The last Football Season

Being a senior itself is a very sad time for most college students. We all know that we have to leave this fun time in our life and grab life by the horns, or at least get stabbed then start doing something. Well another thing that i just sadly realized is that this last game was my last time that i will be sitting in the student section on the hill with all my friends. I LOVE sitting on the hill, slightly inebriated, screaming my butt off trying to push the tigers towards another victory. I would love to tailgate still in the future, even attend the games, but i am doubtful of this actually happening. I plan on moving wherever my career takes me and the money leads me. Seeing the games first hand became a big part of my time here at Clemson. Freshman year, being from Georgia, and never really growing up in a single place for too long, i never had a team to go by. I actually did not even watch college sports at all. Getting to Clemson every Saturday just seemed like another reason to party. Now i realize that the game can cause more nerve racking excitement than anything else i have experienced. I am gonna miss those Saturdays spent in Glorious Victory, and sometimes devastated loss, with all my friends.

Buckley's

So when looking up the blog post for this week not to long ago, i just realized it was about watching advertisements over this past week. Well i think that not actually paying attention helped me realize which ads stuck out more. This only thing that i can remember is watching a new commercial about Buckley's Cough Syrup. The commercials are hilarious. What they do is link the bad taste of cough syrup to random other liquids which just by the smell you would think they have to taste bad. Like a blindfolded taste test of Buckley's vs Puddle on Floor of Public Restroom, in which the end result was not being able to taste a difference. They then end with two check marks, one for it tastes like crap, the other for it gets rid of coughs. This is stuck in my head and so are the other commercials cause they pretend to use anything rank or spoiled in the taste tests which everyone will know about. It also makes me want to use it, so ill try it next time i get a bad cough.

Group Communication

For the most part i found that communicating with my group was very effective. We in general used emails for communication and when needed called each other on the phone. Our meetings went over fine ever time. Derek and I being out of town for the first one or two was a little difficult to catch up and be on the same page. The only problem i found was not everyone checks their email at the same time. I know this makes sense but that was probably the only real problem. It is more or less playing tag with emails, but you are still able to leave long enough messages and questions to move forward with the project. Our meetings went over fine and we worked out the schedule every time we had a meeting. I think the separation of work worked out well for the most part. Sometimes it was hard because not everyone had the program required to open some documents so it took longer to try and merge things and re-organize. I hope that in phase two we can work out a little more before hand what we will do and how we will put it all together. Other than that i am very happy with our group and the progress we were able to make.

Interview

I feel that the interview ended up going pretty well. I have had a few in the past, mostly done through highschool, but one done for my internship this past summer. I felt a little unprepared for some of the questions. They were not difficult but i just paused a little to long it seemed like. I am not sure if that can really be changed though, just nervousness. In a real interview i feel like i should know more about the company. I did a little research for this one if a question happened to come up, but i would like to have more questions for the interviewer. At my internship interview it was more or less an introduction to the company and its employees. I was walked around by the person that was to be my "supervisor" and was shown past projects and everything else. I really enjoyed that aspect of the interview cause it enabled me to realize if i would like the place or not. Another thing i realized with this mock interview is that i need to buy a tie.

Chicago

This last week i went with my architecture class to Chicago. Like i expected it was a lot of fun. The biggest thing that shocked me was the temperature. Even though i loved it, i was not thinking that it was going to get that cold. Being from the North i miss all those cool autumn days with jeans and a sweater. The air smells crisp and clean and it feels that much better when you finally take your shoes off inside. This was my first time in Chicago and ended up loving it. My first impression was a little different. We came in on the subway from O'Hare and it was not the best of journeys. It was pretty cold, while i was wearing shorts and a shirt, and the hotel had a strike, a small one, going on at the front. On the first day we went on a nice walking tour with our two teachers of the loop and we discussed all our buildings we had to research, mostly ones with historical presence. I enjoyed myself there, eating chicago style pizza, twice, amazing steaks at Morton's, also the most expensive meal i have ever eaten, and everything in between. I went out a couple nights but one night that was the most fun was when we went to the area around Wrigly field. It was mostly a younger crowd and it ended up being a blast. I enjoyed my last saturday there being a free day. I got to check out a museum, walk around the city more, and watch the columbus day parade. All in all Chicago turned out to be a really fun time, as well as educational.

School

When first thinking about applying to college none of the questions or answers have been formed yet. I had no clue what i wanted to do until senior year in high school, and i was still not right. The college education system is wrong in having such specific courses and degrees. Of course there are those 50 or so percent that go undecided until they end up with a useless degree where they really learned nothing towards any type of career. For those that know they want to do something more, or that they may want to follow in a number of careers that take up 4 years of college study alone, it is a lot more difficult.
I have been wasting the last 4 years doing architecture. Not wasting because i am not interested in it at all, but recently I decided that i want to do more than just architecture. Also for engineering it is extremely difficult for someone in their fourth year to drop because anything else would just take so much longer. Being an out of state student that also means a lot more expensive. I think that the system could and should change. I want to do engineering now, that is how i think and i realized i would probably be able to do that a lot better than architecture. My problem is that i am not going to do engineering. I have spent so much time doing architecture, and a switch to engineering would put me right back to a first year student having 4 more years ahead of me.
I think that is where the problem lies. The inability to switch majors. This is not the problem for everyone. Not saying that it is easy, but the majority of business type majors have a similar class schedule and can make that leap from Finance to Accounting. With things like architecture and engineering, there is no way that you could because they have specific courses to take each semester. I think the change would happen there, even if making them 5 year programs. The first two years of study should be a better overall general education and minor study. There can be schools, such as languages, arts, math and sciences, but going one route should not hinder your possibility of switching later on. Then i think that third year is experimental, maybe the first semester you try engineering, a good overview of the major, simple generic studies that get you interested or turn you off. The fourth and fifth years should then get you into a deep study of the major itself. By this time i feel that the majority of people would have a good idea of what to do.
This may seem like it would affect those that know for sure what they want to do, but it is the opposite. The people who are hell bent on doing one thing the rest of their life, GREAT! This idea would help them out. The first three years can be electives related to their study, a minor that compliments their major, and anything else that can be taken to get them ready for even an internship over the summer in their desired field of study. They might even realize that it is not what they want to do, and still have the chance to jump right in to something else. I just think that trying to have your mind made up in high school, so that you are on the "normal" 4 year graduation path of college, is a little much.

Traveling on Resumes

This was definately the most interesting article to me. I love to travel. It might be the fact that i have never lived in a place that i can remember for more than 4 years. I think the reason i love to travel is the different communities and ways of life that you get to experience everywhere knew you go. I think putting something that has truely changed you in the slightest way should be mentioned. All though not an expert by any means, i feel that seeing so many different European cities has helped me better understand how city life works and how it survives. Also the more new stuff that someone tries the more they realize what they actually like. Traveling has also helped me not be so shy about trying something different, whether it be food or communication or even travel. All these things i would like to portray my very best in my resume, and at the least during the interview.
I liked hearing the part about how the one company hired the man who traveled the country because he thinks outside the box. Not being in the workforce yet fulltime, what my views are based off of are others experiences. For the most part it seems that majority of companies are afraid to take risks in people that are concerned about themselves above all else. I will have to be happy to be any type of productive in the work force. I also agree that traveling gives you a break to re-examine what you are doing with your life. I hope that Architecture offices have somewhat of the same views when it comes to considering employees who travel. I do not plan on stopping anytime soon.

All Nighters Helpful?

The first thing that caught my eye was definitely the article about all nighters. I would say that i never expected to pull all nighters in school, but was quickly proven wrong. Architecture was a very difficult major to jump into from high school. This major, since freshman year, has been making me pull all nighters, or at least stay up till 3 or 4, a couple times a week. Reading about how some things that i would never consider to be helpful to mention in interviews was pretty surprising. I mean it does make sense that being able to get something done by a certain deadline would be helpful, but it almost seems it is kind of a negative. A few all nighters are pulled because of procrastination. A few other things i liked about the article is how to present these "skills" in an interview. I like how the all nighters turn into time management skills and the studying abroad is global exposure and culturally savvy. Also I have never figured that mentioning i keep up to date with the most recent technologies could also help. I do hope to remember to use this next interview.

Ten Years

Ten years from now i see myself being a multimillionaire. Not really but everyone can wish. I really do expect to be getting into what i really want to do for the rest of my life. After i graduate i expect to just work in an architecture firm for a couple years. I can't see myself staying doing that for too long though. I really do not want to have a plan for ten years from now. I can see my life going in so many directions i can't honestly pick one. I guess i could go with one scenario where i would just be starting my own company with a friend involving real estate development and architecture. I could see myself living somewhere i have never been. I love learning and experiencing new places so that would definitely have to be one aspect of my job. I hope that i am not a father yet. I might be, but id prefer to just be starting a family. I will have had a girlfriend of a couple years, looking towards marriage. I want to still be close with my family in Atlanta, or where ever they may be living. Friends are an important part of my life, (i am not a fan of being alone) and i hope to keep in contact with the majority of them. I want to have traveled to at least 3 of my top places i want to visit, hopefully all on different trips. All i can really say about ten years from now is that i better be happy.

Web What?

Watching that video was interesting in seeing how the web has changed since the begining. Now i do not think this whole Web 2.0 is a revolution as that video makes it to seem. It seems as though it is either bringing down the world we live in or raising it beyond imagine. I think the web is the same, it is just how we took to it. I am not sure what initially the web was meant for, but this seems like the obvious advancing of the internet. I would say it stated with AIM, and then people wanted more ways to talk to their friends, and to show more information about themselves without even having to be there. Websites such as Digg is something that i think is kicking off this blogger revolution. There are too many blogs out there, but i think it is ok. The majority of people are not ranting so that they get a huge following, but once again rather notes and updates for friends. Things they want to show others. I may be completely wrong as to why people blog and the way the web is changing, i think it is just expanding beyond just a database. One of the main points is the ever changin face of the Web. Nothing stays the same for even a milisecond.
Considering the Web 2.0 in a business sense is a must. For people entering the workforce the internet is becoming probably the number one way to find companies and jobs, and people who can help you decide what you what to do or where you want to go. You also have to watch out what you put on the internet. But the good thing is that data can be changed easily. You can put as much or little about yourself out there as you wish. Retink everything is an overstatement. Yes we can and will have to adapt to the way the internet is being used, but still too much can overload us. People is the business world allready have to change to the newcomers and the styles and technology that come with them. But still i do not think the world is about to turn itself over due to the web and how its being used. The majority of change is just how fast information is getting exchanged. No longer days it take days to tell the world about something, but seconds. And to some people that can be useful, and to others harmful. It is hard to tell what is truth or not, opinion or fact, but that is the idea of it all. You have to take it all in and then do your own thinking to decide whats what.

Hello Fellow Classmates!

So i guess the point of this is to introduce myself to you all. Well my name is Bob, well i prefer being called Bob, but anything really goes. I am a senior here at Clemson, sad to have this be my last football season, and, well, last year. I was born in Erie, PA, but only lived there for 7 years or so. I have since then lived in Mankato, MN; Ft. Wayne, IN; Houston, TX; Nashville, TN; and Atlanta, GA. I am studying architecture and have no idea what i am going to do with it. I have held an internship this last summer in Atlanta, well Buckhead, GA. I am prolly going to end up working after i graduate out in Cali. So what do you want to know now. I enjoy some things, mostly i enjoy doin nothing. I love being able to just go home, have nothing to do and relax. That and driving are prolly the two best things i get to experience. I love to drive around, see where i go. I like to golf, when i got the extra money, and play tennis. I am not very good at either though. I would say my main goal in life is to have fun. I prefer not to let stuff get me down, even though it still does, i try. If i am happy, then im all good. I also like beer, i know, of course for a college student right? I actually like it, like trying new ones, camparing flavors, and so on. Kinda like wine lovers, but to me all that stuff is harder to distinguish.

my name is bob. nice to meet you.