As Spring Vacation approaches, my work load is piling up for all my classes. This makes sense since we’ll have a week off, but what doesn’t make sense is calling it Spring Break. There’s still snow on the ground and it’s still really cold out. There’s no way this is spring. Of course, some of my friends are going to warm places this vacation. I’m incredibly jealous. I’ll be around in New England hoping for a warm day to melt the snow.
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| Hehehe... I couldn't resist. |
Back to classes. In economics, our second test is approaching next Friday. I think I have a strong grasp of the material. Most recently, we’ve been discussing how price and quantity demanded of a product can create profit for companies depending on how many of those products they produce and what costs they have. This is where I get really dorky. We’re just learning the basics right now, but because of my management class last semester, I’m thinking about so many more factors that contribute to a company’s cost such as the depreciating value of the building and equipment they use, the cost of employees, the cost of materials, and so on. If you’re also interested in a broader view of all the components of a business, I would highly recommend taking The Art and Science of Management.
Tomorrow is my first psychology project presentation. The class is eighty students large, divided into discussion groups of twenty people. In that group, I am working with three other classmates. We designed a hypothesis of what factors contribute to study habits. My group focused on how many days in advance people prepare for assignments and tests. We concluded that students in general do better on their tests and assignments when the hours they spend studying are spread out over time instead of just crammed into one to three days. We’re going to be presenting this information in a PowerPoint presentation. The major problem with our experiment, however, was that we only got data from twenty-one students. I think our data would better represent Clark University students if we talked to 50-100 students at the very least, but we didn’t have time for that. Anyway, it is what it is, and part of our discussion will go in depth about the limitations of our experiment. I have to start working on my mid-year for Personal Values – a take-home and in-class writing assignment which is worth 40% of my grade. Basically, it needs to be really, really good. Although it’s stressful hearing a number like 40%, it’s definitely something that students get used to in college. In high school, students complete assignment after assignment and it seems as though a magic wand is waved to turn possibly over a hundred grades into one letter grade. With fewer assignments and tests in college, I can focus in on assignments with much more effort because I know they are worth a lot of my grade.
The last course is managerial communications. Next week, I will be delivering an oral presentation with a PowerPoint about the academic research I have done to prepare for my paper. I’m finding some really interesting correlations between what motivates paid workers and volunteer workers. For a large amount of people, money isn’t the only thing that gets us up and working every day. There’s a component of self-worth and that can be felt through encouragement by superiors, group recognition, a feeling of self-accomplishment, and so on. While the project overall seems overwhelming, I’m learning a lot of useful information.
Whether you’re on vacation now or sometime in the next month, I hope you enjoy the weather. I’ll certainly try to. I’m expecting a fair amount of tour groups today since it’s vacation week for many public schools. It’s always interesting to see what questions people feel comfortable asking. If you go on any tours soon, ask any question that pops into your mind. It will really pay off when you’re choosing which school you want to attend.
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