Quote for the rest of the semester!

I will act now. I will act now. I will act now.

Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday until the words

become as much a habit as my breathing and the action which follows

becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids.

With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for

MY SUCCESS.

I will act now.

I will repeat these words again, and again, and again.

I will walk where failures fear to walk.

I will work when failures seek rest.

I will act now for now is all I have.

Tomorrow is the day reserved for the lazy.

Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed.

I am not a failure.

I will act now.

Success will NOT wait.

If I delay, success will become wed to another and los to me forever.

This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.

 

I WILL ACT NOW.

One of my favorites..

"The cure for anything is salt water;

sweat, tears or the sea."

-Isak Dinesen

I found this quote last week, and it's pretty much perfect for me. When

I'm upset about something, I can do 1 of a few things.

1. I go work out. The instant rush of endorphins automatically puts me in a better mood.

I listen to my iPod, clear my head and forget about my own issues a least for a little while.

2. I cry. I don't let anyone see me cry though. Crying is just an

emotion that lets me personally let everything out.

3. I go to the beach. I read in a hammock. I lounge at the pool. I listen to music

on the beach. I'm instantly in a better mood as soon as I hit Route 10.

Something about it is just a relief, its a home away from home.

 

The stress of the last third of the semester has definitely set in. We have Easter break

next week and it couldn't come at a more perfect time.

As usual, a few things stand in my way of 4 days at the beach.

-Finance test

-Brand Management project paper

-Supply Chain Homework

 

This entire weekend is pretty much dedicated to Finance. The second test

is definitely going to be harder than the first, so looks like a

very busy weekend of Finance for me!

 

But only 5 more days until the ocean takes away all my stress for 4 days!

 

 

 

 

Sweet Sixteen

If at the end of last year or even the beginning of this season, someone would have said NCSU's basketball team would be 4 points from beating Kansas in the Sweet 16, I would have laughed.

Hard.

I am a huge NCSU basketball fan. Let me reiterate that. HUGE FAN.

My Dad went to State, so I've grown up going to football & basketball games. But it wasn't until I started my freshman year that I really became an avid basketball fan. That was back when Julius Hodge was the star player (and he actually came to my b-day party sophomore year!) My freshman year, we lost a heartbreaking OT first round game to California. Sophomore year we lost in the 2nd round to Vanderbilt. Junior year we lost in the Sweet 16 to Wisconsin. Senior year we had the opportunity for revenge again California in the first round, but fell to Texas in the 2nd round.

I grew pretty accustomed to watching NCSU play in the NCAA tourney each year. Then I graduated and NCSU basketball must have been depressed that I left because they didn't make the tournament again until I came back!

We made a strong run in the ACC tourney, almost beating UNC in the Semis. Earning an 11 seed in the NCAA tourney, we won our first game vs San Diego State and went on to beat Georgetown in the 2nd round. We had a great chance to beat Kansas, but in the end we lost by 3. Heartbreaking loss, but hey it's just the beginning!

2 starters are sophomores, 2 are Juniors and 1 will graduate. Not to mention we have 3 of the McDonald's All American players in our recruiting class coming here next year! I'm hoping the 2011-2012 season was just the start of great seasons to come!

Great season Pack! Can't wait until next year!

MarkStrat

With marketing as my concentration, I take more of a vested interest in the projects and topics we go over in class. MarkStrat is our big project this semester. It is similar to our BSG simulation last semester, but this time around I have more of an idea what to do and how to achieve our goals.

Our class was split into 2 Industries: Wolf and Pack. We are Team I in the Wolf Industry, so we are competing again 4 other teams. Each team started out with two products in the Sonite market, all of varying market shares and profitability. The Vodite market is completely new, and there was no information on any of the segments involved. By sheer bad luck, we ended up with the two worst products in the entire game. I took this as an opportunity to use the targeting/positioning skills we learned the first few weeks of class and to prove that we could turn these awful products around.

We also are able to introduce new products into both markets as well as update current products. The first period we were not able to do any updates or new product introductions so naturally we ended up in last place after the first decision. We changed around our cost allocations with our research, production, advertising and sales force and after the 2nd decision we moved up to 4th place. In the third period we introduced 1 updated Sonite product and a brand new Vodite product. After these decisions were finalized, we moved into 3rd place.

Today we just entered our period 4 decisions, and we are anxiously awaiting the results. We introduced our second updated Sonite product and are hoping the new specifications hit our targeted segment directly. We also had to develop a Marketing Plan based on our decisions thus far, and our goals and plans for the second half of the game.

At the half way point, we currently have 2 products in the Sonite market and 1 in the Vodite market. I can't give away any secrets for our future plans, but we are hoping to make a big impression in both markets!

Second Year Classes

Tomorrow is the first day to sign up for classes. I think I have my schedule picked out:

Global Strategy

Marketing Research

Consumer Behavior

& Business Relationship Management

 

 

 However, I also have an alternative plan.

My main focus is Marketing and I want to take any and every class dealing with consumers, brand management, channel marketing and advertising that I can.

NC schools have a program called the Inter-Institutional Agreement where students can take classes at NC State, UNC or Duke to count towards their degree. The great this is that the costs to take classes at another university are covered under our GA. The classes have to be approved by our MBA department to make sure there isn’t a similar one offered at NCSU.

 The 2 I am strongly considering are Retail & Channel Marketing Management (a follow up class to Brand Management which I am currently taking) and Advertising Research. Tentatively I’d like to take Retail & Channel Marketing in the Fall and Advertising Research (to be more in depth after Marketing Research) in the Spring of my second year. The only kicker is that students at the school where the class is offered have first choice, and we have to wait until all students have signed up to see if there is room. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it works out!