I am BACK!

I AM BACK! I cannot even explain how happy I am to be able to say that. I took the GMAT TODAY. It took me 4 hours.....10:45am-2:45am. Brutal. Standardized tests. What is the point? They are so incredibly frustrating. You remember those days of taking the ACT or SAT right? I would encourage you, if you are interested in Graduate School, to start prepping for the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, whatever the test is, early and make a schedule for yourself! Anyways, enough about that.

Funny story, at least for me. Mrs. Sheri got some new bath robes to offer ya'll on her website www.dormsuitedorm.com. They are so comfy and cute cute colors. Welllll....she didn't have a picture of them so she got ME to model them. HAAAA. I pasted the picture on the left...hilarious! I hope ya'll take a second to go look at all the new accessories on our website. Other than bath robes, Mrs. Sheri has matching cosmetic bags, mirrors, picture frames (ADORABLE), picture bags, picture pockets, and so much more. Trust me.....go check it out.

PS those capris I have on in the picture are on the website too...love them. Almost took them home with me haha

Quotes continue...

Sorry this is how it has to be right now :( Hope ya'll are at least enjoying the quotes! I personally love them... Have a great week

	“In this world, you must be a bit too kind in order to be kind enough.”
	Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688–1763) French writer

Stress

Stress! It is a very manageable thing; however, it can also take over your life!! I am sorry to say that I will be leaving you with several quotes to enjoy, contemplate, disagree with, etc in the next 9 days because I am taking the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) for Business Graduate School next Wednesday (talk about stress) and will thus be preoccupied studying to hopefully ACE it!!! I hope you enjoy the next marathon of quotes...they are some really good ones :)

	“No time like the present.”
	Delarivier Manley (1663–1724) English writer

Presentations

Just as I wrote last night about how every college student HAS to experience...and endure.....group projects, presentations are something else that you won't escape. Presentations have never been stressful for me personally. Yes, I have to prepare (even though I usually do better just winging it) and work for the quality of my presentation; however, public speaking has never really freaked me out or scared me. I know this is not the case for many people (and I am ever-grateful I am not included in this bunch). For those of you who hate presentations, just remember to 1. practice, practice, practice. In front of the mirror, in front of your friends and even in your sleep. 2. Research and study the information SO well that JUST IN CASE you mess up your lines, you can start speaking from memory. 3. Go to the room/site where you will be speaking before the planned presentation in order to be comfortable with the environment and maybe even do a practice run. 4. Try and look people in their eyes as you speak, but if you can't, look at their foreheads. It is not good speech-making etiquette to look over your audience. 5. Make flash cards or some sort of prompts. Most presentations allow for prompts to keep you on track and smoothly speaking. 6. DO NOT READ YOUR PROMPTS. These are not to be read. That would not be giving a presentation. That would be reading to your class, which anyone could do. And 7. Ask someone you respect, and who you know can be honest with you, to critique your presentation. There are always mannerisms and gestures that we make as we talk; however, we don't realize that we do most of them. So, it is good to get an unbiased and helpful point of view.

Any presentations this week? I have 2!!

Goodluck if so....knock em dead :)

Group Projects

Inevitably, you will be required to participate in a group project. That is part of college. You can't avoid it. Many people love group projects. Usually these people consist of the ones that don't do SQUAT. And then there are other people (the ones who do EVERYTHING) who hate group projects (i.e. ME). I wish I could hope that this scenario would alter once I got into the real, working world, with mature adults; however, I do not have high expectations. There will always be those that ride along on others' hard work. How do we avoid this? Or at least minimize it? I have found, within college, if I delegate specific tasks to people and then follow through with them OFTEN, they are a little more likely to complete it. This is just a small action, which doesn't have a huge turn around, but it is something. I wish I had a better answer. Sometimes people need to be "babied" or "micromanaged." At that point, maybe it's better to just do it yourself. Or sometimes people just need to be called out, embarrassed if you will. Most of the freeriders continue to freeride because no one says anything. If you call them out, especially in front of people, maybe they will care enough to do something about it, ya know. But maybe they won't!

I guess you just have to ask yourself: Am I going to just do the work RIGHT and let others get credit for it? Am I going to call him/her out? Do I micromanage (which isn't my job)?

UGH, group projects....

I like quotes!

	“Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.”
	Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Roman emperor and philosopher To ponder......

I love LSU...GEAUX TIGERS!

Alright. I don't know if you are a football fan, but basically, if you didn't watch the LSU v FLA game tonight, you must live under a rock. FYI, about 34% of Americans claim football as their favorite sport (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/315/americans-to-rest-of-world-soccer-not-really-our-thing). Anyways, I refuse to be a fair-weather fan so, even though the Gators beat my Tigers 13-3, I still love the LSU Tigers. LSU started the game really strong, pumped and positive; however, did not end quite as passionate. They put up a great fight but the game is not over. We still have Alabama to beat on Saturday November 7. I am hoping we can redeem ourselves then!

Football is one of the biggest parts of college. When I began going to Samford University and football was NOT big and there was no 12-hour tailgating, and nobody had an intense PASSION and love for SU Football, I began to wonder if I was missing out on the "typical" college experience. All my friends from high school went to LSU, UGA, USM: mostly big, state schools (where the football rocks)! Me and a few of my really close friends however, decided to attend smaller schools (5,000-10,000 students). And though the football isn't the same, we can support state school football just as much as if we attended the state school and can experience football as often and as much as we want! So basically, 3 1/2 years later, I can say that I get the valuable small classroom sizes, the close relationships with professors and the small school benefits while still supporting and enjoying the large, state school football games! Don't be discouraged if you feel like you are missing out college, you are not! You can experience both! Live it up!

GEAUX TIGERS!

Working your options

Never for one second think that many of the professors, staff, faculty or professional people you are encountering in your college career will not be able to help you find a job when you are nearing graduation. I forgot who gave me this brilliant piece of advice, but I want to pass it along: "Always, always be networking." Fortunately, I listened to this advice since I was a freshman in college and it has already helped me get my foot in a few doors. Two important, intelligent and powerful people that I greatly respect and admire in this community have dropped my name to the same company (go figure). Wow. No one would ever think that your actions years ago would or could affect how someone views you, your work ethic, your character, your skill set and your intelligence for a future job or career. REMEMBER THIS THOUGH. Always be networking. You never ever know who someone may know and how they can help you one day. You don't want to screw that up!!

For Four Years...

Night before last the senior Chi Omegas took our NEW HOOTIES (or freshman pledges) to dinner. This was so fun! Typically, seniors in the sorority are so far removed (they live off campus, focused on graduation, graduate school, jobs, weddings, moving, and already have made their close friends) that it is rare for them to get to know the freshman pledges. I remember when I was a pledge, the seniors actually intimidated me! And I don't get intimidated hardly ever! For serious. The seniors just seemed so old and knew the ropes so well, I wanted to be like that. And I thought I would never get to that point. So, in an effort to close the 3 year gap, senior pledge class 2009 (last year) thought of the idea to bring the freshmen out to dinner. They paired up pledges with seniors to ride together and sit together at the restaurant. We decided to do that again this year and it went so so well. I have gotten great feedback from both seniors and freshman (since I planned it this makes me even happier)! I know that I personally loved talking to them and investing some time in the pledges. I want them to be comfortable talking to me and I don't want to be intimidating!! After all, I am their new sister :) A few weeks ago I ran into a Chi Omega that was a senior when I was a freshman. We had a short conversation (about mi casa, New Orleans), she looked me straight in the eyes, but still had no idea who the heck I was, much less that I was a sorority sister. ha! This made me laugh. However, it also made me realize, that though it was unintentional, I do not want that to be me with our new hooties this year! I know that I cannot (because I do not have the time during the day) get to know all 50 pledges; however, I would love to get to know as many as I possibly can!

If you are a pledge/new member this year, how is the situation for you with the seniors? Have they made an effort to know you or are they too far removed, distant and intimidating?

Advice for pledges-You too make an effort to get to know the upperclassmen. Don't let them intimidate you. They may not show it well; however, they already love you and would love nothing more than for you to walk up to them, introduce yourself and have a conversation. Be daring. Get out of your comfort zone. We can both learn from each other :)