To The Future Students Of English 304:

Dear Future Students of English 304,

First of all, I just want to say that this class is a blast, if you take the time to enjoy it. You will learn a lot of things that are extremely applicable to your future endeavors. The skills I learned in this class about writing resumes, cover letters, memos, and all sorts of business documents will follow me from now until I retire from my business career. To be successful in the class you must be open minded, creative, and ready to work with your fellow classmates. For the client project, really listen to the client to fully engulf what they want for their organization. You must come up with an idea that not only satisfies the client's needs, but is creative enough to satiate your audience. Be open-minded, as you will be working with your colleagues, but I have nothing but positive things to say about this project. Not only was it fun, but it taught us important skills about dealing with a client and working together to create something fabulous for them. The blogs and portfolios are kind of overwhelming at first, but when you get the hang of it, they are fun to create, and they are a great way to showcase who you really are to your teacher and your classmates. To make the most of this class you should, first, obviously, go to class, and second, pay attention and participate. I have learned things about my classmates, that were, before, strangers, that I would have never learned if it wasn't for the activities that we did in this class. Lastly, Business Writing is one of the most successful classes that I have ever taken because I learned a lot of pertinent information while still having a good time and learning in a friendly environment.

Good luck & have fun!!

Client Project

My groups name is Lend-A-Paw, and we redesigned Helping Hands' brochure. I really enjoyed this project and the my group members and I got along very well, and I look forward to working with them again in the future. The best thing about this project was, first, the people that I worked with, and, second, our end product. I am very happy with the way that our final brochure turned out. It is much more appealing to the eye, and we edited the information to make the brochure have more white space. The biggest challenge that we faced during this project is that one of our group members pretty much just dropped off the face of the Earth, and she was the one that did the brochure on her Apple computer, which none of the rest of us have. So this has posed as a challenge, but we have since overcome it. Next time I do a group project, I will make sure that we have all the same documents on the same operating system, because this has been our biggest problem.

Dual Coding Theory

I was not in class for the Dual Coding Theory lecture, but I have researched it and looked at our class PowerPoint. What I can conclude is that the brain processes visual images and textual images at different rates and then smushes them together so that the observer can put 2 and 2 together and come up with a conclusion as to what the picture (or in this case AD) is about. When I first saw this image, I read the words first, just like the Dual Coding Theory said I would. Then I saw that this picture is obviously in some sort of gymnasium, or locker room for a sports team. When I was in high school, I played Varsity soccer, and our locker room had a message above the door that said "Play Like Champions Today" on it...or something like that I don't really remember. Anyway, although I did read the words first, I did realize that it had to do with sports, not only because the words are in a locker room, but because they are motivational and clique of any sports team. This is an effective ad for Nike I think. It got the message across to me.

Miscommunication...

I can think of many instances when miscommunication occurred in my past workplaces. But I'll just name a few...first, for 6 years before I came to college I worked in my family's business, so one day when I was running the register and taking people's orders in the coffee bar, my brother called on the store's phone and was yelling about something. Well it was really busy and I was swamped with customers, and I yelled back on the phone "HOLD ON A SECOND!!" The poor little lady at the register waiting to place an order thought I was talking to her and got really upset and left. I have never felt so bad before. I tried to tell her that I was only talking to my brother on the phone, but she was long gone by then. If I would have controlled my temper and just hung up, or maybe if he wouldn't have called inthe first place, it wouldn't have happened. Oh well.
When I was a Junior in high school, one afternoon, it was just me and my mom working at the store, because some one had called in sick. Well apparently the City was doing a smoke test in all of the pipes and failed to alert any of the downtown restaurants. My Mom and I thought that the refridgerator was on fire and expelled an entire fire extinguisher all over the restaurant. It took about a month to clean that place absolutely spotless from all of the extinguisher residue. If the city would have alerted the downtown business we wouldn't have had to close the business down (because we did and lost 7 hours of business), and wouldn't have had to deal with all of the mess that we accidentally made.
Thos are just a couple of my work miscommunications!

Mock Interview

On Friday I had my mock interview, and I was not nervous at all. The one question that really threw me off guard was "What is the biggest accomplishment?" I wasn't sure how to answer this because I have never really thought of that before. So I just kinda went by the seat of my pants and made a quick answer, which I don't think made a lot of sense, but it was all that I could think of at the time. If I could do this interview again, I would not have gone out the night before, because I was feeling rough at 9 in the morning. Also, I would have practiced some answers to regular interview questions so that i would have been more prepared for my interviewers questions. I learned a lot from this experience because I thought that it was going to be a lot tougher than it was. Although, during the "real" thing I'm sure that I will be very nervous, but I realized that the most important thing is to just be confident and take the questions all in stride.

Presentations

This week I really enjoyed the presentations by Margaret, Chelsey, and Ashleigh. Margaret's presentation was very original and I learned something new! Chelsey's presentation was very fun because it was interesting to learn more about South Africa and her pictures and stories were very funny! Ashleigh's presentation was also one of favorites because it was about Spanish and I obviously appreciated that. It was also original. I enjoyed all of the presentations in class but these were my three favorites!

The Economy

Obviously, in the past couple of days, everyone has been talking about the lingering Armageddon and Great Depression that America will surely suffer within the coming weeks. Wrong. But, you and I both know that Americans love to panic...and love even more to create mass hysteria.

I just wanted to say a couple of things about the presidential campaign being (maybe) postponed. I think that this is a wonderful idea. First of all, let me just put it out there that John McCain doesn't want to hold this debate, while Obama still does.

McCain told his campaign guys that he was going to Washington to do his REAL job, which he still holds, as Senator of Arizona. Congress needed him and Arizona needed him, to go do his job, and aid in Congress's decision on this 700 billion dollar ordeal.

John McCain said, "with so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol — and I intend to join it," after addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative in New York on Thursday before heading to Washington.

Obama still argues that the debate should proceed because a president needs to be able to handle more than one issue at a time. Well, first of all, you aren't the President of the United States--you might be soon--but as of right this minute you are not. In case you forgot---you are a Junior Senator, so despite your "junior" status--maybe you should go to Washington with your elder (and wiser) opponent and do the job that you hold right now. This is an unpreccedented time in American history--and if I were running for President, and still holding a Sentate job, I would surely go to Washington the second my state and my country needed me to solve the problem that was at hand.

Cover Letters

I do believe in all of the advice given here on cover letters. As I don't really know anything having to do with cover letters, I'll take any advice I could get. I especially found the "Reality of Cover Letters" interesting, because it contradicted my thoughts that the cover letter is A) the most important part of my resume and B) the first thing that employers read. It was interested to see that employers only read this if, after they've read the resume, they are still interested in the potential employee.
The section that interested me most, and that I think I will use again, is the checklist. It simply shows what to put in your cover letter, and tells us the fundamentals of a well written and thought out cover letter.

Interview Questions

The two articles that interested me most were "How to Handle Illegal Interview Questions" and "Six Common Job-Interview Questions." The questions that were mentioned to be the most common interview questions actually scared me a little bit. I know that before I go in for an interview I will definitely have to be ready to answer these and will need to practice and formulate answers beforehand. Most of these questions are personal and about the applicants character. For example, your strength and weaknesses, how you would carry yourself in this situation, and how do you handle mistakes. This article showed me that I will most definitely have to practice before my interviews.
Secondly, the article about the illegal interview questions seems to be pretty common sense. But, if your interviewer is friendly and you have established a rapport it might be hard to decipher the difference between illegal and sheer friendliness. I hope within my interviewing experiences I will not come across any of these situations.

Mi Misión, Mis Sueños

I am Morgan Campbell: sister, daughter, niece, friend, and world traveler. I will be the first to tell you that I come from a very unique background, and even stranger parents, but I lead a very curious life, in turn, making my life goals and aspirations quite interesting. I was born to Riki and Frank, from Idaho and Brooklyn, respectively. I have two brothers, Shawn and Colin. We were all born in Wilmington, Delaware, but shortly after Colin arrived, we moved. My Dad, who works for Eaton Corporation, better known as Cutler-Hammer, gets transferred a lot. We left Delaware for Pennsylvania, and then 17 months later fled Pittsburgh for California. We lived in Los Angeles for 5 years, but moved again when I was in second grade to sunny South Carolina, where my parents still live.
We settled in Camden: the oldest inland city of SC and home to the Carolina Cup. My mom, who used to work in a hospital, opened up a giant retail business. This business, a three story mall in which we owned 6 out of 10 stores, consumed all of my families’ time. I started working in that store when I was 12, legally getting paid when I was 14, and managing it when I was 17. My brothers and I worked everyday, seven days a week, unless it was soccer season. My family’s business, which we later sold when my youngest brother graduated from high school, spawned all of my life goals and made me who I am today. It taught me to be competent, responsible, hard-working, and most importantly taught me the value of a dollar.
First, I would never have thought that my family’s Christmas tradition would be the deciding factor in what I wanted to study in college, but I was wrong. When our store was open, we were there, and when it was closed we were most likely still there. We were only closed for a few days each year. Christmas and New Year’s were two of them. Therefore, Christmastime was the only time of the year that we could go on vacation. 2002 marked the start of the Campbell’s Christmas vacation tradition. We didn’t get a tree, and we didn’t get presents—instead, we flew out of America on Christmas Day to crazy little towns in Europe to go skiing.
Before we began these odysseys, I assumed that everyone on the planet, except for some terrorist whackos, thought Americans were the greatest. We think we’re the greatest, so, of course, they ought to as well. Sike! Can you believe there are people, whole countries full of people, who, when they think about Americans, think we are resource-guzzling, loud, uncouth slobs? It’s true!
I’m speaking primarily of the French. They knew I was American before I ever opened my mouth. I was blonde, showered and wearing pink. Plus, I was friendly. Do not smile too much in France. They hate it. In restaurants, the waiters and waitresses refused to speak English, even though we would find out later during the course of the meal that they spoke it quite well. So there I would be pointing and nodding like an idiot when they knew perfectly well what I wanted to order.
Going in a patisserie one morning, all five of us trooped in like baby ducks after my mother, who is the only one in our family that speaks passable French and who leads us everywhere while in that country. “Bonjour,” said my mom to the proprietress. The owner then said “Bonjour” to each of us as we came in and mumbled “Bonjour” back to her, self-consciously. Except Dad, the caboose. My dad does not speak or understand one word of French. Not oui, not merci. Nothing. He is terrified when people talk to him. So when the lady greeted my dad, he boomed “Au revoir”, which cracked us all up except the lady, who looked insulted, and my dad who had no clue that he had just said “goodbye” to her “hello”.
The people of Woergl, Austria were not as overtly rude as the French. The Austrians were just generally indifferent to us, like, “You’re from America? How nice. Want some torte?” The very formal couple who owned our hotel did warm to us a little by the end of the week. They honored my mom by letting her kiss the New Year’s Eve piglet that was paraded through the restaurant at midnight, although they may have been intentionally embarrassing her. We still don’t know.
In Ulm, Germany, our rent-a-van got stuck, we thought, in the snow. It would not budge. A very nice couple decked out in furs and business attire stopped to help. Thank God they did because the man finally figured out that my father had not released the parking brake. I’m sure that couple is still telling that story at their cocktail parties about the stupid Americans “stuck” in two inches of snow.
My self-esteem was completely restored in Slovenia, however. From the second we crossed the border, my little blue US passport was like Charlie Bucket’s golden ticket. Everyone tried to accommodate us by speaking English. Everywhere we went we were welcomed and told to come again. They wanted us to go home and tell all of America to come to Slovenia. I don’t think they had ever seen Americans, except on television. We were like celebrities. My brothers and I thought, “This is more like it! Go, Slovenia!”
Finland was amazing as well, and they looked at us like we were aliens. Most of the young people my older brother and I met at the bars had never seen an American face-to-face. The only ones they knew of were sports stars and Britney Spears. It was freezing cold there, and all they eat is reindeer, but they got some great skiing, and they love to party. Granted it is “night” over there for all but 2 hours during winter, but it was still worth it. Not to mention, getting the Finnish police called on me and my brothers at 5 in the morning—long story—but it was a story I will tell my grandchildren about.
Whether we were getting in trouble with the law, or laughing hysterically at my Dad’s attempted French, or the size of our rental car, our crazy vacations are why I am now majoring in Spanish and getting a minor in Management. I became fascinated with language, and being bilingual or trilingual. It all started when we went to Spain after my freshman year of college, and I actually communicated with the Spaniards for my entire family, instead of my mother who usually played translator in German and French. I made hotel reservations, and ordered their dinners, I got us our ski passes (even with a discount), and, most of all, it was fun. I fell in love with being able to tell the 5’4” little Spanish lady that her dinner was delicious and proceed to translate to the rest of my family the story of how she caught the fish that morning in her backyard—the Mediterranean Sea. That little old lady, and the story she told me about her fish, is what changed my outlook on life, and made me who I am today.
I want to speak Spanish whenever and wherever I can. I want to ultimately do international business in the coffee trading industry, or work in the UN, or move to Cartagena, Colombia and work in the American Embassy, or just move to Charlotte, NC—I’m sure they got some Mexicans there who don’t speak English. Something, I don’t care—as long as I’m speaking Spanish and getting paid I will be happy. Some people ask me what my major is and when I tell them, they say “Why?” I say, “Why not?” It is becoming such a marketable skill, and the “industry” (AKA immigration) is growing exponentially every day. So the people who ask me why I want to speak Spanish and why I want to know absolutely everything about the Spanish speaking world is simply because I’m obsessed with it, and someday I’ll probably be making more money then them. Fair enough.
I also cannot wait to study abroad and maybe, in my professional career, live abroad. I want to change the misconceptions that Europeans have about Americans. Yeah—we may be obese and yeah we may use a lot of oil, but we are cool people too. Not as cool as they are—but pretty darn close. I just want Europeans to realize that not all of America is fat and polluted, and not all Americans are the unkempt monsters they think we are.
Secondly, my most important life goal is to just be a good person. I hope to gain respect from my elders and peers at work. I hope to be a wonderful mother, and a loving wife. I do not want to be in debt or have any financial problems. I also hope to own my own house, cars, and, eventually, make smart investments. I hope to have many friends and host cute little cocktail parties. I want to be a well-rounded person and be the best possible person I can be. I don’t ever want to get divorced. I want all of my children to go to college. I want them to tell me everything and take care of one another. Most of all, I can’t wait to implement the Christmas traditions that I grew up with into my own family’s life, so that maybe my children will benefit from visiting various places across the globe as I have.
In conclusion, within the next 10 to 15 years I see myself graduating and assuming the position of Spanish speaker somewhere. Whether it be in America, or overseas it does not matter as long as I can fulfill my dream of being a bilingual international businesswoman. I see myself getting married and starting a family, and I see us leading healthy lifestyles and being very close knit. I will teach my children Spanish from the day they are born in order to prepare them for the future. I cannot wait to see what the next few years have in store for me. Granted, I know it will not be the fairy-tale life I have dreamt of, because things happen, but I will try my best to be a good person, loving mom and wife, and strong business woman. Most importantly, I anticipate the rest of my life and only hope that I can aspire to what I dream of. I cannot wait to show my children the world and show them how to be honest individuals. Hopefully, the way we celebrate Christmas will be as meaningful and beneficial to them as it was to me.

The Machine Is Us/ing Us...

So, this video was quite thought provoking because everyone takes for granted the amazingly intricate World Wide Web. We probably all took a few computer classes in high school and understand that a lot of things go on, like HTML languages and intricate code, to construct a website, especially an adequately functioning one, but we never really think about it because we grew up on the Internet, and the Web is just...there. Professor Wesch brings up a good point. Now, in a unprecedented way, people, you, me, & your friend's 87-year-old grandma, create and share information with the rest of the world on a, not just day-to-day, but constant basis. Wikipedia was invented strictly for being able to easily obtain knowledge from other people, whether it be about how to clean an oven or theories of relativity. Think about going one week--or just 5 days--without the Internet...

To me, the title of this video means just what it says, and the two messages, us and using, go hand-in-hand. The 'Machine' aids us in gathering knowledge, and is the most useful tool available to the world. We are the people that are putting that knowledge on the Web to be gathered in the first place...the Web is us--because we created it. Also, the 'Machine' is using us to expand its capabilities and become an even bigger entity through our constant use of it.

Web 2.0 would help anyone, in the workforce or not, with their daily needs, like email, checking their bank accounts, looking up the weather, researching, etc. It would help someone looking for a job by supplying job search engines, resume help, easy access to contact information from possible job prospects, etc. It would help someone who is already in the workforce by providing them a seamless international outlet to do business in, cornicopious documents and articles of information that may pertain to their certain expertise, easy contact with their coworkers, and providing a way to let some employees 'telecommute,' if necessary.

Moreover, like Professor Wesch said, we may have to rethink things--family, privacy, and, ultimately, ourselves. Privacy: people's lives have changed from identity theft, due to online banking and shopping. Authorship & Copyright: never before have I ever had to wonder if someone were to copy and paste a thought or idea, of my own, off of my Facebook page, or this blog--could I sue them for plagarism. When did I become an author? Ourselves: I cannot imagine what it would be like to not have the Internet. I need it for everything--school, work, and just staying organized. But, does there come a point where enough is enough? I think that is was Prof. Wesch means by 'rethinking ourselves.' The Web recreates itself every-what?-millisecond...as I am writing this it is changing with every letter that I type. Recreation is good--it enhances this tool that we use constantly--but, I think Prof. Wesch is asking," when does it stop, and when will we not be able to mold this 'Machine' any more?"

But, for now, the Machine is...us.

About Me!

Hey yall!
My name is Morgan Campbell. I am from Camden, SC. Camden's claim to fame is the Carolina Cup. I moved there when I was in 2nd grade. I was born in Delaware, and then lived in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles before moving to Camden.
I am a junior. My major is Spanish and my minor is Management, and I look forward to studying abroad in Spain next semester. Ultimately, I plan to work in the international business field.
I look forward to learning new things in this class and eventually applying my newly acquired business writing skills in my career.

GO TIGERS!