Tag Archives: teamwork

Fullbridge Program Day 1: The Marshmallow Challenge

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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.

Don’t You Wish You Worked at CP&R?

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I know that this blog post is coming on the heels of Thanksgiving, but there’s nothing like a national holiday devoted to being extra grateful to make me feel…well, extra grateful for all the help I’ve had.

I interact with the Career Planning & Resources office as a blogger, a career consultant, club leader, and of course, as a student; my multi-faceted experience has only made me more grateful to have a supportive network of women I know I can trust when I need help. Valinda has been incredibly supportive as the manager for this blog, and I appreciate the weekly updates she sends out so that we bloggers feel like part of the CP&R team, even though we might work from home. Grace is essentially my safety net when I’m on duty as a career consultant, and words cannot express how thankful I am to know she’s there when (not if!) I bungle an incoming phone call. She has the voice of an angel and could probably calm a stampeding rhino. I’m grateful to Lesley for walking me through the process of taking a Meyers-Briggs personality test. When students come in wanting to take one, I’m able to help them more effectively because of Lesley’s amazingly thorough explanations.

I’d like to offer a special shout out to Gretchen for training all of us career consultants back in August before school started. I’m grateful to her for a solid foundation in practical, career-related knowledge that I can use to effectively help my peers. Gretchen also does an amazing job of making our weekly job training sessions enjoyable and ensuring that we on the student staff feel like we’re part of the CP&R team.

Before I came to CP&R, I thought team building in offices meant awkward bonding activities and weirdly complimenting each other. Gretchen, on the other hand, has built our team by touching base as a group every Friday and providing a safe space to share feedback. I’m hoping to improve my own leadership skills by incorporating these practices into my extracurricular activities. I don’t know how else to say this, and most of you might think I’m weird for saying it, but I actually look forward to our regular training sessions. We’re all relaxed and comfortable being ourselves–Gretchen breaks out her killer Boston accent, Laurie and Janine practice being ninjas with the coasters, I make awful puns, and Megan and Chandra act like they’re too normal to be silly with the rest of us. I’m reading my post and okay, that doesn’t sound as funny as when it’s actually happening. Just trust me when I say you have to be there for it.

Last but certainly not least: Vicki is a bomb director and decision maker. She’s calm, cool, and collected in any event. A few months ago, I was working on a scholarship application in the CP&R Library when I realized that I wanted to make changes to a resume I had already submitted. The changes weren’t absolutely necessary and I believed the benefits might somehow outweigh the cost, but I didn’t want to attract negative attention to my application. Vicki showed me how to navigate this potential sinkhole by making my message about the reviewer instead of myself. In my short time at CP&R, I’ve witnessed Vicki handle sensitive situations with tact and poise. I’m grateful to Vicki for her emotional and professional support. I know that what I’ve learned from Gretchen and Vicki I’ll take with me even after I graduate. After barely three months here, I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather work on campus.

“Can I Help You Find Something?”: Learning about life and work in Target

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I thought to make this post a “Thanks-giving,” but each time I brainstormed a list of the people I could/would/should thank, it became a might unwieldy. I know I could never choose only a few from the mountain of people who have made me.

But, there is another “holiday” this month that got me thinking. Black Friday.

I wasn’t aware of Black Friday until I was sixteen. I was a junior in high school and I had started working at Target the month before, in preparation for the holiday season. I was assigned to come in at 6 a.m. and work the registers, even though I was normally a “soft-lines” team member, meaning I worked primarily in the clothing sections. I was both nervous and excited. I was wearing my comfortable work shoes with my red shirt and khaki pants. I was at my station and ready when they opened the doors, and customers jogged towards electronics.

Busy days like that were a blur of adrenaline, smiles, and morale-boosting food in the break room.

Target was my first place of employment, and it made a huge impact on me. I never played sports in high school, or participate in typical extra-curriculars like theater or model UN, but the last year and half of high school I was working 12-24 hours a week as a Target team member. Under those fluorescent lights, I had my first experiences with responsibility, diversity and teamwork. And yes, I also experienced the entitlement of American consumers. My job at Target was the first time I witnessed and really comprehended racism.

One of the most important things I learned at Target, though, was the importance of co-worker relationships. Even in retail, a field known for eating minimum wage worker’s souls, the right people can make the job bearable. The right people can make waking up at 6 a.m. for the Black Friday rush fun.

Target has such a high rate of turn-over that in two years, I experienced good, bad and mediocre teams. Good teams create energy, and that energy turns into productivity. They make work fun, even if you are stuck in infants organizing the bottle aisle for the third time that week. Mediocre and bad teams, don’t support each other that way. There’s drama, or maybe just apathy, that drains the energy and makes the atmosphere miserable. You avoid co-workers by taking on the long and unenviable task of organizing the clearance racks by percentage clearance and then by size. Time moves slowly. Bad teams blame each other if one section is taking longer than the others to clean after closing, instead of just helping to finish it.

Changes in management reverberated through the store. I worked best with a supervisor who allowed me my independence, who encouraged problem solving. If something didn’t work one day, or took too long, I could try something different the next. After a year and a half of working there, a new manager would tell me to go by the book, every day, even when it wasn’t working for me or a particular clothing section I was in. That inflexibility to try new things or look for better solutions was extremely frustrating.

Target was my first experience in work-place culture, and it taught me which management styles and team relationships I value most. Retail gets a bad rap. Sure, by the end of senior year I was ready to leave, and it took me a long time to be able to wear red and khaki together again, but as a first job I could not have asked for better.