This is the second November that the College of Business Administration has run their social media contest Black and Gold Business. This campaign revolves around the student organizations generating content related to the themes of the evolving culture of the College: Student Experience, Thought Leadership, Unique Place of Opportunity, and Entrepreneurial Culture. The organizations are motivated to participate because the three organizations that share the most content with #ucfbusiness and their unique hashtag (#ucfdeca for Collegiate DECA, for example) win $500.

This week is thought leadership week, so as I participated in this campaign to benefit DECA, I’ve thought about some of the incredible people I work with and learn from on a regular basis:

Dr. Carolyn Massiah: Although I’ve never had the privilege of taking one of her classes, Dr. Massiah has played a huge role in my college experience as the advisor for UCF’s Collegiate DECA chapter. I’ll probably always remember that one DECA meeting early in my first fall semester as a freshman when she told me that I already needed to have everything high school related off my resume no matter how good it is. That was one of the moments that encouraged me to get so involved in college. She’s always been happy to help me whether it is DECA related or personal. There’s a reason why so many students switch to Marketing after taking her class. She’s an inspiration to all of the students she works with.

Roy Reid: He’s definitely UCF’s best kept secrets. Few students get to know him outside the ambassador program, but he always has an open door to help any UCF student whether he knows them well or not. He has incredible patience and has taught me so much about leadership, trust, and being a better person. Plus, he shares my taste in music. That’s always fun.

Jonathan Gabriel: Jonathan bleeds black and gold. He clearly loves his job running the social media accounts for the college of business. It’s not uncommon to see Jonathan sharing updates with the ambassador team or the Business Leadership Council far past business hours. He’s always excited to help where he can and will always stop what he’s doing to talk to students when we need him.

The entire MMGY Global Research Department: I’ve been working with great people these last 6 months. My direct supervisor Leanne seems to always drop whatever she’s doing to answer my questions. Chelsea has done the same when I’ve helped with her projects. When I’ve worked with Anna, she’s also been quick to help me along with sharing some of her advice about the work world with me. Even the Vice President of the department, Steve, has had regular 30 minute meetings with me to mentor me through my time working for them and about the marketing research industry in general. I’ve heard few stories where the intern has as much support and encouragement as I have had in my time at MMGY Global.

In addition to these people, I also learn new things from my peers constantly. Whether it is the group project partners I referenced in the last blog post, the student ambassador team, fellow executive board members, or even the general members of the organizations I lead, I interact with some incredible students.

I have these people to thank for making my college experience a great one. I’ll always be glad that I chose to become a UCF Knight.

No one told me when I signed up to be a marketing major that there would be a group project in almost every marketing class I took. I do love my major, and that might have scared me away if I did have that information, but the group projects definitely have been one of the biggest challenges of my college career. The projects are interesting because I get to work on things from a subject I love, but coordinating the schedules of 4-7 college students can be nearly impossible. It is rare to find a UCF student that gets to dedicate all of their time to school. Fortunately, this semester I was blessed with having some of my closest friends in all of my marketing classes.

Some would say that it usually doesn’t work to have a group full of friends. However, I’ve become close to these people through extracurricular activities and I enjoy being around them because they have a similar level of intellect and maturity. We’ve worked extremely well together. There’s been weeks like this one where the pressure is on because we have a marketing plan worth 15% of our grade due in one class on Tuesday, large events in our organizations on Wednesday and Thursday, and our final presentation of our digital marketing efforts for a make believe company to a panel of “sharks” on Thursday. But with these girls, I’ve been able to not only work hard, but play hard on our occasional mental health break. Plus, we should have one awesome dinner after class tonight whether it is sad or celebratory.

Shout out to these amazing ladies for the great work we’ve done this week:

Veronica Kay: Veronica is in 4/5 of my classes this semester. She’s commuting about an hour each way to both class and her job at the university’s career services office but still doing a great in everything she does. She’s one of the few people I can trust to work on a project after me because her grammar is impeccable. She’s been doing great work tweeting for our fake business, producing advertisements in our simulation, and more. Just don’t laugh at her jokes, it encourages her.

Alexandra Scipione: This girl is doing everything I do (same classes, internship on the same days, club president, etc) PLUS a paying job on the weekends. She knows how to put out great work whether it is reviewing Google Analytics or simulated finances. At the same time, I can always count on Alex to keep things light by sharing funny things she finds online with us. I’m so proud of her getting her dream internship for this spring!

Tashia Cruz: She’s in two out of three of my group projects this semester. Tashia has extreme attention to detail. Usually I would say that I do, but I have to remind Tashia to relax sometimes. She’s been great at making decisions about our simulated sales force and teaching herself how to make the best possible website for our fake business. She’s definitely been a great asset to our projects while being a pleasant person to spend time with.

Arielle Morten: Full time student, employee, organization leader, and a mom? This girl can do it all! Arielle makes herself incredibly available for someone with so much on her plate and always impresses me with the quality of her work. And her patience when we would go on tangents about our other projects.

Sol Cerrada: Sol has been such a sweet person and on top of everything. This girl was most of the social media presence for our entire fake company, finding and sharing tons of great content mostly by herself. The posts were worded beautifully, and I’d always be amazed to look up and see that was one of our posts rather than a news outlet I’m following.

This week I officially got registered for Collegiate DECA’s Collegiate Leadership Academy in New York City November 12-15. This is exciting for a number of reasons:

It’s a DECA conference: Collegiate DECA has truly defined my college experience. It was the first thing I joined as a freshman and I’ve been hooked ever since. The best part about it is the friendships I’ve developed through it. In my freshman year, these friendships were mostly confined to the UCF chapter. The leadership team that year were the people who got me hooked and I still talk to them to this day. In my second year at UCF, I talked to more people from other schools at the state level, and then got to attend the international conference. Speaking with people from all over the country with the same interests and goals was incredible. At this conference I’ll be able to reconnect with some of the people I met at 2015’s ICDC and meet new friends that I’ll be able to stay in touch with until the 2016 ICDC. In fact, since I’m the only attendee from UCF I will be sharing a hotel room with people I won’t be meeting until I arrive.

It’s my first time in New York City: I’ve always had a desire to see as much of the world as possible. Thankfully I’ve been able to do just that in college. I had my first trip to Europe with a month long study abroad program based out of France in summer 2014, then took my first trip to the west coast this past August for a marketing analytics conference for students at Google headquarters in San Francisco, California. Later in 2016, I will get my first trip to Washington, DC for the 2016 ICDC. For now, I’m beyond excited about the opportunity to explore the concrete jungle with new and existing DECA friends or some friends from my California program.

It’s not going to be hot: The fact that it’s the last week of October and I still sweat when I walk outside is a problem. It’s thrilling to pack my Floridian attempt at winter clothes as I prepare for it to be somewhere between 60 and 40 degrees… fall really did come to the rest of the country!

Plus, I’ll be able to sing this song in my head all day as I walk down the street:

Everyone loves homecoming. Especially at UCF. We students have plenty of reasons to love it: free comedians, free concerts, philanthropy, free clothing, and the nation’s #1 college tradition, Spirit Splash. Of course it’s a lot of fun, but why this particular week? Why is it called homecoming when we’ve all been back at school for two months now? Did we just want to continue the fun from high school without the awkward dance?

With these questions in mind, I decided I wanted to look into the origins of homecoming. Here’s what I learned from the first result in my Google search:

• Harvard and Yale have been inviting alumni “to return home for The Game” between the two schools since the 1870s, but this is not the clear origin
• All of the contested beginnings of homecoming have several things in common: a football game, fun events (rallies, parades, speeches, dances) that intended to unite alumni and students to create a stronger sense of school pride, and their success in accomplishing that goal
• The first homecoming as sanctioned by the NCAA, Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit was in 1911 at the University of Missouri when their athletic director asked alumni to come home to inaugurate the new football field location against a rival school. More than 10,000 alumni and fans attended.
• Baylor argues that their 1909 “Good Will Week” was one of the first homecomings

Now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I can say that regardless of how it started, I’m grateful it happens. Sure mid-October is usually when there’s exams and project due dates and who knows what else, but it reminds me to have a little fun while I’m in college. I love hearing from nationally known comedians and diving into the reflecting pond with 15,000 of my classmates (even though I usually don’t get a duck). These are things I’ll remember when someone asks me about my college experience later on, and I’ll be able to say I am proud to be a UCF Knight.

All my life I’ve been told that I can do anything and I’ve genuinely believed it because I had no reason to doubt it. Neither of my parents have a college degree, yet they are both successful in what they do. When I was born, my mom was working an entry-level job at The Home Depot and my dad was installing flooring. Less than ten years later, my mom became one of the top field sales reps in her company and my dad became a small business owner/CEO.

It is now that I am in college and I see all the programs and workshops specifically for women in business that I am realizing that my parents are exceptions to the rule in so many ways. It is now that I am in college that I have realized that I might have to put in more work than a man to achieve my goals. I’m not saying that I’m afraid of the glass ceiling. Companies are not going to refuse me for a job or promotion because of my gender. I’ve worked hard enough throughout my time in school that my qualifications should earn me a job when I leave UCF. However, I’ve realized that strong women have issues with being seen as bossy (or the more derogatory b word) while if the same things are done by a man he’s assertive. I’ve realized that I’ll have to re-think my career if I want to have a family, and that some people frown upon working mothers. I’ve realized that sometimes the golf course is where business deals get made and business relationships form, so if I’m not willing to learn golf I may fall behind.

Regardless, anyone who knows me well will know that I’m up for the challenge. For that, I thank my parents for being amazing role models for both my personal and professional life. Shout out to them for showing me that you can do well at work while still having time for your family and relationship. If they can have it all, so can I.

My parents on their wedding day

My parents now

Everyone loves food. Beyond the fact that it’s required for survival, food is a major part of our lives. Many of our social gatherings either are “let’s meet up for breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert/coffee” or “let’s grab a bite to eat before/after the meeting” or “How does dinner and a movie sound for date night?” Food is a better conversation topic than the weather. Free food motivates students to attend events on campus. In fact, I have two food related events tomorrow night.

Last time I made my baked mac and cheese

First, the student ambassadors are hosting a potluck dinner for international students studying abroad at UCF this semester. Each ambassador is encouraged to bring something related to their culture. As someone who best defines myself as a “purebred mutt” (both of my parents having ancestors from many different countries), I’ve decided to do something pretty American and make a big pan of baked mac and cheese. I’m not exactly the best cook, but I’ve figured out this dish enough that it’s always very popular with my friends. In addition to my dish, I’m excited to try what my peers bring and get to know the students from other countries.

After the potluck, a UCF student startup is being featured on the show Shark Tank. The company is O’Dang Hummus and their goal is to be the Ben & Jerry’s of hummus, bringing unique flavors such as “Bombalicious Buffalo” and “Dillionaire” (dill pickle). They also carry hummus based salad dressings that will soon be sold in Publix stores. Their appearance means a lot not just for their business, but for UCF as a whole. It puts a spotlight on all the resources UCF has for student startups such as the Blackstone Launchpad and Upstarts. There will be a watch party for the episode in the student union from 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM where anyone in attendance will be able to sample the product (while it lasts!)

If I see any of you tomorrow, forgive me if I look like this:

I’ve finally found a way to connect my concert addiction to my business studies with one of my current favorite songs. It’s a song by the band twenty one pilots called “Stressed Out”. I’ve embedded the official music video for your listening and viewing pleasure:

This song is about the members of twenty one pilots (Tyler and Josh) wanting to “turn back time, to the good ‘ol days” when music was their passion, and not something they’re relying on to pay their bills.

There’s a couple of reasons why I like this song so much:

1. I don’t know whether it was planned or a coincidence, but this single got leaked the week of spring 2015 finals. So having a song about stress to sing at the top of my lungs was awesome.
2. It’s catchy!
3. They’ve got some really clever lines such as “Out of student loans and treehouse homes we all would take the latter.”
4. It’s relatable; whether we admit it or not, we all miss the days of playing pretend while our moms took care of everything

With having less than a year until I’ll be starting my first full-time job I’ve felt some stress over the fact that I need to wake up and figure out how I’ll make money just like Tyler and Josh. Just like they say in the song, our fears do not shrink when we get older. We start to care what people think. We want to make choices that make our family and friends proud of us. I think I’m on the right track, but I’m not afraid to admit that I’m human and I’m stressed out.

For now, I’ll be blasting this song in my car and appreciating these grown men who ride tricycles and drink juice boxes.

Twenty one pilots, “Stressed Out”

You may have read somewhere on this website that I’m a student ambassador for the College of Business. Although awareness of the program has increased drastically since I joined due to all the events we’ve hosted, I still feel like there’s plenty of people who have never heard of us, or don’t know what exactly we do.

Here’s a fairly short answer: We’re on a mission to make sure UCF College of Business students are The One.

What does that mean? Well it’s all a part of our dean’s vision. He wants our students to be The One who gets hired, The One that makes the sale, The One who starts a business, and so on. In such a large, competitive job market, each student needs to make sure they’re The One that stands out. If you want to read more about this vision and what we’re doing to achieve it, check out Dean Jarley’s blog.

So this week the ambassadors started one of our “disruptive events”. These events are set up to force students to think about more than passing class. In the past, these events have involved writing on windows, telling our professors why we appreciate them, prize wheels, and more. This week’s event was so simple that I couldn’t believe we never thought of it before: we’re asking students to tell us why they’re The One or how they’re going to become The One.

There is one thing that has really impressed me with this event: the diversity of responses. Some students list things they’re proud of that you’d also find on their resume:

• I got an internship doing _____ for __________
• I’m involved with (insert club for their major here)
• I have ___ GPA

The students that interested me though were the students talking about their personality traits:

• Because I’m passionate
• Because I never give up
• Because I DOMINATE

It really got me thinking about how people define themselves. Sure job applications do look at what we have done, but we will only excel if we are true to who we are. We all want a job that allows us to use our skills, but we are so much happier if we love the company we’re working for or if that company sells a product/service that you care about. With that, we need to remind ourselves of what is truly important.

So some people may look at me as “that girl from DECA” or “that smart girl in my class”, but here’s a couple things I also consider myself:

• Fun-loving: Whether it’s a weekly visit to SAK Comedy Lab here in Orlando or paragliding in Switzerland, I’m always up for trying new activities. If anyone wants to go skydiving, that’s still on my list and there’s always great deals on Groupon.
• Traveler: I’m addicted to seeing other places. This past August I got the opportunity to explore San Francisco for the first time followed by a family cruise to Ochos Rios, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Cayman. One of my all time favorite trips was a weekend trip to Lucerne, Switzerland while on study abroad in the summer of 2014 because of the beautiful mountain scenery and the thrilling excursions I went on.
• Determined: I have goals and I do everything in my power to achieve them. I am on a mission to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be.

These are the things I’ll have to always keep in the back of my mind. It’s easy to get consumed with the work and to forget about the end goal. Therefore, when considering what makes you special, please don’t focus solely on your qualifications. Whether we realize it or not, we are all The One.

(And now that I’ve got you thinking, don’t forget to find the ambassadors in BA2 in front of advising or in the BA1 atrium so you can fill out a note card and write down what makes you The One!)

Some of you may know that the University of Central Florida began its fall semester on August 24, yet you can see that this post was written September 10. So why would I feel like school didn’t truly start until the 3rd week of classes? This week is when all of my activities got going again: my internship, Ad Club, Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), Collegiate DECA, the first ambassador meeting, along with a weekend ambassador event. This week is the week that really showed me what my fall 2015 semester will look like.

Here’s what I was doing the first two weeks of class:

• Monday: Homework, errands
• Tuesday: Classes 10:30 am – 4:15 pm
• Wednesday: Homework, errands, ambassador work
• Thursday: Classes 10:30 am – 8:50 pm
• Friday: Homework, errands

This is what my typical week will look like from this week on:

• Monday: Wake up around 7:00 am, drive 45 minutes, intern 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, drive another 45 minutes, group project meetings
• Tuesday: Classes 10:30 am – 4:15 pm, SMPS meeting 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm  or Business Leadership Council meeting 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
• Wednesday: Wake up around 7:00 am, drive 45 minutes, intern 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, drive another 45 minutes, prepare for Collegiate DECA meeting that runs 6:30 pm – 8:15 pm
• Thursday: Classes 10:30 am – 8:50 pm
• Friday: Ambassador events and/or Ad Club events

This semester is going to be the ultimate test of my time management, but I’m also very excited for everything it holds. I have a wonderful internship that allows me to learn a lot about consumer insights marketing research while working with great people at a great agency. I’ve made some of my best friends in college through my extracurricular activities.

Collegiate DECA’s first fall 2015 meeting

As the president of Collegiate DECA this year, I was so proud to see our first meeting attendance last night reach approximately 80 students when the club usually has 40-50 active members.

The work that the student ambassadors do makes a difference in the lives of the over 8,000 students in the College of Business Administration. I’m even excited for my 3 group projects knowing that they will likely be work I will be proud to add to my portfolio. I’ll be working with two of my closest friends on all three of them. I have fantastic professors to guide us through the work.

Fall 2015 is here and I’m ready for whatever it throws my way.