A Gamecock by Nature

This past week my house has been filled with family.  My grandparents from New Jersey and my Aunt and Uncle from Pennsylvania flew to Tampa for my brother's high school graduation.  We have all enjoyed sitting outside eating Girl Scout ice cream, swapping stories, and sharing pictures.  We have also shopped and had some great meals together! 

On Monday night my brother stood in front of thousands of people in the Sun Dome and delivered his salutatorian speech.  His speech was a wonderful metaphor between his comic strip he draws for the school newspaper and each student's journey through life.  He said that everyone's first panel has been drawn in ink and represents their education.  He also challenged everyone to take the time to detail their panels with color and different shades.  I was very impressed by his presentation and I believe the crowd and his classmates were as well. 

We took a lot of pictures of my brother in his gown with his cords surrounded by family members.  I even managed to make it into a few.  Hopefully some of the pictures will end up in frames in my relatives' homes. 

My brother is relieved that high school is complete and he can't wait to begin college.  We are both excited that he will be a Gamecock in the fall!  So the drive in August will definitely be packed.  It's a good thing my mom put some of his college supplies in storage with my stuff! 

I hope you are all enjoying the end of school and the beginning of summer.  Let me know if there is anything I can answer for you. 

Posted by Lydia at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, my parents warned me that I needed to find a job for the summer.  They recommended I start looking for a job in Tampa while I was still in Columbia, but I neglected to take this advice.  (Word of advice: Listen to your parents' advice)  After I got home to Tampa, I began looking in the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times at the job ads.  I highlighted the ones that interested me and websites to look up online. 

Luckily for me I had updated my resume before I came home and I had written a cover letter that was relatively easy to edit.  I began applying online for teller positions at Bank of America, Wachovia, Fifth Third Bank and the Bank of Tampa.  I also applied to Amscot online.  Unfortunately for me I had no official money handling experience which a lot of the jobs wanted as a prerequisite. 

After a few days passed without any feedback from any of the companies, I decided to apply to work at the SuperTarget near my house.  I went into Target and filled out the application on the computer and within two days they contacted me for an interview!  I was thrilled and I started preparing my answers for the questions I thought I may be asked during the interview. 

My first interview was with a girl named Erica.  She asked me to tell her about myself, my involvement and job experiences, as well as how I would respond to different situations.  After about half an hour she told me I would have an executive interview with Christopher the same day.  Christopher asked me about the USC football team, Steve Spurrier and a few of the players.  He was so impressed that I was a girl who could talk about sports that I am pretty sure at this point I was hired.  However, he went ahead and asked me some more situational questions and the he offered me a cashier position.  It was a great interview experience and I am so thankful for all the practice I got in my Business Communications class.  I am convinced that class has contributed to a lot of my success. 

I can't wait to tell you about my job orientation and training!

Posted by Lydia at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The end of any semester always means it's time to take EXAMS!  This semester I was lucky that two out of my six classes didn't have an exam, but that meant I still had four more exams to prepare myself to take.  On Thursday I had my Macroeconomics exam followed by my MGSC 291 (Stat) exam.  Then Friday was my Managerial Accounting Exam. 

I prepared for over a week in the library for the exams.  I calculated all of my grades ahead of time so I could figure out the grades I needed on each individual exam to either get an A, B+, or B in each of these three courses.  I think this was smart, because I didn't need to stress myself out over Economics or Statistics because the best I could get in each class was a B+, and that was only if I aced each exam.  I dedicated a few days to each exam and I was able to pull a "B" in each of these courses.  The Statistics was the hardest exam because it was a cumulative standard exam for all sections of the course.  I think this was bad because I don't know if my professor taught the material as well as the others.  In the future, I recommend that you find out if an exam is standard and make sure you talk with students in other sections and get copies of their worksheets and reviews in order to stay ahead of the game.  It was also sad that the Statistics exam almost caused me to miss Grey's Anatomy!  Thankfully I was able to catch the majority of the episode and watch the beginning online. 

My accounting exam was my easiest exam even though it was standard and on a Friday night because I had done wonderfully all semester and I knew how to prepare for the exam.  I skimmed each chapter in the book and worked on my review questions the night before and I pulled an "A" for my final grade in this course. 

My last exam was a take home exam for my Business Communications class.  This was the most relevant exam I have ever taken.  It was a 7 part test that consisted of my resume, a cover letter to an internship I would like to apply for, a list of my references, and an evaluation of my team members to name a few of the parts.  I know that this exam will help me when I go to look for a job this summer! 

Move out from the dorm went pretty smoothly since my mom came and moved my stuff into storage in Cayce.  Luckily I got to sleep during the 8 hour drive while my mom drank her coffee and drove her mini van.   

Posted by Lydia at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi everyone!  I'm sorry for my long absence.  I got carried away with the end of the school year, moving out, and spending time with my family.  However, I still want to let you know how the school year turned out. 

The last week of classes came and went so quickly.  My last class of my sophomore year was MGMT 250.  It was filled with mixed emotions because I was relieved to turn in my group 20 page final report, but I was also sad to be completing my favorite class, leaving my most entertaining professor, and my new group of friends.  In this final class, I also found out I was voted "Most Valuable Player" by my classmates.  This was an awesome feeling and helped me realize that people are truly always watching what you do and how you perform. 

Since my class ended at 12:05 pm, I decided that I would treat myself to lunch and an afternoon at the Strom Thurmond pool.  I spent the day working on my tan, hanging out with friends in the pool, and playing beach volleyball.  It was wonderful because I also met a lot of new people and some of the USC athletes.  The best part was playing beach volleyball on a team with girls from the USC Basketball, Tennis, and Volleyball team!  We even beat a team of five guys!

I followed this relaxing afternoon with dinner at Moe's with my best friend Joanne ('09 Pre-Med).  We spent our dinner reflecting on the year and making a game plan to study for exams.  Our plan was to keep each other accountable and make sure we spent ample time studying for each class.

Read my next entry to find out how my exam week went and the results.   

Posted by Lydia at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)