9/23 College Planning!

The following answer critical questions to aid my search for a college that offer the major Physical Therapy.

1) College options:
Berry College
Mount Berry, GA
http://www.berry.edu 

South Carolina University
Columbia, SC
http://www.sc.edu

Clemson University
Clemson, SC
http://www.clemson.edu

2) When decided which school I will attend, I would need to ensure that they have adequate and modern laboratories and exercise facilities. 

3) Berry College, South Carolina, and Clemson University all have the criteria I have expressed. 

4) A good understanding of biology from high school would be helpful but not required to my field of study,

5) I'd like a medium-sized school relatively close to my home, no further than 3 and a half hours. I would prefer a suburban area as I am partial to large cities. I prefer that it have many sports and most importantly, football! Diversity is much less important to me than the overall atmosphere. I would benefit greatly from academic scholarship. If I attend an in-state college, I will receive Zell Miller scholarship so that gives incentive to attend a school in Georgia. 

6) Physical therapy is rapidly growing career.

7) The APTA, American Physical Therapy Association, honors outstanding achievements  each year in the areas of overall accomplishment, education, practice and service, publications, research and academic excellence. 

8) Clemson offers a Non-Resident Merit Scholarship I am eligible for.

Berry University offers merit-based scholarship of which I would automatically be considered for upon applying. 

I am eligible for HOPE scholarship and Zell Miller scholarship. 

9/16 "What's your sentence?"

I thought a lot this week about what my sentence is. To define yourself in one sentence is kind of scary! As a seventeen year old, I'm not sure how exactly I plan to impact on the world one day. However, I pray that I have the confidence and faith necessary to accomplish great things. "She believed she could, so she did." Vague...but powerful.

Week 9/9 Twelve-Week Interview

  In a blog post found on Tim Elmore's blog Growing Leaders (http://growingleaders.com/blog/), he describes a bad experience with six college students he invited to serve as interns for his company one summer. He discovered how unprepared today's college students are for the real world and blames the adults in their lives. However, Tim still believes in the potential of today's students and invited another group of interns to his company. This time, though, he introduced the internship differently: an internship is a twelve-week interview. The students realized that this was absolutely no time for social media or laziness, but instead, a simulation of the job they would one day have. Tim says that the top qualities his company looks for in interns are more about attitude than aptitude. They look for:

1. Teachabilty- students who are eager to learn from them

2. Initiative- students who look for what needs to be done

3. Responsibility- students who "own" the task they're given

4. Energy- high-energy students passionate about their mission

After establishing the expectations to his interns, Tim and his company were very pleased with the outstanding students they worked with over the summer. They had great work-ethic, attitude, and passion. 

• My biggest take aways from this article was the desire to learn and a great attitude every day! I can certainly make an effort to prepare myself mentally before arriving at my mentorship by having a great breakfast ( I will be going in the morning most of the time) and reminding myself how privileged I am to have a mentor offering their valuable time. When you have a great attitude, you will engage yourself and learn best. 

• What I find most relevant to myself from Tim Elmore's blog post, is initiative. It's not that I wouldn't want to do what I can to help out but sometimes I am tentative to just begin a task without being told to do so for fear that I am taking liberties. For instance, when I babysit I think about how appreciative a family may be if I unloaded their dishwasher...but conversely, maybe they don't WANT me digging through their drawers! But taking initiative is a valuable quality and doing SOMETHING is better than sitting idle. I can always just ask my mentor if they need any help or if there's anything I can do.

Week 9/3 Lesson on Debt by Dave Ramsey

My response to:

Lesson on Debt by Dave Ramsey 

"We do not break the bad habit of debt through earning more money, but rather we break any habit by replacing it with a better one."

What do you think this means? 

- I believe that this quote means that earning more money alone does not alter your habits or solve your problem...if you have a habit of spending more than you can afford and you solely increase your income, you will acquire more debt and dig yourself a deeper whole. However, if you replace your poor spending and budgeting habits with smarter and more beneficial habits, you will begin to find your debt solution. 

Are you worried about getting into financial trouble as you get older?

- I have seen family members of my friends and my own struggle with budgeting and debt. I know the burden that debt can place on a person and the strain it can potentially put on relationships. My parents have discussed with me the importance of money management and paying off credit cards. I am confident that I can budget my spending when I am older, but I will always have fear some regarding my financial security in the future. I plan to find a secure job that I enjoy to prevent money from putting stress on me or my family. 

Does money factor in to your culminating project/or career path you have chosen? If so, how? Should money be a major consideration in choosing your life’s path?

- Money plays a huge factor in the music industry. There are rarely guaranteed paychecks as a songwriter. Money is a major consideration when deciding a life path. For your peace of mind and safety/security, it is important to find a job that will meet your needs. To be most successful, you should find a job that you love.