Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

MBTI exams

Keri S.

March 8, 2010 - 12:45 AM

This week for Alpha Kappa Psi, our chapter advisor Chuck came in to talk to us about the MBTI. The MBTI is the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, and is a quick 60 question exam to identify different types of personality and learning preferences. Through this exam, I learned that I am an "ENFJ". Each letter stands for a different identification within a category. Briefly, here is what each letter means:

 

E: For this dichotomy, the MBTI identified me as an extravert. This shows how I focus my attention. As an extraversion, I tend to focus my attention on the outer world of people and things. The opposite type, introverts, tends to focus attention on the inner world of ideas and impressions. This does not surprise me, because I enjoy working and being surrounded by people. I also work best in a team.

 

N: For this dichotomy, the MBTI identified me as "intuition". This category shows how I take in information. The overall test can be demonstrated very quickly by looking at this picture. What do you see?

 

 

 

It is simple: either you see a forest or you see trees. Personally, I see the forest, which means I focus on the whole picture and focus on future possibilities and take in information from patterns. The saying goes "I can't see the forest through the trees"-this is the motto of the sensors and those who are very detailed oriented and take in information through the five senses.

 

F: For this dichotomy, the MTBI identified me as "feeling". This category shows how I make decisions. Based on my results, I tend to make decisions based primarily on values and on subjective evaluation of person-centered concerns. I agree with this, because I often find put myself in others shoes before making a decision, and make sure to consider how my actions impact others. The opposite point of view is the "thinking", where people make decisions based on logic and objective analysis of cause and effect.

 

J: For this dichotomy, the MTBI identified me as "judging". This shows how I deal with the outside world. As a "judger", I tend to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled. Anyone who has ever seen my obsession with my planner knows this to be true. The activity we did to demonstrate this is to describe our closet. People who are judgers, like me, are extremely organized. Personally, my clothes are organized by color, and then by tank top, short sleeve, and long sleeve within each color. My shoes are also organized by sneakers, flip flops, heals, and flats. Some say it is an obsession, but when my room is not organized I cannot focus. Those who are the opposite of me, perceivers, described their closet as messy and clothes on the floor.

 

At the end when we were given our results, we were given a few sentences about ourselves. Here is what mine said as an "ENFJ":

 

"Warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for individuals and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership."

 

I think this is a fairly accurate description of myself. My friends say it is dead on! For those of you who have the opportunity, I encourage you to take this test. I learned a lot about myself and about my peers. I also learned a lot about how to use this information to work with people who are similar to me and also who are different from me.

 

 

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Eats in Eugene

Keri S.

March 7, 2010 - 11:30 PM

After a crazy and stressful week where I completed two term projects (average length of each project=50 pages) and two presentations, I finally had a few moments to relax and hang out with friends. As a part of this, I ate out for quite a few meals to some great, local Eugene restaurants. I am kicking myself that I haven't been to any of these restaurants before this, because the food and company were both amazing. Here is where I went this week. If you are looking for a new place to eat in Eugene, definitely check some of these places out!

 

1. TURTLES. This restaurant is a favorite of a few of my friends. Besides the great disco lemonades, it is a small and cozy restaurant fun for a small group. I really enjoy going to small and local restaurants, and this one was perfect for the evening.

 

2. THE VINTAGE. On Friday, I went to this restaurant with one of my best friends, Brandi. After an afternoon of shopping, we decided to grab some dinner. We split the cheese fondue for dinner and the chocolate fondue for dessert. Both were absolutely amazing. This restaurant was also a small, local restaurant with a great environment. The restaurant was located in an old house. Another great restaurant in Eugene, especially for the fondue!

 

3. BASIL. Saturday morning, my friend Brandi and I decided we were too lazy to cook again. Therefore, we headed to Basil for a Sunday brunch. This is a Eugene landmark, and was full of hung over and hungry college kids who had just rolled out of bed at 12:30 in the afternoon for breakfast. The food was cheap and good. The location was perfect for us, as it was directly across the street from our tanning salon.

 

Although these are the three restaurants I ate at this weekend, I also know of a few other Eugene favorites that I want to quickly share with you.'

 

4. GLENWOOD. This is one of the most well known local restaurants in Eugene. There are two locations, and one is about 2 blocks from my house and almost directly on campus. They serve great breakfast all day long, as well as great lunch and dinner entrees. My sister, Kristen, loves the Glenwood and stops here for breakfast any time she heads south from Salem. Last year when she went on a 16 hour road trip to Southern California, she made sure to stop after only an hour of driving just for breakfast at the Glenwood.

 

5. PRINCE PUCKLERS. This is one of my first memories on the University of Oregon campus. I was down in Eugene with my parents, and we stopped here on our way out of town. My parents met in Eugene, and used to come here to grab an ice cream cone when they were first dating. Great ice cream and a must go-to!

 

Since I still have over three months in Eugene, I hope that I can explore other new and local restaurants. When I do, I will be sure to share them all with you. Until then, go check out these great eats in the city of Eugene!

 

 

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FINALLY DONE!

Keri S.

March 1, 2010 - 2:15 AM

Although I just wrote a blog post talking about my various group projects going on , I feel that this subject deserves another (very short) entry.

 

It is currently 2:15 AM on Monday morning, and I have successfully completed my sports business project. This great feat comes after several hours in the computer lab (where, as predicted, we were kicked out at closing), followed by several hours editing in my living room. At about 1:30, we headed to Kinkos to print and bind the project. Thank Goodness the campus Kinkos is open 24 hours! While groups that printed earlier in the evening had to wait about 2 hours to pick up their projects, ours was ready in only 20 minutes! I guess that's one of the many perks of procrastination.

 

The total page count was 79 pages, and the total cost to print was $56.

 

Tomorrow, we have our presentation in front of the professor and in front of the class. By this point, my group knows the project front and back and should have no troubles talking for the 25 minute time requirement. It is now time for me to get a few hours of sleep. Wish me luck tomorrow!

 

 

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Group Projects-Another Weekend Spent in the Lillis Computer Lab

Keri S.

February 28, 2010 - 3:00 PM

There are many great things to enjoy in the town of Eugene: Saturday markets, sunny weather, hiking, and athletic events. This weekend, however, I enjoyed one of the less known Eugene landmarks: the Lillis computer lab. Friday, I entered the lab at 9 AM and got kicked out at 7 PM when it closed. Saturday, I didn't get to the lab until 2 in the afternoon, but was once again kicked out when the lab closed. Today, I have only been here for a few hours, but anticipate I will once again be here to close down the building. Although the weather has been nice outside this weekend in Eugene (a rare site for February), I have been diligently working in the lab dawn until dusk.

 

Tomorrow, my final SBUS 452 sponsorship project is due. Currently, our project is 51 pages long and we still have more work to go! This project is a sponsorship proposal between Aquafina and OSAA (the governing body of high school athletics in the state of Oregon). This plan goes into excruciating detail about how Aquafina can take advantage of this sponsorship through creative activation and gives timeline and financial details about how exactly the project will work. Along with this novel of a project, my group and I also have 25 minute presentation tomorrow to present and summarize our presentation to the professor and the rest of the class. Although this project has been very stressful and has taken over my entire weekend, I have enjoyed this project because it allows for a lot of creativity. We sit in class every day listening to lecture and material, and this project allows my group and me to apply the information to create our very own project.

 

Also this week, my final BA 453 project is due along with another presentation on Thursday. This project so far is only about 30 pages long, but don't let the shortness of this project deceive you. This project is a strategic plan for the GPS company Garmin. As a group, we have analyzed the current state of Garmin and the GPS industry, and then proposed ways for Garmin to succeed in the future. Beyond the long nights and stressful mornings putting last minute details together, this project has been my favorite to work on so far. The industry is fascinating and rapidly changing from what I call the "iPhone effect". The technology available today on our smart phones is astonishing! Not only do you use your phone to make calls, but now to text, check your mail, update your Facebook status, take and send pictures, listen to music, and now get directions from point A to point B. Obviously this technology is devastating to Garmin, because people who own iPhones and other smart phones are not likely to purchase a separate GPS device. As a group, we have spent many hours and many cups of coffee analyzing how Garmin can overcome this. We have had brainstormed hundreds of possibilities, and have finally agreed on a great idea for Garmin to break into the agricultural industry through an acquisition. This project has been a lot of research and analysis of data, but has been has a lot of practical, "real world" applications. I also strategically planned my schedule to get into the same class as some of my friends, and have been lucky to work with such an amazing, hard working group. Shout out to my "Garmin Girls" Tonya, Tulsi, Meagan, and Cara-we are almost done and I love you all!!!

 

So as I spend another beautiful afternoon in the computer lab here in Lillis in between group meetings, I reflect on the Lundquist College of Business and concept of group projects. Almost every class I have taken in the business school has had a group project of some kind. As a matter of fact, I cannot think of one class that doesn't have a group project of some sort. Whether it is a term long project to the magnitude of the BA 453 or SBUS 452 like I have this term, a simple 10 minute presentation of a current technology affecting the business world for DSC 340, or an in class brainstorm activity where you have to think of as many business opportunities as possible using only a newspaper for MGMT 335...group projects are unavoidable.

 

I go back and forth on whether I enjoy or hate group projects. As the saying goes "two heads are better than one". However, when a project that is meant for 5 people gets worked on by only 1 or 2 group members, the projects suddenly lose their appeal and interest. Without targeting one group project in particular, there is usually an un-proportionate distribution of work done by each group member: those members who spend weekends in the computer lab and those that suddenly appear once the project is done saying, "I'm in your group...what can I do?" (Yes, I have had this happen in a previous term. The group had no idea that we had another group member until about 1 week before the project was due!) Overall, I know that group projects, however frustrating at times, provide real world experience of teamwork, cooperation, and patience. I hope that when I enter the work force, I will look back on these projects and be thankful for the lessons they have taught me.

 

Another stressful week is expected with 2 projects due and 2 presentations to do, but after this the rest of my term should be much more relaxed. Only one final during finals week, and then a week and a half spring break!

 

 

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Grand Central Bowling and my weekend home

Keri S.

February 21, 2010 - 11:30 PM

In addition to attending the Women in Business Gala event this week, I also had the opportunity to attend a networking event in Portland with my business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. Every year, my brothers and I go to Grand Central Bowling to mingle and network with past and present brothers. This event was once again a huge success, and such a fun evening.

 

For those of you who are not familiar with Grand Central Bowling it is an upscale bowling alley that doubles as a restaurant and lounge in downtown Portland. Although we did not go bowling, it was a great atmosphere to mingle and talk with alumni. Some of the alumni were recent graduates from last spring, and some of them had graduated 3 or 4 years ago. It was great to hear from all of them about what they do now, and how Alpha Kappa Psi has helped them with their careers. Some of the alumni landed their current jobs because they knew someone in the company through Alpha Kappa Psi. It was also great to see that most of them are still in contact with each other and good friends. One of the great benefits of Alpha Kappa Psi is the brotherhood aspect, and something that I think is unmatched by any other club here on campus.

 

After this event, I went back home to Salem for a weekend with my family. Although it is a time to do free laundry and eat a great meal or two, my favorite part of my weekends home is seeing the parents and sisters. Even though this weekend was mostly full of homework and studying, I took my eyes off the books for a few hours to go shopping at the outlets in Woodburn with my mom! It was such a fun mother/daughter date, and something I miss while going to school in Eugene. Luckily, I am only an hour car ride away if I ever need one of those days with my mom.

 

I headed back to Eugene early this morning for group meetings and an Alpha Kappa Psi dodge ball game. At least once a term, my business fraternity challenges the rival accounting fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi, to a friendly sports competition. The winner gets possession of the trophy and bragging rights until we meet again. After being defeated back to back in kickball and soccer, Alpha Kappa Psi finally won back the trophy today! We will definitely be bragging about this one for a while!

 

This week coming up will be very busy with group meetings and projects. Within 8 days, I have three projects due for three different classes, all of which are a minimum of 15 pages EACH! Associated with these projects is also a 10-15 minute presentation to the professor and to the class, which means lots of work will be done on editing and finalizing the projects as well as creating Power Points and note cards for presentations.

 

 

 

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