Browsing through blogs, I found a interesting topic from FOBlog – A Student’s Entrepreneurial Journey, about starting his semester of college off on the right foot. I must admit, even though I still maintained to make the honors list and earn good grades, I found myself lacking in essential skills to maximize my education experience. I have finished my general ED in 3 semesters, and now have a full semester to fill with classes of my personal interests before I transfer. Loaded with fun classes, and working only 20 hours a week compared to 40+ last semester, I have jotted down a few goals and guidelines for this semester.

• Turn in Assignments a day early – After reading the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, I will achieve better time management by aiming to be productive instead of busy. So a new mind trick I am going to play is to just give myself less time to complete assignments, as it seems I produce way more on assignment or essay when I have a matter of hours left compared to a matter of days to complete it. Plus, by getting these assignments out of the way, I gain more personal time.
• Get my money’s worth and Take advantage of the professors – This is one aspect of college that I always regret after each semester. Depending on whether your professor is awesome and enlightening, or just hates teaching and ruins the subject for you, I want to make more connections and build relationships with the professors I fancy. Especially with this semester jam-packed of subjects that interest me, I am looking forward to putting more effort towards asking the professors questions, hang out for a bit after class, and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge these people can potentially offer.
• Read the text….. daily and nightly – This is also due to boring subjects that just don’t appeal to me, but that’s still a pathetic excuse. If I’m gonna get financially gang-banged by overpriced textbooks, I am gonna read them and enhance the lectures with the reading. I always seem to replace textbook reading with my personal reading, but I plan to balance the two together this semester.
• Pack my lunches, save some money – I am going to wake up just 10 minutes earlier each morning and make some snacks, hey, maybe even make myself a sandwich, to bring with me to school. I spend, specifically waste, about 5 dollars a day on a Sobe and French fries. Save money, eat fruit and be more healthy.
• Make more authentic relationships – I always try to find at least one or two people in each class that I relate to and or create an authentic friendship with. By “authentic” friendship, I mean not just a guy I will BS with before or during class, but a mutually beneficial relationship. Study partner, a friend or partner that will push me in the right direction, and grow an authentic relationship that can grow for the years to come.

Those are the goals of this spring semester, and I’ll post updates to track how I am exhibiting these goals. Any suggestions? Any goals of your own for your semester or new endeavor in life?

The last few weeks I have been searching for a second part-time job. I’m enrolled for 16 units this spring semester starting next Monday, and I work about 10 hours a week at a gym – where I basically hang out, do homework, read etc…. more like study hall. I could care less about money right now, because I know I’ll make more than enough down the road. Ever since my experiences from Sales (valuable, yet not exactly enjoyable…) I have made a pact with myself……

“If I am going to work for someone else, the experience must be invaluable and I cannot be a slave to the job.”

I am done with spending 20-40 hours a week on a typical minimum wage job, I have already done that and enjoyed it. I’m now going to commit to jobs that will help me gain the experience I need to reach the next level, bring me closer to my goals. If any Highschool kid fresh off his/her 16th birthday, and asks me what kind of job he/she should look for, I would tell him/her to only consider a job for the experience you can gain, and something you can enjoy, not necessary for the money.

So keeping that pact in mind, I have ventured into a new job that has created excitement and challenging and new for myself. Marketing and Public Relations work for a local restaurant. I have no experience whatsoever in marketing, let alone restaurant experience, but I know that my drive and the new exciting experiences and opportunities awaiting will push me to success. Even better, I make more than minimum wage, have a little more freedom than practically all minimum wage jobs, and awesome potential for valuable experience and opportunities.

So I will log and reflect my experiences, good or bad, success or failure, in this blog. Anybody with any marketing or restaurant experience, I would greatly appreciate any insight, advice, suggestions! It should be a another jam-packed semester…. but I wont be busy, Ill be productive.