When I was in high school, I looked at reading as either enjoyable or academic, sometimes the two coincided, but I never really thought about reading as an activity that could teach me how to manage my finances, how to network effectively, or teach me about the ins and outs of a company.  However, I’ve recently found that books can teach you exactly that.  So, in the spirit of winter break, and the large amounts of free time I expect you will all have (just kidding, I know you’re all busy, but reading is a great leisure activity), I’m going to set you up with a fantastic reading list.

1. I Will Teach You to Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi.

He also runs a blog, http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/, which has similar information on it.  This book basically teaches you everything you need to know about personal finance in simple, clearly laid out steps.  He’s a cheeky guy, but straight, to-the-point, and his book is definitely worth a read.

2. Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg

If you haven’t read this, you really should ASAP.  It has been the talk around Scripps, and whether or not you go into business, this book will make you think.

3. Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh

This book is largely about the creation and functioning of Zappos, but it’s a great inside look into a business.

4. Ask For It, by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever

Ask For It was an optional reading assignment for my Core II class, Economics of Gender and Choice, taught by Sean Flynn and Nancy Macko.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to read it this until the summer, but it was well worth the wait.  It’s about negotiating as a woman, and basically made me want to negotiate everything with everyone, and I’m not even a big negotiator!!

5. Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

I recall having to read Freakonomics and write a paper on it in high school.  When held in the academic arena, I found the book much less interesting.  However, somehow I was intrigued enough to read Super Freakonomics and LOVED it.  Its bold, funny, and interesting.

Have any others?  Post them in the comments below!!

One of the biggest pieces of advice I’ve received since I came to Scripps is, “You won’t get something if you don’t ask for it.”  This advice isn’t quite true, because there are some things in life that are just given, but recently I’ve found that asking simple questions can bring about many opportunities.

Going to a woman’s college has taught me many things, but one thing in particular, is that, often, I don’t realize I’m holding myself back.  I haven’t ever been explicitly told to accept what’s given to me, and never ask for more, but I had definitely understood throughout my elementary and high school career, that I was to (as was socially acceptable) do exactly that.  Since coming at Scripps, I’ve realized that I have excessive resources at my fingertips, that I can easily take advantage of.

Whether I learned to ask for more because of my Core II class, Economics of Gender and Choice, with Nancy Macko and Sean Flynn, or because of Ask For It, a book by Linda Babcock that teaches women (and men) the power of negotiation, or because I’ve finally been told that it’s okay to ask for what I want and need in order to succeed.

Here are some questions I’ve asked where I thought the answer would be a simple no.

• Can I change my flight to make it more convenient for me? (They did it for free, but it was in their interest, as well.)
• Can I design publications for the office? (This question led to my first designs being printed.)
• Can I be involved in this organization? (This question rarely is responded to with a “No.” Usually, people will find at least a small way to you to become involved with the organization.)

So, my advice to you is to ask.  Ask for what you need and what you want in order to push your career along and in order to further your education, because the worst thing someone could say is, “No.”

I didn’t really understand the concept of a mentor, and didn’t know that people had mentors until I read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, this summer.  She wrote that, sometimes, individuals would just walk up to her and blatantly ask her to be their mentor.  “No,” she would say.  A mentor is not someone you ask to be your mentor; it’s someone who just is your mentor, who becomes your mentor.  Until I understood the concept of mentors through Sandberg’s writing, I never realized I had mentors in my life or how much they’ve helped me.

In second grade, my teacher inspired me to learn.  She taught us about Paris, France, and I became passionate about France and learning everything I could about it.  I was obsessed with the Eiffel Tower and always begged my Mom to go to France so I could see the structure.  I had her as my teacher again in 4^th grade.  She pushed me to learn, but in a way that I understood and appreciated, a way that was nice and constructive, exactly what I needed as a 4^th grader.

Throughout elementary school, I played soccer.  I always played soccer with the same coach and (more or less) the same girls.  We would win most of our games because we had some pretty strong and tall girls on the team, but that was never our goal.  Our coach taught us to have fun while playing soccer, a skill that I’ve noticed now, not a lot of people have.  Many people are completely absorbed in the idea of success and winning, especially in sports, but my coach taught us to have fun on the soccer field (and in life), a lesson I still greatly value.

In high school, I met one of my most important mentors, one of my good friends (and peers).  She is outgoing, friendly, happy, and appreciative.  She says hello to strangers and makes them smile.  She worked hard in school, and was incredibly artistic.  I never heard her boast, she always knows how to compliment people in the way they would appreciate it the most, but is also the honest in her compliments.  Her personality is one that I value highly and has inspired me to become more outgoing, honest, genuine, etc.

After my junior year in high school, I interned at in the marketing department at a relatively large, local company.  I met various people in various departments, but most importantly, I met another mentor.  I came into the internship very afraid…It was my first real job, and I really had no idea what I was doing.  I had my own cubicle, and just by chance, it was right across from the CEO’s and the CEO’s assistant’s cubicle.  The CEO’s assistant was not just his assistant, though.  She had been the “assistant” to the last 3 CEOs, and knew the ins-and-outs of the company better than anyone.  She was my mentor.  Not only did I know I could go to her if I had any questions about ANYTHING within the company, but she also mentored my other passions.  She found out early on that I enjoyed cooking, and would bring in her favorite recipes for me to try.  She would regularly check up on me and ask me how I was doing.  When I visit the company now, she always asks about everything that’s going on in my life, how school is going, etc.  She taught me, most of all, though, that you don’t have to lead a company from the top.  Although her title gives her little power, any one who’s ever seen her work, know how influential she is, and how much she cares about the people working around her at the company.  She taught me that you can be a leader, without having the name of a leader.

Mentors can come to you at any time.  I never realized that any one of the people I mentioned above was my mentor until I really understood what being a mentor meant.  Mentors can be people who beneficially influence your career, personality, habits, etc.  I’ve had many more mentors than this, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I felt it important to reach out to a few.

In all the college tours I went on, guides had many reasons for me to attend their school.  I was looking at mostly small liberal arts colleges because I wanted close relationships with my professors and classes where I could not only have professors lecture, but also hear my classmate’s opinions.  I wanted a school where I would have relationships with my professors but also with the staff around campus.  I visited a lot of college campuses and many of the small schools I looked at offered this, in one way or another.  Students walking from place to place on campus knew the names of other students and students would shout out to a tour guide in passing, which always made the tour smile.

I had the same kind of small environment I have here at Scripps in high school, and while some of my classmates thought it was suffocating, I thrived in it.  I loved the close connections and relationships I had with my classmates, teachers, office staff, principle, counselor, and even janitorial staff.  It was important to me that I had a community encouraging me in the college process, and in completing my high school career.

As a tour guide at Scripps, as well as hearing my younger brother talk about his college search, I sometimes feel like I get a taste of the college process again (thank goodness I don’t have to completely relive it).  In searching for a college, I don’t think I ever understood all the benefits I would have at a small liberal arts college, or specifically here at Scripps.  As I mentioned, I often heard tour guides and older students talk of the many benefits you receive from going to a small college…. But I never really realized the extent of it until after almost a year and a half here at Scripps.

Here are some of the things I’ve come up with that speak to how important and valuable a small liberal arts education is…

1. The relationships you build here, at Scripps, will last a lifetime.  In such a small school, the school is your community, your environment, and your family.  While at larger schools there is a sense of pride associated with attending the same school as someone you meet, there is a sense of community associated with all Scripps students.  We’re a family.
2. The small class sizes, many smaller than my classes in high school, prevent you from hiding, in the best way possible.  Your mind will be challenged.  Rote memorization is not a norm here.  My professors look to expand how I think and see the world, not provide me with information to regurgitate at any given moment.
3. The opportunities.  Many if not all of your professors will know you personally.  Anyone from the wonderful woman who cleans your dorm to the president of the college may know your name and interests and care enough to see that if an opportunity comes up that aligns with your interests, it is sent your way.
4. How it affects your career.  In looking at colleges, I was often concerned about the alumni connections of the school, the career development office, how determined students were to get a job after graduating, etc., I think the biggest importance as far as career development for a college is to teach students how to participate with the world they’re working in, in a way that can only better it.  Scripps, without a doubt, has taught me this.

I’m taking a leadership class this semester and we’ve recently been talking a lot about authentic leadership and having ethics as a leader.  These two characteristics are really important pieces of leadership.  They emphasize being honest and genuine with your followers as well as having good morals and values to guide your leadership decisions. Discussing these characteristics in leaders has made me think a lot about my own career development and brainstorm career values that I should be developing while here at Scripps.

This past week I also read a book for my leadership course by Doug Conant (past CEO of Campbell Soup Company) and Mette Norgaard titled, TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, which explained that leaders can create what the authors describe as TouchPoints, small interactions based on a strategic model.  These TouchPoints can be good or bad interactions, but no matter good or bad, the word of the interactions will spread exponentially.  The authors encouraged readers to create what they called a leadership model that could guide interactions with followers. This concept is much related to creating core values for career development.

So, to create a core values for career development, I must consider what things/characteristics/values are the most important to maintain throughout my career.  After much brainstorming, here’s my list:

1. Be authentic.
2. Be honest.
3. Have fantastic work ethic.
4. Be moral.
5. Work for an organization that is working towards goals that align with mine.
6. Remember to give compliments when they’re deserved.
7. Always reach out to thank someone who does me a favor.
8. Remember to take into consideration the values of those I’m working with.
9. Remember that I don’t always have to be the leader in name, followers are just as important in any organization.
10. Above all, do and choose work that makes me happy.

While creating this list is one thing, following these values in rushed situations and interactions is a much more difficult task to follow.  Creating career values helps me to define factors of importance to me in not only the workplace, but also in choosing a workplace.  This list is important to create, much like Conant and Norgaard emphasized creating a leadership model, a list of career values can guide your entire career process and provide you with a clearly defined list of values of importance to you that you can constantly refer back to.