Concentration Paper

I chose Colorado State University because I knew I was interested in the study of business. So where better to go than CSU with one of the top business colleges around? I also chose Colorado State because Fort Collins is only about 3 hours away from my hometown, Steamboat Springs. This let me get away from home while still being close enough that I could visit if I needed to. It is new and interesting but I am comfortable here because I can always go home for a break if I need to.

I chose being a business major because I was interested in event planning; that was what originally led me to this decision. As I kept learning about it, I realized that I just may be suited for business in general and not just event planning. In the end, even if I don't follow through with event planning there are so many other ventures and opportunities that will come my way with a business degree. So, I chose it because it is a unique and fulfilling degree for after college.

I know one other person in the class as of now. Her name is Monica Weinhoeft and she is also a business major. I met her at orientation because she was my roommate for that night. We signed up for classes together because we have the same academic advisor because of our last names. Little did we know that we signed up for the same section of Business 100 and we saw each other from across the room on the first day!

As for the business college faculty, I know of four so far. I know Melissa Luna because over the summer we talked via email about internships concerning event planning. I know Kathy Thornhill because she is my academic advisor. I know Susan Athey because she is my new Business 100 teacher. Finally, I know Candace Ryder because she is my new Business 150 teacher. I hope to get to know more of the faculty at Rockwell though!

As of now I don't really know about Studying Abroad, but then again I haven't really explored that option! It does sound interesting so I would have to look into it more first.

Of the common business publications out there I have never heard of Fortune or Forbes Small Business. I have heard of but never read Business Week, Forbes, The Economist, BBC, and the Wall Street Journal. The Denver Post is the only publication that I have read and flipped through before.

My questions about CSU, the Business College, picking a concentration, being successful in college include the following: If I want to graduate in 4 years what is the best way to find out what I love sooner than later so I don't have to keep switching majors? Is double majoring a good idea if you are an indecisive person? What is the best way to get to know people fast and find people that could be life long friends? How will I ever know what business concentration to pick (there are so many!)? Is studying every night the best practice? Is starting homework and papers when they are assigned the best habit to go by?

As a human you just can't be good at everything, just like you can't be bad at everything either. You are never going to know another person as well as you know yourself and after 19 years of living you get pretty familiar with your good attributes and your bad ones. When someone asks me what I'm good at and what my good traits are I would say being priority driven, organized, articulate, witty, kind and a deep thinker at times. When my weaknesses are brought up you're likely to hear things like shy when first meeting people, indecisive, anxious about getting behind, thinking too much about certain situations and admittedly making mountains out of mole hills. Now if I just had all strengths, what kind of person would I be? Not a very normal one at all. So, in the end you are always going to have weaknesses and be flawed but all you can do is try and work on improving those weaknesses.

Out of the six concentrations I am either drawn to them, don't know much about them or just have no interest at all! I have no interest in Accounting. Discipline, financial tracking and math have never been my strong suit or something I have enjoyed either. By definition accounting is the process of recording, measuring, interpreting and communicating financial data. Accountants prepare statements for people and I am simply not prepared to do that. After college I want to love what I do, not dread it. That is why accounting is out of the running, concentration-wise. I do believe it's important to know the basics, because after all it could only be helpful but in the end it isn't my concentration of choice.

Management on the other hand, is right up my alley. Under management there is a subconcentration (I guess you could call it) called Innovation and Organization Management. This sounds like it includes a good mix of the business side of things while also letting you be unique and creative. Event planning was suggested as a career that could come from a business degree with a concentration in management, so I was instantly interested. I don't know the ins and outs of event planning at all, but it wouldn't hurt to explore and I would like to do that these next to semesters here at CSU!

The concentration of Finance could lead to jobs like commercial banking, corporate finance, financial planning, insurance, investment banking and more. These are very important jobs to have... for someone. I feel like I am not the best with money so maybe hiring a financial planner for myself would be much more beneficial then me trying to become one. I wouldn't mind taking finance classes though, no harm could come from it and I would end up taking something away from the class in the end.

Marketing is also at the top of my list concentration-wise. It sounds so creative and very interesting. Off the top of my head, some marketing careers could include advertising, public relations, market research, product management, and retailing. I don't know specifics about any of these but again maybe exploring them might lead me to something I really enjoy! As of now the two concentrations I am most interested in are Management and Marketing so I'd like to do things with both and see where they may lead.

Ah, Computer Information Systems. If you knew me well, you would know that computers might be one of my biggest sources of frustration. Opening this blogging account was a struggle! I would love to be computer savvy but that is about it. I feel like people should know how to make their way around a computer just because now days everyone is so technologically advanced, you need to be able to keep up and understand. Past understanding and keeping up though is all I can muster. Computers are just not my thing. So, a computer informations system concentration is out of the running with me.

Real Estate is the last of the 6 concentrations on the list. This one I am impartial to at the moment, simply because I don't really know all that much about it. If you don't know about something it's best not to judge too quickly because it could end up being great for you. So, real estate may be something I need to check out while earning my business degree. Real estate could lead you to living in lots of very different places which interests me. Travel is something I really appreciate and enjoy!

After taking the Myers-Briggs Self Assessment I found out that I am an ESFJ type personality. I scored slightly expressed extrovert, moderately expressed sensing personality, moderately expressed feeling personality, and moderately expressed judging personality. I think I scored moderate in some cases because lately I have been coming out of my shell so the extrovert piece is changing all the time and a person is ever changing so you can't always expect certain traits to be extreme or even what you expected.

The careers that an ESFJ may be well-suited for are management, public administration, sales or marketing, fashion merchandising and social work. All of which sound spot on and interesting to me! I was surprised that these all came up , because earlier in this same blog I mentioned how they already interested me. So I'd say the test is a good tool you can use for determining more about your personality! After taking this test I also realized I must know myself pretty well to at least having a good idea of what I like at this point.