Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Speaking to high schoolers
The last 2 weeks have kept me on my toes. Working on projects and being on call as a substitute teacher forces me to stay disciplined and be ready for anything here at work. On Wednesday I had the chance to travel with my boss to San Sebastian. This city is located on the northern coast, right on the beach, and about an hour from Pamplona. We took his mazda miata, top down, screamin out, but only becasuse my knees were stuck up against the dash. We went to represent the University overall, not just the economics department. We arrived, had a good lunch together on the University credit card, then headed to the school. We were greeted by 2 others, representatives of universities for northern Spain. They are a team very similar to myself and my boss, in age and professions, their names are Fatima and Miguel and instead of representing UNAV itself, they represent all universities in the northern region of Spain and want to recruit from the north as well as bring students from other regions/countries. This particular high school has a strong relationship with UNAV already, and we went to continue that relationship, and allow the final year students to know more about the school. When I speak, I talk about the University experience here, the international aspects, programs, exchanges, internships, activities, and other options available for incoming students. Fortunately, its in english, this is so the students realize we are serious about our bilingual program and international focus. At this seminar, it was the most people I had ever spoken to in public, and it was without power point or any crutches, in an auditoreum full of spanish high schoolers. I reeally had to put any anxiousness that may have come up aside. I was very successful in my delivery and my colleagues said I did a good job, spoke clearly, and had all of their attention! I enjoy public speaking, but this was a bit daunting because of the whole school watching, and it was the first time of anything like this. Mike 1, Spanish high schoolers 0
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Would you go here?
Living in a new place, an entirely different culture is an awaking experience.
It is interested how working in a university setting is like a tornado...the beginning of the semester is somewhat slow, quiet, and very quickly builds up speed, projects, turbulence, presentations, objects flying at me without warning, and when it passes, the sky opens up, my room and desk; a complete mess, and it takes me the vacation time or weekend to get myself organized and back on my feet before the next semester/tornado rears its head again.
That isn't entirely accurate, but I like the analogy. In reality, my job details have been a bit spotty, here and there, a task one day, one the next, no exact procedure like I may have found in past jobs. But, before I came here, I was directed by my boss to do one thing; be patient, so I am going with it. Since I am working at a college, everything revolves around the schedule, the students, the exams, and vacations. I really enjoy working in a place where everyone is continuing their education, young and very headstrong and goal oriented. I like the idea of working in a college setting and not until this past month have I considered it as a permanent installation. For example, never before did I even consider going back to college once I got my bachelors, I wanted to fly out of the gate and make big moves in the business world. Here, I am already considering my masters for next year, and the professor that I T.A. for has already spoken to me about something called a doctorate, but I will have to check google for help on that one.
My international promotions job has gone underway. It is pretty cool. Basically students from Spain are coming to look at the university and maybe come here. Many of these high schools are Spain's top shelf brands, some are not, but in general they have some of Spain's top high school students. They take a tour of the school and see all of the different buildings and activities. When they arrive to my building I pick them up and show them around and bring them in for a presentation on the school, with the most important aspect being the international focus of this university and why it will be the best international experience for them. Some of the things that seperates UNAV from other schools is its campus, it was set up intentionally to be anglo american style; spread out, open fields, distinct facilities, and they have a high regard here for a strong university community. There are about 15 thousand students, 15% are internationals, and come from over 80 different countries. They offer a bilingual program here which is half english and the other in spanish. One of the coolest aspects and selling points when talking about the university is that it is mandatory for students of the bilingual degree to take 2 semesters abroad. They have options abroad of over 70 universities, within 24 countries, so this place is a great place for a Spaniard or anyone to gain some global perspective. I would go here.
It is interested how working in a university setting is like a tornado...the beginning of the semester is somewhat slow, quiet, and very quickly builds up speed, projects, turbulence, presentations, objects flying at me without warning, and when it passes, the sky opens up, my room and desk; a complete mess, and it takes me the vacation time or weekend to get myself organized and back on my feet before the next semester/tornado rears its head again.
That isn't entirely accurate, but I like the analogy. In reality, my job details have been a bit spotty, here and there, a task one day, one the next, no exact procedure like I may have found in past jobs. But, before I came here, I was directed by my boss to do one thing; be patient, so I am going with it. Since I am working at a college, everything revolves around the schedule, the students, the exams, and vacations. I really enjoy working in a place where everyone is continuing their education, young and very headstrong and goal oriented. I like the idea of working in a college setting and not until this past month have I considered it as a permanent installation. For example, never before did I even consider going back to college once I got my bachelors, I wanted to fly out of the gate and make big moves in the business world. Here, I am already considering my masters for next year, and the professor that I T.A. for has already spoken to me about something called a doctorate, but I will have to check google for help on that one.
My international promotions job has gone underway. It is pretty cool. Basically students from Spain are coming to look at the university and maybe come here. Many of these high schools are Spain's top shelf brands, some are not, but in general they have some of Spain's top high school students. They take a tour of the school and see all of the different buildings and activities. When they arrive to my building I pick them up and show them around and bring them in for a presentation on the school, with the most important aspect being the international focus of this university and why it will be the best international experience for them. Some of the things that seperates UNAV from other schools is its campus, it was set up intentionally to be anglo american style; spread out, open fields, distinct facilities, and they have a high regard here for a strong university community. There are about 15 thousand students, 15% are internationals, and come from over 80 different countries. They offer a bilingual program here which is half english and the other in spanish. One of the coolest aspects and selling points when talking about the university is that it is mandatory for students of the bilingual degree to take 2 semesters abroad. They have options abroad of over 70 universities, within 24 countries, so this place is a great place for a Spaniard or anyone to gain some global perspective. I would go here.
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