It was exactly one week ago, that after working on my original work project for over two months, I turned it in. The feeling of relief was unlike any other; yet at the same time as I was getting ready to take my celebratory nap, I could not help but feel anxious. Would be project be good enough? Had I truly put in my best effort? What would be mentor think? These were just some of the questions swimming around in my mind.
Nonetheless, as I went on my mentor visit last Friday, my mentor was, to say the least, ecstatic. She could not believe that I had been able to culminate my findings into a professional research paper. Ms. Borda happily went around the office showing her co-workers what I done, and my smile grew wider than ever. Although this next week serves as a break from the packed schedule of ISM, there is more yet to come. It is time to start brainstorming about final product, and what I want to do. I hope to broaden my scope of International Marketing further this week so that I can come up with a more specific idea of what I want to do for original work.
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This week, the time had come. The time had come to pick up our blazers from the dry cleaners. The time had come to frantically spend time gluing fallen letters to our boards. The time had come to carefully place our semester’s worth of work into crisp sheet protectors. This week, the time had come for Research Showcase.
These last few weeks, I had been largely occupied with working on my original work and putting final touches to my presentation board and portfolio that I hadn’t stopped to think about what I was actually doing. After setting up my board at the Ford Center on Wednesday, it finally hit me: I did that. Through countless weeks of research, interviews, and mentor visits, I had finally gained enough knowledge on the topic of International Marketing to share my findings with others. Furthermore, seeing my teachers, both of the past and the present, and my family friends, all of whom were curious about what I had researched over the year made me very happy. I have always loved sharing my knowledge with others and being able to talk to such a diverse group of individuals was an invigorating experience. In addition, seeing the diverse topics that other students had researched over was also a humbling experience, for it showed the abundance of knowledge in the world. Overall, the Research Showcase was a reward for the hard work that I have done over the year. However, with one semester left to go, I can’t wait to see the progress that I will make at the end of the year. Be Limitless. With DECA District Competition in less than two days, this catchphrase has been stuck in my head for the past week. DECA, a club dedicated to future business professionals, is the reason that I got interested into business. Hoping to further expand my interest in business, I am looking forward to networking with students who share the passion as me. And of course, there are always the ambivalent feelings of anxiety and excitement of competition.
In terms of my ISM Journey, I have been working hard to finish my original work. I have successfully reached my target sample size of 100 participants from each country that I am testing: United States, Mexico, and India. As a result, now I can finish my research paper by making the graphs and conclusions. This week I also had my fourth mentor visit where Ms. Borda invited me to attend the International Brand Conference in Dallas with her. In this conference, they will talk about different global brands and how they have achieved widespread recognition around the world. At this event, I hope to network with professionals and learn more about International Marketing. With the next few weeks packed, I am excited to see what the future holds. Sometimes, we try our best to get our priorities lined up, but nonetheless, such efforts may be unsuccessful. That was the case with my research presentation board, which I had spent hours on, carefully planning and gluing components of my research over the break. This week as I rode the high of finishing all of my work (for once), I came back to school ready to relax and further work on my original work. To my horror, however, as I came back home, I saw that there was now a jumble of construction paper, letters, and string where my board used to one lie. Frustrating? Yes. But thankful? Even more. Although it was disappointing that I had to do redo my board all over again and forsake my precious free time, I was happy that this misfortune had befallen on me right now rather than the day before the research showcase.
In addition, I also headed over to Ms. Borda’s office this Friday for my third mentor visit. With Research Showcase and the deadline for the Original Work slowly creeping up, I have been working diligently on preparing for both of these events. As of now, I still need to work towards getting more participants from Mexico, and hopefully by reaching out to some of my contacts, I can reach my target sample size. I have also started handing out my ISM invitations to my teachers, and seeing the smiles on their faces made me even more excited for the showcase. I can’t wait to see what all my peers have researched and created! New year, new resolutions, and a seemingly new you! It is as if on this day every year, everyone undergoes a magical transformation into the person they want to be. Whether they last the whole year staying loyal to their resolution or the persistence is short lived, there is one thing that is not short on this day of the new year: hope. All around, there are people working on their goals. Whether it is to work out everyday or be more selfless, everyone is excited with what the new year will bring.
As for me, I have been waiting for the new year for quite a while. The new year is a symbol for change. Realistically, change can happen on any day, but having this concrete symbol makes it seem all the more real. Going along with majority, I have also made new year's resolutions to improve my concentration and to be more selfless. 2017 was a busy year, and I often found that I was volunteering less and less. As a result, I want to spend more time this year giving back to the community. Over winter break, I volunteered at the Samaritan Inn and I taught them about business using Monopoly. I really enjoyed this, and I hope to make this activity a monthly volunteering event because it ties my two passions together: service and business. Over winter break, I was able to complete a lot of work related to ISM. I passed out my Research Showcase invitations to family and friends, and I also finished my Research Presentation Board, which I enjoyed putting together because it let me channel my creativity. In addition, I also passed out my survey and I gotten over 150 responses from the United States. I am still trying to gain more participants from India and Mexico, but I know it will take a lot of time and effort. While waiting for all the results to roll in, I now plan on starting my report. I am starting to conduct the market research and brand research so that I can relate the two together in my research paper. With school starting up again in just one day, I look forward to what the year has to bring in. After over two weeks of a break, I am ready and motivated to get back to school and accomplish all my dreams. |