After two years in the ISM program, I am finally writing my
last blog. Final presentation night hasn’t even happened yet, so I’m sorry to
disappoint you by saying that I have no new news regarding that event. It is
hitting me, though, that I only have two weeks left with MJ as my mentor. I
truly will miss my time at the Chamber, and I am hopeful that I will be able to
go back and visit her again soon and maybe even work there again in the future.
She has been much more than a mentor to me and I know that I got the most
perfect mentorship experience. It is beginning to hit me that I will not see
some of these people ever again, and that is a complete shock. Graduation may
be the last time I see some friends of mine, and my teachers as well. I know
that I need to schedule times to meet with both my friends and MJ over the
summer, and I am sure that I will be able to make time next year as well. I
know that if I made the effort, I will not lose touch with anyone who is
important to me. Happy summer!
Halfway through AP exams and I am writing my second to last
ISM blog ever. I can’t really say that I’ll miss writing these, but I will miss
the routine that would come about every Monday when it was time to share with
whoever would listen what my week looked like. I never knew who has read my
blogs and I’ll never know, and maybe some things are better left alone, despite
curiosity. After the rose-cutting ceremony yesterday, I am beginning to come to
terms with just how close graduation really is. With graduation comes summer,
buying things for my dorm, picking classes, and saying goodbye to my friends
and family I’ve come to love so much. But I try not to think about that a lot.
I try to think about the amazing opportunities I’ll have at UT and how much fun
I’ll have and the new friends I’ll make. That doesn’t make it any easier to
leave my home behind, but it helps. I think that in the meantime, to keep my
mind off such a topic, I’ll stay focused on my exams so that I can get the
college credit I’ve been long seeking. I know I can do it.
Before having the time of my life at my senior prom this
weekend, I’ve finalized all edits to my final product analysis paper and turned
it in to Coach Goff. I was able to obtain a couple possible publication
resources for my paper from one of the members of the International Business
Council. However, I am wondering if these sources would be willing to accept
submissions from a high school student, especially for the type of paper I
wrote. I am hoping that my mentor will help me make the proper edits and help
me understand the steps and process of submitting a research paper to a media
source so that I do it correctly. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will
have some sort of lead on whether or not my goal can be obtained. With four
weeks left of high school, the clock on AP exams and final presentation night
are drawing nearer and nearer. I feel more prepared than last week given that I
have already given my practice speech, but I know it can be improved upon and I
want to impress my family and friends. I have one more homerun to hit, and I’m
sure I can do it.
This week at the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, I was invited to
participate in conversation and give a speech at the international connection
series event for the International Business Council with the superintendent of
my school district and the president of the local economic development
corporation. It was very insightful to me to be able to discuss the diversity
of Frisco and its schools while representing the Frisco ISD ISM program. I am
proud to have been a member of the ISM program for two years now and I am
excited that I continue to discover a part of myself every day in this program.
However, I am a little sad that within the next month I will have to say
goodbye to my time at the Chamber. Taking away a couple weeks for exams and
other senior related events, and it seems that maybe I have only a few more
visits. I am grateful to have had my mentor support me immensely these past
months, and I am shocked that it is coming to a close already. I know my mentor
and I will always keep in touch and be friends, and for that I know that I had
the ideal experience in the ISM program.
Six more weeks to go, and my senior year is finally drawing
to a close. I have two weeks remaining to finish my final product, and between
now and then I have prom, an International Business Council event, a speech,
and many final get-togethers with friends of mine from over the years. I am
also taking some of my last tests and completing some of my final projects for
my core classes. Preparing for AP exams is a trial in itself, especially
knowing exactly what score I need to get credit at UT Austin, where I am
attending in the fall. I couldn’t get through all of these trials without my
mentor, who is more than supportive than I could ever ask for. I know that she
will always be a great connection for me and I am grateful that I have been
able to work with her since September. I am excited to do my final presentation
and have my friends and family be able to see all that I’ve been working on for
the past year. ISM 2 has been incredibly decisive for my future and my
educational choices, and I can’t wait to attend the University of Texas and
demonstrate all of the skills I have acquired my senior year.
The farther along I get with my final product, the more I
believe that I will be unable to get it published as a professional piece of
work. It is a very broad topic that I have chosen, and I have been searching
high and low for a publishing opportunity for something like what I have
written. I am certain that I will have to alter my paper greatly in order to
get a publishing opportunity, but I am hopeful that it will be worthwhile in
the long run. As the deadline for my final product approaches fast, I am hard
at work writing my paper and making it the best that I possibly can. I am also
super involved with the Chamber at the moment, attending meetings and sending
out emails for the International Business Council as often as I can. As my
senior year is coming to a close, I am ready to show off all of the work I have
done this year in my speech and in my portfolio. I have been thinking about and
preparing for all of the extra things I need to do for my classroom and my
speech, and I am starting to see the finish line that is my high school
graduation.
I have once again picked up working on my final product, and
I think I have a solution to prevent myself from getting distracted again. My
peers have offered their help time and time again, and getting their input on
the content and structure of my paper has been critical to developing my
analysis paper in the proper way. I realize that getting outside perspectives
on the topics in my paper helps me to keep it objective and also provide
correct and accurate information. I think I should also consider asking my
mentor to review it and maybe send it to some colleagues to get their input as
well. Getting only one or two perspectives will not help me at all, but getting
too many will be just as hurtful because I will have lost the voice that makes
my paper my own. I know that if I can stick it out and work on it as much as I
can, then I will be proud of the end result. I think that I need to start
looking into publication options, and that is what will motivate me to write
the best possible piece of work. I want to write something I will be proud of
years from now.
I’ve taken a step back from my final product this week to
focus on a few other things. For one, I wanted to reevaluate the purpose behind
the analysis paper and make sure it was going where I wanted it to go. I think
I’ve decided that while I am enjoying my final product while it is lasting,
economics and its evaluation really isn’t what I want to pursue. I believe that
it fluctuates too much for me to be comfortable with it, and there are far too
many factors that go into what changes a country’s economic output. Secondly, I
needed to take week to focus on my exams, as I am trying to get college credit
for UT Austin. I am proud that I made an effort to study early this year, but I
am not sure that it will be enough for all of the exams I am taking. Now that I
am coming back around to my final product, I am glad that I eliminated
economics at a possible career path, but as a result it has made it harder to proceed
with writing the paper. However, I am sure that I will pick up the pace sooner
rather than later, and I will end up making an excellent analysis paper that is
worthy of publication.
I’ve been in the process of working on the next edition of
the newsletter for the International Business Council. I am proud that my
original work project was able to carry itself out further into the year, and I
find that creating the template for and designing the newsletter is much easier
the second time around. I am grateful still that my mentor continues to help me
with it. As far as my final product goes, it is coming along slowly but surely.
I have changed the topic of my paper quite a few times, but I have finally
settled on one that I believe will work quite well. It is slowly transforming
from an outline into a paper. I have decided that my process will be to change
my bullet points into short, clear sentences, and that I will add detail and
varying sentence structure later. I am hoping that I get my final product
finished before May begins so that I can look for sources to get it published
before I go off to college, and so that the end of my senior year is a little
less stressful than the rest of it was. I can’t wait to show my family,
friends, and teachers what I am able to create through the resources I’ve
gained through ISM.
Throughout spring break, I’ve been doing a lot of
self-evaluation about how hard I was working and whether or not I was on the
correct path for my future. I ended up in a funk, wondering whether or not I
was working actively enough to pursue my dreams. Choosing to have a relaxing
senior year over taking a couple more AP classes was certainly the correct
choice for my health, but it’s hard not to think about what could’ve been or
how much more I could’ve learned. I’ve determined that I want to spent more
time at the Chamber in the coming months, get more involved with the
International Business Council and help more with the newsletter. I am ready to
create an incredible final product that I can be proud of and get it published
somehow. I want to somehow create an incredible resume for myself, and build a
network that will allow me to fulfill my goals and dreams in the future. MJ, my
mentor, has been incredibly helpful with all of my endeavors and I know I will
be able to trust her guidance for years to come. We have an IBC meeting coming
up this week, and I can’t wait to be able to get even more involved than I
already am.
I believe I have finally found a topic for my final product
analysis paper. My interviews last week were the most informative and
incredible thing I could’ve possibly done for my product, and I am proud that I
made myself go through with them even though I didn’t want to at first. I have
also been spending a lot of time making my LinkedIn account better in order to
make connections for the future. I also think that my involvement with the
Chamber has grown stronger and I am hopeful that I will be able to obtain more
career experience with them in the future. My mentor believes it would be
possible for me to get my paper published, and she has a lot of connections. I
think I will be able to reach my goal of getting my paper published this year,
and I have my mentor, my teacher, and everyone I interviewed to thank. I have
the drive to create a quality piece of work that will impress my employers and
my peers for years to come. I want to be able to walk into college knowing I
didn’t slack off at the end of my senior year.
For my final product, I have been busy conducting numerous
interviews with members of the International Business Council. My mentor
recommended I do this to get some advice on what to write about for my analysis
paper and to also get some different perspectives about global topics from all
kinds of people. So far, the interviews have been extremely informative and
helpful to decide how my future career will go, but I feel as if I am no closer
to finding a topic of interest for my final product. One man that I interviewed
told me that it would take a lot of soul-searching to find the one topic that I
am very passionate about, and he is absolutely right, but I am not sure how
capable I am of doing that much soul-searching with such a time crunch. I want
to create a high quality piece of work, but I also want to keep improving it
and revising it even after the deadline has passed. I think I am close to
having a breakthrough, but I hope it comes soon so I can get the gears turning on
the writing process. Once I get through this week, I think I will be closer.
As a part of my final product, I have decided to interview
many of the members of the international business council in order to get a
better idea on the best topic to write my analysis paper on. I am leaning
towards writing about global economic development and how various international
events and conflicts affect it in different ways, however my mentor has
expressed to me that this may be too broad of a topic and that I might want to
narrow it down. I am counting on the professionals that I interview to help me
with narrowing it down and maybe giving me a few ideas on the best things to
analyze. I want my final product to have a positive impact on the people who
read it, providing them with not only more knowledge into international events
and economic development but also providing them with possible causes and
solutions. Evaluating an international event is pointless if you can’t understand
what happens to build up to that conflict and how we can use politics, finance,
and other solutions to possibly lessen the negative effects. There are
recurring international problems too, such as climate change and human
trafficking, that may not be able to be pinpointed to one cause or solution.
After getting over my sickness and catching up on all the
schoolwork that I missed, I was finally able to head back to the Frisco Chamber
of Commerce and go on another mentor visit. It has been quite a while since I
have been able to go, but it was so nice to be back in the Chamber with my
mentor and get the chance to talk about my final product. I believe that I want
to write an analysis paper about an international event with a focus on global economic
development, and my mentor was able to give me several contacts of people that
I could interview in order to get some insight. While this may be a challenging
and demanding project, I believe that the end product will be something that I
can be proud of, and I would love to follow through with my goal of getting
something published due to my work in ISM. I think that with a lot of hard work
and critical thinking, I will be able to write something that is both relevant
to the world and that I am passionate about. I am determined to follow through
with all of my ISM related goals as I finish up my senior year of high school.
My first week back after being sick has been just a load of
catching up on my work. I can’t help but feel like I haven’t been my most
productive self, even though I know it doesn’t have anything to do with my work
ethic. I take a great amount of pride in how hard I can work when I am
stressed, and I am determined to take on such a busy weekend and large amount
of work. I have my ISM speech to give on Tuesday, which I missed last week, and
I’m hopeful that it will have as high of a quality as it would’ve before. I’ve
also been thinking about my final product again, as I am very behind on coming
up with an idea. I am hopeful that the advice of my family and friends will
help me find the perfect idea, the idea that I will be passionate about and put
my whole heart and soul into. While it would be wonderful to be published,
what’s more important is creating something I can be proud of and care about. I
feel that I am very close to finding the perfect idea. I can almost touch it.
I have been extremely sick this past week, and as a result I
have fallen behind in all of my classes. I have been unable to attend mentor
visits or even do my assignments for ISM, which has meant that my grades have
fallen tremendously. However, I understand that I am just facing a setback in
my academic career, which is nothing I can’t get past or come out of even
stronger than before. I will have to work twice as hard to catch up but that
will not be a problem for me. There are only a few more months left of my
senior year, so I have a little chance to relax, but at the same time there is
work to be done and I can’t let the time restrictions get to my head. I am
proud of all I have done so far, and now there is just a little bit left to do.
I am determined to finish it out with as much fervor as I had at the beginning,
because that is the honorable and right thing in my eyes. With speeches,
assessments, and of course blogs keeping me busy, I am sure that everything
will turn out just fine in the long run.
The annual ISM winter research showcase has drawn to a
close, and I am very happy with all the amazing people who came to support me.
My amazing mentor, family, and friends all came out to see my project and the
projects of the many other students in ISM. I even saw a few members of the
international business council, which was incredible to see because ISM
students are such an important part of the growing business culture in the
Frisco area and it is imperative that we recognize their work and contributions
to their mentors. Now that the showcase is over, it’s about time I start taking
my final product more seriously. I am hoping that my mentor will have a few
ideas, but I would like to have some ideas going in as well so that I can focus
my energy onto more what I want to do with my future career. I would like to
close my senior year and my time in ISM with a project that is truly meaningful
to me and that I can be proud of for years to come. I only hope that I have the
brains to pull something like that off.
The annual winter research showcase is right around the
corner, with only a couple of days to go before the big night. The launching of
the newsletter was a success, with a very high open and viewing rate from those
it was sent to, and I am very proud to have been such an important part of that
project. My mentor was kind enough to invite the entire International Business
Council to come support the research I’ve been doing throughout my first
semester. I know that soon the stress of the showcase and my original work
project will be over, but will soon follow suit with the stress of final
product and final presentation night. I think that second semester will bring a
lot of really good change for me, and I hope that my final product will bring
as much impact to myself as it will to the world around me. I am still
interested in pursuing international journalism, but I am also considering
global development economics as a possible option as well. With my semester
coming up taking AP economics, I am hopeful that it will inspire me to pursue a
more financial based curriculum during my second semester of ISM. I am thankful
for my mentor who has been more than helpful along my journey.
I spent the majority of my winter break editing,
reformatting, and finishing up the newsletter for the International Business
Council. A lot of edits needed to be made, and I got a lot of chances to
practice working with Constant Contact, but overall I couldn’t be prouder of
how it turned out. Sometime in the next week or so, the project I worked on
will be released to the public, and that is such an exciting thought to me. I
couldn’t be more grateful for all of the people that helped me with this
process, including my mentor and the other members of the council. All of the
excitement makes me wonder what is next for me: what I will contribute to the
council, what I will do for my final product. The proposal is due not too long
from now, and I realize now that I am running out of time to come up with
ideas. I think I would perhaps like to do something with journalism or
international current events, but I am not sure how to turn that into a final
product. We will see what happens, for I am sure that no matter what, I will
create yet another thing that I am proud of.
My original work project is finally coming
together and I could not be more excited. I spent about two hours last week
with Katrina Moore, a member of the International Business Council, and we sat
down together to decide on the outline for the newsletter. We also decided that
the newsletter would be completed before Christmas Day in order to allow for us
to enjoy our break with our families. I am proud that the project I was super
stressed about is coming together into something I can be excited about. I hope
that when I leave Frisco next year that someone in the council will take over
maintaining the newsletter. I am sure that my mentor will ensure that my
project will continue even after I am gone. However, this whole process has me
thinking about my final product idea. Do I want to continue working on and
improving the newsletter, or do I want to write an extended piece about an international
event for the purpose of publication? I would love to be published while I am
still in high school, and I would like to think of that as a goal of mine, but
I also need to keep in mind the limits of my abilities and my opportunities.
My Thanksgiving break was as uneventful as it
can be. After conducting a bit of research on what I want to do for my original
work newsletter, I am returning to the Frisco Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday
with a fresh attitude and new knowledge. However, I am not sure what my mentor
may have in mind for the finished product, whether she will want me to take
over the whole project or just help get it off the ground. I am not sure how
much I can contribute with writing because I am not an experienced journalist,
but I would do my absolute best if my mentor asked me to contribute that way. I
can feel the clock running out with my original work. It feels like there isn’t
enough time for me to be at the Chamber and completely finish an entire newsletter
in time for the deadline. However, I know that with my work ethic and the help
of my mentor, I will be able to accomplish anything that I need with plenty of
time to spare. I am grateful for all the people who are willing to help me with
my work and I can’t wait to show them what I can do.
My mentor visit last week went as well as the first ones. I
was able to import contacts again and share with her my vision for the future
of the newsletter. I am looking forward to the opportunity to attend another
International Business Council meeting. I hope that my mentorship continues to
go just as well as it has been so far in the stressful months coming up. I know
that now, I need to focus on getting organized, especially before I try to
create a poster board or a complete research portfolio. It seems so many people
already have their ideas for their final product. While I am proud of what I
did last year, I know that this year my major goal is to get published, either
in a newspaper, a political magazine, or some other source of literary merit. I
know I am not falling behind, it is only November, but I need to keep up with
my peers to ensure that I don’t in the future. I am grateful for the
stress-free environment this Thanksgiving break will bring. I definitely need
to take a break from all of the overwhelming events taking place back home. I
hope that ISM will continue to be a safe haven for me.
As my school musical, White Christmas, is drawn to a close,
I find myself wondering how I will now spend the majority of my time. I know,
however, that I will have much more time to focus on ISM and my mentorship,
especially with the commitment of the original work project just around the
corner. With thanksgiving break coming up this week, I will be able to catch up
on the work I have fallen behind on. Tomorrow in class, I will be required to
give my research speech on everything I have learned so far in the year.
However, because of the strain of the musical, I have lost my voice entirely. I
truly hope that it will repair itself by tomorrow, or else I don’t know what
might happen. I would love the opportunity to share with my classmates what I
have learned, but I can’t do that if I don’t have a speaking voice. I have
surpassed an amazing experience in my life, and I will now have more time and
energy to devote to my ISM research. I feel as though my heart hasn’t been
entirely in it, but that changes starting now. My heart is in it entirely, and
so is my time and energy.
My mentor visits have been going incredible so far. I am
very happy that I have become a part of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce and the
International Business Council. They have given me a really amazing job that I
am proud to take on: redesigning the newsletter of the International Business
Council. I spent two hours on Wednesday importing contacts into a program
called Constant Contact, which will automatically send emails of newsletters to
the contacts I imported. I am not sure if I will be writing for this newsletter,
but I hope I will be at least participating in some way or another. I have
decided that this will be my Original Work project as it will take some time to
complete but it benefits my mentor and the council very much. With the musical
coming up this week, my stress seems to be at an all time high. The process of
handling everything I am trying to take on is an art I seem to still be
struggling with mastering. I know that tonight, if I can get my work done and
get some sleep, I’ll be perfectly fine for a little while. Just a few more
things to do. I can manage.
My mentor visit this week went extraordinarily well. I got
to sit in on an International Business Council meeting and meet many of its
members. They were all extraordinarily nice and had impressive stats. My mentor
said that many of them would be great connections for me, and I can’t wait to
continue to get to know all of these amazing people and understand how I can
help them through my role on the council. They have asked me to take over the
project of redesigning and distributing the newsletter, which I have gladly
agreed to along with the help of my mentor. I will be going in on Wednesday to
start this project, which will hopefully develop into my Original Work project
that I can use for the Research Showcase. I would like to reiterate how
appreciative I am to have such a hard working mentor. I could not have made a
better choice on who I would like to have as a mentor. MJ is more than happy to
help me with whatever I need and she is super supportive of my busy schedule.
However, she deeply understands my desire to work closely in the Chamber, and I
am very excited for all of the opportunities that being a part of the Chamber
will bring to me.
My second mentor visit is tomorrow and I could not be more
excited. I will be attending my first International Business Council meeting
and I am curious to see what it will be like as a student in a very
professional meeting. I have my suit all ironed and ready to go so that I will
look as professional as possible for my mentor, MJ. I am going in early so that
I can talk to her about international events as well as business events that
are coming up in Frisco. Furthermore, I have been writing a lot of research
assessments for grades in ISM class, but I am concerned that because of all my
other commitments, I haven’t been handling them with enough care or doing as
good of a job as I could be doing. This is a silly thing to be thinking about,
but I don’t want people to read my research portfolio at the end of the year
and be less than impressed with the work I was able to do. Finally, I am
concerned about thinking about original work projects soon. They really
stressed me out last year, and I don’t know how I would be able to handle it
again this year. However, I know I will get through.
My first mentor visit with MJ Pritchard went extraordinarily
well. I realized how happy I was with the mentor that I chose. Although I had
many good options from my interviews, choosing MJ was the best possible
decision I could’ve made for my education and also for my health. A chamber of
commerce is a wonderful experience for someone who wants to study international
affairs, and it is great that I have chosen to work in a place that’s close to
my house and important to me. Through my mentor, I will get experience in all
kinds of areas and I will also be able to better understand how my city works
from the inside instead of looking in from the outside. Although my stress
levels are at their peak, between theatre, school and work, I am determined to
make my mentorship one of my top priorities. The connections that it will
provide me for the future are cannot be counted or measured. The opportunities
to attend meetings and councils that the Frisco Chamber of Commerce holds, and
I hope that I will be able to expand my knowledge in particular foreign
languages so that I can better communicate with the various cultures in these
meetings.
My second and my last ISM business symposium took place on
Wednesday of this week. While I was definitely not looking forward to going to the
event for the second time, I had a much more enjoyable experience than I
thought I would. I was able to make friends with different ISM students across
the district and meet up with the ones I already knew. I was able to once again
see my middle school GT teacher and my favorite educator of all time, who now
teaches ISM at Reedy High School. My interviews with the professionals went
well and happened to take place the day before my Georgetown University
interview. I know that my skills I’ve gained in ISM will help me portray my
personality and my talents more than I would be able to if I weren’t a part of
the program. With my foreign service career in mind, I am starting to head down
the college path. My experiences in ISM have certainly granted me the very
beginning of opportunities that will take me much further into my career than I
ever could have imagined. If I end up in Washington DC, by fate or chance, my
mentorship in the Frisco Chamber of Commerce will allow me to obtain more and
more related internships in that area. I can’t wait to see what life holds for
me in a year or so.
There are a lot of fun events coming up in ISM this week.
For instance, I have my first mentor visit with MJ Pritchard at the Frisco
Chamber of Commerce, which should be a lot of fun. I am excited to start
attending international business meetings and become close with my mentor and
learn all kinds of things from her about international affairs. In addition, we
also have our ISM business symposium on Wednesday. The ISM business symposium
is composed of formal interviews with professionals, resume and interview tips,
and other business related advice given by professionals who so kindly
volunteer their time to help us. I am so
grateful every year that there are people who volunteer their time for an
entire day to help us further our business careers. In addition, I am also
grateful for how hard Coach Goff and all of the other ISM teachers work to make
sure that our day at the business symposium is beneficial in the long run. Last
year, there was a motivational speaker there who really helped me get back on
my feet after a tough few weeks, and I am hoping that that speaker will be back
again for my senior year. I am ready to take on the week!
As the first six weeks draws to a close, I am finding myself
reflecting on how fast my time in ISM is flying by. I am already a senior in
high school, a confused one at that, and I already have my second mentor. It is
almost time to start thinking about my original work project. I think that I
would like to write an evaluative paper on an international conflict and then
possibly expand on it in my final product. Before I know it, it will be time to
give my last final presentation night speech for my friends and family. I know
I’m not ready for that. After all this time of swearing that I was ready for
the world, I can’t imagine what I would do without the support and love that
surrounds me every day. I especially can’t imagine saying goodbye to ISM and
all of the experiences I’ve had going to mentor visits, writing assessments,
and sharing so much information with my peers. However, I know that ISM will
lead my friends and I to amazing places in the future, and while I am sad to
see everyone go soon, I can’t wait to see where everyone ends up. I hope I will
always look back fondly on ISM.
This week in ISM, I have been discovering more and more
about myself and what I want out of this class. Throughout the research I’ve
been doing, I think that international conflicts interest me just as much as
international development does, especially where Venezuela, Syria, and Israel
are concerned. Although my mentor works in international business and less in
international affairs, I feel that I will be able to learn how such events
impact trade and commerce as well as policy. Furthermore, I think that I’ve decided that I want
my final product and my original work to be written pieces of analysis on how a
certain conflict began, what the results are, and what we can do to solve it. I
am leaning towards the Syrian civil war because of its complexity; however, I
feel like this may be an overused topic and that I might want to choose
something less known about. I will make it my goal to make my written works good
enough to be published in a political magazine or online news source.
Throughout my study with international affairs in ISM, I have discovered that I
can gear my topic towards a variety of subgroups, including journalism, trade
and commerce, and law. Who knows where I will end up in the future!
Well, that was quick. After rapidly completing my five
interviews, I was able to select a mentor for this school year. Her name is MJ
Pritchard, and she is the Vice President of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce and
focuses on the international business council there. Ms. Pritchard is a lovely
woman, and she and I clicked instantly upon meeting. While it was very
difficult to select a mentor due to the high number of opportunities I could
have had with any other mentor, I am very glad I decided on Ms. Pritchard
because I will be able to work with my city and rather close to home. I am so
excited to start going in for mentor visits at the chamber, which will
hopefully begin either this week or next. In addition, I am proud of how far
ahead I am in ISM right now due to the fact that I already know and understand
how to complete the assignments. Between school, work, and other activities, it’s
nice to know that at least I have ISM under control. Maybe that will change in
the future, as the pressure starts to build, but I am greatly enjoying myself
right now and cannot wait to begin my experiences at the Frisco Chamber of
Commerce.
It's go time. School is back in session, and I am now in ISM
2 studying International Affairs. My time as an ISM 2 student has been
incredibly different than my time as an ISM 1 student. For instance, I have
already completed four informational interviews and my fifth one is scheduled
for next week. I predict that I will have a mentor by the next time I write a
blog. I am incredibly proud of myself for getting ahead of my ISM work so
that I will have a mentor ahead of time this year, providing me with more real-world
experience than I would normally get. Also, the coursework feels easier to
me because it is the same work as last year and I already understand the
expectations and guidelines. I’ve been helping out the ISM 1 kids with their
research assessments, digital portfolios, and the overall interview process,
and it makes me feel helpful and relevant. I have a feeling that this year in
ISM is going to be even more rewarding than last year, and I already have an
idea for final product. My first speech went very well and I was grateful for
the opportunity to show the new ISM students how to handle all of the
classwork.