Tag Archives: Los Angeles

The Fullbridge Program: Closing Day and Final Thoughts

Posted on by
Reply

Finally, we reach the ultimate day of the Fullbridge Program and my last post on the topic.

In all honesty, the morning started off quite hectic. All of us rushed to pack our luggage, and transport it to a holding area. The situation was very much an “every wo/man for him/herself” kind of situation. I ended up showing up a tad late, since I didn’t have the luxury of a car to transport my items.

After that, I entered the conference room as inconspicuously as possible. Luckily for me, people were still mingling casually around the room. A light breakfast array greeted us in the conference room, with basic staples like orange juice, coffee, ice water, bagels, and fresh fruit.

In the conference room, I joined my colleagues in chatting with our guests. Students were free to sit at any table, regardless of team associations. Our business guests were encouraged to disperse themselves evenly throughout the room, with no more than one per table. Eventually, we took our seats and our coaches made introductions on behalf of The Fullbridge Program. We then went around the room and had everyone– coaches, students, and business representatives alike– deliver 30-second elevator pitches. I would post a photo of mine, but I looked super awkward. Oops.

The last day of The Fullbridge Program featured guests from a range of different businesses and companies. This included Intel, American Widow Project, and ID, to name a few. Because the program’s participants number fewer than 30, we were able to engage company representatives in face-to-face conversations.

I was particularly impressed by several students who thought to print out copies of their resume for the conference. One student actually had his own business cards, having acquired them from a previous job or internship experience. I wondered to myself whether such actions were over-the-top audacious or just insanely brilliant– perhaps a little bit of both. I even ventured to pose this question to one of the business reps at my table, only to receive a rather neutral response. “It depends,” I was told. Apparently it worked, because my fellow Scripps colleague and blogger, Daysha, landed an internship position with entertainment company, ID.

The day’s main event featured the presentation of each group’s business pitch, followed by questions from the audience (business reps) and answers from the orators (students). Overall, I think we all performed well; and I know my team felt good about our work.

Later on, students were given the chance to ask questions of the business reps panel sitting at the front of the room. Some people asked about start-ups v. more established businesses, which made sense since both types of companies were in the room. The rest of the day went by rather quickly, and returned back to a sort of casual mingling.

With work over, we relaxed and had a bit of fun. Awards were passed out, speeches made, and then it was time to depart. Since then, my team and I have kept in contact through a viber group chat. Some have come out to Claremont to visit and my friend Katie (pictured below) recently came to visit me while on her last day of spring break. Overall, these two weeks turned out to be a rather productive and exciting winter break. Thanks for reading!

IMG_20140117_211235

a final pic with Team Podemos 🙂

IMG_20140117_210846

my friend, Katie, from Oxy, and me

 

IMG_20140117_211150

Claremont Colleges represent at the Fullbridge Program

Click here for more photos by Oxy photographer.

Fullbridge Program: A Day off Work and More

Posted on by
Reply

This post will highlight the last four days before the concluding day with the Fullbridge Program. Spoiler alert: There will be lots of fun pictures in this post.

1/12/14 On Sunday, everyone was glad to receive a full day off from work. But it wasn’t all fun and games. We also had to pack for our move from the dorms to the alumni house, as students were returning from their winter break and moving back into the dorms. As for fun, some people went out to visit the Griffith Observatory as well as LACMA and other popular tourist attractions. As for myself, I explored the neighborhood with a friend of mine and went hiking for a few hours.

IMG_20140112_134559_903-1

discovered this awesome art design while exploring the area

1/13/14 Monday’s work day started at 9:30 A.M. instead of 9 A.M. due to our moving schedule. Those who had brought their cars made room for everyone’s luggage, making several trips back and forth. Lunch was also pushed back to 1:30 P.M., which made me glad I had brought snacks to munch on throughout the day. In addition to moving house, we also split up our teams and worked with new people, with a focus on buyer-seller interaction skills. But Jennifer and I remained roommates after the move.

IMG_20140105_203328

chilling with my roommate, Jennifer, in our dorm at Oxy

1/14/14 Tuesday had us working on presentations yet again, with another encounter with the Starbucks company. We worked in our usual teams of five. Later on, we updated our resumes and gave each other feedback on them. Although somewhat tedious, I appreciated the chance to look over my resume again, as I had not touched it since my first year at Scripps. Today, I’m proud to announce I have about 10 different resumes tailored for a variety of fields.

IMG_20140113_163925-1-1

coincidentally wore shades of red and maroon on the same day= perfect photo opp

1/15/14 Wednesday marks one of my favorite days because we all got to know each other better through the career and values exercise. In fact, I wish we had started out with this project on one of the earlier days. Divided into new teams, we explored a number of career and lifestyle options. At the end, I felt satisfied to learn that the exercise verified my need for independence and freedom, whatever career path I pursued in the future.

IMG_20140111_193421_835

hanging out in downtown LA and getting to know new people

1/16/14 A guest speaker from Cairo, Egypt came to visit us on Thursday to offer words of advice based on her own business experiences. Emira spoke about her experience as Muslim woman from the Middle East, and her travels throughout Africa, South Africa, United States, and the UK. The advice that resounded most strongly with me was her reminder that we should not expect “the perfect job” straight out of undergrad.

Here’s a preview of our last day at the Fullbridge Program– and the last post on on the subject by yours truly.

IMG_20140117_135231_219

taking silly pictures with the team 😛

Fullbridge Program Day 5: Delivering Business Pitches

Posted on by
Reply

Today, I’ll pick up the itinerary again and move on to day five. Speaking of itineraries, it suddenly occurred to me it might be helpful to share the actual Fullbridge schedule we followed. Each day’s work became accessible to us only on the day of, but not beforehand. Looking at my calendar may provide you with better insight into the topics and goals of the Fullbridge Program.

(Click on the image for a closer look.)

Screenshot 2014-03-27 21.18.07

As for day five, we each worked individually on a simulated business proposal. Given pre-made spreadsheets, we figured out calculations using Excel, occasionally consulting each other when necessary. I personally found the mathematical assignments the most challenging of all our work; many of my colleagues voiced similar opinions.

After finishing our PowerPoint presentations, we practiced delivering our pitches within our teams. Our coaches made their rounds, sometimes stopping in for a friendly check in. Looking back on notes and documents from my work today, I came across the short response I wrote for the task:

reflection on my presentation:

“I think my presentation turned out better than I had anticipated. I did not feel overly nervous and my team was receptive and friendly. I asked my teammates about concerns I had with my presentation. For example, I was relieved to hear that I had not talked too quickly, which is an issue I have struggled with before in the past. Visually, the slide layout and images were appealing, and useful. However, I did not include any numbers, which would have greatly enhanced my presentation. In addition, I was told that the words I had used to shape a real-life environment—that of a Chief Marketing Officer addressing the board of two new founders—were effective and engaging. The audience was able to take on the role of the characters because I addressed them as such. And my polished manner helped my audience take me seriously as a professional.” (1-9-14)

Back in the main room, one representative from each group presented in front of everyone. Some of my colleagues volunteered to speak; others were chosen at random by the coaches.This exercise would be beneficial for those who wish to improve upon their oratory skills. Coaches and colleagues alike offered praise and constructive criticism in response. I have to admit– I was keenly impressed at how professional and well-spoken everyone was.

How do you feel about giving presentations? Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in-between? What would you like to improve on most?

Fullbridge Program Day 2: Group Dynamics

Posted on by
Reply

In case you haven’t been here since the start of my journey, I am narrating my business trip adventures as a participant in the Fullbridge business Program. I was located in East Rock, Los Angeles for two weeks over winter break. My goal in writing these blog posts is to give Scripps students an in-depth look at what the Fullbridge Program is really all about, especially for those interested in applying for a spot in the future.

Check out my first post here.

—

Day two of The Fullbridge Program focused on group work. Within our individual teams, we worked on an exercise called “Marooned.” This activity took a twist on the traditional game, “Survivor,” and was actually designed for business programs such as Fullbridge. We got off the island just fine, and not only that, we learned about each others’ strengths and weaknesses. It was a less-than-serious way to break the ice and bond as a team. After all, we had only known each other for a day at most, by this time.

Here’s a photo of our team hard at work:

1522890_10202959747775132_1927906999_o

Moving on to more serious tasks, each team was also responsible for creating a PowerPoint presentation based on the Coca-Cola company. While this may sound easy, the job actually included multiple components. First, we had to work as a team. This means we had to maintain a tone of inclusiveness, and make certain compromises. Anyone (aka everyone) who’s ever worked on a group project knows how tough group projects can be. Second, we had to avoid the standard bullet points slide, which went against what most of us have been taught. Third, we had to sift through 30-40 pages of research before we could start. We had one hour.

To our surprise, we were the only team that finished by the 5 o’ clock deadline. This also meant we were first up to deliver our presentation. We did well overall, and received feedback from our coaches, as well as everyone else. Areas for improvement included more eye contact, less repetition, and the use of statistical information. Our strengths included effective graphics, clear speaking voices, and organized teamwork. Personally, this activity opened my eyes to the importance of creating a narrative—to tie all the slides together rather than regard each slide as separate from the rest.

In the scope of the big picture, day two was tiring in part because of all the computer work. And it’s different than doing work for school at Scripps because we only have those eight hours at work to finish the day’s tasks. There’s no time to procrastinate or defer the work to the next day. Later on, some of us did end up completing unfinished work back in our residence halls, but this was neither recommended nor practiced very often. This is because we were too tired by the end of the day, and knew falling behind would only make the next day harder on ourselves.

On a lighter note, my favorite part of the day was working effectively as a team. This may sound obvious, but working with other people is much more complicated than working alone. The fact that we pulled it off and also enjoyed ourselves was quite fulfilling. Back at the residence halls, we all got together to play Cards of Humanity– a silly way to end a tiring, but productive day.

Now that you’ve heard a little bit more about the Fullbridge Program, what do you think so far? Does it sound like something that would pique your interest? What would you like to hear more about? Ask away.

Fullbridge Program Day 1: The Marshmallow Challenge

Posted on by
Reply

On the first day of Fullbridge, two other students and I met up at Scripps to carpool with Vicki Klopsch, Executive Director of Scripps’ CP&R. After arriving at Occidental, we settled into one of the on-campus residence halls, where we took turns lugging our suitcases up three flights of stairs (there was no elevator). I was really glad I hadn’t packed too much!

After a quick tour of Oxy’s campus, we convened at the school’s main dining hall for lunch. I enjoyed the food, and got the chance to try out a different kind of dining hall experience. Unlike Scripps, Oxy charges per item or dish. I only spent about $10 a day, on average. It was fun living on another campus for a short while, to notice the differences and similarities over the next two weeks.

After lunch, we moved to the work room and found out who our teammates would be for the remainder of the course. There were about 20 students total, six from Scripps. We were divided up into four teams of five in order to ensure diversity– that is, co-ed, multi-ethnic/racial students of varying grade levels and majors. My group, Team Podemos, included Arikai, Jon, Tsering, Bianca, and myself. Here’s a pic of us below:

We worked on various activities that day, both individually and within our groups. The most memorable was a group activity called the Marshmallow Challenge. Our goal was to build the tallest standing structure, using 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of masking tape, one marshmallow, and one yard of string. The catch? The marshmallow has to be balanced on top of the entire structure. Of the five of us, only Arikai had prior experience with this challenge. It’s funny to think about how much time we spent planning, given that Arikai told us the point was to take action right away and experiment with test trials. This was shown to yield the most success. In other words, try, try, and try again. We ended up coming in at third place, at somewhere around 11-15 inches tall. It was a pretty fun game, even if we didn’t win. And if anything– I realize now how heavy one marshmallow weighs! Looks can be deceiving:

The first day’s introduction affirmed my expectations for the program’s goals, in terms of structure and learning material. I was glad to be working with other people my age, because I think it’s pretty likely I’ll have to do so in whatever field I choose. Yet Fullbridge offers the unique opportunity to receive feedback from experienced business professionals, without the pressure that would accompany a real job.

That being said, the first day was not without its surprises. After eight hours of work, I found myself surprised at how glad I was to change into casual clothes. I actually quite enjoy dressing up, and had not realized until then how stiff and uncomfortable business attire can be. And this is coming from someone who wore flats, not heels. This experience, over the course of the program, made me realize the importance of considering the attire when it comes to different career paths. It’s unexpected occurrences like these that make one pause and think about the future.

So, what kind of job are you pursuing, and how important is attire to you? Are you someone who enjoys formal business wear or are you more on the casual side? Comment away. I’d love to hear your questions, so I can answer them in my next post.