Executive Mentor Program

When we were first given information about the executive mentor program I was really confused about what we would be doing. We met our mentors and not long after, I felt like she was helping me realize things that I think I might have already known but that I just wasn’t really paying attention to. One thing is how important time management is. Lee Pitre, my mentor, had us take home a sheet with spaces for us to fill out what we were doing with our days in 30 minute intervals. It was definitely an eye opener to see on paper how much time I waste and how much easier things could be if I would just use my time wisely. I think that the objective of this program is to really just show us a really successful person and allow us to see them as a role model. They have all done really cool things and been really successful and I think it was a way to show us we can do that to if we put our mind to it, stay motivated and do the work. It was pretty inspiring too to see how calm and collected Lee was. I feel like she really worked hard to get where she is today and it inspired me to just put the time and effort in. She was never stressed or uptight at all which was so cool. I guess I just know my parents as lawyers are both usually pretty stressed so to see an adult who wasn’t gave me some hope that there are jobs that can be something I love to do and that I won’t be stressed out about all the time.

I think as far as giving advice to other peers about seeking an executive mentor, I would just say do what you are told. I tried my hardest to take in what Lee told me to do but sometimes, I’ll admit, it was hard. I think I might have disappointed her a couple times, like when I would admit that I had missed a class. I really do appreciate the advice she gave me though. Every time we would go and talk to her I would always feel more motivated to work harder. I really look forward to learning more about her and what she does. I also look forward to more advice that she might have for us or tips on how to be successful. I think that Loyola has a lot to offer and I am excited to see more about different things I will be able to do here. Each day in business class, we had to turn in a business current event dealing with new technology, innovations, economy, etc. It was really interesting to have to do that so here is a great website to get updates in the business world.

Time Management

After filling out the handouts that our mentor gave us at dinner, I feel embaressed to say that I spend a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing. Although this week was different than others because my computer was broken. I did not have it all week and still do not have it so a lot of time that would have been spent on the computer, was spent doing other things which was pretty cool actually. It was refreshing to not be so sucked into the internet for once. I usually spend a lot of time doing really dumb things online. For example, one of my favorite things to do is make an online wishlist. Since money for spending on random things is limited, I love to get online and make a list of things that I want to get... eventually. So I basically just find myself doing stuff like that because I am bored and don't have a bike (haha).

Okay so here is a rundown of a couple of days for me....

Wednesday:

So I have an 8:30 class on Wednesday's so I woke up around 8:20AM. I actually like to have to wake up early becuase I feel like I usually get way more done with my day. I went to class from 8:30 to 9:20AM. I had business class at 10:30 in the library so I decided that instead of going back to my room, I would just go in the library and get some other work done. I went and worked on some rough drafts for English class until business class started. I went over to business class and then went straight from there to my room to get ready for volunteering for the Obama campaign. I called my friend Clyde, who volunteers with me, and made sure he would be ready to leave at noon. I got ready from 11:30 to about 11:45. In between that time, I brushed my teeth and put on some comfortable clothes. I met up with clyde at 11:50 and we got in my car and headed down to maple street where we volunteer for the Obama campaign. We got to the Obama headquarters and made phone calls for people to go vote early from noon to 2:00PM. After we finished, I dropped Clyde back off at school and I headed back to the Northshore to go check on the progress of my computer and do some laundry at home. I got home at around 2:45 and went over to my dads house. I chatted with my dad for a little while and ate a banana somewhere in there. I also started my laundry so that it would be going while i was in the steam shower. I got in the steam shower at 3:15PM and probably got out at 4:30PM. That was a definate lazy time for me. My brother has told me that taking a steam shower makes you feel better and I hadn't been feeling so good. I actually fell asleep in there so I guess we could also count that hour as me taking a nap. At 4:30 I got out and switched my laundry and put in the second load. I went to my room and kind of just went through old clothes and stuff for about an hour. I was just kind of dily-dallying which I seem to do really well. My little brother was in town and my dad was making dinner so after just looking through old stuff in my room and kind of reorganizing for about 50 minutes, my dad called me in to help him with the dinner. I helped make some pasta and set the table. Along with this my dad and I talked and when I next looked at the clock it was about 6:30. The little boys started filing in the house one by one and I set the table and got them all something to drink. We all sat and just kind of chatted for about the next 20 minutes. One of Ethans friends dad's showed up and picked up the boys to go to the saint pauls game. At 7Pm, I met my friends Jenna and Matt at my moms house and we all went to Southern Tattoo so I could get my nose pierced. That little excursion took about an hour and then at about 8:30 I got back to my moms house and met my little brother there to take him back to my dads house. The rest of the night is sort of history becuase I got Ethan home around 9:30 and I hopped on the causeway and headed on back to school. At about 10:15 I got up to my room and just talked on the phone for a couple hours and then went to sleep.

It is weird to think how much can happen in one day and I never realized how much time I spend doing pretty worthless things. This experiment was interesting and what I did on Wednesday basically mirrors what I do on every other day. I just noticed when I read that though I don't think I spent any time doing homework. It is definitely interesting to look at my day broken up like that.

Credit Scores

We basically just discussed what credit is all about and what we can do to have good credit and what we shouldn’t do so we don’t have bad credit. The first thing we talked about was FICO credit scores. This type of credit score is what most credit lenders use to determine whether or not one has bad credit. Credit scores can help someone in many ways. By using credit scores, people can get money faster which will speed up the entire process of receiving a loan. Credit scores are also great because if someone has had a bad credit history, it will fade over time. This gives them a chance to receive loans and not let past credit reports haunt them. Having good credit can help someone a lot. When looking for a job, the employer looks at credit scores. They do this because it can help them know what kind of a person they are about to hire. If someone has a good credit score, it will show that they are responsible and know how to manage themselves personally and financially. One thing that caught my eye the most during the presentation was the slide about good and bad jobs. Having a bad credit score can cost you your job. I know that I want to be successful and have a good job so obviously my credit score needs to be good. In the slide, they compared the jobs of a Bank Office and a Roadkill Collector. Now, I don’t know about everyone else, but collecting roadkill is not what I want to be doing to be financially stable (not that it would help). Mr. Butts also talked about things like driving a nice new car, and driving a shitty old car and living in a nice house compared to a trailer park. I think he talked about these things to not so much scare us, but make us more aware of how important our credit score is and how much of an impact it can have on our lives. He also talked about things that scared me a little bit which were the 6 ways to kill your credit score. It scared me because I am young and haven’t yet grasped that the decisions I make from this point on will really start affecting me. I really love to shop and for some reason it always happens when I don’t have a lot of money to spend. More then once, I have gone over on my debit card just because I really wanted something and just thought nothing of it. I just think to myself, “I’ll pay it back. It’s worth it.” My dad finally sent me to the bank and made me sit and have a talk with them about how important it is to be responsible with my money. It actually did really help and I have not gone over since. When I am about to spend money I don’t have I just back away and say, “once I have money I will buy this… it can wait.” It has helped me a lot in just not indulging on things I don’t need and has also taught me to kind of save up. All and all, I think the presentation was pretty cool. It opened my eyes more about how I need to be making good decisions and be conscientious because my future really rides on it. I wonder why our country is not more responsible and what the credit score would be for the United States of America....

Website dealing with Credit Scores...

CareerBeam Values and Vision

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
-Albert Schweitzer

It is hard to imagine what my life will be like in 10 or more years. I am hoping to be doing something that is so important, intriguing and guiding to my life that it will make me WANT to wake up in the morning and take on each day. I see myself maybe making a lot of money but that is not my main focus. I intend to live comfortably but really get myself into something that I can constantly be learning something from. I want to be involved in something that will exercise my brain and keep things a challenge. The bigger the challenge, the better success will feel. I can imagine myself doing a lot of work with people. I think a strength of mine, is that I have a very open mind. I love to meet new people and hear what they have to say about different things. I love to give people my opinion while taking in theirs. I am constantly learning things from my surroundings and I want to also contribute to other people by helping them learn new things. I feel that I have a pretty creative mind and if given a task, I can work from that and expand it into something wonderful. I like to create things and use my imagination. There is no limit to where my mind can take me. I want to be in a career field that is moving at a moderate pace so I am constantly busy, but not overwhelmed. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to rush though things and not finish them with my full potential. I think I can be very persuasive also. Not in a bad, untruthful and "scammy" type way, but in a honest way. When I find a product, for example, that works for me, I can easily convince someone else to try it out. It is not that I am concerned with selling the product to someone else, it is more that I am happy with it and it is nice to share my happiness with someone else by suggesting they try it to. I think that I get along with people very well. I am easy to talk to and am very accepting of others. It can be hard not to judge people at first glance, but I always try my hardest to look at everyone with an open mind and hear what they have to say before I form an opinion about them. I am not sure where exactly any of this takes me, but it is a start.

Writing a vision statement was a good way to open my eyes to my future. It helped me sort of think about what I want to do with my life and where I want to go with it. Although I am not sure which field my vision sticks me in, I have a better idea of what kind of things I am interested in. I know that I want to work with people, and I love to help people. I want others to be happy and I want to aid in that.

The vision statement was a challenge to write. I am still not even sure if I wrote it correctly. It was challenging to really think about where I want to be in my life 10 years from now. Firstly it was kind of scary to realize that now is the time where I need to start deciding where I am going to go with my life. I want to have a good ride, and be successful and happy, but also want to really enjoy what I am doing. I want to make a difference somehow... even though I am not sure in what ways. I am in the business field, but I do not know much about it so far. I am learning and find it all very intriguing but I do not know enough about it yet to decide what I want to do with it. That was another challenge and I do not even think I faced that in my vision statement.

Below are my Scores for Values

Driver:	26
Creator:	19
Humanitarian:	31
Pursuer:	23
Maximizer:	21

Values: The Humanitarian Set

• If your value type is Humanitarian, you are motivated by an environment that improves the lives of others, allowing you to be kind, sympathetic, warm and giving.
• This set values charity, unselfishness and the freedom of others and is apt to offer aid and assistance to others as well as understanding.
• The humanitarian set contributes to another's well-being. Acting for materialistic gain without first considering the consequences on other people is against your nature.

I think my score on the values section is pretty similar on how I like to live my life. I really hate to see people upset and unhappy so I am usually trying my hardest to let them know not to let little things get them down and move on. I do not do in a non-sympathetic way, I am very genuine about it and use my humor to make others feel better and learn to rub off the small things. I love to give people gifts and let them know that I am thinking about them. I generally base a lot of my actions off of the golden rule. I usually analyze situations by putting myself in other peoples shoes to better understand what they are going through. I always try to treat people how I would want to be treated. I can't always say that I follow these values all the time but I definitely try my hardest to aid in other peoples happiness. When I was little, my mom would always tell me to say 5 nice things to people during the day at school. Even if I was having a bad day and really didn't want to, she would say "You have no idea how much of a difference one nice comment can make in someones day". I find this to be pretty true because when I am having a bad day and someone says a nice thing to me, it really does make a difference. So when I am walking around places I love to give compliments to people, and always smile at them. Although it might not be that great for them, I think everything can make one small difference. I realize that I have a very caring side, I feel like the results of my quiz weren't quite me. I do agree with it in some respects because I do love to help improve the lives of others and be kind, sympathetic and warm. But in other regards, I want to be able to support myself financially and live comfortably and maybe one day have a family in which I can continue to support.

I found this website which has a lot to do with my humanitarian side...
Care: I think working for care would be very rewarding in that I am helping others and truly making a difference in their life. It is really important to me that everyone have the chance of having a fulfilling life and being a part of that would be really wonderful. I think this would be something that I would do as a side project. I would love to donate all of my time to this but also am no nun (haha) and cannot pretend to be that selfless. I really wish I could be but I do like nice things and material things. I feel like to really be fulfilling a job like this, I would have to be completely about helping others all the time. I am not trying to be selfish but I do also need to help myself just like everyone else. One can only do so much for another.


CARE’s Vision Statement

• We seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.
  

• CARE International will be a global force and a partner of choice within a worldwide movement dedicated to ending poverty. We will be known everywhere for our unshakable commitment to the dignity of people.
  

CARE’s Mission Statement

• CARE International’s mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world.

• Drawing strength from our global diversity, resources and experience, we promote innovative solutions and are advocates for global responsibility. We facilitate lasting change by:

• Strengthening capacity for self-help;
• Providing economic opportunity;
• Delivering relief in emergencies;
• Influencing policy decisions at all levels;
• Addressing discrimination in all its forms.

Guided by the aspirations of local communities, we pursue our mission with both excellence and compassion because the people whom we serve deserve nothing less.

http://www.care.org/newsroom/publications/annualreports/2007/FY07_care_fin.pdf

Kick-Off Reflection

I did not know much about the mentor program when we first got the assignment. It is actually a really cool thing that I am looking forward to. We met with our mentors on Thursday of last week and discussed different things in our small groups. It was really cool to be sitting with someone who is so successful in the business world. Lee Pitre is my mentor and she basically sat us down and just told us that she was going to be our friend and guide. Asa group we went over basic concerns we have with school and even just in our future endeavors. My mentor didn't really say a lot about what she did so I do still have some questions about that the next time I see her. I have read her biography but it would be nice for her to explain it rather than just see it written on paper. I believe this mentor program will be very valuable to my future. To have someone, who is already a very successful business woman, guiding me and basically giving me good tips and hints about business and management will really be something important and very helpful.

Profile

Hello there world! My name is Margery Paddison and I am from Covington, La. I am 18 years old and have 3 brothers..... Hunt, Brian and Ethan. I also have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a ferret named goose. I love adventure and to travel anywhere I can. There is nothing quite like a long journey down an open road I've never been on. I love to go off to Idaho, YES IDAHO (the potato/slightly forgotten/population: 100.. state), in the summertime. My family has a beautiful house up there right on the Selway river. The water is crystal clear and utterly refreshing. Kayaking, rafting, fishing, hiking and exploring are just a few things that I love to do there. I grew up in the small town of Covington and went to a really fun elementary and middle school and an all girls Catholic high school--- an interesting experience to say the least. My high school was called camp SSA by other schools because we were believed to have a lot of "stupid holidays" like teacher retreat and feast day. It was pretty fun. My mom, Fran, is a personal injury lawyer who works out of our house in Covington for a firm located in Santa Monica, CA. My dad, David, is a local lawyer specializing in domestic and personal injury law. My stepmom, Jane, is a tax lawyer and works for a firm in Denver, CO. Although being a lawyer seems like the thing I should do (haha) it's, in fact, the last thing on my list. It appears to be a pretty high stress job and my parents are always dealing with depressing cases and traveling a lot for depositions and what not. My older brothers go to school in Idaho and so I don't see them as much as i used to. Brian, 20, is very interested in photography so he has been making his way doing that. Hunt, 21, is the lead baker in a bread bakery and is really loving what he is doing. Ethan, my youngest brother who is 10, is just making his way as a fresh faced fourth grader. Thats really all I can think of to write about myself for now. Until next time...