Dreamin' Big!

Personally - a goal of mine is to save enough money that I can trick out my kitchen with a brick oven to make pizza and awesome appliances like a KitchenAid mixer, pasta roller, and baking supplies of course!

Professionally - a goal of mine is to work in the graphic design/marketing business world after graduation, once I'm used to real world lifestyle, get my MBA and focus on entrepreneurship. Then I want to start a bakery with my mom and coach swimming on the side!

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What is your biggest personal long term goal?
What is your biggest professional long term goal?

I'm not superwoman

This is something I've always known about myself, but something I never recognized as a problem. I've always hated getting any sort of help from anyone. I'm a very "do-it-yourself" kind of girl and I'd much rather stay up late and work on something myself, rather than delegate duties to other people and gain a few hours of sleep. I like the assurance of knowing it will be done if I do it and I know it will be done the way I want it done. I think that's why I always liked track and excelled in it. I really didn't have to rely on anyone... my time was my time and it had no bearing on anyone else's performance (unless you were in a relay of course). [side note: I just noticed that there were about 1,000 "I's" in that last paragraph.... which kind of serves as a perfect parrallel as to what I'm about to talk about it] After being at SHM for a full 2 months now, I'm realizing the importance of what it means to be a team and how it's really ok to ask for a little help once and a while. It sounds dumb, but it is really hard for me to ask for help... I feel incompetent for even asking. There is not 'i' in 'team' (corny I know) and I think by recognizing that, my quality of work will improve as well as my overall leadership skills.

What I Know

One thing working at SHM has taught me is that procrastination is NOT a necessary step in tackling an assignment. In the past, I've become notorious for delaying school assignments until the last moment and then working feverishly to complete them. This is not always the best tactic (believe it or not)
While working here, I've developed the organizational tool of prioritizing. I've been keeping more and more "To do lists" and have learned to leave helpful notes and reminders for myself. Consequently, I'm spending less time figuring out what needs to be done, and more time actually doing it. This has enabled me to do my work more efficiently and has also helped me in managing my time.
These small changes have also been supplemented into my everyday routines outside of the office. I find myself more organized and efficient with my time. Ultimately, it has allowed me to accomplish a greater amount of tasks and given me more time to do the things I enjoy.

Learning? I thought we were out of classes...

After working at SHM for a solid time span I have learned that I may not be cut out for the 9-5 desk job. I have a problem sitting still most of the time and sitting at a computer all day is non-conducive to my disorder. This is why I think dolphin training would be the perfect profession for me - outside/in the pool all day, just hanging out with the world's coolest animals... Can you say ballin?!

I have also learned that 'going out' consecutively on the nights before a morning of work is a terrible idea. Not saying that I have ever done that... but I have heard that it's a struggle.

The final piece to my learning puzzle here on Spring Garden Street is that working collectively with co-workers is an awesome tool for problem solving and maximizing project potential. I usually hate group projects during classes because half of the students never show up to meet/there is always an overachieving girl who tries to be the boss. But here is the work world, teams are amazing!

SHM

What I've learned at SHM is part textbook organizational and business skills but mostly things you can't learn in school - like how to succeed in a work environment. Todd and Ashley do a really good job of pushing us to do our best without us even really noticing. They ask us questions and make us think in ways that I wouldn't have before. I've also learned the importance of saying no and asking for help when you need it. No one can do it all by themselves, and for the success of the company, we need to sometimes ask others for help to get the job done on time or done correctly.

Two things I have learned throughout the last 3 months:
1. It is extremely important to stay organized. I have learned to write even the simplest tasks down so I don't forget! Also having an agenda or tasks written down allows me to accomplish things more efficiently. I have learned to love sticky notes!
2. (As much as this may break my favorite QI princesses' hearts.............) I have also learned that I will never like/eat sushi!! :)