Apply Yourself

Application season!! STRESS.

I feel you! I remember applying to colleges and universities two years ago. As the first person in my family to apply for college you can imagine I was pretty lost. Maybe you're the first person to apply for college too. Or maybe the first person to apply for an international school. Maybe not. Well, you know what, no matter the circumstance, it's tough getting through this application season. So here are my two cents on ways to minimize the stress.

1.) Order your colleges according to preference
The top of your list should be colleges you would die for and at the bottom would be schools that you don't feel as attached to; or you can order them according to deadlines. Do this early so that you don't get all emotionally attached to all the colleges the same when the deadlines are drawing near.
2) Mark your dates
Mark everything: when you want to be finished with a draft, when you are going to give your teachers the letters of recommendation forms, when they're all due.
3) Keep everything in a folder
Applying online makes everything easy, but it also gives you a lot of confirmation pages to keep on hand for those JUST IN CASE scenarios. Unless a"just in case" happens you most likely won't need to review the papers. Just keep all those stored away in a folder and don't worry about them.
4) Designate a "college working day" once a week
Balancing senior year school work and activities with college applications is tough no doubt. What worked for me is designating one day out of the week where my college applications come first. Only once I was done with what I had planned to complete would I start my homework. Plan this day well and don't hesitate to switch off days. It shouldn't be the day or two before a test, or when you need to be working on an assignment that's worth a lot of points. This worked for me because then I didn't have to be worried every single day of the week. Just got it done and over with.
5) BE YOURSELF.
You will reduce stress significantly knowing that you're a perfect candidate for the school you are meant for JUST the way you are. Let yourself come through in your application through everything--the major you declare (if you really don't know what you want to major, just really put undecided. not that big of a deal.), the personal statements you write, what you say in your interview. What is important to you should come through naturally. Yes, practice and write often, but don't make up a new you. Also, be real to yourself. Constantly be in self-reflection during this time. Keep a journal. Relieve stress.

I hope this helped you plan and relieve some stress. If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave comments on the post. Don't worry. Someone loves you already and would love to have you attend.

Best wishes,
Joanne

Career Development at Eberhardt School of Business

Happy Autumn!

The fall finally comes and everybody seems to relax and enjoy the great weather. Unfortunately for business students. it is probably their busiest season. Beside midterms and projects coming up, business students, especially juniors and seniors, are busy looking for internships and other career opportunities for the Spring semester and summer time. In the light of economic recession, job and internship hunting becomes difficult than ever. However, the Career Management Center at the Eberhardt School of Business proves to be a big help for business students.
As a college senior majoring in Accounting, I have been offered many opportunities to learn a great deal of career development skills. Starting in the junior year, I was required to take a one-unit course called "Career Development Seminar." The class helped me to prepare for job applications such as resume and cover letter as well as to learn about job researching and interviewing skills. Every semester, the Career Management Center coordinates with the National Accounting Society Beta Alpha Psi to host a career fair event called "Meet the Firms" event. During the event, I have a chance to learn about local and national companies and the career opportunities that they offer. Although the event gears toward accounting and finance students as most of the firms attending are accounting or finance companies, other business students find it very useful to participate in panels that discuss career-related topics or conduct mock interviews with recruiters from the participating companies. Last year, I got to know one of the employers at the event and launched a successful internship with them in the summer. This year, I have already started looking for career opportunities although I won't graduate until May. The reason is that many companies, especially Accounting companies, already started their recruiting process as early as September and October. After the event I did some follow-up with the companies to explore their career opportunities or just to get to know their companies better. Most of the companies will conduct on-campus interviews for interested students. The recruiters often post the positions on our school Tiger Jobs website and instruct students to send resume and required documents through the website. I have been applying to several companies through the websites and got several on-campus interviews. On-campus interviews are very convenient because I don't have to travel and it is easy for me to fit them in my schedule. Career development skills that I have learned through my Career Development Seminar class and the mock interviews prepared me very well for the interviews and helped me gain great confidence. I love how our business school not only provides business students with solid knowledge to take on any career they pursue but also makes sure business students have the skills they need to acquire the career opportunity they want. I have had a great experience here at the Eberhardt School of Business and although there are many difficulties and competitions in the job market, I am confident with what I have been prepared at Pacific.

- Van Le.

Ambassador Corps Forum

Hi everyone,

One of the features of the University of the Pacific that you may or may not have heard about is the Global Center, run under the School of International Studies. The Global Center, under the guidance of the student run Council of University Entrepreneurs, help NGO's from all over the world try to become self-sustaining, so that they do not have to rely on charity, bring in speakers who have created a social impact either locally or globally, and the most important task of all connect students to these people that are trying to make a difference.

One of the Global Center's newest programs is the Ambassador Corps. This program is a privately funded, paid internship for students to go abroad and work for one of the many wonderful organizations that are trying to make the world a better place. This is the first program of its kind at the University and on Tuesday October, 13th we honored the first group of ambassadors, who have returned to UOP. They went to places all over Latin America, Africa, and Asia. You can see some of them in this picture below:

It was a really elegant event with food from all the countries that the ambassadors went to, President Eibeck moderating a Q and A session, and Paul Rice, founder of Transfair, giving a keynote address. This event if proof that the University of the Pacific is committed to bringing the world to its students and bringing its students to the world. Anyone can sign up for the Ambasador Corps, maybe we will see you on that stage next.

Jessica Chittaphong
Council of University Social Entrepreneurs