Check out our newest blog addition: Career Services!

As a student blogger, it's my mission to attract people to my blog and share helpful information by letting my fellow classmates in on some of my own experiences while attending Berkeley! Many of you have reached out to me, and I enjoy being able to interact with all of you!

This morning an email came through that I had a new comment on my blog I posted a few days about kicking off week 2! If you have been keeping up with my blog, you will have seen that I have been blogging about my internship and the career services department here at Berkeley. Here is the very nice comment I had for approval in my inbox this morning: "You inspired me to start a blog for Career Services! Check us out and we can follow each other!"

I thought that was such a great comment and I was definitely excited to learn that Berkeley would now have a blog for this department. I popped on over to the Career Services blog and there is a lot of helpful information posted on their blog already. I think it's really important for those of you who are nearing the end and need to get ready for your internship! The latest blog, which I actually giggled about, is what to avoid during your internship? Of course, Facebook was mentioned, which was no surprise to me! The reason I giggled is because I actually was asked to play around on Facebook, BUT on the company's profile! So that was totally acceptable! I can't even begin to tell you though how many times I have heard of people getting in lots of trouble at their jobs and possibly fired for being on Facebook. I understand it's addicting, but seriously, the workplace is not the time for it! So I totally agree with staying as far away as possible from Facebook when you are interning as well as when you work a full time job!

I know at my State Farm job, they actually have restrictions on websites such as Facebook, MySpace, and even Yahoo mail. Just recently I learned that my boss has access to all the sites we visit during office hours, so it just comes to show, there is technology out there that can track your every single move in the workplace, so BEWARE!

With that being said, I would like to welcome you all to visiting the Career Services blog! If you have any questions or concerns, this is the place to go! You can also check out the recent job and internship postings to get an idea of what is available to you. And as always, you can always visit the Career Services department on your campus for further information!

Here is the link so you can visit today!

http://berkeleycollegecareerservices.blogspot.com/

I hope everyone's having a great week and just think, TOMORROW IS FRIDAY! ENJOY!

Week 2 Kickoff!

Just one week ago I was blogging about the start of our first week of the Spring Quarter! Can you believe we are already at week 2? How was everyone's first week? Busy? Confusing? Did you meet some new friends!?

My first week was pretty good. It's just a matter of getting use to new classes and what the professors expect of you each and every week. Now that I am fully an online student, it's a lot different than being on campus. You have to have certain postings by certain times and you need to respond to a few people throughout the week. I've gotten use to that, but every professor is different when it comes to weekly discussion boards. I picked my publicly traded company for my big presentation in my capstone class. Has anyone else taken a capstone class? They are designed to incorporate every other class you have taken related to your major and apply it to a big project for the end of the quarter. My project is to make a strategic plan that is shown in a powerpoint presentation as well as a 10-15 page paper. I wanted to do Apple, but someone had already chosen that company, so I decided to go with Sony because I have been a Sony fan for a long time. I plan on getting a HUGE head start on this so that when it comes down to the deadline, I will just have to make the finishing touches. Being that my schedule is much busier than normal, it's my best bet to get going on these things much sooner.

The internship is going great so far! I sat in on my first marketing meeting the other day to cover some promotional items for an upcoming event. It's so exciting to finally be involved in these types of things because I always wondered how the process goes. It seems to be a little stressful because while the marketing department discusses their ideas, they then need to present them to their big boss, and well, he is not always in favor of their proposed ideas, so it's back to square one. That is actually the issue at hand now, so this week will be a little bit hectic, but I am looking forward to it. It's really funny too because people there know me as "the intern" so the girl I work with says, she has a name you know! It makes me laugh but everyone is super friendly so it really doesn't bother me!

Yesterday I participated in the MS Walk at Waywayanda State Park. I had such a huge turnout for my team and it's just so remarkable to see everyone come together to make strides towards finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. I have been going on 3 years strong now and have been feeling better than ever! It just makes me so happy to see everyone come together that I love so much! Here are some photos from the walk!

So let's kick of week 2 and make it a great one at that!!

Welcome To The Spring 2011 Quarter!

Welcome to all new students and welcome back to continuing students! Today kicks off the first day to the Spring 2011 quarter here at Berkeley College! I hope everyone had an enjoyable break and I hope you are all ready to get back to work! I know I am considering I only have one more quarter to go and then graduation will be here! This quarter is going to be by far the busiest quarter for me since I will be taking 5 classes, one of which is accelerated, and I will also be working at my internship one quarter earlier so it's busy, busy, busy for me!

I spent yesterday reviewing all of the syallbus' for my classes and getting a feel of what is expected of me. The one thing I found that I am not exactly happy about is a 10-15 page paper, but it's a capstone course, and it will give me the opportunity to take everything I have learned in past classes related to my major and apply it within this paper and presentation. Of course when you see an assignment like that right off the bat, you get a little stressed, but I am sure everything will go smoothly once I get working on it and have a better understanding of what is expected.

So far, everything looks pretty good and I actually was able to get a head start on some assignments today because it was my day off. I don't get many of those anymore, so it was definitely a good head start on my behalf. I will also be participating in the Honors class this quarter, which like last quarter, is very beneficial to my learning. I have met some really great people within the program and I look forward to being a part of the honors program!

I am interested to hear how everyone spent their break and what classes you will be taking this quarter! Is anyone else close to graduation? What about after graduation...what are you hoping to do? I would love to hear from you guys!

As we kick off the Spring Quarter, make sure you remember to get all of your books and to make sure you go to class prepared! The weeks fly by so make sure you don't slack in the beginning. It will only make it harder to catch up at the end. I also want to remind everyone to take advantage of the tutoring available at Berkeley. Everyone is here to help you, so please don't forget that!

Have a great week and GOOD LUCK! Have a successful quarter!!

Spring Break!

We have successfully completed the Winter quarter, and now we can enjoy a week off from classes and have a relaxing spring break! Congratulations to those who just finished their last quarter and will be graduating shortly and of course to everyone who will be graduating next month! I myself am getting very close to that moment, but I will try not to rush it anymore than I already am!

By now you should have seen all of your grades and hopefully you are happy with them! I know I am very happy with mine! Next quarter I will be taking 5 classes, so that I stay on track with graduation. It seems like the classes I am taking are going to be a lot of work, but I am up for the challenge. It's just nice to finally be able to take a breather.

As for my internship, I just received paperwork the other day from Career Services in which I need to submit a letter from the company I am interning at and then some other papers so that they can approve it. So far, I have just been working there 2 full days a week, so that I am able to keep up with my school work and work at my other job. The people there are great and willing to work with me. Once my internship class actually starts in the summer, then I will be taking on more hours so that I can fulfill my 300 credit hours. Right now, I am just getting use to their system and learning some new programs such as InDesign and Photoshop. They do a lot of graphic design to market their products and also to make brochures and things of that sort. While I won't be dealing with graphics as much, they still feel it's beneficial to learn and will be helpful to take along with me when I begin my search for a job. I have to say it's pretty awesome working in a marketing department because everything you learn about in all the different classes, comes up again when you're working within the department. The days just seem to fly by when I am there and I really do enjoy it!

I have to also take some time to express my sympathy towards those in Japan. My boyfriend and I were watching the news last night and we saw that Japan had another tsunami warning. All I could do was put my hand over my mouth because I was in such shock for them. It turns out that there was another earthquake...about 6.5 this time, and they had to issue a warning because they weren't sure what was going to happen. Luckily, two hours after they released the warning and no major waves were spotted. I just feel so sorry for these individuals. I have yet to turn on the news this morning, but I sure do hope that the radiation problems get solved and that they can begin trying to get their feet back on the ground. My heart goes out to all those families over in Japan!



I hope everyone has an enjoyable Spring Break and see you in a week!! :)

What a week! Time to enjoy the weekend!

My week began with celebrating my 21st birthday! YAY! And then, if my week couldn't get any more exciting, I started my internship! I kept saying, "Man, I turn 21 and my life already changes for the better!" It's just so crazy how so many new life changing things are happening and it's just really exciting for me!! So that explains why I have been missing in action this past week!

I know, I know, you want to hear ALL about the internship! Well for starters, this company has a big project they are working on that they will be taking to Chicago, so there were a lot of powerpoints to get done for approval, and just a lot of promotional things in the mix as to what would and wouldn't work! While I wasn't involved in the promotional activity talk, I worked on formatting and getting the powerpoints ready for approval since there were about 11 powerpoints that had to be put together, pictures swapped, pictures saved as different files, a lot of formatting, and just a ton of stuff that I enjoy doing. Like I said, I love creativity, so being able to take on the powerpoints was exciting for me. So I put in two full days this week, Wednesday and Friday and was able to successfully meet a deadline for all of those to be done and ready to be sent over to the boss.

It's cool to finally be working in a company where I am considered part of the marketing team and can really get involved. As I stated, I am starting REALLY early, but it's experience and will prepare me for bigger and better things, so I am really excited to be getting involved!

The Winter Quarter is about to wrap up this week, are you excited?! I know I am because now that means Spring is coming, which means nicer weather and one quarter closer till I graduate! Next quarter I am swamped with classes, but I need to have them done before my summer quarter. Busy is better than nothing, so I'll just have to deal with it fair and square!

I also got some other good news this week too, I won a $20 gift card to the bookstore for simply voting for the Berkeley Video Challenge. I was shocked when I was tagged in a post saying I won because I didn't even think twice about it. I received the gift card in the mail yesterday and now it will help with my books for the Spring quarter! YAY!

If you have finals this week, GOOD LUCK to you! Many of you may have finished up last week, but in the event that you didn't, study hard and end the quarter with a great big A!

Well I am off to go pack and then I am headed to Atlantic City bright and early Sunday morning! YAY! Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Time to Change Your Clocks This Weekend: Spring Ahead, Fall Back!

Yes, that’s right! That dreaded time of the year where we lose an hour of sleep is here again! Although it only takes about a week to get use to it, it’s still a big pain to adjust to!



Let me ask you this though: Have you ever wondered what the history behind Daylight Saving Time is? Believe it or not, daylight savings time was established in the United States during a very important event in society known as World War I. This was implemented to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight which occurs between the months of April and October. The government also required the states to observe this particular time change during World War II as well. After the war and even the time in-between, the states had a choice to decide if they wanted to observe Daylight Saving Time of not. By 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of daylight savings time.

Since that time, Daylight Saving Time has actually been extended four weeks longer due to the passing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which extended the length by four weeks. It begins the second Sunday of March and ends the first Sunday of November, in which we then set the clocks back and enjoy that extra hour of sleep again! The point of extending the length of the event by four weeks was with hopes that it would save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses in the daylight hours. Unfortunately, there is really no way to determine if there is any energy being saved based on the length of the event.

So while most of us observe Daylight Saving Time, there are a select few who don’t, which include Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. The reasoning is because they are closer to the equator and the days are way more consistent in length throughout the year.

It’s a very interesting event to learn about, and now you walk away knowing a little bit more about the event that we observe! So remember, this weekend clocks move forward by one hour! Yes, you can all sigh now!

So on to some exciting news! I went for my internship interview the other day and it was a success! I will be starting as early as next week! Yes, I know, I'm pushing it now! I am really looking forward to it and will be involved in a big project with the marketing department, so it will be right up my alley! Although I will be starting earlier, it will give me a lot of experience and give me time to start exploring new and exciting things. I will not be there full time, so I will be able to still keep my current job and have the time to complete all my school work, which is a good thing! It's all about time management now and also learning new things! Reality is setting in, that's for sure! It's a new chapter in my life, so time to take it all in!

Another exciting thing in life is my birthday on Monday! The big 21st birthday! 21 and already getting a big girl job!! Happy Early Birthday to me!



I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week, enjoys their weekend, and remember, you lose an hour of sleep, so don't be too discouraged! I did warn you all! :)

How's It Going??

It's hard to believe that in 2 weeks our quarter will be complete! Bring it on Week 10! I have some pretty exciting news to start off my week! Tomorrow I will be going in for my first internship interview. Yes, it is a little early for me, but this company would like to bring me on board a little earlier and I couldn't be more excited! This will also give me the chance to start working within my major, which is marketing, and I can start gaining some experience for my future jobs. Fingers crossed that my nerves don't get the best of me! So far so good though!

For those of you wondering about the internship process, I contacted Career Services to double check and make sure that I could indeed begin earlier. The thing is, even though I am starting it earlier, I need to make sure that it runs until the end of my summer quarter, which is when I will be enrolled in the internship class. I am unable to participate in the class until it is my actual time to do the internship. To my knowledge, you need to obtain 300 credit hours at your place of interning over the course of 12 weeks. The internship needs to also be in line with your major. You don't want to just intern anywhere. You want to make sure you can take what you have been learning and apply it to your job.

I will keep everyone posted on how everything goes. I am so excited and nervous at the same time, but this is the start to my future! Tomorrow I put my skills to the test in the interview area and give it my all!

So as we approach the end of the quarter, I like to remind everyone to stay on top of their work and if you need tutoring, please contact the Academic Support Center and seek tutoring! They are ALWAYS there for you, and they can really benefit you in the long run, so check it out!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and look out for my updated information about my internship! Fingers crossed! :)