Graduation and Job Readiness

The end of my semester is almost near and most of my students have mentally already graduated and are ready to begin their new life.

Real-world preparation for real-jobs

The college student is normally taught in a very traditional manner. They are fed information, take notes and are tested on that material. Seems normal right? When you’re dealing with jobs that involve managing multiple tasks with attention to detail and organization as well as a “think outside the box” mentality, traditional teaching models can (in my opinion) stifle learning opportunities. Continue reading

Social media for business and college students

There appears to be the impression among some business owners that the way to add social media to their marketing mix is to hire a college student. There’s an assumption that college students, because they’ve grown up with social media, possess the knowledge and understanding of how to use it and therefore offer a cheap alternative to working on something that is thought to be a pretty easy job.

As an adjunct professor, I can tell you that this couldn’t be further from reality. Continue reading

The effect of social on real-world relationships

Just before Christmas I made a call to a woman at a well-known university in Rochester, NY to follow up on an on-goining conversation we started back in May. I met her via phone and our conversations, while founded on the basis of professional matters, were friendly. During one of our earlier conversations I mentioned my trip to Rwanda (in June with Kids Play Intl), she was interested and supportive of such an adventure. When I returned, I received an email from her asking about my trip so I called her and we spoke at length about my journey and the impact it had on my life. While I was aware that she was battling cancer (she shared this in early on), I didn’t realize just how advanced the disease was. I just assumed that eventually I’d meet her face-to-face. Time passed, summer was busy and we didn’t talk. Fall passed too and unfortunately, when I called her direct number, a man answered. I asked for her and was informed that he had replaced her. He carefully chose his words. He asked the purpose of my call and how I knew our “mutual friend.” Sadly, he explained that she had passed away in October. He too was clearly harboring the same respect and appreciation for this kind woman and felt a connection to me through this short and limited “friendship” I shared. Since our conversation, he’s been incredibly helpful professionally and I appreciate that. Continue reading