DeAnn's Continued Education

  Ø   One key objective on the syllabus that sticks out to me and is key on what I take away from my Eng 320 class is " Manage sophisticated writing and research projects, planning, documenting, completing, and assessing work on time and within the constraints of the project." My roles over my career changed significantly, which the last several years was focused the majority on white papers. As I mentioned in previous blogs I struggle with this. I am a procrastinator, especially in something I am not excited about. So, my time management to allow for enough time to research, document key points, ensuring I am utilizing my time wisely to tell a thorough but impactful story, so the reader is clear on why this is important. I have taken many storytelling online sessions yet still struggle with articulating what I want to relay in an exciting way. A lot I know has to do with my time management, setting aside that focus time, sticking to that focus time that I have set aside....

  Social media is a fine balance within the workplace, as I traveled abroad a lot for my job it was key to keep in contact with my family and friends as I was in different time zones sometimes 12 hours difference. It helped my morale as I was a way so far, especially from my dog as I was able to connect which was during work hours at times for me as it would be early evening for them. It can also give a person a mental break from the day, long days of meetings for example you just need a break from something, so checking on friends' posts can help. I always limited my work connections on my Facebook specifically, it's a fine line, if they were a colleague and friend yes, I would connect, however I tried to avoid any leadership roles within my org just as I feel too much personal can impact your reputation even if it's nothing bad. I personally preferred LinkedIn for those work relationships and any work related posts. Working for a very large corporation, we did significant...

I have started some major changes in my life, after almost 20 years at the same company I have been on the search for a new job. I am finding out some companies accept experience over education where others are adamant that you as an individual has that degree as a requirement. I initially was pretty upset; I felt the amount of experience I had in my career should have met that degree criteria. I have always taken several learning opportunities for growth, but it has been quite a bit of time since I have been in a higher education class.  The last several years my job description had changed quite a bit, where I was more hands-on deployment of systems became a focus on writing white papers on proposals, I was no longer focused on project plans but having to present ideas to leadership to convince them this is something they should prioritize. As I mentioned in my introduction I have said give me a math problem over writing anything, so this was a very difficult change for me. You a...

 My name is DeAnn, I am almost 50 yrs old and due to some career changes have finally decided I need to complete my higher education. I like several students like me started college right out of high school however I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do forever. I initially started out as physical therapy at a university in a small town, very little jobs available and I was fully responsible for myself, so I ended up getting a job the following summer that I decided to continue and take a break for a semester to try to save up to focus back on school.  This led me to transfer colleges in a more populated town to be able to get a job that would work around my class schedule, I also changed my major to Zoology for my love of animals. I focused on school while I worked fulltime, however that major was not working for me and I was also sidetracked being 19 yrs old so my focus wasn't where it really should have been. I started back up with my seasonal job that following summer an...