Tag: Augsburg

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Sometimes you don’t have an answer

When that happens, sometimes you have to improvise.

I finished taking my final exam for Quantitative Decision-Making for Managers earlier tonight and I’m burned out. That’s what happens when you sit in front of a computer and stare at spreadsheets for 3 1/2 hours straight, although I’m pretty sure it could have been a lot less in my case.

The exam had seven questions with multiple parts and we were allowed to omit one of the seven. I went through them in order, got started on all of them, but when I hit the wall on one question, I’d move on to the next. There were a few times when I knew how to get certain parts right because I remembered screwing them up on an earlier quiz. Knowing what to look for and how to solve it was… sort of a good feeling, but not entirely.

Eventually, I finished five and had the last part left on the final two. I could not figure them out.

Perhaps the worst part was that it was an open-book exam. We could look at our textbooks, PowerPoint files, spreadsheets with equations on them… the works. This professor felt the same way as my Business Stats teacher: if you’re not sure what the answer is, you can go look it up. Obviously, it was good to remember how to use some equations properly in a spreadsheet, but you always had reference materials available.

The reference materials weren’t helping. I was completely stuck. The monitors in the computer lab don’t have clocks on them—there’s only one up on the wall—so I don’t know how much time passed while I was staring at them. I finally decided to focus on one partly because it seemed easier and partly because it was only worth 3 points instead of 4. If I couldn’t come up with an answer, I wouldn’t lose as many points.

So I tried writing out this equation, but when that didn’t work, I’d try another equation, but that wasn’t the right answer either, so let’s try to figure it out this way… nada. Nothing was working.

When I looked up at the clock for the last time, it was about 9:30 and we had until 10:00 to finish the exam. That’s when I said “Screw it” and started punching in numbers. I had part of an equation written out, so as I changed one number, another would get closer and closer to the result I needed. I changed the number again and again and finally got it accurate to two decimal points—the required amount for the problem—then punched that result into another equation and it worked.

I saved the spreadsheet, uploaded it into the class database, then left. That was it. I was done. No more staring at the screen for me. Now I’m at home… using my computer. (Yes, there’s just a tiny bit of irony there.) But at least I’m not just sitting here, staring blankly at the screen with a confused look on my face.

This blog entry? Doesn’t have an answer. Doesn’t need an answer. Thank God.

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Technology Haikus

To celebrate our final class in Strategic Technology, the instructor passed out a sheet of paper that had some limericks and haikus written on them for our enjoyment. Also for our enjoyment, she invited everyone to write one of their own. The other people in class may have started chatting with each other at that point, I really don’t know—I was too busy thinking about what to write.

I ended up writing three haikus, the last one because it seemed more related to business, and read them out loud to the class. I got the best reviews from the second (it’s also the one that I mumbled an apology about after saying it), so I’m ordering them 3-1-2 on here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
____________________________

All these ones and all
These zeroes rule my workplace.
I can’t escape them.

I’m hooked on Facebook.
Addicted, I can’t log off.
Be my Farmville friend.

Surfing day and night.
Suddenly, Internet is gone.
I can’t access porn.

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I think it’s because they’re female

Last week, some people in my business class were talking about how grocery stores have designed their layouts so shoppers will be more likely to buy extra food. A lot of times, people will come in for basics like milk, butter and eggs, so where are they in the store? Tucked in the back corner. You have to walk past lots of different foods before getting to those basics, during which time you might think, “You know, cookies sound awesome right now.” Impulse purchase! Grocery store: 1, You: 0.

Then I thought about how Girl Scouts started selling their cookies this year. Where once parents would post order sheets in the office to suggest that their coworkers aren’t satisfying their sweet teeth properly, the Girl Scouts have become more devious: they’re bringing cookies to your door. You still have to order some of the specialty items, but if you want Do-si-dos, Tagalongs or Thin Mints…

Gimme a second to wipe the drool off my keyboard.

If you want any of those basic cookies, you’ve got ’em right there. You don’t need any order forms; you need young girls with delicious goodies… I don’t think I phrased that very well.

One mother gave us a heads-up a few days early, then she and her daughter came to the house—we picked boxes of cookies while they were standing in front of us instead of using an order sheet. At the office, it was easy to limit yourself to two or three boxes, but not anymore! “You know, cookies sound awesome right now.” Impulse purchase! Girl Scouts: 1, You: … lots of cookies, so maybe you’re a winner, too.

And as a final note, someone asked after buying 10 boxes if we made a good selection. I said it didn’t really matter since they’ll be gone in a week. It’s now Day 4 and I’m pretty sure my prediction will be right. That’s really not a good thing, but at least it’s been a yummy not-good thing.

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Time to celebrate!

This is a short entry, but I’m not sure how late I’ll be out tonight and I didn’t want to break my streak of blog entries. I’m heading out because I completed my application for Augsburg’s MBA program! Technically, I finished it yesterday, but how did I celebrate? I stayed at home… ’cause that’s how I roll. But tonight I’m heading out to enjoy myself and I hope you all do, too. Enjoy yourselves, that is—there’s only so much Shawn to go around.

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Keep driving waaaaay past “Go”

I’m on the verge of registering at Augsburg here in MN to earn an MBA degree, but I just ran into some bad news. They held an informational session at a building in Bloomington a while back, which was essentially an off-campus location for the entire program. That was probably six months ago. It must have been at least that long ago because when I started filling out the application form today, “Bloomington” wasn’t on the “Which campus do you want to attend?” list.

Apparently, there wasn’t enough demand for taking classes at that location, so they’re not enrolling any new students there. Bloomington is less than 15 minutes away. Augsburg’s main campus is in Minneapolis, which is half an hour with no traffic. And it’s near downtown Minneapolis, so there’s always traffic. So now I have just over a week before the registration deadline to decide… everything.

I mean, sure, some people drive that far every day to their jobs, but they’re earning thousands of dollars by doing it, not paying that much for school. How much do I want the degree, how much do I need the degree… but on the bright side, I just started filling out all the forms, so by making this discovery now, I haven’t paid the fifty bucks or so that it’ll cost for the registration fee and all my transcripts. The glass may not be half full, but there’s at least a little sip of water at the bottom. Cheers!