Learning Statement

 

Four years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be where I am today. My experience at UW has shaped me both academically and professionally, and my journey has led me to discover many things about myself. I entered clueless, as most first year are, and went through my first year feeling pressured about what major to choose and not believing others when they assured me I had plenty of time to decide. In my second year, I had to make the critical decision of whether I wanted to stay in the sciences or switch over to accounting in the business school. Ultimately, I chose to pursue accounting, and while there were times where I doubted myself and wondered if I was on the right path, I now know that pursuing accounting is what I want to do. While my sophomore year was a huge turning point for me surface-wise, I feel that my real transformation came in my junior year. I have always been a shy, introverted person, and while there is nothing wrong with being introverted, it is at times hard to stand out and assert yourself in the business world that is filled with extraversion. Through business classes and group projects, as well as my involvement in Beta Alpha Psi, I have learned how to use my knowledge from the time I spend observing others to create meaningful relationships and develop leadership skills.

 

The most important lesson I’ve learned from college can be summed up in one word: balance. To me, a balanced life is the key to my personal happiness, because what may be a balanced lifestyle to me may not appear balanced to someone else. Of course, grades are still important, but they are not everything – just like how a good personality is important, but is not everything. I strive to achieve a balance between focusing on academics, making time for extracurricular activities and hobbies, spending time with friends and family, and also having personal time for myself.

 

Four years ago, I had no clue that I would be where I am today. I am often asked where I see myself in five years, and the honest answer to that is: I have no clue. Maybe I will have another “turning point” in my life where I come to more realizations about myself, or maybe I will be living the perfectly balanced lifestyle and enjoying whatever I do. What I do know is that I see myself doing something that challenges me and allows for personal growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Artifacts

 

Artifact #1: Honors 394 Animal Planet Blog

 

One of our assignments for my Animal Planet class was to create and maintain a blog where we could just share our thoughts on the class and the information we were learning. Honestly, I would be a horrible blogger for people who actually wanted to read coherent thoughts, I used this blog as a resource for myself only. I rambled a lot and sometimes my thoughts weren't very clear, but typing them out really helped me reflect and think about what was going on around me and in the food industry. It was so interesting to see how the more I learned, the more I became aware of the environment around me and what types of food I was eating. You can check out my blog below, the posts are in backwards chronological order with "The Final Post" being the my newest/last post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artifact #2: MGMT 430 Capstone Simulation (ongoing)

 

For my MGMT 430 class, an integral part of the course is a group assignment/simulation where each group is a company in the electric sensor industry and is required to make R&D, marketing, production, and finance decisions relating to our products. There are five different segments (low end, traditional, size, performance, and high end) and we must come up with a strategy to pursue that will lead us to success. We compete with 5 other teams (one team is the computer), and we are Andrews 0.

 

Each team is given points based on 10 different circles, as shown below. You can get a max of 100 points for each circle, for up to 1000 points each round. Below is a screenshot of our points for the first each of the 5 rounds. Each circle is extremely complicated and there are numerous factors that go into how many points you get for each round - I learned a lot about how to make overall business decisions in a group and how to compromise and solve conflicts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artifact #3: Experiential Learning in Taiwan - AIDSummer Volunteer Trip

 

Please click here to view more pictures.