How I've Grown and What I Have Learned

This first semester has just flown by, but it was great.  At first it was rough, being away from home and all my friends, but I am not really homesick anymore and breaks are just that much better when I get to see all my close friends again! I love seeing all of my old friends, but I have made so many new ones.  I have made a lot of new friends and some that will last a lifetime.  I have become way more responsible and it isn't bad living on my own anymore.  With my classes I have learned more than I did in my four years of high school.  I know these are pretty typical things, but it has only been one semester! I hope that with my next couple years here I can learn and grow much more as a person! It has been a rough but great semester and I am ready for what the next one brings me.

The Hixson Award

I had never heard about this scholarship before, until I got an email from Iowa State about it.  So I decided to check it out and figured why not I might as well try.  I didn't think I would really get it and when I did I was so happy and surprised.  The letter was sitting on my kitchen table when I got home from work and I opened it and started freaking out and ran to wake up my mom.  She was just as excited as I was. 
I have two younger sisters at home and it has always just been my mom and us, so I knew I was going to have to pay for college on my own.  And this scholarship saved me.  With this scholarship it is possible for me to go to college, so in other words this scholarship means the world to me. 
The Hixson program is great, it offers so much and has been a great help.  I have learned a lot that I probably wouldn't have learned on my own, like information on studying abroad and national student exchange.  It has also helped me make great, life-long friendships.  So I'd just like to say a big Thanks! to the Hixson Program.

Social Media Week

With Social Media Week I did the Facebook Project and it helped me look at Facebook a different way.  I have always used Facebook as a way of keeping in touch with my friends and family, but now I have learned how to use it to help me in a more professional way.  With the project I was able to look up businesses in my field of study, which I probably never would have done on my own.  It was interesting to see what businesses used Facebook and what businesses didn't.  Lately, when you go into a business of any sort you see a sign that says, "Like us on Facebook."  That just shows how much social media has grown over the years and that influence it has on us.  I have learned that now it is very important that I watch what goes on Facebook, whether I post it or someone else does about me.  I want to get a good job when I graduate and it would be very upsetting if I couldn't just because of something put on Facebook.  Some people say it's not right that companies search your Facebook and other accounts, but I understand that they are looking for a responsible and dependable person and if I was in their shoes I would want to search them out too. 
I don't really know how social media will help me with my goals, besides with keeping it professional so that it doesn't come back to haunt me.

MBTI

My MBTI results were ESFJ, which means I am extraverted, sensing, feeling and judging.  The only one that really surprised me was the extraversion.  I definitely tend to be quiet and keep to myself, but I was barely on the extraverted side so I agree with the test results.  With these results I didn't really learn anything new about my personality.  The description of ESFJ fit me almost perfectly.  With this I have learned that I learn better if I am more of a leader and can help out people.  I also know that I live off lists, I am very organized and it stresses me out if I don't have a to-do list.  These indicators will work well with accomplishing my goals, because I will take charge and be organized in doing so.  This Myers-Briggs Test really helped me out.

SMART Goal

The goal I picked to use the SMART Goal Setting is to graduate from Iowa State with my Business degree.  It is specific, because I clearly state what I want.  It is measurable, because it can be evaluated on whether or not I graduate from Iowa State.  It is attainable because it is something I strive for and I know what I need to do to reach my goal.  It is also realistic, because it is not too easy and it is not too difficult, it is something I am completely capable of.  And, lastly it is time bound because I will graduate in four years and then my goal will be accomplished!

My Bucket List

So with this blog we were asked to think about our goals and what we want out of life.  There is so much to do in life, that is hard to decide what you truly want to experience, but I did it.  I made a bucket list and here it is:

1. Of course try a superdog!
2. Experience as much as I possibly can at Iowa State
3. Study Abroad
4. Find a job that I love (I haven't decided exactly what this job will be yet!)
5. Graduate from Iowa State in Business and then get my masters degree
6. Have a family
7. Do international work
8. See the world!
9. Lastly I just want to enjoy life, live it up while I can!

Of course, as life goes on more things will be added to my bucket list, but right now this is what I want and I hope that I can check everything off my list one day.

Being At Your Best

Succeeding is something that everyone strives for, they want to feel their best and know they did all that they could do.  By now, everyone has had a lot of these moments.  I know that I have, but there is one moment that happened recently that I really felt that I was at my best. 

This moment happened my senior year of high school in my DECA class. DECA was a business group that you could participate in your junior and senior year of high school.  In the class we studied marketing, ethics and other business topics. Along with the class we competed in different events, my event was advertising.  My partner and I had to write an eleven page paper on an advertising plan for a local business, along with the paper we had to take a 100 question test.

My partner and I worked on our paper for months and studied for the test in between.  When we finished the paper, we were proud of it and we felt that we had done all that we could do.  In February it was finally time to see if all of our hard work had paid off.  If you got first or second place in your event you were able to move on to the national competition.  In the end our hard work did pay off and we got first place and we both continued on to compete at the national competition in Orlando, Florida.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it past the first round of the competition, but we did gain a lot of experience. 

That feeling on stage when they announced our names for first place was great.  I felt that I was at my best, I had worked hard and I was proud and excited.  This feeling of hard work paying off is a great thing to carry on to college.  College is a lot of studying and hard work, so my DECA experience was a good one to carry on with.  I know that if I can remember that feeling of being at my best with my paper it can help me when I get stressed this semester.

Overall, having a "best" moment is something that everyone should experience.  Being at your best is such a great feeling and I hope that I have many more to come.