Annya W

Nicki Minaj at SHU...

Halloween is approaching, and every year there is a need to outdo the previous with costumes. This year it won't be so hard to come up with ideas as there has been so many crazy celebrities dressed in outrageous outfits which I just call 'costumes' as that's truly what they are, don't you think?

To get this Nicki Minaj look you will need:

a tootoo dress of your choice

bright stockings or tights

blond wig

rain boots

a sharpie to get that tatoo

From a psychological point of view, why do we feel the need to look like others so much (in this case, celebs)? What makes us want to be more daring around this time? and finally how does this affect our personalities, if it does at all?

Some ‘celebs’ I’m almost sure we’ll be seeing this Halloween are: Nicki Minaj/ Lady Gaga/Katy Perry/Charlie Sheen/Snookie

 Happy Halloween!

Keep them AWAKE!

Ever wonder why we often times enjoy sitting in the dark playing with our phones and laptops, or just get that sudden urge to fall asleep once someone goes up to start their PowerPoint presentation? Well, its simple- WE GET BORED! By no means am I a pro at mastering this communication tool- but I do know, it's hard enough to try to listen to a topic that is of no particular interest to you, and to have boring slides does no more good.

 Avoid creating these PowerPoint SINS:

• Creating crowded slides
• Not connecting with your audience
• Reading directly from your slides
• Turning off the lights when presenting

Robert Graham of GrahamComm suggests these rules to master your presentation:

• Remember that You are the presentation. Use your slides as a complement to you, not the other way around.
• Keep your slides simple, intriguing and readable at a glance (the more visual, the better). Cartoons work great.
• Use the 6x6 Rule: No more than 6 lines with 6 words per line.
• Plug your computer in. Don’t count on your battery being charged.
• Disable your screen saver and wireless connection. There’s nothing worse than an inappropriate instant message, pop-up ad or R-rated photo appearing in the middle of your talk.
• Speak to people’s eyes, not the visual. Avoid the tendency to speak to the screen, your notes or your laptop. Your main objective is to connect with the people in your audience–NOT overload them with content.
• Pause (stop speaking) to let your listeners digest each slide. Don’t fight for your audience’s attention. When they are done reading your slide, they’ll look back at you and you can resume speaking.
• Bring backups and hard copies, because things always go wrong. I do several things to hedge my bets against the inevitable disasters:

1.  
   • Email my presentation to the meeting planner
   • Bring my own laptop with the presentation loaded
   • Bring a backed-up copy on a flash card
   • Bring hard copies of the slides

• Embrace The “B Key.” This could be the big take-away from this article, so pay attention. There are times when you no longer need the slide that is showing (when someone asks a question, during an aside, when telling a story, or otherwise addressing a topic unrelated to the slide). This is a great time to black out the screen so that the attention once again is on you. Hit the B key on your keyboard, and your screen will magically go black. When you are done, touch B again, and the slide will reappear. Or hit return, and it will go on to the next slide. I did a workshop with a group from Microsoft a few years ago, and they didn’t know this trick!

• Practice using your slides. Go through your talk–out loud–and know what you are going to say for each bullet or slide. Under the “Slide Show” tab, there are tools that allow you to time your talk while practicing and view the upcoming slides. Practice your talk out loud several times before ever showing it to an audience

Source: http://www.grahamcomm.net/articles_09.html

The power of COLORS

Use these colors to keep the attention of your audience!

RED & ORANGE to inspire your audience.

YELLOW to get their attention- It will bring a piece of sun into your presentation and you’ll receive a positive attitude in return.

GREEN has positive associations among people all over the world

PURPLE  will put some mystery and sophistication into your presentation.

GREY & BLACK great for presenting technology

BROWN is associated with stability

Now, go and make your next presentation fun & interesting!

Stay Motivated

USE THIS INSTEAD!

As a part of my daily routine, checking yahoo is up there on my list. I came across this article and found it rather interesting and can be used by ANYONE! 
 
This was written by a Yahoo! contributor
Household spending is a complicated aspect of nearly every budget. If only there were a way to use products already in the pantry to help alleviate this monthly strain. Well, good news: There is! Many items you currently have in your home can serve more than their original purpose. The following are a few I use regularly. 

-- The mesh bags onions and potatoes come in from the grocery store generally end up in the garbage can. Instead of tossing them, I save a few and use their naturally abrasive texture to scrub pots and pans. The bags are far more gentle on hands than S.O.S pads filled with chemicals. 
 

-- Paper towels are ridiculously expensive. Many people have moved to cleaning with old washcloths or a sponge, and that is certainly a great alternative. However, I am one of those people who prefer to throw away things I have used to wipe the toilet. If you are like me, try using cheap coffee filters. They clean better than paper towels (especially mirrors), and are way cheaper. 
-- Speaking of cleaning, "going green" is in these days, so why not hop on that bandwagon for some of your kitchen and bathroom cleansers? Simple ingredients like baking soda splashed with vinegar are terrific for cleaning showers and toilets, and they're especially great at opening drains. If your bathtub drains are clogged with hair, replace the Drano with a few shakes of baking soda, a splash or three of vinegar, and a kettleful of boiling water. These products are generally in the pantry already, and when combined they make amazing cleaning agents. 
 

-- I love baking soda. It has so many uses. Another of my favorite tips is to pour about half a cup of baking soda into a small dish, add 12 drops of essential oil (or your favorite scented oil from Bath & Body Works), and place the dish wherever a little freshening is needed. I like to put a dish in the car after I've forgotten to bring in a cup of coffee and the spoiled cream has left a distasteful odor. 
 
-- While I'm discussing cleaning, I would be remiss in not bringing attention to the most amazing corn cleaner ever. I love corn on the cob, but I hate the corn silk that can seem impossible to remove. Now I just use an unused toothbrush to brush the corn. The bristles do a great job of cleaning out all the silk, and I don't have to spend half an hour per ear of corn. 

Finally, the easiest of them all. Outdoor activities like concerts or picnics can be less comfortable if you are sitting on a blanket in soggy grass. I like to keep a cheap shower curtain liner with my picnic blanket for these occasions. The liner keeps the blanket dry, and my family and I no longer have to worry about wet bottoms after our picnic.
 
 
It's surprising how many things you already own that can serve multiple purposes. Try these, and venture into the realm of repurposing. As you find even more new uses for old objects, share your knowledge with all of your friends.

UNDERGRAD VS. GRAD

They say curiosity kills the cat. Thank God I’m no cat. Grad school starts in august and I’m sure I’m not the only person in the world who wonders how different it may be from grad school, granted this is quite possible. I sit and wonder, what will the course work consist of? How much reading? Research? Group work?

 That being said I took my anxiety to Google and came up with a few highlights to share. It gave me somewhat of a better insight and I hope this will help you a bit too.

 

The Difference Between Undergraduate and Graduate School

• Undergraduate school is typically for students who have completed high school and are working toward a college degree. Graduate school, on the other hand, is generally for students who have completed a bachelor's degree and want to do additional advanced studies in a particular field.
• Graduate students are expected to have more knowledge and better research skills than are undergraduates.
• Expectations are higher for graduate students than for undergraduates.
• Graduate students are more likely than undergraduates to have additional responsibilities, such as families and full-time jobs.
• Graduate students need background knowledge and experience (gained through undergraduate work, jobs, etc) so they can explore their fields of interests more deeply.
• Graduate students spend most, if not all, of their classroom time in their major field of study rather than taking a broad range of classes as undergraduate students do.
• Financial aid for graduate students tends to come more in the form of loans, fellowships, and assistantships. Undergraduate students, on the other hand, have more access to financial aid options such as grants.

Source:http://www.greprepinfo.com/difference_between_undergraduate_graduate_school.htm

August is slowly approaching...

Grad school...is it any different from undergrad? I guess we'll find out pretty soon.

OOH days of summer!

Well call me crazy but I think the summer is really dragging! If September 7^th could get here any sooner I’d probably be happy with a late Christmas, getting back to reality….

 

The summer has been calm so far, trying to stay busy with online classes and internships which have broadened my horizons in more ways than i expected.

 

I am truly looking forward for the semester to begin where I will venture down a new path…Parkridge here I come!

 

I’ll be sure to give you more updates as the excitement begins!

It's Up To YOU!

When all seems to fail there still lies possibilities. Having the courage and determination to keep trying goes a long way. If you want something really bad then nothing should be able to stand in you way.

 

Recently I applied to become an RA on campus, and going in I knew it was going to be hard, as one of the major requirement was to have lived on campus for at least one semester, I  have always been a commuter- so we know how much I fulfill that particular requirement. Anyways, this was something I really wanted and nothing was about to stop me.

 

So, I applied, took off from work the Saturday for Group Process day, went and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I knew this was a narrow chance for me to get in, but I wanted the initial experience of what could become a reality.  The Monday following Group Process day I did my interview. It was scary at first as I couldn’t find the office (off course of all the days), it was rather windy and rainy outside, but eventually I got there, on the dot- though I wasn’t pleased with that, there was nothing I could do then but prove to my interviewer that I was qualified and ready to give all that it takes to become a great RA, and that I did.

 

The week to follow seemed to be the longest, not to mention the day we were to get ‘THAT’ email. I constantly checked and was irritated by every other email that came in, but finally at 5pm that evening, standing in Wal-Mart the email came. I waited 5 minutes to open it as all my previous works flashed back to memory, I knew I was a good fit for the position, I know I can do the job and I know I wasn’t about to start thinking negatively. So I opened it and that first word ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ had me burst out ‘WOW’ in Wal-Mart, that’s all I could say, wow. Off course people started looking at me funny but there was nothing anyone could do at that moment to stifle my joy.

 

All that being said, one must have persistence to go forward in life. Though I lacked the semester long experience on campus, I had a background that could supplement for that, I didn’t have to live on campus since I lived 5 minutes away from campus, but to have the experience of an RA was my desire, so I got involved in other programs that could prepare me for this and it sure worked out for my benefit.

 

So if you’re not sure what you want to do on campus, or how to go about doing it, talk to someone, there is always someone there to help you, and you can always shoot me an email and I can help you, you have to realize theses experiences employers look for when you apply for a job and it would be sad if you missed out on a job because you weren’t involved in school when there is so much going on.

Surviving Group Work

Group work has been the hit of this semester and what can I say? I’m not the biggest fan of group projects as I always seem to get group member who could really care less, and I’m sure I’m not the only one in this position. I try to look at it though, as practice for the real world as many tasks will be done in groups, or someone will have to depend on me to get something done and vice versa.

I try to make the best of the situations. I always end up being the group leader, not that I do mind this, but sometimes its good to see others step up to the plate. Some common issues with classroom team projects are: students do not take the work seriously- as a result do not put in as much effort, they never respond to emails, never show up to group meetings, constantly complaining about decisions being made and has no recommendations, or they simple do nothing and wait for the grade to be evenly distributed. Now this is just irritating and is acceptable for neither the classroom nor the workplace.

Tips to survive group work:

Go in with a positive attitude, ready to contribute your best to the group. All that is really in your control is how you contribute and react to your various group interactions.

Keep an open mind towards the other group members. Their work and communication styles may be completely foreign to you. You may have to work with someone you absolutely cannot get along with. You will have to figure out how to get past whatever clashes in the group, make the best of everyone's strengths and work together to make up for each other's weaknesses.

Look at group work as an opportunity to learn about different working personalities -- not only your own, but also the ways other people tend to work. Once you begin to identify your own working patterns and those of various other people, you can then better communicate and co-operate with people of numerous backgrounds and styles. The interpersonal, team work and conflict resolution skills you gain from your university group projects will serve you well in the work world once you start your career. (http://www.iamnext.com/academics/groupattitude.html)

 It’s not the easiest thing to pull through when the group is dysfunctional, but its an obstacle we must learn to overcome.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”- Henry Ford

 

 

 

HEARTS FOR HAITI!!

On Friday February 12 at 10pm there was the hearts for Haiti kickoff- it was amazing! The turnout was wonderful, the food, the music and activities were all fully appreciated. We were entertained by a Haitian band, the dj stole the night and touching presentations made us think twice and feel more appreciative of the things we have. From blanket making to hair braiding, our supporters enjoyed themselves and stayed up with us until 6am.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!