Message to incoming students

The class isn't too bad and you're lucky you're taking it from Angie. Do your work and do it on time and you'll have no problem. Try to make this 5K happen since it's been so long in the making. Good luck
Lindsey

Ethical Lapses in History

I think researching ethical lapses in business is one the most interesting assignments we've had. I had never seen that piece of technical writing from the holocaust until this class and I was amazed at the lack of emotion it contained when describing the genocide of so many people. Trying to figure out what "merchandise" they were describing in the short excerpt about remodeling the van was very difficult. Once I realized they were talking about killing people I was horrified. I guess I agree with the common theory that the author was trying to desensitize himself to the act. Although I don't think that makes it any easier to forgive him. I just think it was very eye-opening to see the way technical writing has been used to cover up one of the worst tragedies in our history.

Ethical Lapses in the Workplace

I was very surprised by the statistics regarding ethical lapses in the workplace. Although, I find most statistical studies to be biased and unreliable there is always some truth behind them. I think a lot of people are willing to let minor occurences slide but who can decide what is important enough to report. If I was aware of something immoral going on in my business, I would definitely try to handle it myself before telling my employer. I just think it would be easier to deal with by involving as few people as possible. I would be worried though that by not reporting it, I could be implicated in letting it continue. I think it really depends on the situation and the solution is never black and white.

Writing on the Web

Writing on the internet can be very different from writing on the web. For one thing, people are being bombarded with information when viewing webpages. Advertisements and additional links are usually covering the page, and it is the writer's job to help the reader filter the information to get only your message. Internet usually needs to be short and to the point since there are so many other distractions. It should always be written in an "inverse pyramind" method putting the most pertinent information in the first few lines so that you hold the reader's attention. When writing on the web it is easier to show background information and resources with additional hyperlinks that will take you straight to the source. You can also give readers links taking them to pages containing more information on any parts of your webpage they are interested in and want to learn more about. It's very important when writing on the web to secure readers' privacy and make sure that you have complete permission to recreate or publish text, photos, etc. that don't belong to you. The rules may be different but web pages will reach and impact many more people that writing on paper.

Spring Break '08

This being my senior year, I had my last spring break last week. It was definitely the best one so far. I finally went somewhere awesome with all of my friends ~ Key West, FL. We drove the 16 hour trip in one night, stayed for six nights and then drove back. The trip down was miserable but the beautiful water and exciting nightlife made it completely worth it. Before we went everyone told us that Key West lacks a proper beach so we should probably hang out by the pool everyday. They were so wrong! Smathers Beach is small but amazing. The water was clear blue and very calm. Of course I wouldn't recommend this spot for family vacations at least not at this time of the year because it was packed with spring breakers. During the day, Duval St was a great place to shop and eat and always interesting with the occassional rooster or cat running through. At night, it reminded me of New Orleans with it's late-night bars and drinking in the middle of the streets. While we were there we spent all day on the beach and all afternoon/night on Duval St. I would drive the entire 16 hour trip there and back for one more night.

Mock Interview

I just had my mock interview yesterday afternoon. I thought it was a really great learning experience. I have had a few interviews since I have been in college and always find them a tad intimidating. Angela asked some really good questions and her feedback was helpful. I have a lot of passion for doing research and that should help me in applying to grad school. I would like to be able to add some more experience to my resume by the time I apply, but I think I have a very good start.

Resume cheating

I thought the article was really interesting. I had no idea that that many people lie on their resumes. I do think the example was a bit out there. I can't believe someone would make up a college degree and honestly think they wouldn't get caught. However, things like padding dates and embelishing job titles and responsibilities seems like something that might be a little more common. I think that lying on your resume is wrong, mainly because you may get the job over someone that didn't lie and actually has more experience than you. I also think that there are people that have had a lot of bad luck though and they may be just as capable at the job but circumstances have given them a less than desirable resume. Sometimes you just need someone to give you a chance despite your poor resume, but maybe that's what interviews are for.

Presentations

We did powerpoint presentations in class last week on anything we wanted. I really enjoyed the assignment and listening to everyone else's topic. One that I really found interesting was the presentation on mules. The presenter seemed very passionate about the topic. You wouldn't think that a lesson on mules would be that entertaining but he did a good job of making it exciting and I learned a lot that I didn't know. The best part is that he convinced me that I have misjudged mules all these years because I was ignorant of how awesome they are. I will think of them fondly from now on.

My trip to St. Andrews

Today I went to the 7:30 Mass at St. Andrews. It was only the second time I have been to a Catholic Church. I attend a Lutheran Church at home but know very few people here that are Lutheran and even fewer that attend church while at school. Instead of giving up something for Lent this year, I decided to start going to a service every Sunday during the season. The majority of the service was very similar to what I was used to. There was alot more kneeling and chanting and less singing than we do. Communion was a little different and of course I couldn't take it because I'm not Catholic but overall I enjoyed it and will probably attend again next week.

Cover Letters

I haven't written a cover letter yet so this was all very informative. I wasn't aware that it is supposed to be more about the company than yourself but I do think that is a good idea. I also really liked the idea of adding a post script. I think that's a great way to get the reader's attention and to show off. I also think it's important to be persistent without being annoying so I like the idea of going ahead and telling them exactly when you plan to contact them if they have not already contacted you. I also didn't realize that it was actually a bad idea to send your cover letter out all over the internet. I think a lot of job seekers make that mistake, specifically graduating college students. Now I know that a cover letter is used specifically for that company and a generalized mass email cover letter can hurt your chances of getting a job.

Tricky Interviews

First, I read the article about illegal interview questions. I thought it looked interesting because I didn't even know there was such a thing as an illegal interview question. Questions regarding race, age, gender, ethnicity, are all considered illegal. I thought the article was very helpful because it didn't tell you to report them or overreact. I can't imagine that the majority of interviewers would ask an illegal question on purpose. I thought the story of the woman asking the interviewee what her name meant was completely harmless and shouldn't even be considered an illegal question.
I also read the article regarding emergency situations in interviews including being tardy, stumped by a question or forgetting the interviewer's name. I think being stumped by a question is always a possibility in an interview so it's important to know how to react. As much as I'd like to be able to take a second by saying "that's a good question" I'm still pretty sure some um's and uh's would make their way in there. Forgetting someone's name is also a big habit of mine so I think you just have to accept that you made that mistake, apologize and continue on with the interview. I think it's important to just be as prepared and relaxed as possible and if mistakes still happen, don't sweat it.

"Yes, we can" http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/obama.transcript/index.html

Having read the MLK letter and listened to the recruiters in class, I can easily say that MLK had a strong grasp on what was required in a persuasive essay, and the recruiters...not so much. His appeal to ethos, logos and pathos was evident throughout the letter. What amazes me most is that he wrote it in jail without any kind of reference material when I can't even write a one page paper without my microsoft word thesaurus. The recruiters were not able to persuade our class while MLK was able to persuade a huge percentage of our nation.
With the 2008 election approaching, I thought it appropriate to use one of the campaign speeches as my third piece of persuasive writing. As a democrat, I am having a tough time deciding between Obama and Clinton since there are things I like about both of them. After having heard Obama's speech at Clemson, however, I may be leaning his way. The speech he gave after winning South Carolina was very similar so I have included the link to it. Obama's greatest strenght in this race is his appeal to pathos or emotion of the audience. Hope is something he talks about extensively and to a young person like me that has not had enough years to be jaded and cynical about our government, hope is something I can believe in. He also appeals to young people for the specific reason that the other campaigns are telling us not to vote for him - inexperience. He talked about this a little more in his speech at Clemson jokingly saying that his competitors wanted him to cook and stew a little longer until all the hope was sucked out of him. I think, we college students can relate to being told we're too young or too inexperienced for something and knowing for ourselves that that's not true. Appeal of the speaker or ethos is extremely important in an election. Through the entire process, competitors are digging up anything they can on you and it is all to reduce your credibility. In Obama's speech he cites things he has done in the past for this nation in order to ensure his credibility. And finally, his appeal to logic or logos is evident when he cites the things that are wrong with this country and and the fact that he can change them. Change is his platform and I consider this an appeal to emotion and logic. It is obvious that the past administration has let America slip economically and fall short in the eyes of other nations, so it is logical that a new and very different one is what we need and who is more different from George W. Bush than Barack Obama? Anyway, I hope everyone is getting involved in this election and will be watching Super Tuesday/My 22nd birthday!

10 years from now...

Ten years from now I'll probably still be in school at the rate I'm going. I'm applying to vet school in the fall and if I get in I will be there for 4-6 years depending on my specialty. If I don't get in, I'll probably go to grad school and apply again the following fall so either way I'm looking at a few more years of college. Somewhere in there I'd like to spend a couple of years volunteering in a third world country whether it's administering vaccines, working with children etc. I'd like to be doing some kind of research with animals, hopefully something that can better the human race and will get my name in some science books...Dr. Lindsey Wingert. I'd like to have done a good bit of travelling by then, for pleasure and for my work. I want to have already gone on a boat tour off the coast of South Africa to watch great white sharks jump out of the water, and I'll probably be planning a return trip. My first book will be in motion by then if not finished. It's either going to be a true story about the women in my family (sort of a Joy Luck Club kind of thing) or an imaginative fantasy world that would rival harry potter or the lord of the rings. By the way, I'll be writing it in my library-which will be the largest room in my house and devoted to all the books I've read and want to read and no matter how busy I am with my work I won't forget to spend a certain amount of time there each week. When I make my millions, I'm going to use the money to bring all of the terribly underfunded animal shelters around here up to par. The one in my hometown is pitiful and I'm not too sure it's better for the animals to be there than living on the streets so I'll start with that one. I suppose that's all I can squeeze in to ten years...wish me luck.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

I really enjoyed watching the video on Youtube. First of all, it has an attractive title that makes you curious about the video. "The Machine is Us/ing Us" is basically describing how we're eliminating the human component in business. If you're looking for work in this new digital world, I think it's easier to see what's available. It's very important to be familiar with and unafraid to use the web in your search. It may be a while before you actually have person to person interaction with an employer so its important to know how to make yourself attractive on the web. For someone that already has a position, they have to be willing to change with the digital world. Anyone that is not willing to use the internet as the incredible tool that it is will most likely get left behind. The web also makes it super easy for employers to make job openings known and find people appropriate to fill them. The "rethink everything" at the end of the video illuminates the up side and down side to high tech world. Communication is changing - it's easier to get in touch with people but its much less personal. Like the title says, the machine is close to replacing us. While some people may think this change is not for the better, I can't help but think it's inevitable whether we want it or not.

About me

My name is Lindsey. I'm a senior this year at Clemson. I am an AVS major and plan to apply to vet school in the fall. I like to read, go to the movies and go downtown. I saw Juno last night at the Starlight, and it's hilarious. I recommend that everyone go see it.