. It would help people and families to make travel plans avoiding the places where are too hot or too cold. Also, it can help the clothing company to make their business plans on publishing seasonal clothes at different times in different cities.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/19/apple-fbi-privacy-encryption-fight-san-bernardino-shooting-syed-farook-iphone

The article is talking about Apple’s attitude on sharing their customers’ information in the iPhones. They believe that the privacy should be protected but the FBI wanted the information to help them in a crime. I think it is interesting because it is a debatable issue on human rights. Many points of view can be occuring from a different perspective. And the conflict of interest will help correct errors to make the system more perfect.

Hollywood’s Diversity Problem Goes Deeper Than The Oscars

I remember reading a U.S. census report stating how there won’t be a majority group by 2050. Given that statistics, you would expect more of a diverse film industry. However, the link informs how Hollywood is pretty much white. The data collected from 2013 and 2014 shows the ethnicity of speaking roles and directors, which is below 30% and 15% respectively. Hopefully, we will see an increase in those numbers to represent more of the U.S. population.

The Warriors’ Odds Of Going 73-9

The Warriors’ Odds Of Going 73-9
The article discusses the warriors’ Odds of Going 73-9, which will break the “96 Bulls” record. (72-10). In the article, it introduces a new and different rating system, called CARM-Elo. The system allows good (or bad) runs of play in the simulations to inform a team’s simulated strength through the rest of the simulated season. The article in traduces so much data, including Curry’s 646 3-point attempts, 3-point-percentage season, 3-point from 30 feet or more, average percentage assists per game. From these important data, we think that the Warriors will break the record finally! We will get the final answer in April, and I look forward to that day.

Republican-Leaning Cities Are At Greater Risk Of Job Automation

This article interest me because it talks about how technology affects people’ jobs that computers and robots replace people’ works. Because of automation, “routine” and “non-routine” jobs are most at risk, the employment rate and wage are both affected. However, automation like other technological innovations can creates new jobs while making the old one out-of date. It is still hard to see how will automation really influence people’ life.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-big-data-future-has-arrived-1456184869
The article discusses how big data is becoming more and more important and impactful to various aspects of human life. Big data is predicted to profoundly transform our experiences of daily life in an incredible way. While acknowledging that there are certain challenges to overcome, the author of the article shows strong belief that big data could be the decisive factor to our future.

http://www.amny.com/weather/nyc-weather-wind-advisory-and-heavy-rain-predicted-1.11497892

There is an article about NYC weather: Wind advisory and heavy rain predicted. In this article I am interesting about how heavy this rain will be. I have plan to go there and I want to know how long it is raining. According to the article, there are lots of number to describe the rain and what the result the wind will bring to the city. Actually, I care about is what advises the experts give me if I will to there in Tuesday. In addition, I want to know the temperatures changes that was influenced by this weather. There is also the information about degrees of the temperatures.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/survey-says-many-surveys-about-one-five-may-contain-fraudulent-data
This article was interesting to me because it focused on the fact that the data found on surveys may not be as reliable as people think. Many companies utilize surveys to check customer satisfaction, interests, etc., but that data could be skewed. I feel like it is important to realize that not all news sources are legitimate, and not all statistics are either. This fabricated data could be affecting surveys worldwide, but hopefully the amount of surveys that are falsified can be identified.

Rich Kids Stay Rich, Poor Kids Stay Poor

I found this article incredibly interesting, as it laid claim to the fact that children growing up in wealthy households will have not only a much higher employment rate throughout there lives (on average), but also a higher earnings rate. In addition the study had shown that children brought up in less wealthy families were less likely to attend college (especially men), and children who grew up in households with married parents tended to earn more money than those who grew up in separated families. This is a very interesting topic of debate because it shows that even in America, there may not be the same “land of opportunity” for all, and affluence can play a vital role in the level of success one is able to achieve.

How You Will Die

I stumbled upon the article “How You Will Die” and I could not help but stop and immediately open it. For the first time, I read about someone attempting to predict a person’s death based on age, race, and sex. Not only that, but they also showed specific causes of death and proceeded to show the percentages of how many people past that same way. I found it interesting to see the significant amount of change as people became older. It was obvious more health-related problems are associated with greater age.

https://www.isidewith.com/2016-republican-primary-poll/801555698/9333312

This website shows the estimated poll results for Idaho one of the next states to vote in the primary. I find this interesting as it shows who is likely going to win the state and receive the delegates for the nomination. Whoever wins this becomes one step-closer to becoming their respected parties nominee.

Having a solid understanding of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel is critical to my current role. Before last summer, I did not know how to use the format painter tool; I now save time using the tool almost every time I go into work.

My boss’s old boss, Maureen, used to approve the documents I created before they could be shared. She also approved the budget to keep me working with the company throughout the school year. We went to the same high school and got along well. She was a good person to have on my side. In November, she moved to the HR department.

My internship has made me use both outlook (with meetingplanner) and excel a whole lot. I have done things with excel that I did not even know were possible before I started here. I have also gained a very thorough comprehension of our P2P system here. I sit right next to our P2P support team and it is very nice to have them on my side because they are always right there if I have any questions (which I have a lot of).

My internship has made me utilize both outlook (with meetingplanner) and excel a whole lot. I have done things with excel that I did not even know were possible before I started here. I have also gained a very thorough comprehension of our P2P system here. I sit right next to our P2P support team and it is very nice to have them on my side because they are always right there if I have any questions (which I have a lot of).

I found that some of the most important people for my internship are the other interns. Originally, I focused on networking with my supervisor and other employees. However, talking to the other interns really helps me understand the people I will be working with outside of college. On top of that, these are the people who I see and work with on a daily basis now.

My internship also really made me value Excel even more. Excel seems to be the lynchpin of the modern workplace.

The most important skills I have discovered during my internship are Excel, organization, and the ability to work with a team. I use Excel to create a lot of reports on a daily basis and use tools on Excel I seldom used prior to this internship. My supervisor has been very helpful in teaching me things about Excel that I didn’t know. With so many projects that need to be done, I learned that organization is key to success at my internship. I have a small whiteboard at my desk where I write down everything that needs to get done and it helps me stay organized. A lot of assignments and projects I do usually involve at least one other person, so I learned communication with your team is critical in order to get anything done.

The person that I want to be on my side (and has been on my side) is my co-worker, Molly. Since I started working at Subaru in June, I have worked with her on most projects. Along the way, she pretty much became a mentor for me. She’s helped me start and add to my portfolio, helped introduce me to people within the company that I normally don’t work with on a daily basis, and tries to get me to be involved on more rewarding projects that an Intern normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to work on. She also graduated Fox a few years ago and knows exactly what I’m going through so she has helped me tremendously with advice on school and post-graduation plans.

Yes, as the other students have explained, Excel is very important (at least for my position) in the workplace. I was even thinking today that I wish I could go back and take the Excel course again to refresh my memory. What I learned in that class would be VERY valuable right now! However, just by searching Google and playing around with Excel I have shortened the amount of time it takes for me to complete projects. Also, in terms of important people, I found it was important to get the head of my department’s secretary on my side. She helped squeeze me into his schedule when I had to schedule meetings with him to review projects I was working on. If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve never found time to meet with him.

Effective communication is a vital skill that I have discovered is needed at my internship. I needed to clearly and succinctly communicate my ideas or problems to others whether this was through email, Skype, or in person. It is also important to be willing to learn new skills. During my time at AZ, I had to learn how to use a data migration tool called SnapLogic. I also had to learn how Apigee, an API tool, in order to complete my assignments. My manager Don and the other interns have been vital to my success. Whenever I needed help, I went to these people and they are always willing to help me out.

In addition to Microsoft Excel as others have explained, I would have to say Microsoft Visio has been a helpful tool that I used on a daily basis during my internship. From time to time, I had to generate reports using Excel and create process flow diagrams using Visio. Some important business skills I discovered to be important were effective communication, the ability to work independently and on a team, and networking. During my internship, my supervisor Jane has been the person who has helped me both academically and professionally in more ways than I could explain. She is a great mentor and someone I definitely would want by my side.

Hey Alex, I also used the meetingplanner tool in outlook a lot during my internship. It made scheduling large meetings a lot easier! I ended up using it on a daily basis to set appointments and find available conference rooms.

The 3 most important skill that i have learned throughout my experiences with Comcast is to have the ability to multitask in a fast past environment, a high attention to detail, the ability to network effectively. There will be so many times where i am working on multiple projects at once, and it is crucial that i have the ability to prioritize and complete all of my tasks on time. Because the tax space, within Comcast, is so fast pace, and an intern could be working on 5 or more different projects at once, so it can become very easy to become lost in your work. Having the ability to be detail oriented when working will help to reduce mistakes and errors when completing work. Finally, although I may be very busy working within my department, it is critically important that i create and reserve time to meet with senior leaders, build my brand, and network to understand the business better and open doors for new opportunities.

I have found that, when working in a large corporation, such as Comcast, you are always going to want an HR contact that is in your corner, and will work to find new opportunities and open doors that will lead to a successful future. It is important to keep in contact with these people and meet with them regularly to share your experiences, talk about your internship, or just catchup on whats new. You never know when you will need these people to work behind the scenes in your favor.

For technical side, I started to use ApplicantStack last Friday. It is a software that helping business better streamline their hiring process through technology. It is new for me. I have to learn fast. For business side, I had my first meeting last Friday. One of my coworkers has a good soft skills about summarizing meeting by hand note. She is very effective and productive. She gave everyone a very organized summary of meeting after ten minutes by printing version. I thought it it a good skills both in the future job and the academic class. For now, my supervisor helps me a lot. When I need to help, she is always willing to help me out.

A theme that is constantly harped on to me by my superiors are intangibles I can carry with me in my future endeavors. Knowing how to act professionally, contributing consistent and quality work, and acting as the member of a team are all intangible attributes I have learned and hope to exhibit to my future employers. As for business, I have taken my knowledge from previous MIS classes to impress members of my team by working extensively with Excel, which is a large part of what I do. Many of the skills I use have either been learned in the classroom or required minimal instruction, and I feel that the company does an excellent job of easing its associates into work that they may have little or no experience doing.
Someone that I interact with periodically and I like having on my side is the Talent Acquisition Specialist, because I have been looking for other positions within the company that I can potentially work in post-graduation. Having a working rapport with her and other members of my team is beneficial because of the mutual gain both sides receive. While I will hopefully find a job within the company by the time I graduate in May, the company gets the positive reputation of assisting its associates through the intern program into full-time roles, which will make it a more attractive and competitive company for students to apply. It is also always a good thing for me to network through her and my other coworkers because of places they have worked and people they know at other companies.

By far the most important skills to have when starting the Staff 1 position is Excel and communication skills. Every Staff 1 and Staff 2 that I talked to said a majority of their work is done in excel and that they wish they had learned how to use it more thoroughly in college. Pivot tables, conditional formatting, charts, tables, and sparklines are all great tools for data analysis which is a major part of auditing. I was impressed by how many staff members could use excel without using a mouse or even without using menu/tool bars because they had the shortcuts ingrained in their minds from using the software so often. Communication is of course useful to any business professional no matter what company you work for. It is essential as an intern to come in with good communication skills so that you can give your supervisor periodic updates on what you’re working on, when you expect to be done, are you having any difficulties, do you have any questions, etc. This lets them know you are engaged in the activity and shows them you have a sense of accountability. A good communication tip I learned is that if you have any questions about an assignment/task it is best for you to write them all down and then ask them all at the same time. The reason for this is so it doesn’t seem as though you’re interrupting you’re supervisor with frequent questions, as they have their own work to complete.

The technology that I heavily rely on at my internship is the use of Microsoft access. I use access for a wide array of functions, such as, database management, form creation, and document allocation. Before my job I never explored Access in depths, which is why I spent a lot of time learning and experimenting with its many functions. The employee that is one of the most essential to me and my success with accolade is our senior IT person. He has been the most insightful stakeholder during my internship because he offered technical and functional information. He is very tech savvy and assisted me with technical training, such as, Access and Excel. Also, he was one of the employees that was with the association before Accolade’s acquisition and offered a lot of use full information on its operation.

The most important skills that I have discovered at my internship was definitely communication and the ability to work independently as well as on a team. The people I worked with were much older than me and have been there for years, so I can say that all of them had the communication skills. One skill that I gained from my experience is multitasking. ACE Group was in the middle of an acquisition so it was very busy. I was given multiple tasks at one time and needed to finish them at a certain time. In addition, the ability to work in a changing environment is something I’ve gained. Again, because Chubb was acquiring ACE Group, everything was changing. Everyone was busy doing their tasks and getting things done in order to comply with the acquisition. So, most of the time, I had to work independently. One person that I would want on my side was Sherry. She’s an older woman who has been working at ACE for long time. She knew everything there is to know about the company and knew who to contact. She was close with my supervisor, which is definitely a plus since she’d talk to my very busy supervisor whenever I needed something.

One of the most important skills for me during this internship is effective client communication. As a consultant, there’s a constant need to both internal communication (task management, priorities, etc) and external communication (requirements gathering, reporting, questions, etc). I have needed to hone my communication strategy for both of these groups. For example, a question about an issue on a project usually requires a different answer, depending on if the person asking the question is my boss or the client. Other than that, I have needed to continue working on being able to quickly pick up, analyze, and discuss technology that might be new to me. A recent example from my internship was having to learn about a client’s use of Salesforce, a CRM, and a proprietary project management software. I needed to quickly learn about how all of these currently work and how they can be improved in order to increase the overall marketing workflow.

Hey Theo, I had never used Visio before my internship started but I have learned it is a good tool to use. It makes explaining ideas in meetings much easier and is certainly a lot prettier than my handwriting on a whiteboard.

The most important skills that i have learned throughout my internship experience with AmeriHealth Caritas were: High level attention to important detail, ability to multitask on numerous test cases while working in a high paced environment. Some software skills that I acquired while working there was using: HP Quality Center, ITSM, RapidSQL. Microsoft Access was one thing which I loved using, it became easier because of my SQL experience in the past. The most important person that I met at my internship was the CEO, Paul Tufano. During Christmas Eve, he was going around to everyone and thanking them for their services. Some skills which I did not have was which HPQC and VbScript. These were two skills which I learned at an advanced level. Some people that I wanted to have on my side were the people of QA Apps 1 ans 2. All of the team members were extremely helping and thought me things about the company culture and about QA which I couldn’t have learned anywhere else.

I learned important business and technical skills over a very short period of time in the beginning of my internship. By far, the most integral skill I was able to hone was my ability to ask the right questions. This helped me quickly build relationships with peers and superiors, and showed that I was thoroughly invested in the company I was working for. From a technical standpoint, I learned to double and triple check all work that I had completed. Sending vital information to seasoned veterans of one of the largest companies in the world can be a bit stressful. Making sure that all of my submissions were error proof helped relieve this stress, made me more confident in my work, and improved the overall quality of my work as well. As I worked week by week, I learned that I must make my best effort to take initiative on any and all tasks that fall on my lap. Sometimes, days can be long, and it seems as though there is not much work to be done. However, this is typically far from the truth. There is always work that can be done. Therefore, I realized it was up to me to consistently ask those around me if there was anything at all I could help with. This kept me busy and helped each and every day go by quickly. By showing this initiative, I was able to mold relationships with many important individuals throughout the company. Since the culture of Comcast was so collaborative, there was no one in particular that I wanted to align myself with. I tried to get on everyone’s good side, and got to know all of my co-workers better as a result.

The most important skill that I learned for my internship was how to use SalesForce Marketing Cloud. About half of my assigned projects include this tool. I use it to create HTML and templated emails for marketing campaigns that we send out to our customers. It’s a great tool to use to analyze marketing campaigns in terms of open rate, click rate, etc. Also, it links to our SalesForce CRM system so it’s easy to create subscriber lists for each particular email campaign. I had never used it prior to this internship so it was difficult in the beginning. After some training from my manager, I got a good grasp of all of the features. Besides my manager, the VP on my team was somebody who I wanted on my side and luckily for me, it happened. She’s always tasked me with challenging projects, which has been really enjoyable and educational. She’s always included me in meetings, events, business trips, and more. It’s given me a really good understanding of the business.

While working at my internship I’ve noticed 2 types of workers with different skill sets but both connected to the success of one another. The first type of worker are the salesmen and women, they all are very high energy and focused on making the big bucks. They have to be highly persuasive, and able to read the customer and attempt to navigate every conversation to a sale. The other main type of worker are the sales support divisions which have to gather the sales lead data, clean existing data, and analyze different leads in order to provide leverage to the sales team. An important skill for the sales support operations division is to understand the sales process in order to know what kind of information may make the lead “hotter” when it hits the sales floor. It is also important for them to be efficient and accurate in this so data processing is another good skill to possess with this position.

Data analytic skills are some of the most important skills that I discovered necessary in my internship. Not only did a lot of my projects center around data analysis, but I was often included in emails of a variety of reports. Rather than asking other people what the reports meant each time I always took the time to do a deep dive of the report and decipher as much as a I could. Often there were department specific phrases/codes/formulas that I ultimately asked someone what they mean to better understand the data. By taking the initiative to first understand it myself I not only strengthened my data analysis skills but gained a better understanding of what has currently happening in the company and be able to apply that knowledge in future conversations and projects.

I discovered how crucial it was to have people from Corporate on my side (I worked in a regional office down the street from corporate). There are certain types of more classified information that only a few members of the company are allowed to pull, and only from corporate. Regional offices can request this data from corporate through a group mailbox request, but it can take a few days to get the information. One of my colleagues set up an introduction with people from the Corporate HR team. This enabled me to directly request reports if they were urgent, and in general establish rapport with people from that group. This made it much easier to keep open lines of communication regarding data pulls or data integrity errors to ensure quick and accurate receipt of the data reports I needed.

The most important skill that my experience at SEI has taught me is the ability to use the company’s SharePoint site to find and upload different documents and procedures. Once I learned how to navigate and operate the SharePoint site I was able to start answering my own questions and relying less on my manager for advice and help. Besides my boss, there is another employee who has helped me exponentially. He is a co-worker on my Business Intelligence team that has been working at the company for 15+ years. He has been able to help me with things such as teaching me how to submit a project for approval, granting me permission to certain parts of the SharePoint that I needed access to, getting me on projects that I had interest in, and even just giving me insights on other employees at the company. By having him on my side he has helped me excel at SEI.

One important take away from Maurice Whetstone’s talk was that data is not useful unless you know how to look at it and ask the right questions. He discussed how when he worked at Lenox he realized a huge problem in that none of their customers who were buying silver were buying silver polish. This had been in the data for months, but until he looked at it and asked the right questions about what the data was saying, Lenox was losing money on potential sales of millions of dollars. This ties back to class in that we have to learn to understand the data and the meaning of the columns in order for the data to be valuable. Otherwise, we just have a whole bunch of numbers that do not have any meaning to us.

The most important information I took away from Maurice Whetstone’s talk was that one of the most important roles of a company’s IT department is taking data and applying it to other functions of a business. Applying data to other business functions can significantly improve a business’s success. Raw data can be insignificant, but it’s the clean, analyzed and applied data that contributes to a company’s success. You can use data to help you decide what products to continue selling or in Mr. Whetstone’s case, decide how long to keep a product on air for.

I was fascinated by Mr. Whetstone’s story about how his team was able to assist the broadcasters with the actual selling of items. By analyzing the data in real time, they were able to influence the consumers and increase sales. They were able to satisfy both their wants and needs as well as those of their customers. This applies directly to Customer Relationship Management by acquiring the necessary information to know a consumer and be able to provide an item they are destined to like. They are ultimately able to market directly to the consumers using this data and acquire them as a lifetime asset. This relates back to class because the data was out there, we just need to learn how to use it to our advantage.

Maurice Whetstone gave a very informative presentation on the applications of the material we have been learning in class. The most interesting topic that he mentioned was QVC’s acquirement of Zulily. This was part of an attempt to generate more returning customers, specifically in the younger generation. This directly relates to the personalization of web content that we discussed in class. QVC wants to make their webpage more personalized to each individual to retain their customers. By collecting data on what the customers search on their website, QVC will be able to cater to individuals rather than the general public.

The most important part of Maurice’s presentation for me was his explanation of the different areas of QVC’s data science department. Data management, business intelligence, and data analytics are all separate but when making decisions with data, they have to come together. I never really thought about whether or not data science could be separated into departments and used in varied ways. Maurice explained that in order to be useful, data has to go through many different processes and be looked at in different lighting. I enjoyed his use of the term “data nugget”, as well.

Maurice’s presentation was more so a review of things that I have learned both on the job and through my schooling. I did learn about how QVC was leveraging data to improve its company though. I found it really interesting that they were concerned with data by the minute. When I worked in the oil industry we never looked at any data by the minute but always by the day. In class we have been provided data sets over a much longer period of time than a minute. I think it is neat that QVC analyzes data in minute intervals but also understand it is not good for all companies to try to emulate that. For example smaller companies wouldn’t analyze sales volume by the minute because they don’t have a high volume of sales and there wouldn’t be enough data.

In my opinion, the most important takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday was the verification of trustworthy data. Knowing whether data is credible or not is extremely important to the success of an organization. If data is not credible and verified, it can potentially lead to further issues down the road. Additional research should always be performed to confirm that data is both accurate and trustworthy. Verified data will maximize both efficiency and success for all organizations.

Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday was very interesting and one thing he said definitely stood out to me. He talked about the importance of trusting data but also verifying it. If everyone trusted data without verifying it first, there could be major errors in it which could set a company behind. One specific example that Whetstone mentioned, as to how data is used to make decisions, is when he said that QVC is now seeing questions that potential customers could have about a product via social media and telling the person on TV to address that question live.

In my opinion, I think the most important piece of information that I took away from Maurice’s presentation was his life’s philosophy of “trust but verify”. He explained to us the importance of verifying information in reference to data, because without verifying, many data sets can be biased or flat out incorrect. However, I think this philosophy can and should be applied in all other aspects of our lives, because we often believe everything we see to be true as long as the information “makes sense”, or comes from what we believe to be a reliable source. Maurice explained that human error exists in nearly every piece of data, so we should verify everything we read, hear, see, or do before believing it to be accurate.

One takeaway that I got from Maurice Whetstone’s presentation was how often data is analyzed in a business setting. His example of how QVC analyzes tweets about their live shows to help them determine what information the presenter should relay to the audience was very interesting. Clearly, QVS is constantly using data to give themselves an advantage. This relates to class in that we have learned about the importance of pinpointing useful data that can be utilized to make an impact.

Maurice Whetstone’s lecture was really useful and interesting, it indicated the importance of exploring the data by giving some specific examples. His example of the silver and the silver polish shows that the data cannot make any change by itself, the importance and the use of it only appears when a person realize what information it shows. Another example of the eyeliner shows us that plenty of datasets from different aspects are needed for one product. His lecture made me realize that data plays an important role in many different fields; however, we need to find it and analyze it to make it helpful.

There were a lot of useful stuffs that I could take away from the presentation of Maurice Whetstone on Thursday. One of them was when he explained about how QVC worked with data, how the company efficiently used the data and the different areas that contained the company. Various areas of data science with different positions; however, they all used data as the necessary tool in order to make decisions. From the presentation, I have had the much closer look on how data is used and managed in the real life. I could find some information that he talked related to what I have learned in class including metadata or open data.

I learned a lot from Mr. Whetstone’s presentation on Thursday. The most interesting aspect for me was the timeframe that he looks at data. From what I have heard so far in school, most people look at data by the month or by the year, while QVC is looking at it by the minute. I learned that when you are in the broadcast field, you need to look at the data and make split second decisions on what you will be showing on air to maximize your profits and revenue.

The presentation given by Maurice Whetstone was very interesting and easily grasped my attention. I really liked how Maurice gave countless real-world examples about data in the workplace. One of the things that really stuck with me after I left the classroom was how important data is to QVC, especially in terms of security. For companies that use traditional brick-and-mortar stores, data isn’t as important to them as it is to QVC, a company with countless amounts of data and information. With information in their database that includes so much personal information such as address, e-mails, and credit card numbers, he really emphasized how important data security is to a company like QVC. I was glad he touched on the topic of data security and how important it is QVC.

I believe that Maurice provided the class with some very powerful information concerning the use of data on a corporate level. First and foremost, data seems to be under-used in the business world, as there are many correlations that are often overlooked for companies that could easily improve their business processes just by analyzing data. I found it especially interesting that his QVC data was analyzed by the minute, which is something that not many companies do. His example with that information from QVC was key in showing us as a class how much the data truly matters, as Maurice showed that one can see its impact in real time!

The thing that took me away in Maurice’s talk is the fact that QVC looks at its data every minute, finds out how they work in that one minute, and change immediately, if there is something wrong. Usually, in most traditional companies, data will not be available until the end of a day, week, or month. If something is causing losses during the period, there may be little anyone can do to to minimize the damage and to come up with alternative plan to improvise the situation. His talk connects with the materials in the class in the actionable characteristic of data: People can based on data to predict the future, decide based on it and achieve the best outcomes.

The most important takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday was that data are valuable assets to a company. With data, we can draw reliable conclusions and make more accurate decisions. Data are collected through the help of technology but that does not mean everything is automated. We need humans to turn data (as raw and unorganized facts) into meaningful information for decision making. The point of the role of humans was emphasized in both Maurice’s talk and our class discussion.

For me, the most essential takeaway from Mr. Whetstone’s talk is how one approaches data is sometimes more important than the data one can collect. One great example is QVC’s effort to standardize data sets and metadata so that it is easily understood by all of its analysts across the world. Another memorable example is Mr. Whetsone’ story about how he distinguished himself by identifying something others have not found out. He did not gather more data. He found a different way to read it, asked a new question, and revealed that a product line had the potential to be profitable. In the modern world where we are inundated with data, in order to make use of them all, we must learn how to look at them critically.

One key point that I took away from Mr. Whetstone’s talk was how each business is unique in how they manage and collect their data. Mr. Whetstone told us about how QVC is unique in that they collect data and analyze it by the hour or the minute versus the day because that is what’s best for the company. They use this method of analyzing the data to see where products are selling the most and when to take them down. This was very interesting because QVC is such a successful company and the methods they use to analyze big data are so important and unique to them.

The most important takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday that I received was when he discussed the blindness behind QVC in regards to their lack of sterling silver polish sales. This past Thursday, the 28th of January, Maurice went into detail about their astronomical sales and profits through their silver jewelry alone, and pointed out that consumers were buying QVC’s jewelry, while using another company’s polish. It is quite clear that this fostered a wasted opportunity to make an even larger profit, which made Maurice dig through the sales data in QVC’s jewelry to further reassure himself. Knowing that QVC would greatly profit from sales in polish, Maurice addressed his coworkers, which eventually led to QVC selling polish in the near future. This specific situation that Maurice told our class taught me that not only is data constantly changing, but that data continuously needs to be overlooked, and that data can always be improved. Data can never be assumed.

The biggest takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk is the concept of “trust but verify”. He wants us to understand that all data may seem credible at first glance but not to just assume it to be right but instead verify it just to make sure that what you are looking at is accurate. There have been many instances where people didn’t want to take the extra mile to verify the data and that led to many failures down the road. It is better to take the time to double check everything than face the consequences for not. Verifying data to make it more trustworthy and credible will make a company more efficient and successful.

I found Maurice Whetstone’s presentation to be very interesting and I received very valuable information from him. One key point I believe was very insightful was that all data is a valuable asset to a company. QVC has to manage, organize, and analyze their data in a specific way to take control of the high volume of data that is coming in every hour. With the data they collect they can make key decisions, for example whether or not to keep a product on the air for another five minutes or take it off. I believe these valuable conclusions can make or break a business. They company needs to know how they are performing at all times and ultimately if they are making money.

A significant takeaway I learnt from Maurice Whetstone’s presentation on Thursday was how much studying and questioning data can affect a certain company. The talk from Maurice Whetstone strengthen the believe that these days, where we live in a world revolved around a lot of information and data, data is very precious and can be used to make important business decisions. His example of studying live data while a QVC show was running shows how if we observe data critically, we can make decisions that would benefit the company. This reflects how important data is and how we can generate a simple data set into something valuable just by questioning the data and exploring it deeper, which is what we learned in class.

One important fact that I took away from Maurice Whetstone’s presentation was his own philosophy “Trust but Verify”. This is a very key concept since not all data can be trusted and the facts behind it must be confirmed. In order to fully trust a source of data it is often good to test that data to see if it comes up in any other instances in order to filter out “bad” data which would help validate the information which a source produces.

Hi Nicholas.
I believe this actually happened when he was at Lenox not QVC. You are correct in the overall message though.

Mr. Maurice Whetstone’s was truly the epitome of someone who loves his occupation. Not only is he very knowledgeable in his field, he was able to paint a vivid picture of just exactly what must be done browsing through the countless amounts of data everyday. His favorite saying “trust but verify” resonates loudly with everything in life, but it also helps to better understand that not all data sources are credible or reliable. His stories of different experiences with well-known companies were phenomenal and his energy/passion is obviously a key factor. You can definitely tell he enjoys his job (and the retail discounts as well, just like anyone else).

Maurice Whetstone’s presentation let me saw the strength of data. People are influenced a lot by data, so the most important thing is to make sure you are not fooled by the data or give other the wrong messages. You should have your own opinions about the data you get, and think it critically. But never doubt everything, because the data is changing and changing with the time going by. Hold the opportunity accurately.

Maurice Whetstone’s presentation let me saw the strength of data. People are influenced a lot by data, so the most important thing is to make sure you are not fooled by the data or give other the wrong messages. You should have your own opinions about the data you get, and think it critically. But never doubt everything, because the data is changing and changing with the time going by. Hold the opportunity accurately.

One of the most important thing witch I learn from the presentation given by Maurice Whetstone is that the importance of data to make business success. There is no doubt that data is increasing significant in business activities today. Though data itself is not useful, companies can make right desicions and satisfy consumers by analysing them. Once you can using data appropriately, they can make huge value for you.

I think the most important takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday was how data mediums and measurements are always changing and growing. Data is heavy stored and pieced together like a puzzle almost to where it is pertinent. For instance, he spoke about huge data storage facilities to which data is looked over maybe days or weeks later after it’s initial collection. From there, the data may become useful in some form for some future project. Maurice covered it in his presentation and you made a point to say that it wasn’t planned, but metadata. Everything is really data of something was my biggest take away in relation to lecture.

I think Maurice Whetstone’s presentation clearly demonstrated how important and essential data is for any business in terms of data mining, collecting, analyzing and preserving. His example of the silver and silver polish sales made clear how proper data recognizing and interpreting could make huge improvement to a company’s profit. His experience with the complicated and difficult process to access QVC data from German also stuck out for me. From Maurice’s talk, it’s clear that data if properly treated could be a huge asset to the business.

The biggest takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s presentation was that the importance of data. Because of the importance, the way they collected data was different from most other companies, for examples, Macy’s collected its data every day, however, QVC collected its data every minute. He also told us that how interesting and useful he found the data is; he found the fact that nobody has ever noticed by looking at the data…. All in all, from his speak, I learned how useful and important the data is.

The most important takeaway from Maurice Whetstone’s talk on Thursday is knowing the power of data. It is very useful and many things can be inferred from it. In a cmpany, the data can tell things like the preferences of products from customers, the efficiency of employees and the performance of a company to influence the fianl decision. It is also essential to know how to efficiently use the raw data. Definig the liability of data and not being biased by the data through sample researches are examples of what we learned in the lectures of using the data effectively.

The most important thing which I learn from the presentation of Maurice Whetstone is that the value of data. In this society, every walk of life needs to collection many of data to prove their opinions or ideas. All data are really important to a research. Such as a company uses data to prediction market and gives direction of the development tendency. But actually not every data is valuable of the research. Maurice Whetstone states that every walk of life needs to filter different kinds of data which are not valuable, then though the valuable data to analysis, conclusion and decision.

It took a while for me to figure out how to navigate the building, especially when I needed to find someone new. It’s also a great point you brought up about the bathroom, because our workplace has a passcode on the bathroom. That’s something you have to ask around for.

Those are minor things albeit important. I think the really challenging and critical information that you need to acquire is about people. As an intern, you come in with a certain mindset that may not reflect the workplace you are joining. It takes a few days or weeks to pick up on the subtleties about culture that are hard to quantify, such as work intensity and willingness to take lunch breaks. When working on projects, the work may be understandable but the information flow or how the work product is used by various teams takes time to understand. For that reason, internships can be challenging, as you need to learn all of these things to operate well, but you leave soon after you learn them.

Simple things that took a couple of weeks to really pick up at my place of work included learning how to book a room if I needed to schedule a meeting, learning that most people will not answer their phones so I have to IM them, and figuring out which parking lot was closest to where I sat in the building. Something that really took me by surprise was how extremely nice and cheerful everyone in my office is all of the time. It felt odd at first walking down the hallway of a $10 billion dollar corporation and casually saying “Good morning” to the CEO as I passed him on the way to my desk. Everyone is always in a good mood and not totally miserable. Very different than any of my other internships.

On my own, I had to discover the differing personalities of my coworkers. Some people are very interested in my life and sharing personal stories, while conversations with others are kept strictly to business. Some of my coworkers prefer mornings, while others work best in the afternoon. Understanding the dynamic of the team was definitely the most important thing I had to find out on my own when I began my internship.

Everyone I work with was very helpful in directing me to the bathrooms, coffee, printer, food, meeting rooms, etc.

Like David mentioned, it took me a while to learn how to navigate myself around the company. During the first week, I came into the office early so that I could experiment with the different parking lots and routes I can take to get to my office. Thankfully, my manager helped me a lot when he told me where the closest parking lot from our office was and the easiest way to get to my office. Additionally, the company culture took me a while to get used to. During the first week, everyone I met at AstraZeneca was so nice and willing to help me out that at first I thought the friendliness would only last about a week or two. However, I have found that the people I work with are all genuinely supportive and willing to help if I am stuck on something. Overall, the employees really helped me settle into my internship and I could not have been more thankful for this.

Yes, like Trevor, I have been at my company for quite a while now, since the beginning of summer. However, I still remember what it was like my first week at TMNAS this past summer. I had worked at a small accounting firm my freshman and sophomore summers and it was intimidating to come into a large company. As David mentioned, I did have to ask for the bathroom code which was strange and as Alex explained it was confusing to book a room. However, I think what was most confusing, the first week at my company, was navigating around the building. There are several meeting rooms on my floor and meeting rooms in the other two buildings where TMNAS’ other offices sit. For the first couple weeks I would be assigned to go to meetings and had no idea on where to go, so I had to ask. This was embarrassing but I asked one of the very friendly receptionists and she was happy to answer my questions!

I had to discover how relaxed the company culture is on my own. I work in Subaru’s Eastern Region office which is somewhat separate from Subaru’s national headquarters across the street. My office is very different culture-wise than many other corporations and even the national headquarters across the street. I remember my initial interview, I dressed business professional and I felt very over-dressed because everyone I interviewed with was wearing jeans and sneakers, even the person who became my supervisor. Everyone in my office is extremely relaxed and we often joke around with each other and it’s not all “business” all the time. It’s a company culture that I love and fits my personality perfectly. My co-workers don’t “look down on me” because I’m an intern, they all treat me like any other full-time employee. It was definitely shocking to learn how relaxed the company culture was but it was easy to adjust to.

Genesis Healthcare’s Central South East division that I worked in was housed in an old railroad building that at one point was also a shoe factory. It makes for some interesting architecture but very very confusing to navigate. Lots of snaking hallways and walking through the finance department to meet with a department head felt similar to being lost in a corn maze. I ended up having to always leave extra to travel within the building to meetings because it was so tricky to get from point A to point B. Something positive I discovered about Genesis was how friendly and open people were. By the end of my internship I was getting asked by our CHRO to attend weekly meetings discussing an upcoming merger. Despite feeling less important as intern I was shown nothing but respect and an eagerness to impart their wisdom or help me out in any way I needed. My boss used to say “Genesis is a large company that still acts like a small one”. There was a close sense between workers and departments and despite the size of the organization, top level executives and directors were meeting with me and assisting me in projects when needed. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Genesis and already miss my time there!

I am currently working at my third internship since I entered Temple, so I have been acclimated and exposed to different types of corporate environments. While it did not take very long for me to get used to life in a new building, it was a learning process learning and adapting to my coworkers’ style of work. I have worked on various projects with five other interns, the marketing department (consisting of about 20 people), and external vendors on projects. Working with people in various roles, companies, and age ranges has taught me a great deal about myself and what working style works best for me.
Another thing that took some getting used to was all of the words and phrases that arised in meetings between members of the organization and external vendors (ie. our digital agency). Since I would “shadow” my boss most days as part of my learning, I would take diligent notes and ask him questions about what was discussed, what acronyms stood for, and other advice-driven questions about what I can do to prepare myself for future meetings. I created an ongoing Excel spreadsheet full of acronyms for future interns and full-time associates to use as a reference, with the hope that they will not feel as lost as I did at the beginning of my employment.

One thing that took me awhile to learn was figuring out where all of the conference rooms were. Many of my days were filled with meetings that were located all over the building. It was very hard to remember where every room was located. I would carry around my 3 page map of the building so that I wouldn’t be late due to not knowing where to go. As soon as I got an idea of where every conference room was, the company expanded to the building next door and now I’m in the process of learning where every conference room is all over again.
Another important thing I had to learn was what all of the acronyms stood for. Everyone in the marketing department used acronyms for projects, events, other companies and organizations, etc. There were even acronyms that meant two different things. It seemed as though I’d never catch on, but after asking a lot of questions I now know what most of them mean.

At first glance, working in the tallest building in the entire city of Philadelphia can be a bit overwhelming. Knowing which set of elevators you can use to take to your floor; figuring out when and where you must present your id card; determining when it’s appropriate to go on lunch breaks, and where to get food; all of these are unknown on your first day with Comcast. What you will know immediately, however, is that everyone you are working with is right by your side to help. Your team will be friendly and welcoming. They will answer any questions you may have. And, as a result of the incredible corporate culture, as well as the artistically simplistic design of the building, and it will only take roughly a week to get the lay of the land while working in the Comcast Center. Certain aspects of the 9:00-5:00 grind need to be figured out on your own, such as the best food places around, or what means of transportation to and from work is most effective. Working for Comcast, employees are given a great deal of autonomy to run their own lives, with the trust placed in them that they will meet and exceed their employer’s expectations of them.

John, definitely explore the food court in the Comcast Center! It really has some great cuisines. I can definitely empathize with getting lost in these huge buildings which have different elevators for each floor.

Like many of my classmates, one of the first things I had to learn was the general layout of the building. I did not have a difficult time with this like others because of the size and location of my department. Our building is designed that all of the employees are grouped together by the association they manage, this layout made it a lot easier finding my way around. One of the biggest thing I had to quickly learn was the names of those in my department. I remember this being an important thing when getting adjusted because my first day I met over 30 people and on my second day I did not remember 30 names. I remember constantly asking others at my work the name of employees I rarely see.

When I began working at my job last summer the company had just moved into Indy Hall – a coworking space in Old City with about 200 members. Many are individual entrepreneurs or small teams, like my company. From the beginning, it has been a great experience working here. One interesting example is how and where to work. There are two types of desks – black desks for full time members and tan desks for part-time members. As a part-time member, I had a tan desk and would regularly move around to different desks. This allowed me to both interact with my team differently and meet other people. The whole working environment has been vastly different compared to other more traditional offices that I have worked in. Other than the workplace, getting used to the type of work I was doing was challenging. While I had experience in digital marketing from my past academic and work experiences, I had to learn a lot about SEO specifically. My boss regularly recommended blogs, case studies and other readings with tons of new information that I needed to start using right away.

Like most, one thing that I had to learn on my own was navigating the building. ACE Group’s building was structured a bit different than usual. There were 2 sets of elevators where both took you to the same floors and at the same time only one set led to different floors that the other elevators couldn’t. It took me a while to get used to which elevators took me to certain floors. In addition, booking rooms was another thing that I had to learn on my own. It was funny how one of my coworkers asked me to help her book certain rooms that she never learned how to book, even though she has been working there for a few years. I also learned how to communicate with different coworkers. Since ACE Group was transitioning into Chubb, my supervisors were extremely busy so I had to learn when and how to communicate with them without bothering them. Learning everyone’s names and there roles was another thing. It took me a while since I’m so bad with names but having everyone’s name on their cubicles and offices helped me alot. Everything else I learned with the help of my coworker, Sherry. She was extremely nice and so helpful. Everytime I had an issue with a task or something not related to work, she would always be there to help.

In a new corporate setting/environment, learning about the company’s culture is one of, if not the most important thing I had to do. Like many of my classmates, I had to quickly get acquainted with the layout of the buildings and the organizational structure of the different departments. In my role as a Business Analyst, I had to schedule numerous meetings with different stakeholders within the company. Finding a mutual location for all participants didn’t always work. I eventually found out on my own that instead of always trying to have an in person meeting, having conference calls are sometimes the best thing to do. This goes back to understanding the dynamic of the team, as Rachel stated earlier. I also realized that ‘Fridays’ were generally a relaxed business day at the company. A day in which you would come in, have a couple of meetings in the morning, check/respond to any emails, begin to plan your schedule for the following week, and be out by around 3:30 pm. I can still remember the very first Friday during my internship where I actually stayed until 5:00 pm. I was the last person to walk out of the building, everyone was gone by at least 4:30.

When It comes to the organization that I worked for the most important thing was the environment of the workplace. Being able to effective communicate with the employees and liking them on a personal level makes the work more fun. During my time in Los Angeles some thins that I had to learn on my own was the best places to eat. Being located in a city rich of culture and amazing food I went to the best spots in the city. Some other things I had to learn on my own was how to work on the WordPress Platform and effectively troubleshoot problems that came up when they came up. This required hours of research on the internet along with a limited amount of help from my adviser. My typical work day in the office was long. Sometimes I would not leave the office til 10PM. Working on a more creative aspect with technology made my work time consuming and hard because of all the input that was given during the meeting I had to update my employers on what was going on with the project.

Like many of my classmates, there were many things I had to learn about. Number one being the layout of the buildings. The main office building was actually 2 miles away from the building the information systems team was located. Knowing the general layout of the buildings was a tad bit confusing the first two weeks. The cafeteria line was also confusing, it seemed it would change every day according to what was being made. One major issue that I had was signing off the computer every moment I had to leave my desk. This was major rule since we were working with real client data which could be used in a harmful way by people walking by. Everybody in the QA was very open about helping me out when I had questions about the systems or the processes. The company culture is what caught my eye. It was very relaxing and not stressful. This could’ve been because I was an intern but it could actually be the actual culture. We often joked with each other about projects and how QA Apps 2 was better than QA App 1. I was treated like an employee of the company when I did work. Although it was relaxing, it was also demanding when it came to testing. We were on a crucial schedule.

During my first day at ReminderMedia we had a tour of the facility which helped make it easier to learn where everything was. That didn’t however stop me from getting lost a few times on the way to my meetings with other interns. Another thing that I had to find out on my own was that they also gave employees the chance to drink free hot chocolate or coffee which I love because I am not a coffee drinker myself. One of the things i was unaware of before my arrival here was just how young this company is in terms of the average age of it employees. I think that was a surprise to me but also helped myself who i consider an introvert when it comes to meeting new people come out of my shell quickly and feel like a part of the culture from the start of my experience.

I saw that many my classmates have to navigate the building. I did not do that in my first day. I started work last Friday. The TriMED HealthCare is not very big. But the funny is that I still have to ask where is the bathroom. I felt that it is polite. I don’t really know about what is the different between general company culture in the U.S. and in my home country. So, there were many things I had to learn about. First, it takes a time to learn about company’s culture. One of classmate mentions that work intensity and willingness to take lunch breaks. I felt that my coworkers are hard work. We usually have a short break at noon including lunch time. And in that time I didn’t know whether it is good idea to ask them about when we can eat lunch. There are three coworkers in our room. We use public area. In addition, I had to discover the differing personalities of my coworkers. They are usually quiet. We didn’t talk a lot in that day. We just did own things. Maybe that day is Friday. People is tired. But my supervisor is very friendly and she was happy to answer my questions.

During my first week at EY I found that it takes some time getting comfortable navigating through the building. At first it feels like you’re walking through a maze trying to find certain things such as the supply room, the bathrooms, the conference rooms, and other staff members. One particular thing that is kind of unique about EY is the culture when it comes to office seating arrangements. At EY there is no assigned offices, but rather you rent/reserve office space for specific periods at a time. This is done for two main reasons: one, because EY is a client-serving firm so most of the time staff members are at client sites, and secondly because they want everyone to feel as though they are equal no matter their position or title. For the first couple of days me and another intern were able to reserve a Partner-sized corner office because no other staff member was occupying it. I found this cool and it also reinforced my positive outlook on the relaxed company culture I have heard so much about at EY. Another thing I had to quickly learn is that every client has different rules/culture, so when I would travel to different client sites with my team I would have to adjust my dress code and behavior to fit in with the client’s standards.

This is my second semester at my internship, but when I first got there, I had to figure out everything on my own. The area that we were working in was separated from the rest of the departments, so it took me longer to figure out where everything else was. Luckily, they did tour me around the first day, so I got a bearing for where everything was, but I often got lost when I had meetings in far away conference rooms. I even got lost in the beginning of this semester, since I switched departments and am working on a completely different side of the building. As for the company culture, most of the staff happens to be young and the company culture seemed pretty casual at first. Talking with more of the staff, getting to know my supervisor, and observing how everyone was working, however, made me realize that it wasn’t as casual as it seemed.The staff, especially the sales employees and the CEO, are very serious about their jobs and want to keep a structured culture with weekly standup meetings and a rigorous schedule. I then applied this structure to the way I worked.

Since I have a good relationship with my HR recruiter, he was able to give me a great welcoming tour of the SEI facility. He was able to show me how to get to the cafeteria, where to get coffee/snacks, and a brief overview of the entire campus. But even after the tour, the biggest challenge for me was learning all the names and locations of all 7 buildings at SEI. Going into my first day I knew how to get to where my desk was located and how to get to the cafeteria from there, but the more I became involved in different projects I started having meetings all over the campus within buildings that I’ve never been in before. To help overcome this, when I have a meeting in a building I am not familiar with I leave around 20-30 minutes early to compensate for the 10-15 minutes I will spend wandering around looking for the correct conference room.