Questions...Questions...Questions!

A while ago we had to examine a scholarly journal that pertained to our specific major and I was hesitant because all the examples used in class were science related. It seemed as if it would be easier for a science major to find one than for me, considering I am a Finance major. However I found one, and it was one that I actually enjoyed exploring.

The series of journals are observations, studies, analyses of different aspects that contribute to the economy and financial planning. The author seems knowledgeable due to the terms and statistics used, and analyses given. The point of the articles is to inform and challenge its readers to think outside their normal box. The readers would be considered anyone who deals with financial planning whether as a profession or personally.

According to Linton et al.’s Framework is broken down into three sections:

~Conventions of Structures

~Conventions of Reference

~Conventions of Language

For Structures, each article varied however in general they were written to present different prominent topic. For reference, several articles used statistics and quotes from respected people in their field. I think this gave the journal credibility. It seemed to be that the author was building off other people’s findings to the extent they analyzed it and left enough of the topic open for us to analyze and derive our own conclusions. When it comes to language, some articles were directed towards certain age groups, or genders, however it wasn’t exclusively for them. The language and tone used was used to convince you to think more about it.

According to Swales Genre Model there are three moves related to academic writing. Move 1, the financial planning journal reviewed items of previous research, like statistics. This information supported the author’s goal of presenting enough information to allow its readers to be able to make an informed conclusion for themselves. Move 2; the journal hit the step of question raising. In numerous articles it asked questions to get us to think before and after reading the article. I found that useful because I am the type of person who loves to think and analyze different situations. I am defiantly and observing type of person. Finally Move 3, the journal hit on the step of outlining purposes. For all of them the purpose was to allow us to come to our own conclusions and form questions ourselves.

Being someone who fits into the intended audience I believe epistemology allowed us to see and understand the world we are in and how we are in the world. By the articles asking questions, I believe it really allowed the audience to develop a better understanding of those things. Whenever you ask questions you can develop discussion and discussions lead to new ideas and ways of looking at things.

Are You Proactive?

Our economy has slowed down in the past year. We are in a recession. We are always hearing people complaining about it and how things are so hard. I have been one of those people. Jobs are being loss or pay is being cut, and while this is happening prices are going down with it, some are increasing. Not a fun thing.

This article I read was called ' Recession Creates Proactive Consumers.' It caught my attention because the way I have been viewing the recession is it has brought stress amongst a numerous amount of people. After really reading it, studies conducted have shown the opposite. It said that people are taking a more proactive approach on retirement, debt management, and personal finances. It has also showed that people are less stressed financially and are proactive in improving their situation.

The stress point was a shocker for me. I would have never thought. Have you noticed a higher number of people stressing because of the recession? What about people being more hands on when it comes to planning? I know I have seen people more hands on. For example my parents have sat down more and discussed retirement plans and their personal finances.

This article has made me think when we get out of the recession will people's attitudes change or will it be the same? I guess only time will tell.

What Are Your Chances of Getting a Job?

I have really found some of the articles in this journal to be interesting and making me think a great deal! I figure why not get ahead on my blog post, or catch up if need be.

The one I just read was called 'Hiring Strategies that Work.' It caught my attention because I am always talking with friends about getting jobs after college and what companies look for so that we are not apart of the statistic of grads graduating without a job. The article mentioned that companies are looking at potential employees from word of mouth. That reminded me of a saying "Its not necessarily what you but who you know." So networking and inquiring about a company is important. The next thing they really look at is the interviews, resumes, references, and phone interviews. Thank goodness for the career center here because they have a ton of resources to help with that!

Since I am a financial management major they predict that for those looking for a job in the next 12 months things will be pretty good. They say that about half of all the firms will be increasing their employment over that time and only five percent will be decreasing. Meaning the remaining 45 percent wont have much change. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me.

This article gave me hope and ideas of things that I need to work on in order to land a job post graduation. Hope this prediction is right though and nothing makes it take a turn for the worst.

For those who aren't a financial management major, how is your field of employment looking for when you graduate? I have heard that with the economy being the way it is, things have been tough but I am not sure for which fields. Would love to hear your feedback!

Can You Buy Happiness?

We are constantly buying things. Most of the time we catch ourself buying wants rather than needs. Its called leisure consumption and it has been said to make people happy. Don't think this doesn't apply to you, because Im sure there has been times where you have wanted to dine out or buy a new outfit or go on a road trip to visit your friends. That is all leisure consumption. According to the article 'Can You Buy Happiness', other leisure consumption items include, vacations, cars, appliances, clothing, food, and drinks. It even includes charitable donations!

What about these things makes people happy. Well according to the article it is having that social connectedness. Feeling like you fit in with people.

Is money really so important to you that it is the main thing you worry about? Would you take a job you hate as long as it paid well. Why do you want a high paying job? Is it to be able to consume leisure items? The title of this article takes me back to what I want to do with my life post-graduation. I have always thought that you can in NO way buy happiness, and I still believe that. I am the type of person who will take a low paying job as long as it is a job that I can be excited everyday about doing and am helping other people.

Do You Really Need It?

Well I have realized that the previous article I wrote about was not the correct type of journal to be used for the assignment. So I continued to search some more and found a journal! Finally!

Anyways, it is called 'Journal of Financial Planning'. For the first article I decided to take a look at, was titled Necessity or Luxury. A little sidenote, titles play a huge role in what i decided to read. If it sounds interesting I am more likely to take a look. Well this article was determining the difference between needs and luxuries for the Baby Boomers generation. This generation is consider anyone born post World War II. This generation has chagned what used to be considered neccesities of life. It used to be food, water, shelter, and clothing. Now it is healthcare coverage, internet connection, special occasion gifts, family vacations, elder care, hair appointments, and kids' education.

In order to have these things, this generation has mentioned that they would delay their retirement or share their retirement money in order to have these needs. From the list above would you do that?

The article predicts that it may all one day become a need just like food, water, clothing, and shelter.

I think the only things I would dip into my retirement for if absolutely needed is health coverage, internet, and my kids education. The other things aren't a need for me. I think it's crazy how generations evolve their needs and wants over time. I wonder what it would be in years to come.

Would You Do it?

Blogging has been turned out to be a little different this time around. I had no idea what I was going to write about being a Finance major so I thought this post would be extremely difficult. I searched for a while and decided to go with Forbes.com I found a discussion regarding whether or not it was okay to borrow money from your children's trust fund.

The issue brought up was how it will be repaid and whether or not it would be repaid with interest. It was said that it is okay to do so as long as their are guidelines and deadlines for repaying it. "That said, there is nothing unethical per se about borrowing from the trust in order to provide your family with the basic necessities of life."

In my opinion I don't see a problem with doing so as long as the reason for borrowing from the trust was for a good reason like providing for your family. Also as long as it is repaid in a reasonable time period.

What do you think? If you were short on money would you borrow from your child's trust fund?

http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/11/child-trust-fund-personal-finance-parents-loan.html

Which One Are You?

For me group projects are a love hate relationship. I love the fact that there are different inputs being given to a final product and that the work is shared. However if you get to a group where no one wants to contribute in a shape or form is frustrating. Sometime your better off just doing a project by yourself.

Each group project does in fact have different positions, whether they are "assigned" or not. From the handout in class, it was crazy how dead on the writer was when it came to positions. I have experienced group projects where at everyone has shown up. The controller, the passive/aggressive, the busy guy, the focuser, the tester, the risker, the leader. Personality is a big factor in which one fits you best. Thinking about it I associate with focuser most. I lay out goals and don't stop until they are done. I am also the group member who will always carry my weight and get things done. I don't complain about doing things either.

Im hoping this group project will go smoothly and we wont have any slackers or any problems. From the first meeting it seems as if we wont though so that is good.

Yay for feedback!

I was a little skeptical about the instructions and how I would be able to make a comprehendible set. Its difficult to write instructions on something that is second nature for you. Like cooking. I cook so much I improvise, don't measure, etc. So to sit down and draft it out so that it anyone can understand it is difficult. Hope i did a good job.

Im excited about getting to cook my chili this weekend so I can add pictures to my directions and make sure i have all the steps.

I have really enjoyed the draft and group evaluations of the instructions. So much constructive criticism, and I feel that it has really helped to make my instructions better.

Random but I have gotten all my days mixed up this week. Thinking today was Tuesday instead of Thursday. Definitely need to get it together to make sure I get my assignments done on time.

Chili...mmm mmm good!

Instructions are everywhere! We use them every day. When we drive, when we start a new project, and when we take a test or quiz. It's kind of crazy to think about how often we use them. Anyways when we got the assignment I was a little nervous. A majority of the examples we received in class were very scientific, technical, basically complicated. At least for me since I am not a very tech savvy person. So when it came time to decide what my instructions were going to be about I was nervous. Was it going to be acceptable? Well my idea of how to cook chili was! I got excited about it because I love to cook and can make chili in my sleep basically. Plus it gives me an excuse to make time to make some in the future! Bonus!!!

Anyways so I was going to do chili. When we moved onto the second part of the assignment, introductions, I got a little nervous again. When you see recipes they are usually online or in cookbooks. They don't really have specific introductions for each recipe. Just a general intro. Well then i started to think about how I was going to write my instructions. After decided who my target audience was it became easier. My audience is college students who have just moved off campus and need a quick easy meal that they can cook and save for a day or two. Got to love leftovers!

I believe introductions address the audience, tell them exactly what they will get out of completing the instructions and about how long it will take. At least those are qualities I have come to look for. My introduction is done and I am excited to see how peer editing goes. Hopefully the style I chose is acceptable.

How Often You See Rhetoric

According to Bitzer's definition of rhetoric having 3 parts; exigence, audience, and constraints, I believe that President Obama's speech is an example of rhetoric. The speech was the traditional speech given to kick off Ramadan and while he did so he used that time to address the controversial issue of the mosque being built near Ground Zero.

I came to the conclusion that exigence meant an outstanding issue that needs to be addressed. In the speech it was the controversy over the mosque and the kicking off of Ramadan. If you ask me it was a fitting time to get a response or to combine them. A lot of people have voiced their opinions of the topic of the mosque. One day while watching CNN I heard someone say that it was a deliberate plot to mock what took place on September 11th. I know my opinion on it but I am curious to find out what other people think about the mosque being built.

Anyways back to rhetoric. The second part of Bitzer's definition was the audience. Not necessarily the mass it was being targeted too but someone in class mentioned the audience also being someone who has the power to change or fix the exigence. In the case of the mosque it could be many people. Americans, government officials, anyone who can help ease the minds of those uneasy of the matter.

The third part of rhetoric was the constraints. In the speech, technically the law allows the mosque to be built but changing the attitudes is another thing.

One thing that really stood out to me within the speech was Obama's way of pointing out who the enemy actually was. How it was Al Qaeda instead of the entire Muslim culture.

I really enjoyed looking at this speech and interpreting it as rhetoric. Makes you think how often you see rhetoric in your daily lives...

Start of a New Semester

So, it's the start of a new semester. You get to see all your friends, go to football games, and just be on your own with no rules but your trading in your time to sleep in, long vacations on the beach or anywhere, and being carefree with no school work. Bittersweet.

When coming to class and hearing about what all we had to do I started getting pretty excited. My favorite part was the blogging. I have a bucket list and starting a blog was on it. So this will give me practice for the real real deal. Anyways since I the type of person who constantly has thought going through her head it is a great way for me to direct those thoughts. Based on the discussion about rhetoric this past Tuesday, I know there will be a good amount of topics for me to elaborate on and talk about. This will be a great semester!

*A little about me*

I am a junior, finance major, from Chicago. Life for me is far from simple. All in a good way! I am constantly doing something. Busy...busy...busy. I love being outside, art, cooking, sleeping, road trips, and the list goes on.