Emery's Thoughts

What’s up KD? I hope this blog finds you well. Life is going well, life is finally starting to calm down a little – well, at least the non-academic portion. Today is the first day of school for the KD program for the fall semester; and while I am not getting on a yellow school bus, all of the same emotions are there.

Today’s blog is actually going to deal with one of the emotions that you feel during the first day of school – fear.

One of my favorite quotes is the following quote by Nelson Mandela, by way of Marianne Williamson:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,

but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine,

we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

The reason that I love this quote is because it deals with one of the major issues for people – fear of a new situation. With the start of a new school year, especially if you are coming back to school after being away for a while, it is easy to fear this upcoming semester. Furthermore, during the course of the year, as your academics get more challenging, you may begin to doubt whether or not you can actually complete the coursework.

It is during these times that I encourage you to review this poem. The Kelley Direct program only admits the best of the best applicants from all over the world. Moreover, they would not have admitted you if they did not believe that you could complete the assignments and the work.

It is also during these times that I would encourage you to lean on those people within your support network – your family, friends, fellow classmates, etc. They may not understand your respective challenges, but hopefully their belief in you will fuel your to move forward. And for those of you without that support network, you can lean on me. While I may not know you personally, as a fellow KD student, I believe in and support you. You can make it through this tough time. You can and will do great things.

Well, I hope that’s helpful and uplifting KD! Until next time, I’ll catch you later.

What’s up KD!! I hope this blog finds you well. I am writing to finish up our double feature, as promised. Life is still busy, we have moved, and are about to move again – due to some challenging living conditions. But, we are still up beat and excited about life!

Today’s blog is some tips from my first year in the KD program. I just registered for classes for this coming fall, and it seems nuts that a year has gone by already. But, alas, it has, and with that idea, I figured that I would give you some tips as you prepare for your first year in the KD program.

·         Do the in-residence early!

Due to my career in education, I could not do the in-residence in August, but I really wish that I could have. I wound up doing the in-residence in February, which was great, but some of the information from the in-residence would have been handy during those first couple of quarters.

During the in-residence, you are welcomed to the Kelley Direct program, and meet many of your peers in the program. But, more importantly, you learn about ANGEL, the program your classes are in. You will also get a chance to meet a number of your professors and the other staff in the program. It was invaluable to have faces to go with names in this program – especially with everything being already distance, due to the nature of the program.

·         Figure out your study style.

Whether you are a person who groups assignments around certain days, or like me, someone that does a little every day, you need to figure out your study style and stick to it. I know people in the program who are successful a number of different ways, but I would advocate for doing a little every day. It makes the load more palatable, and is more manageable with a life. I have a family with two small children, so that was the only way that this was going to work for us.

If you are not sure, I would talk to colleagues in the program to see what they do. It might be a little bit of a transition moving back into school, especially if you have been out for a long time. Sometimes, getting advice can be helpful.

·         Understand your plan of study.

Whether you are a dual-degree student, like me, or just going for one degree, you need to make sure that you understand your class schedule. You need to especially understand what classes are offered at which times. If you don’t change your class schedule, you will be fine – but you may determine that you want to take different classes at different times.

Moreover, if you are a dual degree student, you really need to understand the plan of study, because it will allow you to take your dual degree classes to meet electives in your primary program. This is what I am doing with the MBA/MSSM degree.

·         Connect your class work to your everyday job.

This is the tip that is the most valuable on this entire list. Even if it is not the easiest fit, connecting your current job with your class work will make the class work much, much more interesting. I can understand if you have to strain a little to make it work, much like I had to with my job and operations management this past quarter, but you have to do your best.

If you are successful, not only will the class work seem more relative, you will be in much better position to work with other departments or individuals, as you will be able to speak their language. The best example I have of this is my experience in the finance/accounting course. My ability to get and apply those concepts made my conversations with the finance people in our department much different. They began to understand that they could not “talk over my head”. So, we greatly improved our communication – and it worked wonders.

Well, I hope that’s helpful KD! Until next time, I’ll catch you later.

What’s up KD!! It’s been a while since I have been able to write you. There has been a lot going on in the life. So much that – you are getting a double feature this time around! I’m going to write this blog – and am I’m going to work to get a 2^nd one out to you this month.

This blog is about my job search. I just finished searching for a job in the field of Education, as I work in Housing in the University setting. My new position is an Assistant Director of Residence Life for Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In this role, I am responsible for supervising an environment that houses 1600 students. It’s going to be a great fit – I have already enjoyed my first week here.

For those of you that are looking for a new position, or a position in general, here are a few tips that I gathered during my experience that were really helpful .

·         Looking for a new job is a job!

Between interviewing, looking for positions, networking, following up on leads, and travelling – looking for a job became my 2^nd job. It took a lot of time, dedication, and follow up to make it happen. Furthermore, you need to have multiple plans for finding a position. I have degrees in education, business, and computer science, and created plans for finding positions all three areas. If you want to move up, in, or on, you need to put time and effort into finding a position. If you are not spending 15-20 hours a week looking, then you are not really trying.

·         Use your contacts and networks

This is often a repeated mantra in KD, but it is so true. I got my current position, in part, because I knew the people that I was interviewing with. It helped that I’m competent, and have a great attitude, but it started because I knew the people well. If you are not looking for a job, spend the time investing in meeting and getting to know others in your field. If you are looking for a job, use those contacts that you have gathered over time to figure out how to get information about positions that might be coming open soon.

·         Make sure your personal brand is strong!

This is a term from my marketing course – but it means that you need to make sure that you have a good reputation throughout the interview process. You need to make sure that you look good in all forms – paper, speech, and in-person. It is a great idea to have others review your resume and/or do a mock interview with you. For this, the KD Graduate Career Services is a great help. Dave Thompson, and his staff, did a great job in helping me get ready for my search.

·         Be patient

It is widely believed that when you are looking for a promotion, you need to give 3-6 months to find a position. This is an extremely long time. My job search process started last November, when I concretely decided to find a new position, and finished in June when I accepted the position that I just started. That is 8 months!! Therefore, you have to understand that this is a process, which will take time to happen.

Well, I hope that’s helpful KD!  Until next time, I’ll catch you later!!

What’s up KD? I hope that this blog finds you well…

Life right now is a little in limbo; I’m in the middle of a job search. But, the school year is over, so things are quiet, and after a long year – that’s a good thing.

For today’s blog, I figured that I would talk about something that’s really passionate for me – reading!! I’m a pretty voracious reader; and normally, I am reading business management books. My favorite authors are Chip and Dan Heath, Patrick Lencioni, and John Maxwell – not necessarily in that order. I figured I would share why I got into reading, how I get it done with a full time job and family, and my top 5 business management books.

I have always had a love for reading in general. It started when I was growing up with the Book IT! program at  our local library. With this program, kids could read books and get credit towards a free personal pan pizza from a local Pizza Hut. This was a great program – and what little kid doesn’t love pizza?

Well, that’s what got me started reading, and after graduate school I picked up business management books. After completing my first Master’s degree, I really wanted a greater understanding of how to develop myself as an administrator and lead within an organization.  I stumbled upon John Maxwell’s 21 Laws of Leadership – and a passion was set ablaze. Since then, about 10 years ago, I have read somewhere around 300-400 books on leadership and business management. In fact, I’m so addicted that I actually listen to them in the car on my way to work.

When I talk with friends, both new and old – they ask me how I get so much reading done. I’m an MBA/MSSM student, husband, father of 2 toddlers, and I work full time. Well, I leave the books in my bathroom. I commit myself to reading a chapter a day, and that’s how I get it done. I have found that the bathroom is one of the few places that people will not bother you, so I am able to really get some major reading done in that space. So, there’s my secret, lol…

As for the selection of my top 5 books, I have to admit that I have read so many that it’s hard to pick 5. However, I will give it a shot. Most of my top 5 are books that I use in my work. I have found that by using the knowledge that I gain from each of these books in some small area makes me more likely to actually remember what I read.

So, here’s my top 5:

1. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
2. 4 Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni
3. Switch by Chip and Dan Heath
4. 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
5. The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell

Well, there you go. I hope that you are able to get some reading done on your own!! Until next time, catch you later KD!!
 

What’s up KD? I hope that this message finds you well.

It’s been a month – so I figured I’d drop in, and say hello. Things for me are going okay, just busy. I’m in the middle of looking for a new job, working my old job, being a parent, and being a KD student. So, as you can imagine – I have really appreciated the flexibility of KD this past month.

As for this blog, I figure that I would give you some advice on financial aid – since it’s that time of the year. Right now, I pay for KD with a combination of employee contributions and federal loans. It is a good package – not the best, but I am definitely grateful for all of the support that I get.

I know that if any of you are like me, you wondered how you would be able to pay for an MBA – especially if your company doesn’t pay for it. Here are a couple of things to know that have been helpful for me.

•   Fill out a FAFSA.

• Talk to your Human Resources Department.

• Understand your financial award.

Well, those are just my tips. I hope that you find them helpful. Until next time, I’ll catch you later KD.

Hey Kelley Direct!!

I hope this blog finds you well. My name is Emery Jordan, and I am a first year student in the Master of Business Administration/Masters of Strategy Management program. I, actually, also work at Indiana University in the department of Residential Programs and Services as a Residence Manager.  In this role, I directly and/or indirectly supervisor close to 40 people, a budget of $4 million, and creating a positive healthy living environment for the residents of my area.

I actually already have Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, along with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I decided to go back to get my MBA at Kelley for a few reasons. First, I had always dreamed of getting an MBA – but my career path dictated a different initial Master’s degree. Since I worked at one of the best MBA granting institution in the country – I figured it was a no brainer to try to get on from here.

Second, the online KD program is really convenient for my lifestyle. I am also married with two wonderful children – Jalen (2 years old) and Gabriella (11 months old). So, having the flexibility to do work at my own pace during a week was extremely important. Moreover, my job is very time demanding at different times of the year for long stretches – so the added flexibility was a necessity.

Finally, I really believe that getting an MBA would help me in any career that I was interested in. Working in higher education now, it gives me a great foundation for understanding how to apply business principles in this field. While the natural ties between the business world and higher education are hidden, we are work with millions of dollars, plan for the long term future of an organization, and/or deal with supervision of several people and groups of people, among other things – all business issues. Moreover, I really loved the options that it gave me for working outside of the field of higher education. I am really starting to understand myself and my interests much better through the lens of this experience.

Outside of MBA stuff, I am an avid reader and athlete. I especially love weightlifting and basketball – they do a good job of helping me work off some of the desserts that I love to eat. As for reading, I love business management texts – and I’m sure that I talk about them a lot in the blog, I’m always reading something.

Well, this is my first ever blog and it was fun. I look forward to sharing my experience with you all out there in internet land…

Catch you later, KD.