Saturday, November 22, 2008

The End of the Road, But the Beginning of a New Horizon.

As a freshman in the College of Business at Loyola University I was involved in the Executive Mentor Program where I grouped with six of my peers and three Executive Mentors. My Executive Mentors, John, Chris, and Rodney, were three successful, well experienced role models who shared their experiences, struggles, and challenges of college, work and life. John, Chris and Rodney were open books; they created a comfortable, laid back atmosphere which caused us to be open books. The more they shared, the more I learned. After the second Executive Mentor Meeting the objective of the whole program was quite evident; to give us students a few of the ingredients to our success. This program gave us the opportunity to learn outside the classroom and sometimes over dinner. I valued the last Executive mentor meeting the most. Although Rodney was absent, he was replaced with two of Chris’s close friends from high school who happened to be quite successful and well respected in their community. They gave a taste of each outrĂ© , with the perspectives of the bankers, business owner and insurance consultant. They shared their mistakes and their high lights of their careers. They gave us tips and keys to make our own paths to success, all over a high scale dinner, which added a major bonus to our meeting. I really did appreciate how open and sharing everyone was which made the night quite informative and surprisingly fun.
In the beginning of the semester I was ignorant to the program so I did not expect much , but once I got into the groove of things, the program exceeded my expectations by far, which is the best factor according to my infamous Professor Howard!
If there were other knowledge hungry freshman out there lingering seeking for an Executive Mentor, I would advise them to apply to Loyola University New Orleans, take Professor Howard’s class and catch every opportunity thrown at them and always remember that you can only get out what you put in. As the fall semester comes to a close, I look forward to the next semester. I am looking forward to all the opportunities that are ahead of me in the semesters to come.
If you want to learn more about the Executive Mentor Program at Loyola University New Orleans you can visit http://www.business.loyno.edu/ to find more information. Remember to stay ahead of the game, so stay updated with all of the business current events. You can always research any business current events at the popular http://www.google.com/.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Making a Differnce One Step at a Time

As a student in the College of Business, I was required to interact in community service program, The Wolves on the Prowl. This program required me to wake up very early on a Saturday morning. I was not happy about that aspect of it, but when I arrived to the Wolves on the Prowl, I was surprised to find warm muffins waiting to be devoured by myself, that sure did put a smile on my face in a heartbeat!
With many choices to choose from, I choose to give my service to the Wilson Charter School. As we arrived at the school we were greeted with big smiles and big hearts! The teachers and staff of the Wilson Charter School were so sweet and welcomed my classmates and I with open arms. To see all these teachers and staff that were full of oomph and energy so early in the morning really set a tone for the day that was ahead of me. As I entered the school I was enlightened to see pictures of children learning but having fun at the same time. I noticed that there theme was to “cook up success,” which happens to be the mindset that I entered college with. I believe that Loyola University New Orleans is one of the ingredients to my success.
After I took a tour of the school, I began my service by painting the walls of a first grade classroom. Some may see painting walls hard labor, but I enjoyed painting with my peers. We sang and danced while we painted. We told each other stories of our childhood and reminded each other of our childhood favorite cartoon and television shows like “Zoom,” “Power Puff Girls,” and “Teletubies,” just to name a few. When our paint project was complete I moved on to our next project, clean computers. One of my peers and I went to every classroom and offices and dusted and cleaned all the computers. Once that job was complete I went on to creating books for the first grade students. That project ended the day of service. These small projects not only made a big difference to the school but it also made a difference to the students. It made me feel special to know that you could make a difference by doing the smallest things. Just giving your time and sometimes your Saturday morning can make a difference, the kind of difference that will put smiles on the faces of these young eager students attending the Wilson Charter School.
If you would like to give your time or your Saturday morning to organization like the Wolves on the Prowl you can always find one of the many organizations in New Orleans that best fits you. One of my favorite organization in the One Family Foundation. You can find out more information about this organization at http://www.1familyfoundation.org/about.html . It does not matter when or where, it does not matter what or how. We all have to remember is that we can ALL make a difference one step at a time. The smallest jobs and projects make the biggest difference.