Problem Solving Experiences In Interviewing

This year I've been interviewing a lot for jobs next summer after I graduate. This last week I traveled to Maryland for interview for a full time job. My interviewers asked several questions involving teams and problem solving. I think I answered their questions better than I would have without COM 320. Through COM 320 I have learned new perspectives on group work and how groups work. I have also learned the ins and outs of problem solving. With this higher awareness, I feel I answered their questions with a deeper sense of my experiences throughout college in groups and what style of problem solving I have.

-Marcus

Team Building

This week in class we did the most productive group activity. We had to work on a problem solving activity. As a group, we wrote down all of the problems that we faced in our COM 320 class. This allowed us to get some issues off of our chest. One of the most common problems were these blogs that we must do every week (fun, fun, fun). We created a mirage on the wall of all of our problems. They ranged from small work space, activities, discussions, and external problems that affected the class. In the end, we were able to choose which problems were the main factors and gave presentation to the class.

Team Building

This week in class I worked on my problem solving skills. As a group we had to list as many personal problems we had with the classroom for example, the room is small, the room stinks, the room is to dark, the desk are to small. Those are just a few examples that I listed, after I listed my problems I had to pick the #1 most irritable thing I listed and tell the class how to solve my problem. By doing this exercise it improved my problem solving skills because after I found a problem I had to find a way to solve that problem.

LaMon Lacey

An Imagination is a Powerful Tool

Fridays lecture was based on creativity and how being creative is an important facet whether it be accomplishing a task, being an excellent employee, or becoming an innovator through business management skills or product creation. While conducting our groups Service Learning Project with the Lafayette Urban Ministry I saw something that I believe goes hand and hand with creativity. One’s imagination is a powerful tool. While working with the children from the LUM I saw young minds with incredible imaginations. One of the most powerful companies in the world is based on this simple idea. The Walt Disney Company even calls each of their creative minds Imagineers. I believe that in order to be a creative individual one most have an imagination to try and perceive certain pitfalls that could possibly hinder success. People are coming up with creative, imaginative, and innovative ideas everyday. It is only those who put worth the extra effort, open their imaginations and think outside of the box that are the innovators within our given societies.

Jeff Polk

Kicking it with the Kids

I know I suppose to be talking about what I learned about this week in class. But I'm not, I'm going to talk about our group project. WE as a group had fun this past Friday, we went over to LUM and played with kids. They we're a hand full, we played basketball, hide and seek, tag and other activities. As a group we really came together and work very well together. Everything we learned in our class about working together in a small group really helped our group glue together...Tune in next week I might talk more about our project.
LaMon Lacey

Service Learning Project (LUM

Finally our service learning project has come to a successful completion. This past weekend on Friday, 4 Guys and a Girl had the opportunity and privilege to serve the Lafayette Urban Ministry. We provided a Halloween Party for the children as an after school program for them. To took a lot of hard work and dedication to arrive to this point, which allowed our group to have fun in the end, but most importantly, carry out and accomplish a goal that we had set at the beginning of the semester.

This reminded me on how I used to lead the Cub Scouts for Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. Our group was well organized and prepared as we set up prior to the children's arrival to the Presbyterian Church. This was a great time to give back to the community and work together within a small group to accomplish as mission. The children has an enjoyable time as we wore each other out playing games and activities. This allowed me to see what a difference and serious impact one can have on other individuals' lives. Everything went well as planned accordingly and this also allowed our group to become more cohesive.

Service Learning Project

It's done! This last Friday our group finally got to serve the Lafayette Urban Ministry (LUM) through their after school program. It was a lot of fun, but kids are a lot of work, too. I had forgotten how much energy they take out of you. I worked at a camp this last summer, so I had a lot of experience with kids, but how quickly I forgot how crazy they can be! It was a great experience, however. They were a lot younger than the kids I worked with at the camp, so a lot of the activities reminded me of some of the things I did as a kid. Just playing around, our group had a pick up game of knock-out. It was a blast to relive that middle school experience, but I think it helped bond our group more through that game, since we had not seen each other in that environment before. Our quality of work in our planning was reflected in how smooth the service learning project was executed. As we expected the kids got tired of some games, but we planned for this and had many game ideas for the afternoon. Everything went according to plan and the kids seemed to have a great time.

-Marcus