I have blogged before about my big pet peeve about people who do not RSVP to events etc. If someone extends you the courtesy of an invite, you should at least respond one way or another. Even if that invite comes in an electronic form. It is just good hometraining!
So, the other day I was told a story that just took the act of not RSVPing to an extreme. A friend's cousin started his freshman year at a well-known HBCU. Turns out, this HBCU had more students show up their freshman year than they were expecting or had room for because a number of them never responded to the admission letter per instructions. The school still admitted them and secured housing off campus for them!
First of all, what kind of example is this setting for them?? Oh, don't worry about following instructions, we will still let you have your way...... And if they can't bother to follow these simple instructions, what does this tell you about their ability to say.... get their assignments in on time, or follow other rules. Yes, they are young..... but they do have parents!!! And most likely parents who can read!
I know I am coming off as a real stick in the mud but I think we do a disservice to kids when we don't teach them that actions or inaction does have consequences.
And that's all I have to say about that!
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Watch NBC Nightly News this week!
News about this series has been going around but in case you haven't heard yet, Brian Mitchell is doing a 5 part series starting Monday on the problems facing African-American women in this country. Topics will range from education to relationships, the 2008 election to health, interracial dating to the portrayl of women through hip hop music.
Please check it out and encourage others you know to do so as well! On your local NBC station. You can also check www.msnbc.com for message boards and blog entries on the series.
Please check it out and encourage others you know to do so as well! On your local NBC station. You can also check www.msnbc.com for message boards and blog entries on the series.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Le sigh.....
So back when I was 12 and trying to decide which language to study, I picked French because I liked the way it sounded. And I studied it for 9 more years!
But now, I admit, that I really wish I had picked Spanish. French seemed more glamourous at the time but Spanish would be so much more useful in this day and age. And, would make me more employable. Also, I would have so much more opportunity to speak it.
I started studying Spanish in grad school and the fact that I knew French has helped a lot with vocabulary and sentence structure since the languages are so similar. But I still have a long, long way to go.
And now I want to learn Portuguese too! Well, I seem to have time for lessons at the moment so I might as well take this time to do some studying!
But now, I admit, that I really wish I had picked Spanish. French seemed more glamourous at the time but Spanish would be so much more useful in this day and age. And, would make me more employable. Also, I would have so much more opportunity to speak it.
I started studying Spanish in grad school and the fact that I knew French has helped a lot with vocabulary and sentence structure since the languages are so similar. But I still have a long, long way to go.
And now I want to learn Portuguese too! Well, I seem to have time for lessons at the moment so I might as well take this time to do some studying!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Spur of the moment trip...
Okay... I am so behind on my blogging we are just going to pretend that these posted on the dates they say they did.... (and that I am not typing without my right index finger that I just hurt in the garage door -- you will just have to read ahead to find out about that!)
Anyway.....
This past Friday, I got a call at about 11am from some good friends of mine from grad school. You see this past weekend was homecoming and my class's 5 year reunion. I had been toying with the idea of going but hadn't really committed to anything. But when I got the call, and realized that I hadn't seen some of these folks in 5 years, I started thinking......why not?? A couple friends said that I could stay with them and it is not like I had a job to be stuck at on a friday afternoon. So, I arranged for someplace for the dog to stay and was on the road in about 3 hours!
Six and a half hours later I was pulling into a parking space to meet folks at an infamous local bar in the town I went to grad school in. Whew!
I actually didn't go to any of the official events or the football game but got to see and hang out with some really great folks and go to dinner at my favorite restaurant there, which has since been recognized by Gourmet magazine. Now, I remember why I liked grad school so much!
Oh, the other thing, it seems that aside from working, my classmates have also spent the time having kids! The majority of them seem to have two which makes me feel like I have been really unproductive....
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I made it back, blog sighting and other stuff...
So to make up for my middle seat on the way to LA, the airplane seat gods made it up to me, by giving me an aisle exit row seat on the way back. It was great!! So much room I didnt even need to consider reclining.
The next day I committed to working the table for my b-school at a recruiting event with the Admissions director. I figured it was a good way to do something positive and remind myself of positive steps in my career. Plus, I could talk to the admissions director about my recent turn of events. I had a lot of fun, talking to bright-eyed women, excited about embarking on the next stage in their career and talking up my school. And the admissions director reminded me that there is an alumni career services guy at our school so I am going to contact him.
Also, this was the site of my first blog recognition. I walked in the space where the event was going on and was greeted by this woman with a cute little 1 1/3 - 2 inch afro. She pointed me towards the area where the school tables were and then said.....
"This might sound strange but you look like someone I saw on a blog recently."
"That could be possible," I said, holding my tongue,
She continued, " I know it sounds weird but I remember something about your friend who just came back from Japan and I remember a picture of you with some bald guy...."
I was a little taken aback! I was getting recognized from my blog! "Was this recently?" I asked.
"Yes"
"That was me," I fessed up.
Turns out, she has been looking around at blogs about natural hair as she contemplates what to do with her own. It was wild!
Another hairstory from this event was a conversation I had with another admissions director from a different business school. We were on a bit of a break and had wandered to the hors d'ouevres table only to find that most of the food had been scarfed up. As I was balancing a plate with some dried out roast beef wrap pinwheels and pouring myself some iced tea, this woman came up to me very enthusiastically and told me how much she loved my hair. I was starting to brace myself for the myriad of questions like I hear from people who aren't familiar with locks, but to my surprise, she was very knowledgeable. It turns out that one of her co-workers in the admissions office has locks and she proceeded to tell me about how when she interviewed her for the position, she told her that she just had to stop and talk to her about how cool her hair was befor they went much further so that they could get it out of the way. She then told me about how her co-worker is always going in and getting new styles and proceeded to describe the latest style. When I told her that I hadn't been to a salon since I started my locks almost 13 years ago, she was floored and then asked me questions about my regimen and if I had ever trimmed them. Who would have thought that there would be all this talk about locks at an MBA recruiting event!?!?
The next day I committed to working the table for my b-school at a recruiting event with the Admissions director. I figured it was a good way to do something positive and remind myself of positive steps in my career. Plus, I could talk to the admissions director about my recent turn of events. I had a lot of fun, talking to bright-eyed women, excited about embarking on the next stage in their career and talking up my school. And the admissions director reminded me that there is an alumni career services guy at our school so I am going to contact him.
Also, this was the site of my first blog recognition. I walked in the space where the event was going on and was greeted by this woman with a cute little 1 1/3 - 2 inch afro. She pointed me towards the area where the school tables were and then said.....
"This might sound strange but you look like someone I saw on a blog recently."
"That could be possible," I said, holding my tongue,
She continued, " I know it sounds weird but I remember something about your friend who just came back from Japan and I remember a picture of you with some bald guy...."
I was a little taken aback! I was getting recognized from my blog! "Was this recently?" I asked.
"Yes"
"That was me," I fessed up.
Turns out, she has been looking around at blogs about natural hair as she contemplates what to do with her own. It was wild!
Another hairstory from this event was a conversation I had with another admissions director from a different business school. We were on a bit of a break and had wandered to the hors d'ouevres table only to find that most of the food had been scarfed up. As I was balancing a plate with some dried out roast beef wrap pinwheels and pouring myself some iced tea, this woman came up to me very enthusiastically and told me how much she loved my hair. I was starting to brace myself for the myriad of questions like I hear from people who aren't familiar with locks, but to my surprise, she was very knowledgeable. It turns out that one of her co-workers in the admissions office has locks and she proceeded to tell me about how when she interviewed her for the position, she told her that she just had to stop and talk to her about how cool her hair was befor they went much further so that they could get it out of the way. She then told me about how her co-worker is always going in and getting new styles and proceeded to describe the latest style. When I told her that I hadn't been to a salon since I started my locks almost 13 years ago, she was floored and then asked me questions about my regimen and if I had ever trimmed them. Who would have thought that there would be all this talk about locks at an MBA recruiting event!?!?
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Sharing knowledge....
The other day I got a call from a friend..... I had last talked to him a couple months ago when he was going through a hard time. He had been in the military for like 12 years and had gotten out and returned home and started working for his brother's contracting business and was living with his parents. The job was okay but not his ideal job but he was helping his brother out with something that he loved. Life with his parents was not so good. They have not had a good marriage for many years.
Additionally, he was getting pressure from family to apply to be a police officer. He came from a long line of cops and government employees and many family members and others around him thought that his highest aspiration should be to get a government job that he could settle into until retirement 30 years later.
So between uncertainty and frustration about his future career path and unease at counseling and helping his mother make decisions about her marriage, he was feeling rather trapped. I happened to catch him on IM one day and then on the phone and we talked.
Well, if there is one thing that my experience with business school taught me, you have to be willing to thrust yourself into change and that there is always an opportunity for a new experience even when you don't see it. Also, it doesnt help you to be the most motivated person you know. In order be the best you can be, it helps to create an envirionment where you are around other motivated people who help propel you forward. A change can help you do that.
Oh yes, and b-school was also like a job search boot camp. So I asked my friend what he wanted to do career wise and he admitted that he felt like he wasn't qualified to do any outside of the military. I reminded him that he had developed a lot of transferable skills and he just had to figure out a way to position his experience in the military to show how he would be valuable to a company. I also told him that he couldnt be the only one who had gone through this type of thing and encouraged him to look for headhunters who specialized in finding jobs for ex-military.
Sometimes, you just get caught up in the emotions of a situation and need someone to remind you of what you already know. After our conversation, he contacted a head hunter and ended up getting about 12 interviews! We talked about interviewing tips and then I didn't hear from him again for a couple months. And, then, like I said at the beginning of this post, he called me.
He was walking through Manhattan after just accepting a new job and just wanted to call and thank me. He was so happy and I was so happy for him. And I was touched that I was the first person he thought to call! He is excited about the new environment, new potential, new salary and the ability to move out and start his new life.
Not only am I happy and proud of him, I feel really good that he was able to benefit from my experience and I was able to help. It just underpins for me the importance of sharing your knowledge with others, so we can help each other collectively move forward and improve ourselves as a community. At the risk of sounding cliched (ugh, I can't believe I am going to say this.....), each one, teach one!
Additionally, he was getting pressure from family to apply to be a police officer. He came from a long line of cops and government employees and many family members and others around him thought that his highest aspiration should be to get a government job that he could settle into until retirement 30 years later.
So between uncertainty and frustration about his future career path and unease at counseling and helping his mother make decisions about her marriage, he was feeling rather trapped. I happened to catch him on IM one day and then on the phone and we talked.
Well, if there is one thing that my experience with business school taught me, you have to be willing to thrust yourself into change and that there is always an opportunity for a new experience even when you don't see it. Also, it doesnt help you to be the most motivated person you know. In order be the best you can be, it helps to create an envirionment where you are around other motivated people who help propel you forward. A change can help you do that.
Oh yes, and b-school was also like a job search boot camp. So I asked my friend what he wanted to do career wise and he admitted that he felt like he wasn't qualified to do any outside of the military. I reminded him that he had developed a lot of transferable skills and he just had to figure out a way to position his experience in the military to show how he would be valuable to a company. I also told him that he couldnt be the only one who had gone through this type of thing and encouraged him to look for headhunters who specialized in finding jobs for ex-military.
Sometimes, you just get caught up in the emotions of a situation and need someone to remind you of what you already know. After our conversation, he contacted a head hunter and ended up getting about 12 interviews! We talked about interviewing tips and then I didn't hear from him again for a couple months. And, then, like I said at the beginning of this post, he called me.
He was walking through Manhattan after just accepting a new job and just wanted to call and thank me. He was so happy and I was so happy for him. And I was touched that I was the first person he thought to call! He is excited about the new environment, new potential, new salary and the ability to move out and start his new life.
Not only am I happy and proud of him, I feel really good that he was able to benefit from my experience and I was able to help. It just underpins for me the importance of sharing your knowledge with others, so we can help each other collectively move forward and improve ourselves as a community. At the risk of sounding cliched (ugh, I can't believe I am going to say this.....), each one, teach one!
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