Distractions while Studying

So, today is my last final....woohoo! This is our accounting final, and it is comprehensive over the whole semester. While studying for several hours, I seem to get distracted by reading other blogs, checking facebook, or watching funny videos. While studying for my accounting exam, I decided to take a little break and watch a few "weird news" videos from msnbc.com. There are usually crazy and funny videos from around the World. Little did I know that I would come to find a video that was not only about the University of Arkansas, but a friend of mine is the reporter on the story.

Two University of Arkansas freshmen were caught buying reptiles online and keeping them within their dorm rooms, with the intent to sell them online. The two students were fined not only for violating the "no pets" policy in the University of Arkansas dorm room, but also for the intent to sell the reptiles without a license. If you want to read more on the story, check it on msnbc.com.

Now I guess I should get back to studying. This test and a marketing research project report is all that stands in my way of Christmas Break. :)

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break is over...back to school I go. It is Sunday night, and I am up at school working on one of my last projects. I can't wait for these next two weeks to be over with! My Thanksgiving break was wonderful, but definitely too short. I went home, which is Harrison, Arkansas for 4 days. My brothers and sister, and their kids all came home as well. It is rare for all of us to be in the same place all at once, so I value the time I get to spend with my family.

We celebrated my niece & nephews 1st birthday on Friday. Their birthday was actually November 6th, but this past week was the first time we were all together so we had a birthday party for them. I bought them both cakes from Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville before I went home last week. (Their cakes are AMAZING if you are looking for a good bakery in town) This was really cute because we put bibs on them and let them have it on their cakes. Here are some pictures of them with their cakes. Matthew LOVED his, as you can see from the pictures. He managed to get cake everywhere. Madison, on the other hand, was much more careful with her cake and did not like getting it all over her hands.

This picture is of my four adorable nieces and nephews: Macy(3), Jack(19 Months), Madison(1) and Matthew(1). My mom bought them matching PJ's so we could get some good pictures for the Christmas card. As you can imagine, it is tough getting 4 young kids to take a picture together!

Well, better get back to working on my project! I just have to keep telling myself we only have 2 more weeks.... :)

Crunch Time!

As I said in my last blog, this is when the year gets really crazy and intense. I have 3 presentations I am currently working on and a couple tests I am preparing for in the next couple weeks. Thanksgiving could not come at a better time! I am ready for a little bit of a break so I can see my family, get some sleep, and prepare for the last few weeks of school.

Presentations started Monday in our Management class. So far, the presentations have been great. We were put into groups at the beginning of the year. In these groups, we have discussed and completed 5 case studies over the semester. The other group assignment we are responsible for is to complete an HR Plan for a fictitious company. Three groups presented on Monday, two presented today, and two will present on Monday of next week. We have heard HR plans from Duff Beer to the ever so famous Snuggie to "Lame Busters"(a party planning company that helps parties to be "not lame"). We have lots of creativity in our class which makes these presentations very interesting. My group will present on Monday, which I am looking forward because it will be one more thing checked off my list!

Other presentations and projects I am working on are: Marketing Research Survey Analysis Project and a Shopper Buyer Sustainability Project. My marketing research group has been working on getting surveys completed by undergraduate and graduate students. We have around 100 surveys completed, and are starting the analysis process of the project this week. Our surveys are looking at how consumers perceive the new Great Value packaging, and how the package appearance influences their purchases. As for our Shopper Buyer presentation, we are looking at what countries are doing differently as far as sustainability. Also, how much the government is involved, what people think, and so on. It has been pretty interesting so far, and I will be sharing the results in a future blog.

We have one more accounting project that is due in a couple weeks, but fortunately we do not have to give a presentation.Hopefully I can be really productive over Thanksgiving break and get some stuff done! This is probably the first time I have ever been excited about having a break from school, so I can have time to work on school...wow.

What a Week!

This has by far been the craziest week of my semester so far. I had an accounting project due Monday, Memo due on Monday, had to print out 100 surveys and have them filled out, marketing research assignment, marketing paper, and a 2nd interview where I had to prepare a 10 minute presentation about myself. On top of all that, I had 10 hours of Professional Development class that I had to complete. Phew! It is a good thing my GA is very flexible!

The interview I had went very well. It is for an external GA position that would start right away. This would be such a great experience. We are supposed to find out by Tuesday. I am looking forward to finding out! This next week is going to be pretty busy as well. I have a couple presentations that I need to work on. I would like to get them done this next week before we leave for Thanksgiving Break. I know that if I do not get my stuff done, then I will be working on them instead of spending valuable time with my family!

Is it really November 3rd?

I can't believe it is November 3rd! This semester has gone by SOOOO fast! This is when things start to get really hectic. I guess that explains why I spent my Sunday up at school, trying to get stuff done. This weekend ended up being a pretty great weekend. Friday night, Austin Bray, a fellow MBA classmate had a Halloween party at his house. Quite a few people came and we had a really good time! Austin even gave out prizes for the best costumes. He was such a great host!

Saturday was Homecoming and the Hogs played East Michigan. Hogs won pretty easily, 63 to 27. I went to the game with my parents, their friends, and my boyfriend. Before the game, we ate lunch at Hog Haus then tailgated for a couple hours. I love being able to see my family on the weekends, since they live pretty close to Fayetteville. Here is a pic of my and my boyfriend, Justin, and a pic of my mom and dad.

I wish I could have spent Halloween with my nieces and nephews, but my sister sent pics to me so I could see their costumes. My sister's children, Madison and Matthew, were monkeys. They are turning 1 this Friday! They are so sweet, and I love when I am able to get away to see them! My brother's children, Macy(3) and Jack(18 months), live in Fayetteville, but I was unable to see them on Halloween. I was unable to get a pic of Jack, because he is in that stage where it is impossible to get a picture of him! Jack was Buzz Lightyear, and Macy was a doctor. Here are pictures of Macy, Madison, and Matthew.

Wednesday Night Fun

We have started a little tradition in the MBA class. Every Wednesday night, a bunch of us get together and have a game night. It is a fun way for us to get to know each other, and give us a break from thinking about exams, projects, and homework. We are going to rotate it for those who want to host each week. This week, I had the pleasure of hosting it, and we had so much fun. Some students bring friends along, who we all have gotten to know through one another. There were about 20 people at my house this past Wednesday night. Here are some pics!

We had a battle of the sexes, and played catch phrase: boys vs. girls. Girls won! :) We also played Apples to Apples and Loaded Questions. Tonight is the MBA Open House and Social. I am helping with it at 5 then going to the Social to mingle with everyone. Tomorrow, I am going to Russellville to see my sister and her twins. We are going to go to the Henderson vs. Arkansas Tech football game. It is alumni weekend at Henderson, and my sister is a graduate from there. She needs help with the twins, so I volunteered to help her out. Her husband, Ryan, is also a football coach for Arkansas Tech, which is another reason we are going to the game. GO Tech! Hogs play tomorrow against Ole Miss. Should be a good game! Hopefully, we will have better refs than we did last week against Florida. GO HOGS!

Great weekend followed by a busy week!

This weekend ended up being a pretty great weekend! I was sick all last week, so since I was feeling a little better, I was able to get out and do a few things. Friday night, my boyfriend Justin and I went to Little Rock to watch Robin Williams live. I bought the tickets for him in March for his birthday, which was in May. However, Robin Williams had heart surgery and had to reschedule his tour to this fall. The wait was definitely worth it because he was hilarious, and we had such a great time!

We came back to Fayetteville Friday night, so we could be up and ready to go to the Razorback game. We ended up staying in and watching the game from the couch. It was such a great game! The Hogs pulled it out wining 44-23 over the Auburn Tigers. Hopefully we can keep the momentum and win out the rest of the season!

This week is going to be a little crazy because I am trying to play catch up from being sick last week. Today I made up my Management exam. Tomorrow I have my Marketing Research Exam, and then Wednesday I will have my Ethics Final. On top of that, I was in the library all day yesterday finishing up some GA work and have group meetings all week long. I'm already worn out and it's only MONDAY! On top of class, I have a phone interview this afternoon for an external GA, Realtime Economics Professional Development class on Tuesday, and an MBA Etiquette dinner Thursday, which is also a requirement. I can't wait for this week to be over! :)

Wooooo Pig Sooieeeee!

This past weekend, the Razorbacks took on the Texas A&M Aggies in Dallas, TX. The game was in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The Hogs did great and pulled out a victory 47 to 19. The new stadium was AMAZING. The drive to Dallas from Fayetteville is about 5 hours, which is not too bad. I went with 5 other MBA classmates, and we had a really good time. We were able to meet up with some other friends in our class and tailgate. Here are some pictures from our tailgate and inside the stadium.

This is a picture of the Arkansas end zone. Our seats were on the 20th row in the end zone of the student section. It was awesome!

Some of the boys before the game: Rishi, Vijay, and Brant!


The stadium with the gloomy clouds above. It rained on us pretty much all day while we were tailgating, but we still managed to have a good time!

This weekend the Hogs take on Auburn at home. The game is at 11 AM, so it looks like we will be getting up early to tailgate! Go HOGS!

RIO 2016!

"LIVE YOUR PASSION"

The decision is in and the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!!!! I am really excited about this for several reasons. First of all, I spent part of my summer studying abroad in Rio, and fell in love with the city, the culture, and the people. Some people might think this is crazy, but I loved every bit of it. There are concerns that Rio is too dangerous of a city to hold the Olympics. However, not once did I feel threatened during my stay. I think this is an amazing opportunity for the city. While studying abroad, we were to do a project on some aspect of Brazil, which could be the economy, infrastructure, culture, or anything that we could get approved by our professor. My group decided to do our presentation on the "Economic impact of Rio holding the 2016 Olympics."

Here are some interesting statistics regarding Rio and their bid:

• Rio has had 4 unsuccessful bids: 1936, 1940, 2004, 2012



• Advantages for Rio : 5th largest economy by 2016, Hosting 2016 World Cup, Party Atmosphere is appealing, Favorable time zones for broadcasters



• Disadvantages: Crime Concern, Accommodations, and Transportation



• Rio's Budget: 14.2 Billion- 56% of the venues are already in place. Several improvements to transportation system and creation of Olympic Village ( Olympic Village Proposal Picture below)

Lots to do!

Its Tuesday, and it feels like I have been in school for more than just one day! It is that time of the semester when things are starting to get really busy. Yesterday, I had 2 classes and then a Retail Seminar about shopper marketing and social media. This was very interesting because we discussed the impact social networks, such as facebook and twitter have on marketing. I have a facebook account, but I never have understood the big deal about twitter...So, I thought I should check it out. I can't say I have actually "tweeted" yet, but we will have to see. If you would like to follow me on twitter, my username is jessicamaland.

This morning, I had my marketing classes. In shopper buyer, we are now discussing the cultural paradigm and reading the book "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell. I am really enjoying this class because it is very different from any marketing class I have ever taken. After Shopper Buyer, I had my marketing research class. In this class, we are working on our surveys for our market research project. My group is researching the consumers perception a certain private label's packaging, old vs. new. I am interested to see how other consumers feel about the new packaging and if it has affected their purchase habits.

Realtime Economics is about to start with Professor Kali. This is a professional development course that takes place every other week on Tuesday afternoons. We discuss the current economy and our views. I really enjoyed our class discussions last semester in his class, so I knew that this professional development course would be interesting.

Let the Group Meetings Begin..

This is the first week I have had to get together, outside of class, with my groups. Last semester it seems as if I was with my group every week at least 2 or 3 times. However, last semester, we had the same group in every class. Therefore, we would meet several times a week for different projects we were working on. We had to meet every week to discuss our decisions for our Markstrat Simulation decisions. Toward the end of the semester it was almost every day that we got together, since we had presentations in almost every class to prepare. This semester is a little different since we are all doing different tracks.



Last night I met with my Management group to discuss a case and put together a 2 page summary that is due Wednesday. This afternoon, I met for a few minutes with my Marketing Research group to discuss our survey questions that are due on Thursday. We are going to work on it individually, and hopefully come together tomorrow to finalize our first draft of questions. We also have an accounting assignment that is due tomorrow, which we have broken the assignment into parts that everyone is supposed to work on and we will put it together tonight. Phew, after all this group work I am going to be ready for the weekend, which starts Thursday!

What a weekend it will be, too! I have a big weekend trip planned to go to VEGAS! I am so excited and I can't wait! I am going with 7 of my cousins on my mom's side(all girls from 21 to 28). We have tickets to see "O" which I am SO excited about! I just need to stay focused to get all my stuff done for class, and then Thursday afternoon, I can forget about school for a few days for a much needed break! :)

Worn out by Wednesday

I can't believe it is already Wednesday. This week has flown by because we have been so busy. The networking social went really well Monday night. Since I did not have an internship this summer and did not have a poster to present, I was able to walk around and talk to a few prospective students. I really enjoyed talking to them and answering questions they had about the program. There were also some employers there, which I was able to talk with as well. Yesterday, we had the career fair, which went pretty well. I gave my resume to 5 companies, and I have applied for a few different jobs online.

A few of my classmates and myself were talking about how the past few days has really worn us out. On top of class, the networking social, and the career fair, we have had to squeeze in a retail seminar on Monday and real time economics course with Dr. Kali. Both of these courses go toward our Professional Development hours we are required to complete each semester. We must have 48 hours by May 2010. I completed 16 hours last semester, and I believe I will complete 24 hours this semester. As well as Professional Development hours, we are also required to have 10 speaker series credits. Last semester, I received 2 credits. The Walton College has several speaker events each month, so I will have no problem getting several credits this semester.

So after we get done with all the stuff above, we have to manage time to fit in working at our Graduate Assistantships and study. Something else that I have been involved in the past 8 weeks is called NWA bootcamp. Some of my classmates think I am crazy for this because it involves me waking up at 4:30AM every morning. I got involved with it over the summer, and I have really enjoyed it. It is an intense hour long workout with a group of 30 women and 2 trainers. We do everything from running, drills, free weight exercises, and ab workouts. Each session is 4 weeks long. Tomorrow will be my last day of the second session. 8 weeks of waking up at 4:30 has definitely taken a toll on me. I thought about doing the camp for another 4 weeks, but I think my body needs a break. It makes for a long day when I am up till 2AM working on homework, then getting up 2 and 1/2 hours later to workout. I am looking forward to a day of rest this afternoon! Happy Wednesday!

These next few weeks!

Last Friday, my fellow classmates who had internships this summer, gave presentations over what they did during their summer internships. Myself, and 3 other students, did not participate in these presentations since we chose to study abroad. I am disappointed that I did not get to participate in this competition, but I am still able to go to the networking event that will be held Monday, September 14th, where one of 6 finalists will be announced as the winner.

The following day, Tuesday, September 15th, I will attend the career fair here that is held in Walker Hall. I am looking forward to this because now is the time we should be looking for jobs to begin after we graduate in May. There are several companies attending the career fair that I am interested in talking to, so I will be doing some research this weekend to see what available positions they have right now.

Today I have a mock interview with the Career Center. The Career Center sets these up for us so we can practice our interview skills with actual employers from various companies. Hopefully this will benefit me, and teach me what I need to improve on during interviews.

This week has gone by so fast since it is only a 3 day class week! After class tomorrow, I am going to head home to see my family. Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom! She spent her birthday taking care of my 10 month old (twins!) niece and nephew, because they were sick and couldn't go to daycare. I am looking forward to going home and spending some time with my family. I have quite a bit of work to catch up on in my classes, so I figure I will be working on a couple papers and doing lots of reading!

Go Hogs!

So, week 1 is done and week 2 is halfway there. So far so good. I am really enjoying all of my classes, and I think it is going to be a pretty good year. It is hard to stay focused this week because all I can think about is this weekend, since it is the beginning of FOOTBALL SEASON! The Hogs play in Little Rock this weekend against Missouri State. There are quite a few of us making the trip down to tailgate and cheer on the hogs. University of Arkansas students have it made when it comes to football tickets. We are able to get tickets to all the Razorback home games (Fayetteville and Little Rock) for $1 each. It is a pretty nice deal, which I hope all students take advantage of this while they can.



One more thing about me, which you probably can tell by this blog, is that I am a HUGE Razorback fan. I love going to all the games, football, basketball, baseball. So, I will probably talk about them quite a bit, and give you my opinion on why I think the SEC and Razorbacks are near and dear to my heart. :) Go Hogs!

First Things First!

Hey and welcome to my blog! First things first, let me tell you a little bit about myself...


My name is Jessica Maland and I am 23 years old. I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas, 75 miles NE of Fayetteville. I graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in General Business and a minor in Marketing. I transferred to the University of Arkansas after completing 2 years at the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway, AR. I originally went to UCA on an athletic scholarship, but later decided that I didn't have enough passion for softball anymore, with the amount of time and effort it required. So, I made the decision to transfer to the University my Junior year, and I have loved it here in Fayetteville ever since! I would consider myself a very outgoing person. I love to be outdoors and spend time with my friends and family.


So, enough about me. Today was the first day back to class! It is hard to believe that the summer is over, and my second semester in the MBA program has begun. Feels like just yesterday I was meeting my fellow classmates through orientation.

This summer we had the choice to study abroad or do an internship. My original plan was to do both, but unfortunately it did not work out that way. I studied abroad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for 4 weeks(which I will talk about in later blogs...only thing i will say now about it is that it was AMAZING). I planned on doing an internship when I returned in mid June, but was unable to find one that would let me start that late.

Day 1 of semester 2 is complete, which was my Management and Accounting classes, that seem to be pretty interesting. Tomorrow I will have my Marketing classes: Consumer & Market Research and Shopper Buyer Behavior. I am looking forward to a great 2nd semester and sharing it with you all!