"Warriors Come Out To Play" (Blog Post #13)

Last night, a group of friends and I went to watch the Golden State Warriors take on last year’s league MVP, Derick Rose, and the Chicago Bulls. To say that the game was fun to watch would be an understatement. In order to understand what we experienced, you need to know the history of both the teams and the people in our group who attended the game.

Vicky and Juan are die-hard Warriors fans, always have been and always will be. My girlfriend and I are fans of the LA Lakers. Although we don’t live in Lakers “territory,” we still support the local Warriors. Now Enrique and Adriana are even further out of their team’s “territory,” because they are Bulls fans and obviously so, in full Bulls attire last night. Now that you are familiar with the attendees, let me explain the irony of the night’s matchup.

The Warriors were the underdog in this game. Why wouldn’t they be? They had just lost to a newly formed team, the Los Angeles Clippers, full of championship potential the night before, and were now up against a team, the Chicago Bulls, who made their presence known in last year’s playoffs, and are expected to only do better this year. The Bulls had just dominated the Lakers in their own house and had every intention of repeating that same punishment to a team that is not that familiar with playoffs and championships as of late. Shockingly, the Warriors had control of the game the entire night, balancing a pretty solid lead and making sure the Bulls fans in attendance remembered whose house it was.

Throughout the entire night, my friends and I shared some pretty memorable moments. We laughed, we cheered, we yelled, we got nervous, we got upset, and some of use even got saddened by the outcome. In the end, we all had fun. I absolutely had an amazing time with my friends at the Warriors game last night.

"Attitude Reflects Leadership" (Blog Post #12)

To be internship-ready means to exemplify successful qualities naturally. A person who is ready for success will always be on time and they will most definitely be early, because the person who is early will always be prepared and organized. Organization refers to time management, as well as scheduling, and file management. A person who has their files, documents, and assignments filed properly will always be on top of things and will be the first person considered for more responsibilities. When you are internship-ready you will be the type of person who is driven and shows initiative when it comes to potential opportunities. They don’t wait for chances to come, they go looking for them.

For the next module I will own the qualities I already have and continue to hone them. Rather than putting the majority of my focus on the traits I am already excelling in, I am going to concentrate of the growth areas that I have been given by my advisor, my peers, and my own self-assessment. I have demonstrated that I have a good ability to learn but I need to find a method that will allow me to become a better teacher. I want to be able to help my peers by bestowing my newly acquired knowledge onto them in a way they can learn the material and I can reassure my understanding.

I have been given feedback instructing me to relax a little more often when it comes to our class. I tend to take my work more serious than necessary and that might give the impression that I am unapproachable, which is the opposite of what I’d like to accomplish. I feel that I have pretty positive attitude when it comes towards Year Up, but I need to show more positive energy when it comes to the class and I want it to be infectious. Taking transportation that will get me to class 30 minutes before it starts, and completing assignments immediately after they’re assigned, are routines and methods that have been working for me and I will continue.

"How Would You Like to Pay for That?" (Blog Post #11)

Working at Best Buy could possibly be the best job I ever had. It should be made cognizant that positive and negative experiences collaborated to make my time at Best Buy memorable. I worked in the Mobile Phone department, and my primary responsibilities consisted of sales, consultations, repairs/maintenance, and all while providing the best customer experience possible. What I enjoyed the most was being able to help people. The job was more than just selling mobile phones; it was providing people with the best solution to meet their needs.

I was often sought after by customers and developed a sound clientele because of my ability to provide honest, non-bias, and thorough solutions. During my time there, I learned how to read people via their body language as well as verbal language. I also learned how to properly listen to people and what to specifically accomplish in order communicate successfully. Because of these skills, I acquired an immeasurable amount of patience. I also discovered the absolute value of honesty and how it can culminate a trust between complete strangers. Best Buy was my opportunity to establish myself and further my development as a person.

Not all experiences at Best Buy were positive. In several occasions, my character as a trustworthy salesmen and a tactical problem-solver were questioned by customers, simply because I still had to put my company’s priorities before theirs. In other words, I did not enjoy having to coerce people into buying additional and mostly unnecessary products and services with their original purchase. I had to be constantly reminded that Best Buy is a business, and in order to be a successful one, we needed to make sure that all our customers were recommended every, and any, additional solution. My inability to conform was perhaps the motive for my inevitable departure.