Passport #6 Executive Mentor Program

The Executive Mentor Program required for freshmen business majors at Loyola University New Orleans has been very beneficial thus far.  The objective of this program has been to introduce the freshmen class to successful business people in the New Orleans area.  It has given us a chance to meet with these mentors and ask any questions we may have.  We have also had the opportunity to get insight into this career field and receive advice as to what career paths to take.

This experience has been very beneficial so far.  I have started networking for my future already.  I have had a chance to meet and make an impression on a leader in the business community in New Orleans, which may benefit me in the future.  I have had a chance to spend time with him, and have conversations with him, which may lead to future job opportunities.  This has also been a great experience to meet classmates and develop relationships with them.  I have met other business students who I may have not met otherwise.  This will help me to develop a network here at Loyola University as well.  I now have more relationships to turn to in case of projects or assignments.

I did not know what to expect coming into this program.  After getting to know my mentor better, I do have high expectations for next semester.  He is a very intelligent, successful financial consultant.  After knowing this and getting to know him and his family, I expect a lot of advice and stories of his experiences in the future.  

In seeking an executive mentor, I would suggest to find someone who is in the field he or she is interested in going into.  I would suggest having friendly conversations with multiple people he or she may be interested in working with so as to find the one whose personality is most similar and compatible with his or her own.  I would suggest spending time with a few prospective mentors so as to make sure he or she will find one who will be the most helpful in achieving success in the business field.

I look forward to getting to know more about what my mentor does as his career.  I am excited to get to know him on a more personal level rather than just learning about his career path.  At Loyola, I am excited to start my second semester, having gotten used to the new city first semester.  I am now more comfortable and confident being in New Orleans, and I am ready to tackle my second half of freshman year.  I plan to become more involved in school sponsored activities as well in hopes of meeting new people.

To stay connected with current events in business, I recommend the Business Week magazine website.  It is a weekly magazine that posts its articles online.  This is a great way to stay connected.  Also, Yahoo! News is also a great website to keep updated in business.  This website is usually updated very often and has the latest in current events.

Wolves on the Prowl 2008

For the Wolves on the Prowl service day, I participated in the "Cubs in the Den" activities.  Children from Good Shepherd School came to Loyola to participate in various activities in our Res Quad.  Good Shepherd School is a Jesuit School, free of tuition, offered to children coming from families who live in poverty or below minimum wage.  We led the grammar school children in games such as capture the flag, dizzy lizzy, tug-of-war, along with others.  This was a good chance to interact with children from the area.  I had an amazing time getting to know these elementary school children while being active and having fun at the same time.  

Good Shepherd School opened in 2001 and just had its first graduating class.  Two of the teachers who came to supervise the children were Loyola University alumni.  It was interesting to see the impact of a Jesuit education and how it has carried on into these alumnus's careers.  These teachers were very excited to be working with these children and help them to achieve a better education than what they would be getting in the local public school.  The intention of a school like Good Shepherd is to provide children from low income families the tools and opportunities they need to succeed and break out of the lower class family they have been born into.  

One service project that I have wanted to become involved in since being in New Orleans is Habitat for Humanity.  This organization focuses on helping rebuild homes for families willing to transform and improve their own lives.  This seems to be a very compelling and touching experience to be a part of, and what better place to participate than New Orleans?  There are many families in need of help after hurricane Katrina and I would love to be one of the volunteers who helps these families get their lives back together.  This is a non-profit organization that has been helping families for over 30 years.  This is a very hands-on experience that I feel would be very eye-opening and touching to be a part of.  

Passport Assignment #4: Executive Speaker on Personal Finances

During the presentation on Thursday night, credit was the topic of discussion.  The speaker worked with Regions Bank and discussed the importance of  building credit as a young, college student.  He talked about the dangers of ruining credit by paying bills late and applying for too many credit cards.  He also listed the six ways to kill your credit score. Among these were careless spending and not paying credit cards on time.  The speaker also made an interesting point: he said that if there is a co-signer on the account, the credit card does not build credit.

My executive mentor basically just restated what the guest speaker was saying.  My mentor said to be smart about spending on a credit card and to only spend the amount of money we actually have.

The bar graph above shows the increase in credit score as people get older.  The younger a person is, the lower his or her credit is and this is exactly what this graph is showing.

CareerBeam Values and Vision

My vision of my ideal future is to graduate from a University by 2012 with my degree in business management.  While in college, I would like to spend a semester abroad and become as culturally diverse as I can while still learning and working towards my degree.  Upon graduation, I would like to find a job as a manager of a restaurant or hotel or a company in the consumer field. I enjoy working with people and doing what I can to make people happy, and I would like to make a career out of that.  I would like to eventually start a family and work from home.  I would like to be a successful, independent business woman while still being able to maintain a family life.

Writing a vision statement makes the author think about his or her future and set goals to accomplish.  It helps to look at the future in a realistic sense rather than being ignorant and taking life day by day.  Writing a vision statement may also cause a person to set high goals for the future that he or she may not otherwise have set.

The challenges of writing a realistic vision statement are that it is hard to know what a person will be able to accomplish in the future.  A vision statement sets goals for the future, but they do have to be realistic goals.  Coming up with realistic goals may be more challenging than most people think them to be.

Upon reading this question, I was not sure what my goals really were.  I completed the assignment on careerbeam and got results that pointed out obvious answers to me.  It told me I was a maximizer, humanitarian, driver, pursuer, and creator.  I agreed with all of these values they listed for me.  I try to make the most of every situation and maximize its potential.  I also am a people person.  I love working with people and trying to find the best results for others.  If there is something that I can do for someone else to better his or her experience I will do it.  This is an attribute I display daily.  This assignment also said that I am a driver.  I will drive and strive for something until I get it and finish it.  I will work towards something I am passionate about it until it is perfect and exactly the way I want it.  I definitely agree that I am a creator as well.   I love to try new things and come up with new ideas.  I am a planner and with planning comes creativity.  I love to start new projects and ideas and I love to plan them.

An organization whose values are very similar to mine is Johnson and Johnson. Basically their Credo says that they want to put the needs and well-being of their customers first.  This is going to be my main goal as a business woman as well.  Working in a field that is aimed toward the happiness and comfort of the costumer, this is a very necessary mentality and value to have.

Assignment #2

1. What did you earn about the Executive Mentor Program?

A: I learned that this program is going to be a great experience.  I am going to be able to learn a lot from my mentor because of his experiences in a similar field that I am interested in going into.  I learned that most Universities do not have such a great program as this, and that I am very fortunate to be a part of it.  

2. What did you learn about your mentor?

A: My mentor, Mason Couvillon, grew up in New Orleans very close to campus.  He attended Georgetown University and is now back living in New Orleans.  He has children all under the age of 4, and lives in the house that he grew up in.  He has worked as a high position in many companies such as Capital One National Bank and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.  He has been a Vice President, Manager, Officer, and President of the companies he has been with in the recent past.

3. What outcomes do you expect from the Executive Mentor Program?

A: I expect to get some incite into the business field and hear about my mentor's experiences not only in the work environment but in his college experiences on the business track.  I hope to be able to have some experience in my mentor's office to be able to get a feel for what his job is actually like.  I expect to have a better knowledge of what my options in the work force are and how I can accomplish my goals.  

4.  Reflect on the value the Executive Mentor Program can add to your journey to being a successful person.

A: This Executive Mentor Program will help me be a successful person in a few ways.  Because of this program, I am able to learn from a successful businessman who can help guide me down the successful path he went down.  I feel as though if I work hard during this program and develop a relationship with my mentor, I will be able to use him as a reference in the future.  I am very lucky to be offered a program like this because it give me an advantage and a leg up on the competition in the future.  Not many other universities have programs like this, so to be a participant in it I feel as though I will be able to use it to my advantage when it does come time to look for a job.