Leaving the Party Early

Written by Sarah Angley

I recently found out I am able to graduate early. I was fortunate enough to not switch my major at all, and I have studied abroad three separate times over the past 2 years. The study abroad alone gave me a semesters worth of credits, and so I am able to finish a semester early.

There are many reasons for me to graduate in 3.5 years as opposed to the traditional 4. I am an out of state student, so graduating in advance will save me over 20 thousand dollars. This also gets me into the professional world faster, so I can establish myself in my chosen career sooner than my peers.

For many people, these reasons don't seem to make sense. "Graduating early is like leaving a party at 9 o'clock."

I think that these people forget what college is actually about. Yes college should be fun and you should enjoy your time here. But we are here for a reason beyond having fun and getting drunk. There's more to this experience than making friends. I came to college to learn about my chosen field, get a degree, then make a career from my experiences.

I've had an enriched experience from classes, to jobs, to internships. I'm ready to move on from here. I'm ready for the new challenge that being a graduate will bring. I'm ready to go out into the world and become a professional.

But this isn't just about me. I've met many of my peers who wonder if they should graduate early when given the chance. And to the I would say "College is great, but while many people say that it's the best 4 years of your life, I hope that isn't true. You're here to create something better for yourself. So go find what's better."

Overcoming Group Project Struggles

In my last 8 semesters at Purdue, I have had my fair share of group projects, especially in my last 4 semesters as a Liberal Arts student studying Public Relations. Generally, group projects, for me, tend to be fairly short-term and mainly take place during scheduled class time. However, I have recently encountered two semester-long group projects that have presented issues I had never experienced before.

As an extroverted person and someone who typically takes the leadership role in projects or organizations, I sometimes struggle with out to deal with group members who do not present high quality work. This was my experience with a recent semester-long project; I did not know how to approach a group member who was not presenting work at the same level as other group members.

As I wondered what to do about the situation, I considered the needs of my group and the importance of respecting all group members. I remembered something that one of my mentors had once suggested to me about group work. She suggested that I take into consideration the strengths of each member, no matter what the strength. I decided to give this a shot and it ended up resulting in a great change of direction for my group. All group members felt at ease when we identified each of our strengths to create different assignments within the project and felt we now had a way to each equally contribute to the project.

It is important to keep in mind in the classroom, in an internship, or in a co-rep position the value of asking group members and partners what they believe their own strengths are. I have learned that this is an excellent way of delegating. Time after time, professors stress to us the importance of delegation, but sometimes that is hard to accept when you prefer to take the lead. However, learning to delegate turns out to make for an excellent leader, and is a piece of advice I would pass along to anyone.

Respecting the Differences

Students grow so much while making their way through college. I've learned many things both in and out of the classroom throughout my duration at Purdue that I can apply to my daily life. Reading Lean In has really helped me to open my eyes to new ideas and peoples' individual differences. I'm a very accepting person, and this book further broadens my way of thinking.

We have recently read a chapter called, "Don't Leave Before You Leave." This chapter discusses statistics and stories regarding women who are having children, or even planning to have children, and are worried about what some people would consider the struggle of maintaining their position within their job.

Sheryl Sandberg discusses that most women don't want to dive into a new position or project within the workforce for fear that they wouldn't have time to put their all in due to their pregnancy or new child. She suggests that instead of trying to not take on too much because of that fear, you should instead, lean in. The more that you love and appreciate your job, the more likely you'll want to come back after giving birth.

While I see and understand Sandberg's thoughts on this, it had me thinking about other peoples' opinions on this. One of my good friends confided in me regarding her future. She told me that in order to get into the position that she wants to be in career-wise, she would need to attend grad school. The one thing that she was concerned about was the timeline of her life. She wants to have kids within the next few years, and doesn't want to put a hold on what she has planned to go back to school.

The concern I had with this is that she hadn't even decided to go to grad school before having all of these concerns. She also felt that she couldn't balance school and family. Saving up money and beginning her family is what took precedence. I thought to myself, "It's only a few more years of school. She wouldn't necessarily be putting a hold on the life she sees ahead of her." I then realized, that it's just how she feels. And this is okay. We are all different, and even though we may not all go down the same, "normalized" path, we need to respect each other's differences.

Handling Criticism Professionally

By: Emily Larrabee

When I first started here at Purdue, I have to admit that my professional skills were weak. My resume writing was sub-par, my interview technique were decent (but not great), and my networking ability only consisted of me speaking to people my parents knew. BUT, the skill I lacked the most was being able to handle criticism. Me striving to be perfect was impacting my professional career in negative ways. No one likes being criticized, but with every negative interaction, there is a silver lining. Criticism allows for you to grow positively in the long run. When you allow feedback on your work, it opens a line of communication that helps improve the working relationship among your peers. So, how can you handle criticism if you're struggling? Here are 4 tips to help you handle criticism professionally. 

1. Criticism will help you grow

Constructive criticism is one of the most important aspects to growing as a company and as a person.  How would you know what to improve or change to make your product better if you were never given any feedback? The answer is you wouldn’t. Remember, it is nothing personal. Your boss is trying to help you and the company succeed. They are trying to run a business. 

2. Listen, do not defend

At the end of my internship, my boss conducts end of the year evaluations. One of the points my boss addressed was that I get somewhat defensive when given feedback. To be honest, I was shocked. I had never seen myself as someone who would get defensive. Professionally, it is one of the worst things you could do when given feedback. According to Sacha Strebe, a blogger for MyDomaine, she says that if your co-workers or boss are worried about giving you feedback because you get emotional or defensive, thats a red flag on your end. Again, it is NOT PERSONAL. Always remember that. 

3. Process what you heard

Sometimes, feedback can come out of no where. Sometimes, it can seem unfair. Before responding emotionally, process what was said. Once you have processed the feedback, respond professionally to their critique. There are two sides to every story so they may have seen something that you didn’t. Think before you act. 

4. No matter the criticism, keep calm

According to Sacha Strebe, "Losing your cool is never a good look, wherever you are, so please do not let your boss or colleagues see you get angry". Save the anger for at home and vent to a friend or family member. Keeping calm shows that you can handle high- stress situations. Be sure you have mastered this skill before you enter the workplace. 

For more information or blogs, check out Sacha Strebe at http://www.mydomaine.com/



Strebe, S. (2015, July 31) . How to Handle Criticism in the Workplace. Retrieved From: http://www.mydomaine.com/criticism-at-work

The Importance of Staying on Track

By Alex Bolten

We’re all pretty busy with our weekly schedules, classes, and social lives. It’s really easy to fall behind on something or to lose track.

Personally, I’ve fallen a little behind with my homework. I keep trying to get caught up, but it seems as if things keep getting added to my to-do list. It’s not fun having to spend my weekend doing a reading that should’ve been done a week ago, or postponing my job search so that I can get an assignment finished. I’m hoping to use Spring Break as my “catch-up and get ahead” week, where I plan to get completely caught up with my work and then get ahead in a few of my classes by about a week or so.

Below I offer some tips to try and help you to stay on track, so that way you don’t end up like me.

1.     Make a daily to-do list

a.     I keep a mortar board/agenda book in my backpack when I go to campus. I have written in there every assignment that I’ll have due for the semester. This way, I know exactly what’s due when during any given week and I won’t have to dig through my syllabi.

2.     Take time for yourself.

a.     It can be very easy to get overwhelmed with your schoolwork, especially if you’re taking a lot of classes. Be sure to take a lot of little breaks while you study or do homework. It’s better to take 5-minute breaks about once every 25 minutes, as opposed to trying to sit there for 5 whole hours. You’ll find that your productivity will increase and that you’ll get done faster (but you have to stick to it!).

3.     Do the thing on your list

a.     You could either do that reading for tomorrow or go to a party. While the latter sounds more fun, the former is probably more important. It’s ok if you want to skip out on the reading to be with your friends, but just remember that you’ll have to do it eventually. And by this, I mean you’ll have to do it at a time when you’ve got other work to do or tests to study for. Bottom line: put off your assignments as seldom as possible.

It’s important that we do all of the things that we want to do, but we also have to do the things we have to do. I’m learning the hard way that “I’ll do it later” is actually not a good habit to get into. “Later” always comes, but it arrives with more things than I thought it would. Follow these tips so that you don’t end up like me, and so that you can stay on top of everything and get through the rest of the semester.

The power of Teamwork

Fellow Visual Communications, Design students generally look out for one another, helping the other person when needed, and being honest when criticizing work. Being in Visual Communications Design here at Purdue has really helped me become a more valuable team player. In the major, we all experience high stress situations that force us to feel for one another and help each other out when needed. For instance, our professor surprised the class and I one day and had people come in from Purdue Convocations. My professor had not emailed or told us in advance that people from Convocations were coming. I scurried to print my designs and trim them down. As I trimmed one of my email designs down, my hand shook a bit, and I trimmed one side crooked. Nancy, who works at the monitor station where VCD and industrial design students print things, saw me make the mistake. She immediately took action and printed another copy. Nancy was in the earlier section of the same class that day, and she knew I was moving fast because of our unexpected guests. Once all my designs were printed, Nancy held down the paper for me in order to help trim more precisely and prevent another mistake. Without Nancy’s help I could have panicked further and been more stressed. It certainly would have made the trimming process more difficult without an extra set of hands working towards completing the same task.

Over the past couple of weeks in our web design class, we have been working on coding an HTML email on an event hosted by Purdue Convocations. We each got to choose an event from the Convocations page, which I was so excited to do. It was a nice change of pace, to be able to pick my own subject matter for the email. I chose Philip Glass, a piano prodigy, not only for his music and creative talent but to add something diverse to my portfolio. In the beginning stages, we just worked on tweaking the design elements of the email and layout. As the class progressed, we went forth with our chosen design. After choosing a final design, we got into the nitty gritty of how to code the HTML email. Our teacher taught us how to code it through drawings on the board, visuals, explanation, and trial and error. As a class, we had no choice but to come together to ask our professor and each other questions. We would often have to stop him and ask questions before he would continue to the next steps. As I asked my professor questions, I realized others would nod their heads, assuring me that they too were stuck on the same thing. Then, someone else would ask a question, and we would do the same. The slight head nod was encouragement of question asking. I learned just as much from other student's questions as I did from my own. With a more difficult topic, or any topic for that matter, learning really becomes a team effort.

There was another instance when as a class we were individually coding the same table our teacher chose for practice. Some of the class was stuck on making the colors exactly match the model table, while others were stuck on the alignment of the text or getting the right font in Dreamweaver. We all would communicate with each other from behind our computers helping to solve our different coding issues. Even in a classroom of design students, who are all visually inclined and similar thinkers, we still have our own individual strengths. This really came through when we were under a time crunch and needed to problem solve quickly. Teamwork is essential in the classroom and in the workplace. It contributes to a healthy bond with other people while gaining the most knowledge possible in a given situation.

Seeking Help.

by: Paige Annee

As we are reading Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In as part of the LACD internship, I am noticing more and more often how clearly Sandberg’s words connect to my everyday life.

A recent quote that stuck out to me was: “Being unsure about how to proceed is the most natural feeling in the world… Asking for input is not a sign of weakness but often the first step to finding a path forward” (p. 90).

Personally, I think that asking for help is hard to do.  I am also learning that letting yourself be vulnerable in this way is vital to move forward in your career path.

Even though I may work in a career development office, I am no expert in the job-search process. Not many people are. I believe that it is crucial to seek the expertise of colleagues and mentors who have already been through the process in order to poise yourself for your dream job.

One way that I have sought help regarding my career search is by reaching out to professors. I recently set up a meeting with one of my professors to discuss what I like to do and what type of role she saw me holding within a company. A third party source of advice is useful to finding a job that you will thrive within.

This professor has become my mentor in the job search process. We meet more regularly to critique my resume and cover letter and to research available employment opportunities.

My advice to you is to let yourself be vulnerable in order to move forward. The expertise and networking opportunities that others can provide you is fundamental for your career growth. Do not be afraid to ask for help.