Wednesday, January 28, 2009

My Semester...at a Glance!

I decided to write my "free-topic" post on how my semester is going and what all I have going on. To get things started, I am taking 15 hours here at Clemson and 3 hours online through Tri-County. My 15 hours here at Clemson include: MGT 310, MKT 427, MKT 420, ENGL 304, and LAW 322. My 3 hour class taken online through Tri-County Tech is the equivalent to ACCT 202 here at Clemson. It has worked out pretty well so far because all my classes this semester seem relevant to what I am trying to get done anyway. For example, I would like an internship this summer with a Real Estate Development company (hopefully in Greenville, SC). In my MKT 420 class (Professional Selling), we have a project coming due next week that is called "Employer Database". My "Employer Database" is suppose to list 25 prospective employers that I could possibly apply to in the future. So for this project, I found 25 Real Estate Development companies located in the upstate and listed those in my Employer Database. So now, I accomplished the task of finding companies that I could possibly work for this summer, and I completed a project for a grade! It's nice when assignments in your academic classes overlap with your personal and professional life. Another example is English 304 (Business Writing). We have a portfolio coming up that we have to complete by mid-March. In this portfolio, we will have cover letters, resumes, etc. All of these things are a necessary part of the business world. These items will come in handy for me over the next few weeks as I get ready to send out my resume to try to get an internship. It just seems to me that academic assignments are a lot easier to work on when they have relevance in your life. When the assignments are relevant to your life, you have something to work toward because you know you are going to get more out of that assignment than just turning it in for a grade. As for my other classes (MKT 427, MGT 310, ACCT 202, and LAW 322), they are preparing me for when I enter the professional field in a few years. I might not be able to get benefits out of these classes immediately, such as being able to use academic assignments outside the class room, but I will see the benefits of these classes in a few years. All of these classes are stepping stones to get to more advanced classes. It has just been on my mind lately how much more fun it is to work on assignments when you can use them out of class. That is why I thought I would blog on it; to let people know that classes aren't always boring and busy work, because sometimes you can apply them immediately outside the classroom.

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Many Possibilities...

As I thought about what to write for this post of where I will be in ten years, I realized how many possibilities there are. I could be living at any place from the West Coast to the East Coast and as far North or South as I wanted. I could work a nine to five job or I could work third shift. I could work outdoors or I could work behind a desk. Thinking about all these possibilities, I discovered what and where I would like to be in ten years. I plan on getting my Masters in Real Estate Development here at Clemson upon my undergraduate graduation. With that being said, I see myself living on the outskirts of a large, Southeastern United States, city. The two cities that instantly pop into my mind are Atlanta and Charlotte. So I would like to be living on the outskirts of one of these two cities. I would like to own my own Real Estate Development company but I don't care how big or small my company is. My main goal would be to provide a good standard of living for my family. I will hopefully be married in ten years and possibly already have a kid or would be having one in the near future. As you have read on a little further in the post now, do you see why I wanted to live on the outskirts of Atlanta or Charlotte instead of in the city? I would much rather raise my children in a house with a little bit of land than live in a condominium in the downtown area of one of these cities. Another reason why I would like to have a little bit of land would be so I can have a dog. Even if it is an inside dog, I would still like to have a small backyard that the kids can play with the dog in. So, that is just a little snapshot of what I hope my life will be like in ten years...but only time will tell!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Web 2.0 -- "The Machine is Us/ing Us" Response

I really enjoyed watching the video on Web 2.0 because it challenged my typical thought pattern. I think the title of the video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" means two things. I think first, it is saying that we are the "machine" because we are ultimately the one's who program computers to act the way they do. We (those with expertise in the computer field) write programs that direct computers how to react to certain commands. So in a sense, we are the machine because we are ultimately the one's who teach the computer how to respond and act. The second meaning in the title is saying that the machine is using us. If you are just a typical person, you think a computer is responding to your computer commands when you click certain buttons. In reality, humans have programmed the computer to act in this way, but most people do not think of this. So in a way, the computer is using humans because the humans program the computers, but the computers get all the "fame and glory" of being able to do great things. We take pride that our computer can run certain programs and do it at a certain speed, but we must remember that although the computer is doing this, it is only doing this because of human programing. Web 2.0 affects people who are looking to enter the workforce in several ways. Web 2.0 allows people looking to enter the workforce an opportunity to look for jobs online. It is much more convenient to search for jobs, submit your resume, and ask questions concerning job postings, all online. There is also an advantage to being in the workforce using Web 2.0 because Web 2.0 allows for the opportunity of more flexible jobs. This means that jobs could become work from home jobs which use the Internet to connect to the main office. It also means that employees in companies could reach a large number of employees with a single email message over the Internet. There are many possibilities for people using Web 2.0 that are looking to enter the workforce or are already in the workforce. When the video says we will have to rethink everything, I believe it is saying that we will have to change the way we think. We currently have this mental image of how society works, with jobs, communication, etc. Now with Web 2.0, things are going to keep changing from the perception we currently have. We will have new ways of communicating with our employers, fellow employees, customers, etc. We will also discover new ways of performing job tasks, such as work-at-home jobs. With Web 2.o, there are endless possibilities out there, we just have to discover these possibilities and put them into action.

Saturday, January 10, 2009


Just me!

My Girlfriend and I.

My Girlfriend (Bethani) and I.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

About Me!

My name is Jimmy Williams and I am a Junior here at Clemson. I am pursuing a degree in Marketing with a minor in Economics. I have been very academically focused since I got here and I will actually graduate a year early. I am planning on graduating August 2010 and I hope to go on to get my Masters after this. I would like to get my Masters in Real Estate Development. I have worked for commercial development companies in the past and I am currently working on lining up a similar job for this coming summer. Development is something that changes every day, so it's a job that never gets old.

I graduated from Wren High School in 2007. While in high school, I was on Student Government and Yearbook Staff. I have two younger sisters, Ashleigh (17) and Allie (11). My favorite sport to play is soccer. I played Varsity Soccer in high school all four years but gave up playing soccer when I came to college. I have a girlfriend, Bethani, who I've been dating for 3 1/2 years. I am a strong Christian and I really enjoy attending Campus Crusade here at Clemson. I've also gotten involved with a Bible Study through Campus Crusade and it's been a great experience! I attend CrossPoint Church here in Clemson when I'm at school and Rock Springs Baptist Church when I go back home.

Overall, I'm a pretty laid back guy. I enjoy going to any Clemson sporting events (when I'm not studying)! I guess that's about it, just let me know if you have any more questions for me!