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Instinct by Design
- Career Fair | Courtesy of http://blog.skye2905.com/
This week is Career Week at McCombs School of Buinsess. The usual ritual commands hundreds of students in black suit and pants, wielding polished leather padfolios, distributing uniform formatted resumes as their ways to market themselves to Corporate America. This is the one week during the semester where the academy meets the real world. Students of all ages scramble to meet recruiters, strike a conversation, and laugh uncomfortably to awful jokes that they themselves have well buried within the remotest part of their comedic repertoire throughout the years.
I always find it intriguing to observe people who are at different stages of their career development at career fairs. Freshmen who mustered the guts to come to Career Expo to learn from the experience scurried aimlessly about. Sophomores who espouse a nonchalance strolled back and forth, while sharing a sympathetic outlook after the upperclassmen whose caffeinated hilarity betrayed their true ignorance of their objects. On one hand, there were aggressive recruiters who strategically round up loitering students to their booths; and on the other hand, there were recruiters who received the full royal treatment from what looked like a disarray courtship from international dignitaries – most certainly not discounting those toadies and chatterboxes.
Dropping off one’s resume is only the first step in a series of rituals one has to undergo in modern days to obtain a job. There is also the informal courtship through social media and most certainly “email” (What is that?) While this whole course of actions is quite entertaining from a bird’s eye view – so to speak, but that is how we as human beings choose or rather prefer to function. Isn’t that fascinating though?! Our culture, our tradition, and our history project much intrigue and amusement that even in the 21st century, we are succumbed to those ritualistic instincts to entertain and make others like us just like how we’ve done so throughout the ages.
Wow what an awesome reminder of what’s really important
Like many of you, I enjoy a cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
This video gave me a new perspective on a cup of coffee. I hope it will for you also ~ enjoy!
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“Enjoy your coffee today, be happy with the cup you are drinking from and enjoy your life!”
thank you for your visit,
~ Penny
After you have ritually left work, have the courage to really leave it. Let your computer and phone idle while you live a little. And there’s even a work upside too: You’ll be fresher when you get back to work, more productive knowing you have to be because work will stop, and more creative as you integrate non-work ideas into your work life.
“Take Your Life Back” by Peter Bregman | Oct 23, 2012
Summer Orientation #2: Wing Men
Last week I got my my first residential wing for this summer. There were 22 guys in my wing – they named themselves the Wing Men…it was a huge shift from working at family orientation – chitchatting with parents to having a residential wing, where I had the opportunity of helping orientees more individually. I enjoyed the diversity within the group; each student was unique and peculiar in his own way. About half participated fully during orientation. They were a mix batch of guys from East Texas, Arlington, the Valley, Houston area, and yes, out of state (Florida). From small towns to big cities, they come to UT majoring in business, communication studies, liberal arts, engineering, theater, music, natural sciences, and undeclared. They have different ideas, expectations, anxieties and excitements about college. The common bond of being in the same boat not knowing exactly what’s coming their way fuels much of the bonding experience. Seeing how nascent friendships form in a short three-day span is one of the most amazing and rewarding experiences being an orientation advisor. Going to the shows with them, staying up until 4:30 am to help them with picking out courses for their first semester, eating breakfast with them on the morning of registration, and small moments and encounters along the way have made me realize something incredible: I was just one of them two summers ago. I sat in the same auditorium and watched the same social justice show. I went to the awkward dance party. I [stupidly] explored evening off-campus activities…I still remember faces from my orientation. And now the table has turned: being able to serve in an advisory/mentoring role for my orientees have made me think more about my own college experience, my love for this university, and my hopes and dreams for my own future. In a way, I drew inspirations from my orientees about getting excited about what’s coming at you, even when you yourself have much doubts about the future. Sometimes, trusting the process and allows things to be – an anathema to someone who is structured and prefers a plan – may not be a bad blueprint for life after all.
1. Living a life driven by purpose is more meaningful and rewarding than meandering through life without direction.
2. Companies must do well to do good and must do good to do well.
3. Everyone wants to succeed, and success is contagious.
4. Putting people in the right jobs is one of the most important jobs of the leader.
5. Character is the most important trait of a leader.
6. Diverse groups of people are more innovative than homogenous groups.
7. Ineffective systems and cultures are bigger barriers to achievement than the talents of people.
8. There will be some people in the organization who will not make it on the journey.
9. Organizations must renew themselves.
10. The true test of leaders is the performance of the organization when they are absent or after they depart
– “What I Believe In” by the CEO of Proctor & Gamble, Robert McDonald
http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/company/executive_team/Bob_McDonald_Leadership_Principles.pdf
Commencement: Congratulations to the Class of 2012!
http://www.utexas.edu/know/2012/05/22/commencement_gates/
Last saturday, I drove three hours back to Austin in order to participate in the University’s 129th Commencement Ceremony to watch one of my best friends and my roommate graduating and walking in cap and gown through the University’s South Mall.
The day was hectic. I woke up around noon. I rushed out the house around 2pm in order to avoid traffic going into Austin and make it on time to Commencement. On the way back, I listened to two podcast installments from the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government – one on “Campaign 2012” and another on “conservatism and why we need it now” by Andrew Sullivan – the latter piece was particularly interesting, considering Andrew Sullivan makes an argument along the lines that the ideological conservatism is in crisis. Conservatism is supposed to preserve society for what it is and not to impose man-made solutions to all problems. Formulaic solutions are not going to work because human conditions change. Sullivan, himself identified as gay, argues that Obama is the most conservative politician in the United States and the Republican Party fails to carry the conservative banner for the movement – quite interesting. I think he has a point, though I am not ready to dwell on it in this post.
In any event, I got back to Austin around 5, unloaded my bags at my apartment and made my way to campus for Commencement Ceremony. I was dazed by the grandiosity of the whole ceremony. Lots and lots of family members were seated on the lawn under the Tower. Graduates were in cap and gowns – some decorated their caps with personal interests. Faculty and administrators were present to celebrate alongside the graduates. There were fancy lighting, music, poignant speeches from students, and then there was Secretary Robert Gates’s keynote speech on how graduates should think more highly and seriously about public service. Secretary Gates is one of those politicians I greatly admire and respect. During his keynote, Sr. Gates framed that we live in a time of “great necessities.” As the former Secretary of Defense overseeing both the Iraq and the Afganistan wars, he deployed thousands of troops, many of whom were young men and women from 18-25. I was particularly inspired by his call for all graduates to serve our country in all capacities. I imagine many of my peers share my apprehension about serving in the public sector, when there are attractive job positions in Fortune 500 companies out there, especially many opportunities in the McCombs School of Business. I do have a desire to serve someday in some capacity. I have a strong desire to help as many people as I can in my lifetime. In a way, Commencement for the Class of 2012 served as a signpost, a guide for how I want to pursue the latter half of my college career here on the Forty Acres. It made me think more about who I am and what I want to do with my own life. The almost surreal ceremony was topped off with fireworks and “Eyes of Texas.” As a longhorn, nothing could get better than seeing other longhorns accomplish so much in so little time with diverse talents, ambitions, and dreams. I feel blessed to go to one of the best public universities in the country, in terms in value, quality, and amount of opportunities. I am thrilled for my junior year starting in the fall. I will keep you updated on my academic life throughout this process.
I posted the trailer to the film “Bully” on a blogpost about a week ago. Today, Hilary Clinton delivered a remark addressing the issue of bullying. I think no matter where you are on the political spectrum, we can agree that bullying is wrong. And by working together to stop and mitigate the effect of bullying, we make our communities stronger and our peers safer. Only when people feel safe in their environments can they excel in their own right. As this country is founded on the principle of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness,” let’s respect each other’s differences, appreciate each other’s God-given talents, and work together in a common pursuit for a better future.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
“Despite the flatlined economy, the art market has been roaring. In the first half of this year, total worldwide art sales hit a record of €4.3 billion ($5.8 billion), up 34 percent from 2010, according to the French Web site Artprice.com” (Blake Gopnick 2011 Newsweek). People like to talk about the “culture value of money” these days. What does that mean? On its surface, it’s almost a paradox. Are 1% capitalists and Wall Street billionaires – you know those CEOs who fly into Manhattan every morning in helicopters, and fly across continental U.S every weekend to go to their weekend home in Malibu to dine and wine with the Hollywood and Silicon Valley stars? – destroying the true value of art by throwing money at it? Remember the $100 million Picasso from a couple years ago? What about the million plus Warhol pieces? As suggested by the article, there is an increasing interest from new “artigarchs” from the BRIC countries who are experiencing the post-capitalist pleasure of collecting art works, perhaps due to a heightened appreciation for a piece of humanity? It always intrigues me how much people are willing to “invest” heavily in art works. How does one even acquire the taste of putting that much money in one art work? (If it is not practiced in the family already #newaristorcracy) It strikes me as if at one point in a person’s life, one has to feel connected to humanity in one way or another, given that their material needs have been met. A discussion with a friend earlier today prompts me to think about whether economics is the basis of society or association/community? (perhaps this is a false dichotomy…) Are we more concerned about a sense of belonging and association with others than economic needs? Or is it the other way around? I have no answer to that; but I think how we answer this question can provide a partial answer to the mentality of “artigarch.” It appears that these folks have made so much money in their life that they are now investing in the “culture value of money,” looking past the traditional role of money as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account (Econ 101) for something bigger than themselves – and their wealth. Perhaps if we approach capitalism and market with similar “cultural” considerations, then the whole debate/dichotomy between money and humanity may collapse, and the so-called “social responsibility” component of capitalism or capitalism 2.0 vis-a-vis Bill Gates may then serve to mediate the tensions between the two philosophical camps. One can hope that one day, just maybe, “investing” in art – $20 at a local art work fair, $50 at an antique store, $19 from eBay and Amazon – will become a societal norm of using earned money to appreciate culture and humanity, promote creativity, and even bring together communities. Art appreciation does not need to be a 1% hobby; it can be integrated into the 99% lifestyle because what is art but a piece of human expression created by a fellow human being?
Edward Munch’s iconic “The Scream” sells for $119.9 million: We’re with you, freaked-out screaming guy.
Barack and Michelle Obama sit down to have dinner with two couples on the campaign trail in what Obama campaign calls “Dinner with Barack”
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Time Out 