Executive Mentor Program Experience

The executive mentor program at Loyola University of New Orleans is a program that allows students to meet with executive business leaders to get a firsthand experience in the field of business along with an everyday outlook on what to expect. My mentor, David Jacobs, is a finance graduate from Loyola University and a smart well rounded official. He taught me a lot about the business world and what we can do with our degrees from getting a job to helping the economy.
My first expectations of the program was indifferent, I expected the program to teach us about the business world but through lecture rather than through experience. As the semester went by, David changed my outlook on the program and exceeded my expectations. Personally, what I admired most of my mentor was how he took charge of the argument towards the election and how the economy would stand toward a new leader. After several falls in the economy, there is really no telling which way the tide will turn; only time can reveal that answer.
I believe this program should be demonstrated throughout other universities because by giving a firsthand experience and showing students what they may be expecting, they are giving those students an opportunity to continue and know what they are getting into so that they may either stick with it or decide a different perspective. This program did not only teach me about a degree in finance but it showed me that I am pursuing the right career and that is what makes it worthwhile.
Throughout the next semester, I hope to get a deeper perspective of the finance world through the mentor program and learn more on the current state of the economy and how it will change for the better or worse. As for Loyola, I expect no more than the best from such an institution. Our business teachers, Howard and Reed, have both taught us much about the business world. Howard has taught me much about the current economic state along with how and why businesses fail because of bad management. It’s sad to say this semester is nearly over but next semester there will be new challenges to face.
Those who wish to stay up to date with the current economic states or just wish to read more up on business; I suggest to them the businessweek. It’s a great way to learn more about current affairs along with valuable knowledge.

Wolves on the Prowl

On November 8, 2008, I participated in the 7th annual Wolves on the Prowl Community Service Day at Loyola University of New Orleans. Throughout the country, students and alumni participate to help "roll up their sleeves for charity" and Wolves on the Prowl is an opportunity for students to interact with local communities and get a real hand on life and how together one can make a difference.
During Wolves on the Prowl, students were presented with various activities to choose from including: a field day at Good Shepherd School, painting at Andrew H. Wilson Charter School, planting pots at Project SMILE, cleaning a New Orleans Recreation Department park, and cleaning the break room at Loyola. I chose to clean up the break room under the Dana Center. Upon arriving to the break room, we were told to clean out the entire room and remove the old furniture and refurbishing the room with new furniture. The task seemed impossible, the room was piled with old furniture and unused products. Fortunately, with a pair of gloves and some heavy lifting, the old furniture was discarded and the room was nearly finished. Most of the room was finished by others since the leaders sent some of us toward the old library and Thomas Hall. I thought the break room was bad, this was much worse. This time, we had to move large tables out of the library and place them into a truck where they would be taken to an organization for use. Several of us were used to carry the tables into the truck but we got it done after a few hours. We even got to explore the unused residence building, Thomas Hall. I will admit the building was not very pleasant in its current state but overall, was quite an extraordinary discovery. The building reminded me of being inside a castle especially the spiral staircase leading to the bell tower. After everything got done and the truck was loaded, we proceeded back to the Dana Center where the break room had been cleaned and ready to load furniture in.Upon the end of the day, I had learned to better respect community service because if it were not for us sacrificing a couple hours of our time to load some tables into a truck, the organization would not have been able to complete its activities. I feel that i made a difference to help those children along with feeling a sense of accomplishment that I helped out in my community.
Another organization I learned of that makes a difference in New Orleans is the Youth Building New Orleans organization. It is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the recovery of New Orleans open to everyone willing to make a difference. Its mission to help youth make a difference in helping restore New Orleans and its vision is to allow the youth to make a difference in the world because they are the ones who are going to shape the future of this world.

Credit Scores

Our past Thursday night meeting was our second mentor meeting where a Regions bank executive spoke to us on the issue of credit cards and how easy it is to be placed in debt for several years. He explained to us of our credit scores and how they are used to determine life situations. For example, credit scores are used to determine whether or not you will receive a loan for a car or house. In addition, even employers look at your credit score; good credit score shows that you have good financial and personal responsibility. He also explained mistakes that can kill your credit score which are spending at the wrong time, being too thin, missing payments, being too young and cocky, being too tidy, and being too nonchalant.
Our mentor, David also explained of how credit cards work and exactly how they have to be repaid. Although using a credit card does assist when borrowing money, it should not be used as a habit but for emergencies. Even if you spend a certain amount on your credit card, interest rates may increase it much higher and even double it over long periods of time. There are also some organizations that assist students in credit scores and loans. One of these sources, Chase, gives allocate resources of how to repay affordable loans over time with small interest rates. It also explains loan facts and credit card information.

Career Beam Values and Vision

The vision of my ideal future is mainly to graduate college and use my strengths to help others when I become a lawyer. That is my ideal goal in life. The benefits of writing a vision statement are that it focuses on your goal in life. In other words, it paints a picture of what you’re trying to get to over large periods of time. There are, however, some challenges to writing a vision statement. If you only look ahead a couple years in your vision, your long time results will end badly.

Values are another important aspect of your career as they shape your career decisions. I believe my most important values of life are my strengths and experiences that allow me to communicate well with others. I believe it is important to be in a well working environment. I express my values on a daily basis during school. For example, in classes I try my best and focus on my studies to do the best that I can. I also work with others to improve my own knowledge of a certain subject. It is important to make friends in school so that if you were to miss a day of class you know someone who can help you.

There are even some organizations that share my values; one of those organizations is the Presidio Bank in the San Francisco Bay area. There values, similar to mine, focus on the environment and on teamwork. "Among our most important stakeholders are the communities where our customers and employees live and work. We have a vested interest in building economically healthy communities." quoted Presidio Bank as they described their work environments. "We stress teamwork in everything we do. While we certainly value individual creativity, we have found that team effort generally produces the best results. We cooperate for the betterment of the whole." quoted Presidio Bank describing their strive for teamwork and how cooperation is the best choice.

I believe working with these typical values are an essential part of a successful business. Teamwork and a good working environment are important to both employees and customers. For example, no one would wish to shop in a store with evenly priced merchandise if the store is highly unorganized and the environment is unsanitary.

Mentor program

When I first heard of the Mentor program we would be having on Thursday night I was excited, but a bit worried. The program was consisted of us meeting a mentor based on our specific careers and getting a hands on approach on what we would be expecting of that career and how they handle it. The idea of meeting executive businessmen and knowing that we merely college freshman; I wondered what would they think of us? As Thursday night came along, I sat there waiting for the session to begin as they mentors entered the room. At first, I could not even tell which was mine even though I had seen his picture. To tell you the truth, I was hoping he was absent; unfortunately, he was there waiting for us and ironically the last to be called. We rose from our seats as we proceeded to our mentors. David Jacobs was his name and from his profile, he worked for corporations that worked for important organizations such as the Secretary of Defense.
We proceeded to the classroom that we were assigned; Jacobs was very straightforward, he first asked for our names and basically what we were looking for in the business industry. I was frozen at first but when it was my time to speak I quietly said my name and my interest. As time passed, I was more intrigued by his words of how the business world really is. One thing I learned is that in the business world, there aren’t always second chances. You need to be strict and have your head in the game from the start; the smallest error could ruin a deal and result to financial losses.
Jacobs also told us of a contest that is dealt with at the end of the program, the student that participated most and is basically the best student to him would participate in a business dinner with a couple of his business colleagues in the students area of interest. This proposition intrigued me, not only would it enhance my aspects of the business world, but it would also provide me a visual of how executives react in their own environment. At the end of the session, I felt good about myself and the career I had chosen. I do tend to learn much at the end of this Mentor program. I feel that i will have a better understanding of the business world and what it takes to survive. Information such as this will prepare me for my field of stuy and what obstacles I will experience.