From Hemmingway to Chinese Newlyweds

There is a strange phenomenon in college student work ethic where the amount an assignment is worth has little correlation with how much it is prioritized. Of course, I would never fall to this standard, so I made sure to make this paper (worth 30% of my grade) a #1 priority the day it was due, up until 2:30 when submissions closed.

"Ode to Business" aka Sandburg's "Chicago"

Let me just start by saying that my love affair with this poem started far before my interest in business. In fact, it began many moons ago when a certain high school teacher demanded I write on an "American Author" lest I be beaten with a standard 3 foot yard stick. Nonetheless, excellent inspiration as you enter the world of business! And maybe a little more student friendly than the Investment Banker's medley "God gave you eyes, plagiarize" - Liar's Poker.

HOG Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;     

Stormy, husky, brawling, 

City of the Big Shoulders:

Emancipation Proclamation of 2012

So, I am proud to announce that after some time-spatial negotiations, Mr. Williamson and I have finally agreed to meet on Dec 18th for my day of passage into the world of mortgage lending. In the past couple months I’ve had to exercise extreme persistence in contacting schools for SIFE projects, dishing out thank-you notes and queries to my interviewers, and guilt tripping tennis players to scheduled matches. So, I have to say it is a bit of a mind-bender when James Williamson, VP of Fairfield Production, somehow finds the time to respond in a timely, polite, organized manner to a lowly, slovenly freshman still trying to make his way in the world.

First Interview Impressions

This Wednesday, I was lucky enough to have my first formal interview with PNC Financial Services. I was notified that I had been invited about a week ago, and I flipped. Who knew first-year sophomores could actually get interviews floating their resume through cyberspace? The internship in question was an analyst Summer position that was pretty general, but once accepted, you were sorted into one of their divisions to work. I took interest in their Capital Markets programs since, although PNC doesn't deal in equity, it had related sales work like Loan Syndication and Asset-Backed Securities. So, I signed up for a mock-interview, which went well, and was met with praise for my quick-thinking and confident demeanor. So, what could go wrong?

Economist's Guide to Sex Selection

Today I thought it would be good for me to provide some of the scholarly resources we use in class, so that you, an informed, type A go-getter, can read up and have a basis for some of the posts on this page. :D

"Sex, Ratios, and Economics" "Oh My!"

Now, when I signed up for this Odyssey seminar (1 hour class available on almost any random topic), my understanding of the discourse was somewhere between nada and zilch. But hey! the title had two of my favorite words so I didn't think it could go wrong (*insert laugh-track*). Walking to the first day of class mid-mester felt dismal to say the least, but now that we've gotten into the swing-of-things, I must say that the subject matter has far exceeded my expectations. That being said, I thought I'd be a good neighbor and share a little about it with you.

"I Can't Guaranty Precision?"

Blasphemy! Or maybe just grammatically correct?

*Fun fact*: At first I thought Guaranty was a very unfortunate name for a bank, almost on the level of "Mikenomics" and "Mammoth Erection Scaffolders." Now, this was based on the assumption that "guaranty" was just a bad spin-off of the popular American English form "guarantee." Apparently, I was misinformed. Although a little out-dated, "guaranty" was once the distinct noun form, while "guarantee" was set aside for use as its verb counterpart. Despite this, British and American writers commonly used "guarantee" interchangeably, eventually restricting today's use of "guaranty" to legal documentation. :D
For my source and additional information, check out http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2006/10/05/guaranty-or-guarantee/