After I switched ownership of my Nikon with my dad, I just kind of stopped posting.
Now that I am writing, I realize that it's harder to write a post when I've been absent for an entire semester. Suddenly, I feel more obligated to post something insightful or significant, as oppose to the mundane delights that made me so happy today like the 茄子和 mom and I made today for lunch (which were pretty bombtastic).
I think this semester was good for me academically and socially. Surrounded by strong friends, I never felt alone or lacking in a support system when I needed it. I even rekindled old friendships and that's made me much happier as well. Being a Freshmen Counselor definitely rushed a maturation process, as I think more often about how my actions can be perceived as oppose to going with whatever I felt like in the moment. I also came to adore the JE Freshmen much more than I expected. At the beginning of the year, a few FroCos and I even talked about how we wished we were in 2015 so we could hang out with the Freshmen not as Freshmen Counselors, but just as friends.
Something else that has happened this past semester, perhaps as a result of being a FroCo or being a senior, I just feel much more at home in the JE community. For one, I am much closer with the JE administration. I have gotten to know Dean Farley and Master Laurans much better and feel reassured by their presence as oppose to nervous around them as I used to be. Being Co-captain in ping pong with Stephen was also great! We not only had great team spirit, but we also won the championships. Because of me (I'd like to think), ping pong has really gotten some respect in JE, and ALL the Freshmen LOVE IT! The greatest words I heard this semester were uttered by a Freshmen who said "It's like being good in Ping Pong is like a pre-req for being in JE." I am almost 100% certain that these words have NEVER been uttered in JE. I finally feel myself truly beloning to the JE community--it's only taken three and a half years, but hey, it sure feels great!
As for my musings, they have been mostly been on sustainable agriculture, it's application in China, and my senior project on the political space for civic participation in the Chinese environmental movement (yeah, it's kind of wordy). As graduation and the "real world" is coming up, I've also begun having discussions about gender roles with close friends. Why is it that women are expected to do more household chores than men when in today's society even when they work the amount of hours at their job as the man? Why does the "second shift" persist today? It's really unfair, and if there is one thing that annoys me more than a sense of injustice and unfairness...well, I will have to think about that one and get back to you.
I have a job at the Office of Sustainability putting together the Return on Investment report for Yale's sustainability initiatives. It gives me a good insight on the kind of projects Yale is currently undertaking and super cool!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Fiesta!
We hit up Our Lady of Guadalupe Church first for some legit Mexican food (it's where all the people in the know hit up during this epic week). YES we did stand 30 minutes in line for Tamales. And YES we did have POZOLE! AND IT WAS SO GOOD!
The Santa Barbara courthouse, where performances are held for free every night outdoors!
Flamenco!
The Santa Barbara courthouse, where performances are held for free every night outdoors!
Flamenco!
Emphasis on Happy Work Cultures
After a worrying spell, I've finally pulled myself together and decided to dedicate my energy to applying for consulting jobs next year (deciding between that and Grad school/traveling for a year teaching English like Amber). I ultimately chose consulting because I think it will be a great exposure to the world of enterprises and the private sector. Because consulting requires lots of traveling and overtime, I think the job is really only good for us unmarried, recent grad types, who are still drifting vagabonds and have no permanent responsibilities. It's also an analytical/quantitative job, which is right up my alley. Now that I've decided on a goal(which is always the hardest part), I'm now enjoying the fun part--taking the necessary steps to get there. Besides, if I ever do decide to start my own business in the future- this is a step in the right direction.
While I've found reading case studies to be less than fascinating, I do however, enjoy all the time I've dedicated to reading the New York Times business section.
What really shocked me was how revolutionary corporate philosophies have recently become. Whereas just a few decades ago, laborers and employees had to organize strikes to reduce the hours in their work day and stop exploitation of labor, nowadays, companies are the ones who are coming up with the idea of making work more fun, shortening work hours, and increasing vacation days. The company's ultimate goal is productivity, and they have learned to use these extra incentives to attract the best talent as well as making sure that their currently employed talent is well rested and can maintain efficiency and morale in the work place. Corporate culture (at least in the white collar case) has drastically shifted from exploiting one's energy and time to a more holistic approach. For example, nowadays companies like Google offers employees 20% of their work time as creative process time, and they even offer fooseball tables at work! In this article about Motley Fool financial services, it talks about this business is FORCING its employees to take paid time off. Incredible huh?!
Corporations are beginning to see the value of happy workers. The fast-food sandwich shop Pret A Manager (from the UK) emphasizes not just customer service but work cohesion and "happy moods". To ensure this work environment, they do all kinds of bizarre things like giving an employee a bonus (and then forcing them to redistribute it to the people in their shop that have helped them along the way), employing phantom customers to rate the happiness of a place, and also giving people gold stars. What they've created with this incentive structure is skipping employees who make chit chat with all the customers. Kind of weird, but hey, it works for them because their sales in the US grew by 40% compared to the same quarter last year. When compared to other businesses of similar size in the nation, they're doing pretty fantastic.
While I've found reading case studies to be less than fascinating, I do however, enjoy all the time I've dedicated to reading the New York Times business section.
What really shocked me was how revolutionary corporate philosophies have recently become. Whereas just a few decades ago, laborers and employees had to organize strikes to reduce the hours in their work day and stop exploitation of labor, nowadays, companies are the ones who are coming up with the idea of making work more fun, shortening work hours, and increasing vacation days. The company's ultimate goal is productivity, and they have learned to use these extra incentives to attract the best talent as well as making sure that their currently employed talent is well rested and can maintain efficiency and morale in the work place. Corporate culture (at least in the white collar case) has drastically shifted from exploiting one's energy and time to a more holistic approach. For example, nowadays companies like Google offers employees 20% of their work time as creative process time, and they even offer fooseball tables at work! In this article about Motley Fool financial services, it talks about this business is FORCING its employees to take paid time off. Incredible huh?!
Corporations are beginning to see the value of happy workers. The fast-food sandwich shop Pret A Manager (from the UK) emphasizes not just customer service but work cohesion and "happy moods". To ensure this work environment, they do all kinds of bizarre things like giving an employee a bonus (and then forcing them to redistribute it to the people in their shop that have helped them along the way), employing phantom customers to rate the happiness of a place, and also giving people gold stars. What they've created with this incentive structure is skipping employees who make chit chat with all the customers. Kind of weird, but hey, it works for them because their sales in the US grew by 40% compared to the same quarter last year. When compared to other businesses of similar size in the nation, they're doing pretty fantastic.
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