And it all comes Tumbling Down

www.berrettefamilyfoundation.tumblr.com

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you know how it is: we have "day jobs," too

Yes, we know that, and that is why I am disappointed that the decision was made to leave versus stick it out. It was assumed that we were all on the same page as we signed our lives away and when things got tough many of the students ran but we never thought it would go as far as faculty. We all have day jobs, we have families, hobbies, and affiliations that seem to take the back seat, because we knew what we were working towards.

I wish a person would..... I work 50 sometimes 60 hours in a week at work, come home and dedicate another 30hrs a week, just to stay afloat (and I am barely doing that). This just hurts my feelings.

It's very discouraging when you hear/read that. That sends the message to me that the long nights, lack of sleep, hair loss, face break-outs, ear infections.... all of which are stress induced....isn't worth it, or even appreciated.

What kind of example is that?

Maybe there's something else going on because that's the shottiest excuse I have heard in the last year and a half.

you are becoming a leader; these experiences are a growing pain

What do I see as my next steps for personal and professional growth?  
I see myself molding myself into a better subject matter expert, working on my patience, and learning not to stress every little detail.  I see myself learning to say no more and learning that it's ok for someone else to take the lead and letting folks know that you don't have the bandwidth.  I have to start setting time for myself. I have realized the importance on making time for me. Realizing that, brought me to the conclusion that I don’t have the time to do EVERYTHING. I was taking on so much cause I could merely not sleep or skip a meal. In a discussion with my mentor, he told me life “isn’t that serious” and that I couldn’t live my life like everything was due at 9 am.

I want to see myself exercising effective leadership. How do I balance being constructive versus being destructive and annoying? There were a lot of times during this project where I felt as though that my teammates found me annoying only because I wanted to make sure that we are all on the same page and that folks are comfortable and feel included.  But when do I push forward or step aside? There are certain suggestions that I have made to my team but received push back on, I tried to make my case but I felt like I was getting nowhere. In the end we discovered that there was some truth to what I was saying.  I need to know how to balance this, or just how to cope because it has happened in the past and is bound to happen again, this is a part of life. But there is also the problem of getting my point across and for folks to clearly understand what I am saying and why I feel that it is important.

With that said I also see the next step as continuing to work on my assertiveness. It isn’t something that I think that I have to work on at work but it is something that I have to work on when it comes to school. I feel like I need to be creative and think outside of the box to get the information that I need. This project proved to be very difficult in that regard; working with international countries.

What strategies will I employ to address my next steps for growth?  How will I engage the faculty, my colleagues, my client, and/or other in my effort to grow?

I have solicited the help of others and am constantly looking for feedback. These are also topics that I am working with my mentors on.  At LM, I have begun to volunteer myself for stretch assignments; assignments that may seem out of the ordinary for an HR Professional. I am continually putting myself in more situations that require me to present, lead projects, and work with high-level management. I want to be comfortable with presenting and addressing questions and concerns. I believe that I am working towards bringing the best out of my team members and providing them opportunities to stretch and challenge themselves. As my boss said “you are becoming a leader; these experiences are a growing pain”

In regards to the faculty and my colleagues, I plan on using them as a sounding board and a source for constructive feedback. I look towards my clients for direction so that I can create a strategy on how to best provide the best product/service.

With The Berrette Family Foundation, LM2 helped me think about funding. I started looking in to Venture Capitalist and found a group called Novack. I have contacted them to discuss their strategy and reflect on how this can help me. I plan on utilizing Ambi, who has volunteered to help me with this project, in building the mentoring & internship program and also handling the finances. I have solicited two entrepreneurs as guidance in regards to the social aspect. How do I put myself out there? How to I open up and get the resources I need? I am also utilizing some faculty from the School of Ed, in terms of doing my due diligence and assuring that I am covering my basis in terms of the Education world.

My uncle has started an organization called “Haiti: A Fresh Start” where he is in the works of creating a planned community with homes, a school, bank, store, and bed and breakfast. In only 5 months he has accomplished so much, I will look to him for overall guidance on strategy and approach. He has infiltrated every social media that I can think of and he has a team of folks, even pro-bono legal counsel. My uncle’s mind is constantly churning and I believe that he will provide plenty in regards to strategy.

I don't have time for school...

Yes, this is how I feel. I have come to the conclusion that I do not have time for school. There's just too much to do and so little time. I still don't know how I am awake. Nights of 5 Hour Energy Shots and AMP Energy Drinks, are catching up to me.  I seem to repeatedly get "volunteered" for various stretch assignments. I have learned to say no, but I have learned that it doesn't mean much, it just means I get an extra pair of hands to help me.


One positive stride..... I am making some kind of dent into my benchmarking task. I am partially awaiting for the day where I don't have learning modules anymore, they are starting to give me anxiety.

The mixture of work, project and learning module have left me in a space where I can't even concentrate on my non-profit. This isn't a happy place for me.

Employee Recognition

About a week and a half ago, I worked an INSANE schedule. I worked 60 hrs in 4 days. WHY? because I had a corporate deliverable to debrief my management team on. So a few postings ago, I might have touched on my "communication issues" with a particular co-worker. I am not sure if I handled the situation in the best wat, but we got positive results. There was one point where I decided to take matters in to my own hands because I felt like the ship was sinking, and it was sinking FAST! In the end I felt bad for taking over and I talked to each team member individually about it. One team member gave me a card that said "You're a Rockstar, Bernice, Thanks so much for your help and guidance on the CSS. It would have not beed a success without you! Thanks for being such a great buddy."

The other team member wasn't so enthused. But she was cordial about the situation. She's older and was supposed to be the lead on this effort. So I guess I stepped on her toes. Personally I am not going to deliver something that I know is absolutely wrong to management, when I am 100% sure what they are looking for. And the thing is, management knows that I know what needs to be done, so in a way if I hadn't stepped on toes, we would have been sent back to the drawing board. There's no need for that. That's not efficient. The lead is the person who works based on expperience. She gains her knowledge on trial and error. But when you are new and you have a deliverable that's as inportant as what we had, there is no time to test out the waters. Get it done!

End result (this is in regards to the final deliverable - powerpoint package, information take-away binder):

"I just can’t say enough good things about the results. They were absolutely right on track and I just saw so much growth in everyone involved. It was just fantastic. Thanks so much Bernice for hanging in there with the team, for being such an agile learner and team member! You are just awesome! Lockheed Martin is so fortunate to have you with us."

It came with an e-card that said: "Individual Commitment to a group effort is what makes a team work. Outstanding Execution and results delivery for the Customer Satisfaction Survey project! Thank You!"

So apparently we set a standard with the presentation we gave and management wants to recognize us in front of the department and wanted me to look at different ways to recognize the team.

I feel good today.

The Type A Personality: Stress Junkie

My new knowledge is my theory!

This project thus far has allowed me to work efficiently on a team (well.. in my opinion). I realized that I was burdened with a lot and was able to delegate tasks and was even able to appoint myself a co-project manager.

This is a difficult project because my Type A personality has been very present. Especially in the beginning of the project. The past 2 weeks have been a tad bit slow due to a number of reasons at work but I am trying to  catch up right now (literally, right NOW) with school, work, and also the non-profit which is also tied to my Focus on Self. But wants reassuring is that my team believes in me and supports me in this journey.

Supposedly, it has been present my whole life....the whole, Type A thing.  It was my  co-worker who said "you have a VERY dominant Type A personality. VERY dominant." I was offended at first.  But I guess it's something that I have to embrace and nurture.  One of my friends, who knows me very well, confirmed this statement and said that I am Type A when it comes to EVERYTHING in my life. I thought it was only as it pertains to my full-time job.  Am I aggressive, direct, have an urgency for time, impatience, competitive, controlling, a workaholic, ambitious, business-like, have difficulty relaxing, driven by self imposed deadlines, and unhappy about delays? "YES! Oh my God Yes." he said. Okay Okay, I guess I agree, except for the competitive one. I HATE competition. It makes me uneasy and I always feel like I am going to fail. I shy away from ANY type of competition. Even 2 of my teammates verified this ans even called me "crazy :)"

I am learning to effectively communicate with my manager, who happens to be the Director of a major department in the corporation. She commended me as an emerging leader as I have had a few struggles with a corporate team I was leading. But she sees me trying to juggle my projects but also be inclusive and genuine. She sees that my interests lie in activities that are broad and stretching and is giving me the wiggle room to lighten up on departmental activities and focus more on corporate teams.  I am experimenting on ways to influence folks in my department. With one person, I gave insight, gave examples, got the input of others, re-phrased my suggestions.....all of that didn't work, so I took over. And you know what? That one worked. This person seems to learn based on experience. So to see the reaction of the customer, and it was a positive one? It seemed to be: yeah, Bernice knows what she is talking about. So after 3 months of fighting, that's all it took. Type A at it's best.

What's been difficult is getting through to the correct person in these companies. For example, Microsoft has been giving me the run around through to what is now 3 people, but I am still pushing through. What I think that is not on our side is time. I had a similar project for my employer that took us 9 months to complete. I expressed this to my team when we first got our project charge. Here's a thought! What if our Learning Modules were ACTUALLY tied to our project? I guess I just wished we had more time.

My team, as other teams, is at a point where certain members as contemplating the easiest way of getting  the project "done." The other teams have self-selected parts of the charge they plan on delivering, versus what was asked of us by the faculty back in Baltimore. So I am assuming this is okay with the faculty, seeing as though that is supposedly okay with the client. So with less than 2 months left, now the pressure is on for us to the same. But I think that it is very difficult to do this because every part of the charge plays on another part of the charge. What are we going to do?

In other news, taking from what I learned in the beginning of the project, I wrote a proposal contract to a potential mentor for my non-profit, The Berrette Family Foundation, Inc. He complimented me on my professionalism then wrote me this email:

"Ms. Innocent,

I have received your e-mail regarding establishing our mentorship relation and read its contents. I greatly appreciate your assertiveness and professionalism upon the engagement of this mutually beneficial relationship and agree to the terms expressed therein. I look forward to continuing to develop a strong professional relationship as the many days, weeks, months and years come to pass. "

Kudos to me!

www.ediplomat.com

Brazil



The People

Brazilians are friendly and free-spirited, with an incredible zest for life. They are very risk-oriented and very creative. Predominantly Roman Catholic (73%), families are large and often include extended family members. Family, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds are important to Brazilians.

Meeting and Greeting

Take time to greet and say good-bye to each person present.

Women kiss twice -- once on each cheek -- if they are married. Single women add a third kiss.

Body Language

Physical contact is part of simple communication. Touching arms, elbows and backs is very common and acceptable. Brazilians also stand extremely close to one another. Do not back away.

The "O.K." sign is considered very rude and vulgar; the "thumbs up" gesture is used for approval.

Wiping your hands together means "it doesn’t matter."

Clicking the tongue and shaking the head indicates disagreement or disapproval.

Corporate Culture

Your personality and ability to establish strong personal and business relationships is important to the success of your business endeavor.

Brazilians will do anything for friends, hence the expression: "For friends, everything. For enemies, the law." Relationships are more important than a legal document in business.

Meetings are conducted at a casual, unhurried pace. Don’t get right down to business. Engage in conversation first.

**Doing business with Brazilians requires face to face communication. You will be able to do only limited business by phone, fax or e-mail**

Some facts may not be completely accurate during the early stages of business negotiations. Brazilians expect some initial hype and will passionately argue their points, slowly and grudgingly making concessions. Try to maintain consistency in your negotiating team.

Always get a written agreement with starting date, time of delivery, payment details, etc. Bill in advance.

Presentations should be expressive and have some flair.

Stay at a first-class hotel. Appearances count.

Hire a Brazilian contact (a despachante) from your industry to introduce you to the right people. He or she will be invaluable to your success.

Hire a local accountant and a lawyer to help you with contract issues. Brazilians may resent an outside legal representative.

Make appointments two weeks in advance. Don’t "drop in" on business or government offices without an appointment.

Do not plan to make a business visit or schedule any appointments during holidays or festivals.

Dining and Entertainment

Always entertain in a prestigious restaurant.

Be prepared for lengthy meals (two hours or more for lunch). Do not discuss business during meals unless your host brings it up. Business may occasionally be discussed at dinner in São Paulo or Rio.

Brazilians always wash their hands before eating and rarely touch food with their hands. Use a knife and fork for everything, even fruit. Always use a napkin while eating or drinking.

Using toothpicks in public is not acceptable unless you cover your mouth with your other hand.

When inviting Brazilians to dinner or a party, do not suggest that your guests bring food or drink. Do not expect them to arrive on time, and never indicate a time that the party will "end."

To beckon a waiter, hold up the index finger of your right hand and quietly say "Garçon." To request the check, say "A conta, por favor." Waiters generally don’t bring checks until they are requested.

Dress

Appearance counts. Your clothing will reflect upon you and your company.

Brazilian women dress "sexy" in all situations, whether business, formal or casual. Foreign women who want to blend in should avoid wearing overly formal, conservative attire.

Shoes should be stylish, polished and well-kept. Nails should be manicured.

In business situations, men should wear conservative dark suits, shirts and ties. Three piece suits indicate executives; two piece suits indicate office workers. Women should wear feminine dresses, suits and pantsuits and avoid "dressing like a man."

Gifts

Gifts are not important in establishing a business relationship, and people won’t expect gifts in the first few contacts. A very expensive gift may be viewed as a bribe.

Present a gift at a social meeting, not during a formal business meeting.

Give good quality whiskey, wine, coffee table books and name brand pens. Gifts for your counterpart’s children will be appreciated.

Send flowers before or after visiting someone’s home for dinner.

Helpful Hints

Don’t assume that the "self-made" businessperson is admired in Brazil. Inherited wealth and a good family background are much more desirable.

Brazilians are extremely casual about time. Being ten to fifteen minutes late in business is normal, and twenty to thirty minutes late is not unusual. Be on time for a formal meeting, but prepare to wait for your Brazilian colleagues.

Soccer (football), family, Brazil’s beautiful beaches and the country’s rapid growth are all appropriate conversation topics. Politics, poverty, religion, Argentina (considered a rival) and the deforestation of Brazil are not. Personal topics such as age, salary and marital or job status are also unacceptable.

Brazilians are expressive and passionate conversationalists. Be prepared to be interrupted.

Don’t smoke in public. Federal law bans smoking in public places.

Don’t refer to Brazilians as Latins.

Especially for Women

• As women increasingly join the workforce, machismo has become less common. Younger, better-educated women have values that correspond closely to those of North American women. Women are well-accepted and are prominent in education, medicine and journalism and as small business owners.

• Brazilian women are very aggressive, in both their business and personal lives.

• Foreign women will usually have no problem doing business in Brazil. However, some people are still conservative in this regard.

• Be very careful not to ruin a business deal by being cool and too professional.

• It is traditional to invite someone for a drink after work. This is not a come-on.

Especially for Men

• Brazilian women can be very aggressive romantically and forward to the point of harassment. Don’t be surprised if you are in a restaurant or nightclub and a woman sends you a note asking for your phone number — even if you are with your wife or girlfriend. Foreign men traveling to Brazil should be very cautious when dealing with Brazilian women. If you don’t want the attention, be cordial but keep your distance. Don’t be overly friendly.

Shopping is a girls' bestfriend

I went shopping this week. Shopping for a mentor. But like when a girl is in the mall, you go in for one thing, and come out with more than expected. I went shopping for a mentor last week (re: the non-profit), and ended up coming up with a few people that I thought were great candidates. I narrowed down my search and put in the request. I was taken back, when I was asked for Terms of Engagement, but that should have been expected; I have had to do them in the past. But I remember thinking to myself: "Hey, I JUST had to do this for class." I was able to jot my ideas down but stared at the computer screen for hours. But after sleeping on it, I was able to produce, what I believe is a decent Terms of Engagement document.

The mentor that I chose is a very successful academic and is destined for greatness, and I am excited to see if they are willing to accept my proposal.

Uncertain, Anxious, Concerned, Overwhelmed.... by Challenge in regards to Capabilities and Commitment

I am so invested.

My work ethic at work and school aren't parallel. My work ethic has always been a bit erratic, which has never veered its ugly head in Cohort 4, 'til now.  It has always been hard to balance my erratic habits at Lockheed Martin and be in this program, so I have been merely doing what I needed to get my pieces done.

I am currently the Project Manager and the SME. But I question myself whenever I am questioned on what I know and why we need to take into consideration things that "aren't HR" and having to convince my team "yes! this is still within the scope of the project." I sometimes feel like I am fighting to convey that HR is a part of the business.

I now feel like I am investing hours upon hours on this project; becoming fully vested, trying to set goals and objectives for my team, and make sure that they understand HR. My challenges have been: How do I get folks to actively participate? How do I get folks to provide feedback? Respond to emails? How do I stop myself from not just doing the project myself? How do I hold folks responsible and get them to meet deadlines? How do I not overstep my boundaries? How do I not come off pushy? Because I get excited and filled with ideas and then I need to pour it out....somewhere, and it seems to be in emails.

Another challenge: A team member of mine went M.I.A. for about 4 days. A member of the team that had a charge to do something. With my past experience, I didn't jump to conclusions and figured, something wasn't right but I didn't know what to do. I emailed my teammate, called my teammate and called another teammate to see if they have heard from this person and if not, could they try their had at contacting this team member.  Luckily, the team member appeared and explained why he when missing and I was able to talk to him on the phone, bring him up to speed and talked about next steps.

It's been quite difficult to balance the Project Manager Role and the SME role. Typically, these aren't the same person. Matter of fact they aren't supposed to be the same person. But for some reason, I wanted to make it work. I have already endured sleepless nights and we are only in the 3rd week of the project. I have taken it upon myself to make sure that everyone has the tools and resources that they need.  I am treating this project like projects from work, that's the only way I know to be a Project Manager. Lot's of work in the Front-load to set-up and strategize, and periodic check-ups throughout the project to make sure we are on track, and overseeing the final products (recommendation(s), presentations, papers, etc). One of my teammates sent me an email the other day saying "I have never had an official PM before, but I feel like you are doing A LOT and that's not fair to you, I think that the team may get comfortable with that and take advantage of that." Any concern of a team member is a concern of the Team, so I addressed it at a team meeting and I came up with a solution as to having a Co-Project Manager. We plan on addressing the concern of people being active team members on Sunday's call.

http://www.johnny5ived.com/

http://www.johnny5ived.com/

Numerous Emails, Late Nights, No Sleep = Project Management?

The title says it all. After being named the Project Manager for my team's project, I have this odd drive to get things done, and make sure that my team stays on track. I want to do everything. The wheels are constantly turning in my head. I have all of these ideas, because the project is something that I understand and care about. I guess I can understand now, how certain people in the cohort could push so hard. I don't want to come of pushy towards my teammates, but I don't want to except the minimal either. I will continue to shoot out information, sent out emails, etc.  I don't want, what happened last project, to happen this project. I have a project plan in my back pocket to make sure that we are on track. Especially with my name being associated as "Project Manager." When I was first approached, I thought it was a set-up. None-the-less, I press on.

Initial Project Reflection

• What is strategic human resource management? How is it relevant to your personal goals?

Strategic Human Resources is a player at the Business Table. Aiding the company make critical decisions as it pertains to people management. Because, of course, the people are the most important part of the company. A happy employee is a productive employee. Strategic HR answers the questions as to the skills needed to perform the job, where can we get those skills, how do we attract them, and how do we keep them interested. How does all of this impact the business? when I think of Strategic HR, I think of the major initiatives set to make the workplace the "Best Place to Work," I also think of something that is relatively simple, that has morphed into something that is very complicated.
Strategic HR is relevent to my personal goals because I see myself eventually making those types of decisions, but I also see it inline with the BFF. I need to be able to address needs, recruit, and develope a culture around the students. How am I going to do this? By the end of the project, hopefully, I will be one step closer.



• How will you use this experience to practice empathy by showing a willingness to understand the emotions, viewpoints, and values of others, along with the realization that not everyone shares the same values, priorities, or points of view?

In taking the Project Manager Role during this project, I think that I have to step out of my narrow -mindset and take into consideration, the thoughts of others. Although I come to meetings prepared with a set agenda with line items and attachments, I make it a point to sent all materials out to the team for preliminary review before the call. I solicit and incorporate feedback. I also try to lead by example and take the lead on kick starting team delieverables.

• In the Western Union project, you learned about the “mobile wallet,” and how technology aids the transfer of monies globally. How will you further that knowledge related to how big businesses tap into the global financial exchanges to fund their business, expand their operations, and strengthen their financial model? How can access to global capital markets become a competitive advantage?

In this case, the benchmark of industry leaders is a key driving force behind the learnings of the financial exchanges.

• What is the role of private equity?

• How big of a competitive advantage is a firm’s human capital? HUGE! People are what drives the company. People are the walking ads for the company; its brand. People can drive productivity up or down.

• How will you use this global experience to strengthen your decision-making? I believe that I will have to look at things from all sides and providing options before making a decidion

10 Steps for Rising Leaders - Corporate Executive Board Learning and Development Roundtable

Instructions: Use this guide to plan development actions as you prepare for promotion into your next role.
1. Maintain a Productive Relationship with Your Manager—As much as possible, strive to be on good terms with your manager. Respect their decisions and help them improve their own functional/technical knowledge.

2. Demonstrate Your Openness to Development—Show that you are receptive to your manager’s coaching and feedback by:
• Being open to new ideas and suggestion
• Admitting your need for improvement
• Actively seeking out their feedback

3. Actively Follow Through on Development Opportunities—Demonstrate that you will act on the input, coaching, and development opportunities you receive from your manager. Your positive follow through is key to encouraging your manager to continue to invest in your development.

4. Request Assignments That Build Your Long- Term Capabilities—Discuss with your manager the experiences you need to progress in your career, and solicit your manager’s help in getting exposure to those experiences.

5. Look for Development Opportunities in Your Current Role—Regularly assess the extent to which your current role is helping you learn new things and demonstrate new capabilities. If possible, look for projects or take on additional assignments in areas that are important for both your current performance and long-term development.

6. Build Your Understanding of the Organization and Its Key Players—Your manager can help you better understand the broader organization and its key leaders. Ask your manager for guidance before reaching out to leaders in other areas of the organization.
7. Develop Relationships with Other Leaders—Ask your manager to introduce you to other leaders in the organization who can help you with particular projects or serve as a mentor. Ensure that your development plan includes steps you will take to build quality relationships with other leaders.

8. Reflect on What You Have Learned from Key Experiences—Before you begin a new project or assignment, discuss with your manager the key capabilities you should expect to develop from the experience. During and after the assignment, schedule time with your manager to discuss key insights you gleaned from the assignment.
9. Promote Your Own Accomplishments—Keep your manager apprised of your biggest achievements so they can help others in the organization see your potential for leadership positions.

10. Regularly Solicit Coaching and Feedback—Understand where your manager is most interested in coaching or teaching you and schedule time for his or her input. Regularly ask for feedback and demonstrate your responsiveness to it.

www.Commonweal.org - BFF

A potential competitor? Or Alli? This is another group who believes in The Berrette Family Foundation, Inc and what we set out to do. They are in support of our mission and vision "because there is a need."

Based on their expertise, we can either use them as a resource or make plans to become a branch of their organization.

Creative Solutions - BFF

Currently discussing with http://www.sketchworkspro.com/ to figure out how to best use Social Media to close the Achievement GAP.

Team Communication

Working on teams are inevitable in the real-world. Naturally given the time and resources, I would much rather work alone. Working on a team, and having someone deemed lead/co-lead, proves to be a challenge. Working on a team with generational differences, proves additional challenge. There are some personality types that want to control everything. There are those who want others to think for them. Ok, now, imagine all of these challeges in the same person.

How do you work on a team with someone who is old enough to be your parent, wants you to do everything for them, walk through everything with them, but wants to tell you how to do everything, and expects you to think for them? When you find out, please let me know!

How do you balance all of that?

Feedback goes a long way....

"I was very impressed with our meeting; even more so with your level of enthusiasm and commitment. It’s not every day that an educator is privileged to have an exciting and very feasible project explained in such detail and with such an impressive level of expertise. Most important is your determination that this is not going to be just a class project, but will actually be implemented. You were so well-prepared and presented your case to me in a most cogent manner.
I was also impressed with your openness to my suggestions: perhaps focusing on Haitian children in the Washington area as well as assisting with the re-establishment of schools in Haiti.
Good luck—and please keep me posted."


Frank Masci
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Teacher Preparation
School of Education
Johns Hopkins University

....because each/every child deserves a chance (Marketing 101)

Each..... Every....... All? What's in a word? Each word we decide to use is loaded with meaning.  Each, Every, All....

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-determiners-each-every.htm:

Each expresses the idea of 'one by one'. It emphasizes individuality.

Every is half-way between each and all. It sees things or people as singular, but in a group or in general.

Consider the following:

• Every artist is sensitive.
• Each artist sees things differently.
• Every soldier saluted as the President arrived.
• The President gave each soldier a medal.

Each can be used in front of the verb:

• The soldiers each received a medal.

Each can be followed by 'of':

• The President spoke to each of the soldiers.
• He gave a medal to each of them.

---

Every cannot be used for 2 things. For 2 things, each can be used:

• He was carrying a suitcase in each hand.

Every is used to say how often something happens:

• There is a plane to Bangkok every day.
• The bus leaves every hour.

---

Trust your instinct

We are sitting here in Merger's and Acquisitions Class (side note: last night about 6 of us came together to do our learning module) going over the assignment. I appreciate the opportunity to learn but in some aspects I was probably better off working on my own. Instead, I need to look at it in a positive light. I need to be stronger in my stance. Believe in myself and what I know and what I think I know. Don't get me wrong,  I benefited from working on a team but in some areas I was a victim of group think.

Imitation is the best form of Flattery?

Now that I think about it, I chuckle. We had quasi impromptu presentations earlier this week. In all of my excitement, I showed a classmate my title slide. "I don't like it, take it down," he said. Then he went on about if it were to be used, it would have been more appropriate for his team, but "he didn't like it" anyways... right? At that time he hadn't even created his presentation. So think about how I felt when he talked about how much the faculty loved his slides, then showed me..... he stole my idea! So as I thought about it more.... I probably looked like a fool when I presented and I was excited about my graphics. I was shocked and disappointed. Especially when this person was one of the people I felt closest to in this crazy cohort. My lessons learned, that probably isn't all that constructive???? If I have a great idea.... keep it to myself.

formspring.me

One piece of advice you would give to a college graduate going into the work force?

Once you get your job, get a mentor. Someone who has a career path that is intriguing to you, someone you can be candid with and someone who can give you an unbiased opinion and who is looking for the betterment of you.

Are you curious? Need Some Advice? Just Want My Opinion? Shoot!

2010 BLIZZARD

Cooped up in the house for 6 days because of the blizzard of 2010. 6 days in reflection. 6 Days to realize that Corporate America may NOT be the place I want to spend the rest of my life. Who am I impacting with what I do?? I am frustrated with the lack of openness and the refusal to treat people as equals. I am tired of people with hidden agendas and only looking for themselves. I am tired of attitudes.

I am tired. I want a week off. But I don't want the work to pile up while I am gone.

On another note, this project team for class is going pretty well. The team hasn't caused me any stress so far. There is a method to the madness. The Faculty put us on teams for 12 months. It gave us the opportunity to learn personalities and work ethic. So at the opportunity to choose our own teams, I moved to what was comfortable. Even though I still feel like the underdog, I am not having panic attacks. That is a step forward.

I am working on my dream in the meantime. My dream to start a nonprofit. Who would have thought, it would be so expensive to file the paperwork? My dilemma now is, who am I going to get to help me? Who can I trust? Who will have the same passion that I have in this area?

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What do you hate about yourself?

I care about how I am perceived or how I come off to people. That alone effects every other aspect of my life....

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If you could have one super power, what would it be?

If I had one super power, it would be to be able to heal from suffering. And healing in so many forms of the word. Spiritually, Physically, Mentally, Financially, etc.

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What were your greatest accomplishments over the past 5 years? (Since you turned 20 years old)

First, I want to say that I am not typically the one to talk about these first couple things... But I want to say that there were MAJOR milestones that everyone could see. For example: Graduating Penn State in less than 4 years when the norm is what? 5 years? Purchasing my own car at the age of 21, starting my MBA at 23, Purchasing a house at 24, helping establish organizations within the State of Pennsylvania to bring awareness to the Haitian Culture (although they aren't all at a level I would want them to be right now, there was a lot of sweat and tears put in to them). I am proud of my experiences at BET and Lockheed Martin. All of this was only so that I can set a standard and to be somewhat of a role model to others and my family. I want others to know that, if I can do it, so can they.

Personally, I have grown into a woman. I have realized that we can't force relationships, we can't force people to like us, we can't force people to understand where we are coming from. Some people weren't meant to be together, whether it be in a romantic relationship or a friendship. It was hard for me to grasp that, but if someone isn't bringing anything to the table besides stress and drama...they have to go! But that's ok :) But just because you two weren't meant to be, doesn't mean that other person is a bad person. So it's ok that everyone else gets along with them and you don't, that's not what God wants for you. Be an adult. Learn and move on!

I have learned to love enough to let people go and that is a BIG accomplishment.

I have also struggled the last couple years (emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually), not everything that glitters is gold! That alone has afforded me experiences that will last me the rest of my life.

I have managed to establish a support system of friends that I believe I will have have for a long time. They are the GodParents of my kids, the wedding party at my wedding, my traveling companions, my confidants, the people that I trust with my life.... I must say that for a girl who doesn't get close to people fast, this alone is an accomplishment. But I don't think they realize how important they are to me. That's the next step right?

Lots going on in the past 5 years, let's see what the next 5 bring!

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What's your 10 year plan.. Personal & professional?

Let's See, 10 years from now I will be 35.... Professionally I would like to see myself on the brink of leadership within my company, managing people.

More importantly, I would see my non-profit up and running, doing great works in the community. My hearts' desire is to help others, especially those who can't help themselves. I am perfectly fine with doing that the rest of my life. I understand and appreciate the struggles of others and just want to make life that much easier for them.

In 10 years, I would like to think I would be married with at least one child. But then again, who am I to say what God has in store for me? 5 years ago, I was supposed to be married by now.

I would like to have had a yearly vacation established with my girlfriends (THIS is good for the soul, it's a release, it's charging..)

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do u feel like ur ready for a family of ur own????

Honestly......I believe that I am ready for marriage but for selfish reasons, I am not ready to have a child......not right now. I am still in school and it would be hard for me to juggle. But I do believe that I will be ready for kids in a couple years (I have to find the husband first though :)....)

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