Connor's Blog

DSP Tabling

Oh the joys of being in a on campus club......tabling! Everyone who has been involved in any sort of on campus anything know all to well that tabling is a fact of life. And a fact of life that not many people look forward to. But it is a necessity. Tabling needs to occur to promote the club, to bring awareness to the student body, and to draw in new members. The key with tabling is having fun with it. Table with someone who you don't mind sitting and talking with for a couple hours, because most of the time tabling is spent waiting for classes to change. That is when the hallways get busy and fill up with potential prospects.

It also 

Today, I have decided to be productive while tabling. How you might ask? Well, I am writing this blog while I tediously wait for people to walk by. Once I wrap this up, I am not too sure what I will do with my 1.5 hours left.......maybe start on some homework, or maybe just procrastinate.......gonna play it by ear. 

The professionals in action

 

Week 8 Reflections: Plan, Plan, Plan!

As the quarter starts to wind down in some classes, it has given me time to reflect on this past quarter. But that time gets quickly interrupted by classes that speed up at the end of the quarter. I will never understand why some professors assign workloads like they do. It is normally one way or another. The last few weeks are either very busy in a class, or they come to a stand still until the final. There is hardly ever any middle ground. This is where planning and prioritization all comes into play.

If you are not looking at your school assignment calendar at least one week in advance, you are going to have some rough nights. There are countless horror stories of all nighters because of checking the syllabus the night before a major project is due. I never have experienced this, but I can say there have been some late nights in my academic career. But after midnight I normally become useless at anything productive. 

I have learned to keep a close eye at my syllabi, and know what is coming up. I hate when things sneak up on me, or I have to spend Friday night doing a project that has been assigned since week 1. But sometimes it is unavoidable. Things pop up. Work gets in the way. You get distracted by Netflix. Anything can happen, but planning is a necessity as ones time in college progresses. Freshman year, no one had a calendar. Now it is hard pressed to find someone who does not have at least some sort of organized way of planning their weeks. I personally recommend Google Calendar. It is super easy to use, connects to my email, and of course has a phone application.

Here is a snapshot of a slightly busy week for me. All about keeping it planned!

Update on Community College

As soon of you know (shout out to my dedicated followers), I am enrolled in Front Range Community College. I am taking a Landscape Management class there. This is the first class I have ever taken at a community college.

I think it is awesome!

I certainly would not want to get a full degree from a community college, but I think for non major classes, or classes not offered at DU like Landscape Management, community college is a viable option. I was able to take advantage of the WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) Program, and am paying less than $1,000 for a 4 credit, semester class. 

The people in my class bring an interesting perspective to my education experience. Most of my peers in FRCC are extremely different than my peers at DU on so many levels. In good ways, and in not so good ways. But by having a broader base of experiences, I am certainly able to soak it all in. The school building is not nearly as extravagant as DUs, but it gets the job done. And we even took a super fun field trip to a large commercial landscape company in Denver. This is right up my alley!

I would recommend anyone to check out getting there general education classes done at community college, and a lot of nearby schools have programs that are designed so you can transfer the credits to DU. This isn't the case with my class, but it is definitely an option for other classes.

Check out this link to Front Range Community College for more details.

FRONT RANGE

Trip Home, Internships

Going home this past weekend was awesome. I got to see most of my family, had two successful job interviews, and even had time to go skiing. It went by fast, but it was definitely fun to be home with the family. 

I interviewed with two commercial landscaping companies in Sacramento, as well as Reno. The interviews both went well, and they both offered me jobs. I have received a job offer from 4 companies now, every one that I interviewed at. Its awesome that I have options, but that also makes my decision making process that much more difficult. The 4 companies are located all over the place. 2 here in Denver, and then the two in Sacramento and Reno. I even had a phone interview for a job in San Francisco, but they won't be able to make a decision until the end of March. Unfortunately I will have to make a decision before hearing back from that company. I think I am going to have to sit down and write a pros and cons list for each one of these companies. 

I would love to live in Denver this summer, but living at home would be free.

I would love to gain experience in a new market, but I don't want to work as a general laborer.

I want to work for a large company, but I also want to be able to interact with the owner.

The list of what I am looking for is huge, and the pros and cons list will be even bigger. Wish me luck with my endeavors on my decision process.

Here is a photo of the massive amounts of snow in Tahoe right now.

Week 7 Down, Heading Home

Well, I am ending the week a day early for myself. I am skipping class tomorrow, Friday (please don't tell my mom) to head home and visit my family (well maybe my mom will be okay with it, given the circumstances). I am looking forward to seeing the family, and hitting the mountains in California. They have been getting pounded with snow over there! In addition, I have two interviews with potential companies for a summer internship. I am torn between staying in Colorado, and going home. At the end of the day, I will have to go wherever I think I will learn the most. That is the goal with the internship after all.

This week was successful. Registration went perfectly. I got my ideal schedule, which might be a first for me. I don't start until noon everyday, but I do have a Friday class.......it was unavoidable no matter how I got my schedule to look, so I am ok with it. I am excited about the late start though, this will allow me to work a part time job before class everyday. Whether I go back to the golf course I have worked at before, or I start an internship early, I will definitely be doing something in the morning. That would just be way to much time to waste.

Well, my flight is about ready to board. Catch you guys on the flip side!

Here is a throwback photo from when my families in Ecuador, and my real family, all shared a meal together. Brings back some great memories.

Going, Going, Gone!

Its my favorite time of the quarter. Registration day. How I have such a love hate relationship with registration day. I enjoy looking forward to the future and planning out my classes for next quarter, and I hate the stress of registration. It is a stressful time because everyone has an ideal schedule. Everyone wants to start after 10 a.m., finish by 4, and never have classes on Friday. It turn out I am not the only one who wants that type of schedule as I came to find out the hard way. But the problem is, there are only so many classes that fit someones description of  a perfect schedule. And the problem with that is getting to take those classes. Classes fill up fast, and registration can be stressful. 

It is always good to start planning the next quarter during week 1 or 2 of the current quarter. This is when your workload is small in classes, and academic advisers have a lot more available appointment times. Hardly anyone tries to meet with their advisers during this time, so it makes it pretty easy to get an ideal appointment time. It is good to have an idea of what you need to take, and develop a plan. Draw out all of the possibilities, and start planning your four year plan ASAP. 

Now that you have a plan, you are ready to go, right? Wrong! You still have to register. This is where the fun comes in. You have to be able to adjust on the fly. All sections of a certain class might fill up before your time slot to register, and you have to deal with it. That is why if you have your 4 year plan, you can move around classes as necessary. My registration time is today, Tuesday, at 2:20. I am hoping to start at 12 everyday and have Fridays off.......wish me luck! (I know, it will be a hard one to swing.)

Here is a look at my latest graduation plan. If all goes according to plan I should graduate pretty early!

 

And Just Like That....

And just like that we are in week 7. As always, time is flying. I apologize for not updating you guys in the last couple of weeks, it has been a hectic schedule.

Some highlights of the last two weeks: Jackson Hole Trip, ProGreen Conference. 

The first weekend of February I went with my best friend up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We wanted to take advantage of the great snow they have been having, and it helped that his family was also there on vacation. (In college, you never turn down a free place to stay in the mountains. It is an unwritten rule.) We had an awesome time skiing for two days, and snowmobiling for an afternoon. Jackson Hole is absolutely beautiful, and the snow was amazing. We had fresh snow everyday. So much snow that our flight barely made it back to Denver on Monday morning. 

This last week I attended the ProGreen conference at the Convention Center Downtown. My employer, Heritage Eagle Bend, was kind enough to help me attend the conference, and it was a great learning experience. The ProGreen conference is a landscape industry conference that companies and there employees go to from all over Colorado, and even some neighboring states. They offer 4 days of industry classes, and 3 days of a supplier exhibition. My favorite part was the classes. I attended all sorts of classes ranging from how to estimate jobs, to how to obtain visas for seasonal workers from South America and Mexico. I would highly recommend this conference to anyone who is interested in working in the green industry.

This week is not busy, but that is a relative term. I have 4 interviews this week with potential companies to work for as an intern this summer, and I will be traveling home for the weekend to see my family. 2 of my interviews are located here in Denver, and the other 2 are located back home. I have one in Sacramento (my home town), and one in Reno. I am really looking forward to meeting with all of these companies and finding a good fit for myself for the summer.

Here is a photo of my weekend in Jackson Hole.

 

Midterm Struggles and Life Updates

The midterms came in full force this year. Week 5, the halfway point of the quarter, came way sooner than I remember in years past. But as I always say, there are pros and cons to the quarter system. Midterms coming this quick is definitely a double edged sword. On one hand it is stressful, the classes are demanding, and the hours of studying are ruthless. On the other hand, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. The quarter is halfway over, and I am already planning out next quarter. Registration is 2 Tuesdays from now, and I am hoping for that perfect schedule! I would love to have my Fridays free again, but I don't know how it will pan out. 

On another note, I have been super busy with the summer internship search. I am currently looking for an internship with a commercial landscape company, and I have been constantly calling, emailing, and researching potential companies. My search characteristics are pretty broad, but they are also pretty narrow. I am looking to work for a company that is in one of the top 150 in the nation, by revenue. On top of that, I am looking for a company that is involved in several segments of the landscape industry. Now these don't sound too specific, but you would be surprised how many companies this rules out. I have called almost a dozen companies, only one of which had an advertised internship position. (Its all about selling them on the job I want them to create). I have already had one phone interview, and I have 4 interviews scheduled in the next 2 weeks. These companies are located all over the place: San Francisco, Reno, Sacramento, and Denver. I am even thinking about some on the East Coast. 

Now to get to this point I had to polish my resume, and thanks to our awesome Career Service Center, I was able to get mine looking very professional. Its easy to make an appointment with them, they help with finding jobs and internships, and they take the time to get to know what you want to get out of your career search. Check them out and book an appointment with them here. Career Services

Week 4 What!?

Wow, already 30% done with the quarter. I forgot how fast things move here, but its good to be progressing with my classes. As I have said before, there are definitely pros and cons to the quarter system. The speed of it definitely fits into both of those categories. My schedule has been super hectic lately, but what else is new. Calendar is jam packed, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I went skiing this weekend at Vail, and the snow was great. The whole moving out to Colorado thing to go skiing.....cough......I mean to go to school, is working out nicely. The proximity to the mountains are a major selling point for DU, and it functions as advertised. Today was a great day to get caught up on all the odds and ends of life, clean up my place, and attack the mountain of homework I have. In addition, the resume updating and internship search are in full swing. DU has a great career services center that is perfect for these types of things. The feedback I got on Friday morning was very valuable, I know have a clear course of action to update my resume. 

Another update on my life: I am now enrolled in Front Range Community College. No, I did not leave DU. I still have a full 16 credit hour course load here, but I enrolled in FRCC to take a class not offered at DU. I am taking a class called Landscape Management. Its right up my alley, and we had our first class on Wednesday of last week. It is weird taking a class outside of DU, but I am really looking forward to this class and I think I will learn alot. 

Wish me luck going into week 4, midterms are already starting up!

Here is a short clip I took 2 weeks ago. Fresh tracks!

 

 

Week One in the Books

1 week down, 9 more to go. Getting back to Denver, and getting back on the quarter system quickly reminded me of just how fast things move. And I missed it. Already 10% done with the quarter, and we are just getting started. The constant battle of pro's and con's for the quarter system include how fast it moves, and there is an argument to be made for both sides.

I am enjoying my classes so far, and I have a pretty stacked schedule. I have my Wednesdays completely free (snow gods, pay attention), but I was not able to dodge Friday classes this quarter. This is only the second time I have had Friday classes while at DU, and I am not too thrilled about it. Fridays are supposed to be reserved for skiing, camping, mountain bike riding, or traveling. But this quarter it is reserved for a 12-2 accounting class.....oh well, you can't win them all.

It snowed on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, based off the predictions, I was betting we would have a snow day but no such luck. However, I did have the opportunity to make some money shoveling snow this morning. It felt really nice to be outside working after my 4 month haitus from work in Ecuador.

I am gearing up to leave for a retreat in the mountains this weekend with my business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi (DSP). I am really looking forward to doing some fun things with my brothers, and hitting the slopes. I will be sure to fill you guys in with how it went next post.

Here is a photo from my apartment window showing a glimpse of the beautiful snow covered day here in Denver.