Spring Term Preview: My Final Term @ UO

Keri S.

April 4, 2010 - 10:00 PM

As I sit down during week 1 to write a quick blog about my upcoming classes-something I have done for the past two terms-I realize that it is my final term here at the University of Oregon. I have been building to this moment for quite a while now, but suddenly realize that it is now actually happening. Eugene and the University of Oregon campus have been my home for the past 3 ½ years, and in a short 3 months, I will soon be finding a new home and adventure to embark upon. Luckily, I will be taking some pretty fun classes this term. My schedule is: ACTG 340, MKTG 435, J 350, and GER 223.

ACTG 340: Accounting for Entrepreneurs. This class is one of by business elective courses. After my MGMT 335 class last term (another class of the entrepreneurship sequence), I have decided to take another class aimed at starting small businesses. I have had many friends who have taken this course, and every single one of them highly recommended it. Working on group projects that require financial statements, it is a lifesaver when somebody in your group has taken ACTG 340 because, in the end, you have such a strong understanding of financial statements and accounting practices that you can create Excel spreadsheets in your sleep. This class, as I know from many of my friends, requires a HUGE group project where you create 5 years of financial projections in the form on balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. It is always a joyous day when the spreadsheets balance, and I can already anticipate there will be a blog post dedicated to that after many stressful and sleepless nights in the computer lab.

MKTG 435: Consumer Behavior. This is my final upper division business course to take, and the one that I am most excited about. I have never taken a course about consumer behavior, and as someone who is very interested in a career in marketing, it is VITAL that I understand what drives consumer decisions and purchases. I have already read the required chapters for this course, and have actually read all chapters required through next week. I can't get enough of this course. (I will admit I am a nerd). Should be a great last marketing class for me!

J 350: Principles of Public Relations: This is my final Journalism class for my minor. Again, this is the Journalism class I have been most excited about taking. While I enjoy all of my marketing classes so far, most of the subjects have been very broad to include promotions, advertising, personal selling, with a little public relations. After an amazing week up at the Nike campus one year ago where I worked with some amazing people in the public relations department for the women's line, I have been anticipating learning more about this field of study. Ultimately, I find myself working within public relations for a large sports team or property, so I am really looking forward to learning all I can about this field. Again, I am already ahead of the reading in this class.

GER 223: A Multicultural Society: This is the final course I need to take to fulfill my global context requirement for the business school. To be completely honest, I am dreading this class. I am so focused and excited about my other three courses, so this one is what I refer to as my back-burner class-the one class that gets put on the back burner while I focus on my other three classes. Luckily, I am able to take this class for Pass or No Pass instead of a letter grade and therefore only need to earn a "P" (equivalent to a C-) in the class in order to graduate (and it won't affect my GPA). However, I am trying to keep an open mind about this class, and am going to try to earn an "A" to boost my GPA.

In addition to all of these classes, I recently accepted an internship with a local website MyEugene working on creating a PR campaign and helping to plan a large event. This should be a great opportunity, and I am excited to begin work with the other interns!
Cheers to a great term-a term I know will go by way too fast! 10 weeks until graduation!!