Semester Activity Guide

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Semester Activity Guide
Term-by-Term Tips You can't wake up the second
semester of your senior year and decide you're
going to follow the principles in this book. It's
too late. The party is over. An analogy used by
the noted author and speaker Dr. Stephen Covey is
the Law of the Harvest. The same principle holds
true here. Attempting to accomplish a lot of the
principles and objectives spelled out in this
book at the very end of your college career would
be similar to a farmer planting his corn in
August and expecting a good crop in October. He
can pull all-nighters, fertilizing and watering
the crops, giving it 100 to try to catch up.
Even though you're probably not a farmer, I bet
you're not surprised that this plan won't work
too well for him. It's common sense. Okay then,
since success in college is a building process, a
bit like growing corn, how can you expect to do
well unless you make the effort early and
consistently throughout your years there? You
can't. I promise you. It just won't work. Okay,
enough with the sermons. Here's the schedule.
It's just a guideline, but it will provide you
with some important insight. I've done it based
on a semester schedule. If you're on quarters,
you'll need to make some minor mental
adjustments, but the principles still apply.
FRESHMAN YEAR - SEMESTER 1 First and foremost,
get your feet planted firmly on the ground. This
is your opportunity to get adjusted. Don't be
fooled into thinking you can fall behind and
catch up later. You can't. About 1 out of 8
students never successfully complete this
semester. Your goal here is not to see how many
nights in a row you can party. You will find many
people who will tell you it is. Get to know them
while you can. They won't be there next semester.
As you settle in, begin to look for a couple of
organizations to join, not run, just join. Find
out when fraternity and sorority rush are held.
They will be held either once or twice a year. If
you're interested in potentially joining, you
won't want to miss the dates. Other
organizations you might want to pursue may be
related to your major or a hobby interest you
have. On-campus bulletin boards and the student
newspaper are also excellent ways to learn about
extracurricular opportunities. And, if I
haven't mentioned it lately, college is the big
leagues. Study hard or you're going to get
buried. FRESHMAN YEAR - SEMESTER 2 Okay, you
survived. Good for you. Now, where to go from
here? If your grades aren't what they need to be,
look hard at ... The level of effort you've
truly given, Your time management, and The
quality of your study technique. Don't give up.
You can do it. Begin to get involved on campus.
As I mentioned, just reading the bulletin boards
and school paper will make you aware of many
opportunities to do so. And remember, you need
to get your grades up to or above 3.0. SOPHOMORE
YEAR - SEMESTER 1 You're no longer a rookie.
You're now a seasoned veteran. You'll be taking
more classes related to your major and digging
into some more specialized subject matter.
Begin to attempt to take on responsibility in
the organizations you have joined. You're not
going to get a top position in these groups until
you prove yourself capable in lesser ones.
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• SOPHOMORE YEAR - SEMESTER 2
• You ought to be hitting your stride. You now
  understand how to get the grades and should be
  making the personal commitment to do so.
• If you're not making some progress with
  extracurriculars, now is the time to start.
• If you're thinking about starting up a business
  or any type of organization, it's not too early
  to start making plans.
• By the way, at the end of this semester, you're
  halfway done!
• While most of your major out of the classroom
  achievements are still ahead of you, you ought to
  have some plans to achieve them pretty well
  mapped out.
• JUNIOR YEAR - SEMESTER 1
• You're still tracking well academically.
• You're aggressively working to develop the
  Winning Characteristics. You'll have some
  failures along the way, some elections you don't
  win and some goals you don't achieve. But believe
  it or not, that is an important part of the
  learning process.
• This is your year for extracurricular
  accomplishments. Don't let it slip away.
• By the way, what are you doing to get an
  internship?

More up-to-date Information can found at the
University of New Mexicos B.U.S. Degree Program
web site ? www.unm.edu/busdegree
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Activities to Prepare for Life

• Student Activities for Career Prep
• Between juggling a full course load, social life
  and work-study job, it can be easy to forgo
  extracurricular activities. However, involvement
  in student activities can be a valuable asset
  when it comes time to apply for jobs. The skills
  and experience you develop through student
  activities can be what puts you ahead of your
  competition in the interview process.
  Extracurriculars build the qualities - teamwork,
  commitment, responsibility, leadership - that
  employers value. Whether your preferred activity
  is the college newspaper, student government, a
  theater production or athletic team, your
  involvement indicates to employers that you
  possess the communication and teambuilding skills
  they value.
• Develop Real-World Skills
• At Colorado College, a student-run group is
  responsible for bringing live music to the
  campus. The students manage the budget, negotiate
  contracts, organize the logistical elements of
  the event and promote it. At the same time, they
  are building a wide range of skills that will
  make them desirable job candidates.
  Extracurricular activities can provide you with a
  higher level of responsibility and opportunities
  to supervise than those available at summer jobs.
  They can hone time management and organization
  abilities that will cross over into the
  professional world. "Being involved in an
  organization where the students are setting
  goals and objectives and motivating other
  students is more beneficial... than spending a
  summer looking at a spreadsheet or crunching
  numbers," says Dana Ellis, firm director of
  recruiting for Anderson, a financial services
  firm. Recruiters look for students who have shown
  that they're effective communicators, can work as
  part of a team, and have good networking and
  relationship-building skills. Student activities
  are also great for helping you figure out
  possible career paths. Most organizations offer a
  wide range of roles and responsibilities that
  accommodate a variety of interests and talents.
  You can experiment with different roles that will
  help you identify your own strengths, weaknesses
  and preferences.
• Enhance Your Resume
• Use student activities to add to your portfolio
  of work samples. This is especially important for
  visual and liberal arts majors, but it can be
  useful for all students come interview season.
  Keep a souvenir or copies of materials from
  events and activities you helped organize. Press
  kits, theater production programs, even a budget
  spreadsheet you created can give potential
  employers a better sense of your skills and
  accomplishments. Also, maintain a record of your
  tasks and projects within the student
  organization. What was the purpose of your role?
  How did that contribute to the organization or
  project?
• Selling Your Experience to Employers
• When interviewing for jobs, it's very important
  to communicate to the recruiter how your
  extracurricular experiences translate into
  real-world skills.
• Be ready to provide examples of your work and
  skill set. "We devote a fair amount of attention
  to applicants' extracurriculars," Ellis says. "We
  like them to give us specific examples of their
  experiences and accomplishments because that
  gives us an idea of their potential and what they
  might do in our organization."
• Do your homework. Research the company, know the
  job description, and look at the responsibilities
  of the position you're applying for. Think about
  your extracurricular experience and how you've
  demonstrated those skills in the past. Tie them
  in with the responsibilities of the job position.
• Don't Over-Commit
• While being involved in a large number of
  activities might show good time management
  skills, most employers would rather see a person
  who has achieved senior or leadership positions
  in only a few organizations. "You can't be
  involved in a large number of organizations and
  have an impact," Ellis says. "It's really more
  about getting into it and making things happen
  than having a collection of titles and trophies."
  Keep in mind that extracurriculars are still just
  one part of your resume. Employers look at the
  whole picture, including grades, internships,
  volunteer work, references and life experience.
  Therefore a good balance is important. "We won't
  look at student activities at the expense of
  other things," Ellis says. "But extracurriculars
  are a great way to demonstrate skills and
  experience to a potential employer."

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More up-to-date Information can found at the
University of New Mexicos B.U.S. Degree Program
web site ? www.unm.edu/busdegree

• Prove You Are A Leader
• You could do so through any of the following
• Organizing an on-campus fund-raiser for Habitat
  for Humanity.
• Running a successful rush for your sorority that
  leads to more new pledges than the group has had
  in five years.
• Organizing members of your dorm to compete in and
  win a campus event.
• Becoming an RA and working with students on your
  floor to lead them to the best GPA in the dorm.
• Creating a successful new ski club trip with
  strong student participation.
• Being instrumental in any activity in which you
  come in, motivate others, and achieve a
  meaningful goal.

Regardless of your interests, you can build your
leadership skills (and put yourself in a position
to prove them) by getting involved in meaningful
ways in any organization on campus or in your
town. Extracurricular Excellence The academic
portion of your college experience is definitely
a priority. If you don't get the job done
academically, not much else matters, because you
won't be around for long. But what you do outside
the classroom today is arguably every bit as
important as what you accomplish in it. While
you'll accumulate a great deal of knowledge in
lecture halls, skills like leadership and
entrepreneurship are best developed in clubs,
organizations, and civic groups. Here are five
ways to make the most of your "out of classroom"
opportunities. Start Early. Freshman year is
not too early to get involved. Look around. Ask
around. Find a couple of organizations that sound
interesting and jump in. Organizations related to
your major or your hobbies/general interests are
good places to start. Recognize the building
process. You can't just show up to a group
during your junior year and expect to be
president. You need to work your way up in the
organization to have a shot at being elected to a
leadership position. The people voting in those
elections want to know that you're a "proven
performer", and that you're capable of taking
their club to the next level. Putting in the work
and positioning yourself for a meaningful
leadership experience (and title) is a great
experience and a huge win for your resume. Think
Fun. If you want to get some clue about what you
might do with your major (or even about picking a
major), professional clubs can be a big help.
Participating in them is a great way to get
perspective from professionals in the field who
work with the group. You'll also have the
opportunity to do projects that will give you a
little more insight on what it might be like to
work in the field long term. Think Quality, Not
Quantity. If you join fourteen groups and do
nothing but pay dues and get a pin, you've
accomplished nothing except maybe impressing your
parents. Join a few groups that actually meet and
perform projects, and do something in them. Try
to leave a personal mark on such projects, making
them meaningfully "different" and hopefully
better for the fact that you're a member.