Author: morrowla17

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Marketing Electives: Retail Management

Marketing majors have the option to take different electives that apply toward your degree. There are core Marketing classes that everyone must take, and there are others that you can choose from, which are called “Marketing major electives.” I like having the option of different courses because I can choose to take electives that interest me. Last semester, I chose the marketing elective  “Retail Management” taught by Dr. Scott Powell. I have taken every one of Dr. Powell’s classes because he is an incredibly intelligent Marketing professor and I learn so much from his classes. I highly recommend Dr. Powell’s classes, especially if you are a Marketing major.

Particularly, Retail Management was one of my favorite courses that I took at Grove City College. Even if you are not interested in going into retail or working within marketing in retail, there are principles and topics taught in the class that can be used in any area of marketing and in any career that you choose within marketing. In Retail Management, we learned about how to create a successful in-store experience and studied elements such as store layout, smell, sight, colors, temperature, and music. All of those elements make up either a positive or negative experience in a brick and mortar store.

In the class, there were several group presentations that expanded upon the topics that we covered in class. The presentations were all about the same business (that we were able to choose), but each presentation discussed different areas of retail management. My group chose Bath and Body Works as our business, which we studied the entire semester. Every one of our presentations was an evaluation of Bath and Body Works based on what we learned in class. The different projects and presentations helped me to master the material and understand how to apply the material to the real world. As a Marketing major, it is important that you are comfortable with working in groups and giving presentations. Retail Management helped me to feel more confident with my presentation skills. I highly recommend Retail Management to anyone who is thinking about a career in marketing or management.

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The Value of Projects and Presentations

As a Business major, there is a heavy load on individual and group projects and presentations. Most classes have at least one project and many classes have several projects each semester. As a senior Marketing major, I recently have been reflecting on the different projects that I have worked on while at Grove City College. It is important to be comfortable with giving presentations as a Business major.  Some projects I enjoyed more than others, but every project teaches you something. With every presentation you give, you get better and better at public speaking. Plus, it makes you more confident. From the time when I was a freshman until now I have grown so much in my confidence, especially with public speaking. I used to be very nervous to deliver a presentation to a class, but now that I have done it so much, I feel much more confident and I am not nearly as nervous. My favorite project that I ever worked on (and later presented) was in Risk Management and Insurance, which is taught by Dr. Wayne Biddle. Before the class, I had no idea what risk management was and knew very little about insurance. As the course went on, I learned more and more and by the end of the course I not only mastered the material, but my interest in the subject grew. We had a big project for the class where we had to take photos of “risks” that we found outside of the classroom and then do an analysis of the risks. This project was one of my favorites because it really made me think beyond the scope of the hour and fifteen minute class. The material was so applicable that the project was actually a lot of fun. By the time I finished the project and presented to the class, I felt like I learned the material that I learned in class so much better now that I was able to apply it to real life. Projects and presentations are all about what you make them to be. The more work and effort you put into them, the more you will benefit from them and learn new skills. My suggestion is that you take advantage of projects because there is an opportunity to learn so much.

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Business Capstone Course: Business Policy and Strategy

Business Policy and Strategy is a Capstone Course at Grove City College, which means that all Business majors are required to take the course. Professor Richard Kocur teaches the course and relates real-world concepts from his time in the business world. This course gives an outline of the different strategies that are used within management and teaches how to be an effective manager.

Certain courses are required for all Business majors, such as Principles courses in Finance, Accounting, Management, and Marketing. Business Policy and Strategy brings together topics learned in each Principles class. I enjoyed that students in this course come from different Business majors because it helps to see the business world through many different perspectives. Since my major is Marketing, I tend to only think about the marketing side of a business. This class enables me to see things from the different viewpoints of the different majors within the Business program, such as Finance or Accounting.

There is a lot of group work in the class that helps you to master the material taught in class. Each class, the professor lectures about a topic, and an assignment typically follows the new material. I also enjoyed being a part of several group presentations throughout the semester. These group presentations help you to learn and apply what is taught in class and in class readings. These projects have also increased my confidence with group work, which is an essential aspect of the business world. In addition to a heavy emphasis on group work, this course features some individual assignments and two exams.  Seniors take this course because it ties everything together that is learned in other Business courses at Grove City College. Business Policy and Strategy is definitely a course that should motivate you to look forward to your senior year as a Business major!

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The Safest Campus

Grove City College

As a senior in high school, I remember being slightly afraid to come to college. I did not know how safe the campuses would be because they were in towns and cities that I did not know. I originally wanted to go to the University of Pittsburgh, but one reason that I chose to come to Grove City College is because of the safety and security of the college. As a senior, I can say without hesitation that there has never been a minute where I did not feel safe while on campus. The College is very safe, and it is one of those places where you could leave your wallet somewhere and it would be there three hours later, untouched. Considering how unsafe many colleges are, it is so important that Grove City is as safe as it is. The campus and the parking lots are well-lit and there are emergency call boxes located all around campus. There are Campus Safety vehicles constantly driving around to check on things. There is barely ever an incident report at the College.

Not only is the College a very safe place to be, but also the town is very safe. The town of Grove City is very quiet and has a low crime rate. There have been evenings that I have gone out for a walk and did not feel afraid at all. The people that live in town are kind and the community as a whole is very safe. In fact, the crime rate of Grove City is only 1/1,000. Since I am a young, female, college student, it makes me feel very safe to know that the campus is a safe place and that the community is a quiet. Overall, the campus is small and quaint and there are many reasons as to why Grove City College is special and unique. I recently asked several of my friends if they felt safe at Grove City College, and every one of them replied without hesitation, “Yes!”. My one friend said, “As a 21 year old college female, there has not been a second where I was afraid or even concerned about my safety at Grove City. It is one of the benefits of going to college in the country- I love being safe and the more I think about it, the more I am thankful that I chose Grove City. At other colleges, it is quite different.” I can confidently say that if you come to Grove City College, you will feel safe and at home, which is very important to many college students.

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Interning at a Mom and Pop Shop

As a Business major, I used to think that the best thing that you could put on your resume is that you interned at a large corporate company. I believe that many college students think that that they need to work at a big company in order to gain quality experience. However, I interned at a small mom and pop shop this summer and I gained wonderful experience and learned many new skills.

The name of the company that I interned at is called At Home Senior Services and it is a non-medical home health care company located in Pittsburgh. It is owned by a husband and a wife, so I really appreciated the closeness of the relationships that I made within the internship. Since I interned at a small company, I was able to express my ideas because they were very open to new ideas. The job was flexible, and I got to test out a lot of different ideas. I loved that I was not given a “to-do list” each day. Instead, I was able to brainstorm my own ideas for marketing the company to both clients and caregivers.

Interning at a small company allows you to be creative, and you also are given one-on-one advice and training from the bosses. Not only did I learn many different marketing skills and ideas, but also I was able to spend a lot of time talking to my boss. This allowed me to gain first-hand business experience from a businessman himself. Overall, I was very pleased with my internship this summer, and it helped me to learn that I would work much better in a smaller, private business than in a corporate setting. I would not have known that if I did not intern. Interning allows you to discover what you like and what you do not like, so that you can get a better idea of what path you want to take after college.

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Internship Business Learnings

This summer, I had my first internship. I interned in marketing at a business in Pittsburgh called At Home Senior Services. At Home Senior Services is a non-medical home health care company. At first, I had no idea what I was going to do and what I was going to learn. I was afraid and nervous because it was a new experience for me. Not only did I learn many practical skills, but I learned many business skills that you cannot learn in a classroom.

An internship is great because you get to apply what you have been learning in college to an actual business. I loved that I was able to be hands-on in the company. I learned how to work with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is one of the most challenging skills that I learned. SEO, in a nutshell, is how you best optimize your website and your posts so that they are successful within search engines. I also was able to participate in many conference calls and other virtual meetings. My boss assigned me projects so that I was able to learn business skills such as telephone skills, negotiation skills, and communication skills.

I learned a lot about how a business operates and all of the different functions of a business. Even though it was a marketing internship, I was able to learn a lot about Human Resourses by interviewing applications on my own. I also learned how to recruit employees and how to best market our business to both employees and clients. I learned a lot of practical business skills that I never could have learned in a classroom. I really enjoyed the hands-on application of the marketing skills that I have learned because it was the first time in my life that I could actually apply what I learned at Grove City College to the business world.

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A Glance of Pledge Week

Pledge week is a lot of fun for students at Grove City College. It is the process of becoming a member of a Greek group. The Beta Sigma fraternity was founded in 1922. Its colors are red, which represents loyalty, black, which represents strength, and white, which represents pride. The fraternity has 4 main symbols, the bulldog, the handshake, the brick, and the stars, which all symbolize something different. The Beta Sigma Fraternity holds 2 main events a year, the Monster Mash and Professor Preach off. David Bereck, the pledge master (PM) for the Beta Sigma Fraternity, says that it is a week that “unites the pledges with the fraternity as brothers of Christ”. It is a week of building relationships, community, and commitment to the group. A PM is one member of the sorority or fraternity that leads pledge week. He (or she), is in charge of making the schedule of events, attending the events, and leading the rushes from task to task. The PM must act a certain character for the week. He is to act scary and intimidating so that the rushes can build a tighter bond and endure the week together. David says that the most difficult part of being PM is acting the part and not breaking down and helping the guys out. Each morning, the pledges have a time of devotion together before breakfast. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they attend chapel together. Each evening, they have dinner together, usually with a different sorority each night. The purpose of this is to meet new people who are also involved in Greek life. Throughout the week, pledges must complete certain tasks that are created by the PM. They can be anything from counting the number of cars in the parking lot to presenting a five-minute presentation about the difference between bread and toast. It is a week of endurance, fun, and loyalty. At the end, it is all worth it because you have life-long brothers or sisters.

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The Extra Credit Opportunity That Influenced My Business Career

When a professor announces that there is a guest speaker extra credit opportunity, it usually does not matter who the speaker is or what the speaker is going to talk about. Most students attend simply to get the points in hopes of helping their grade in the class. One of my Marketing Professors, Professor Havrilla, announced in my Market Research class that there was an upcoming extra credit guest speaker opportunity. The next day, I went to the designated room and I did not even take the time to investigate who the speaker was or what he was going to talk about. Like many students, I just figured I would attend for the points. Within a minute after the speaker was introduced, I was highly intrigued. The speaker was Jack Kopnisky, a 1978 Grove City College Alumni. Dr. Kopnisky is from Manhattan and is the President and CEO of Sterling Bancorp. He has a successful history of transforming businesses.

Under his leadership, Sterling Bancorp grew from $3.2 billion in assets in 2011 to $32 billion in assets in 2018 (my.gcc.edu). Needless to say, he is a pretty successful guy. He offered some business advice and centered his presentation around those topics. He listed a few attributes that all successful people are, and it was very fascinating to hear. He said that successful people work harder than everyone else. Successful people read everything and keep up with current world events. Successful people are never satisfied; they always want to find ways to grow and improve. Successful people set goals. Successful people make things happen. The advice and insight that Dr. Kopnisky offered was so inspiring and it changed the way that I go about daily life as a business major. It changed the way that I view challenges and it inspired me to work harder than ever. I will always keep the things he said in the back of my mind as I go into my business career next year. So next time you can get some extra credit, my advice is to appreciate the opportunity and try to learn something from it. You never know when something is going to impact you and your career.

 

 

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What is a Teacher’s Assistant?

College is a busy few years. Between schoolwork, sports, clubs, and Greek life, many students have trouble managing a schedule, and having a job is not even a thought. Being a teacher’s assistant is a flexible and rewarding job. A teacher’s assistant is a student that helps a professor with grading assignments, such as homework and papers. It is a pleasant college job because you often do not have to be present somewhere for a set schedule. Often, the professor hands you a stack of homework to grade with an answer key and you can do it from the comfort of your own dorm. All you need to do is keep track of your hours and log them into the system. It is often even therapeutic and rewarding to not only feel like you are accomplishing something while getting paid, but you are helping a professor that has a lot of his plate as well.

Professors are very appreciative of students who offer their time to help them with their coursework. The job also allows you to form a stronger connection with the professor. It is often refreshing after a long day of classes to meet up with the professor for a few minutes to go over some work and maybe even chat about life. It is an enjoyable job because it is flexible and often professors are very lenient on deadlines. It is rare that I have been told that something needs done by tomorrow and that it is urgent. Usually, there is little pressure to complete your assignments because professors understand that like them, we are busy too. It is a relatively easy and enjoyable way to earn some extra cash while being a college student.