end of the football

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We had our last football game last night. This picture isn’t from last night because no one came to take pictures of us. It was freezing cold. We were down three great players. We didn’t have our jerseys. Everything was against us. We got our collective trash kicked…which is too bad since the team we were playing wasn’t that good. Anyway…it was fun. And now it’s over. Sad. I don’t like when things end. Well, things that I like.

registration madness!

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We had a little registration get together tonight. What does that mean? It means that we could register for classes at midnight and so I ensured that a group of us had something to do between the hours of 9 and 11…and some until 1:00 am.

For some reason (I know the reason and it involves Julie and Lagoon), we all ended up with high, side ponytails and our friend, Brian, decided to snap a couple of shots. I love the first one because you can really see what is going on. I love the second because you can really see who we are.
I can’t believe I just registered for the last classes I will take as an MBA student. This is all going by way too fast. Maybe if I slept more it wouldn’t feel so ridiculous? I’m getting sad just thinking about it…although I do have great things (and friends who I miss dearly) on the horizon in NYC, so it’s really just a little bittersweet.
And in case you are all wondering, I did actually register for certain classes based on the fact that they didn’t interfere with my skiing time. Last winter in Utah for a while and you better believe that I’m going to take full advantage of it.

scene of the moment – football

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Getting home from: my last regular season intramural flag football game.

Reveling in: VICTORY!!!
Listening to: Explosion in the Sky (Friday Night Lights theme/DVD menu music)
Realizing that: this is my last fall in Utah for a while.
Thinking about: how lucky I am to be in graduate school right now…and loving that my brother is in school with me.
Excited to: celebrate my nephews birthday at his Sponge Bob party on Saturday.
Loving that: my darling niece and nephew live just four houses away from me.
Looking forward to: tomorrow’s Info Day for prospective students…being over.
Wishing that: everyone was on Twitter because these days that’s where most of my updates are happening.
Feeling: HAPPY!!!

scene of the moment

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Finishing up: a final project for Strategy Implementation (a block class).

Listening to: “One Last Time” by The Kooks.
Dreaming about: my graduation present to myself. I’m going to hold out and not buy it before graduation…I swear.
Reveling in: another successfully planned event. The Etiquette Luncheon was absolutely brilliant.
Thinking about: the fabulous concert I went to last night with Kristan.
Wondering if: I’ll be able to afford the fabulous apartment I’m hoping for in New York.
Enjoying: happy thoughts about my fabulous weekend.
Wishing that: all conversations on the phone could be as enjoyable as those I’ve had to day.
Dying for: a meal at the fabulous Bruges on Thursday with Sare.
Missing: too many people and places and things to list.

feedback: the condensed version

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I wrote a much longer post about this topic, but…it was really, really long. So here’s the Campbell’s Soup version.

  1. Be specific about the type of feedback you want. Ex: “Joe, would you mind looking over my resume for any glaring mistakes? I feel good about the content, but what I’d love is for you to mark any misspellings, incorrect grammar, and/or anything that might be distracting. Thank you.”
  2. If you know someone who is always fishing (as in, fishing for compliments), go for the preemptive strike. Hit him/her with a really kind, true remark. If he/she asks for more and there’s nothing else you can honestly say without hurting his/her feelings, lightly (as in, “Ha ha ha, you’re suck a jokester”)say something along the lines of, “Hello? Weren’t you listening? I am in love with that shirt/title/bullet point/bracelet/eyeshadow color!”
  3. Establish an honest reputation. People know that I tell it straight, so when someone asks me for my opinion, he/she knows that’s exactly what I’m going to give.
  4. Make sure that you are giving feedback for the right reason. This is one area where doing the right thing for the wrong reason could just really mess things up. What do I mean? Make sure you are motivated by your care and concern for the person and not just wanting to rip on him/her. And make sure that the feedback is actually necessary. Ex: Regardless of the fact that muffin tops don’t look good on anyone, telling a girl her jeans give her a muffin top is just not necessary…unless she has asked for the feedback AND she has the option to change out of the jeans immediately if she so desires.
  5. Qualify your feedback (could also be stated: a little humility goes a long way). This can lessen the blow, but it must be genuine. Ex: “I have formatted my resume they way I have because I think it’s a really good format, so my comments will probably be based on that. Realize, however, that this is not the only way to format it and mine is not the only opinion out there.”
  6. Explain why you are sharing whatever it is your sharing. Ex: A guy recently asked me to recommend him to some recruiters and state my confidence in his competence and ability to perform at said company. I have had all of two conversations with the kid. I could have ignored his request (email has added a new medium–perhaps one of the best–to the art of conflict avoidance), however this guy is just finishing his last year of undergrad and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that no one had ever explained to him how recommendations should work–based on my experience. I kindly (after sleeping on it) replied to his email by stating, first, that I didn’t feel comfortable with recommending him, then the reason, followed with why I was giving him this feedback (so he wouldn’t make the same mistake in the future when the stakes might be much higher–I had no say in who got second interviews nor did I feel it was my place to pass any information along, so his minor error had zero effect on the outcome).
  7. Get comfortable with the idea that people might think you are a swear word of some sort…until they realize that you really are motivated by care and concern. (I live with this reality on a daily basis).
  8. Don’t dish it if you can’t take it.
  9. Don’t ask for it if you don’t want it
  10. In a high stakes situation–job performance, interviews, skills/abilities–do not lie. If feedback makes you uncomfortable, realize that by not being honest you are being selfish. Stop trying to convince yourself that you aren’t being honest because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings–if you don’t want to date someone, just tell him/her. You aren’t being honest because you don’t want to deal with your own discomfort.