Fall Semester is Coming to a Close.

This morning I attended the last Fall class of my undergraduate career. Isn’t that exciting? Well, I guess it wasn’t really that eventful. There was no music played or cake eaten in celebration (I wish!), just another class. It made me stop and think, “Wow, I am almost done with my college career, am I ready for that?” I guess the answer is, like it or not, I’m gonna have to prepare myself for the real world.

Not only am I almost done with my second to last semester of college, but now comes the thought of getting a “big-kid” job. I recently had my first, full-time job interview at Caterpillar. I was so nervous I hardly slept the night before, and when the interview began it seems like I went into auto-pilot (no, really, it is a pretty surreal feeling). Anyway, it went well and I passed with flying colors. Now, it’s all about the waiting game of whether or not there will be a position for me after graduation (fingers crossed!).

This time of the year always bring about a lot of excitement for college students; we finally get a break. However, this is the first time that the excitement has been tainted with anxiety and maybe even a little fear: a fear of new responsibilities, a fear of uncertainty, even a fear of failure. I think the best way for us to handle this pressure is to realize that we aren’t the first people to graduate from college, and we certainly won’t be the last. I guess it’s time to kick it into gear as far as job searches go, but to remember that nothing is going to happen to use that we can’t handle.

Best of luck to all you students on your finals!

Jenny

Being Thankful.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often lose sight of what’s important in life. I catch myself thinking about something I “need”, picturing how happy I would be if I had that new pair of boots or the most current iPhone. Then I remember how almost every time I get that “must-have,” the excitement wears off in about a day and it’s on to the next thing.  Regrettably, it seems to be an endless cycle.

That is why Thanksgiving is such a great time of year. There is no emphasis on gifts, or the next toy we can add to our collection. It is a holiday devoted entirely to being thankful for what we already have: family, friends, freedom, food on the table, you name it. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m feeling down about something pointless, I need a reminder of what matters, and Thanksgiving is perfect for this.

With the holiday just around the corner, there is no better time to be generous to those in need and thankful for what we have.  Let’s enjoy the time with our loved ones, and if you don’t already, try to live everyday like it’s the thankful season. That’s my goal anyway!

Have a wonderful Turkey day! J

Jenny

The End is Near

        Well Thanksgiving Break is next week and after that only about 2 weeks left of the school and then FINALS! Even typing that makes me cringe. This means countless hours at the library not moving from the table, no sleep, tons of junk food, candy, and plenty of coffee.  In one day, I could end up spending like 13 hours in the library studying non-stop. Don't get me wrong, I sit with a group of my friends during this time and that long in a library can make people do strange things! We try to have a good time while still preparing for our exams at the same time. The first official day of finals start on Thursday December 6^th and end on Friday December 14^th. Luckily my last final is on December 11^th.  December 5^th is considered a “study day” at Bradley, this mean all classes are cancelled and students are getting ready for the challenging tasks ahead of them.

                It’s not unusual to walk through the library the week of finals and see kids sleeping in their chairs with their heads on tables, with blankets around them.  Bradley does do their best to try and help out for instance; coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and hot cider are all given to students for free every day. Typically around midnight, a student group comes in and hands out snacks to everyone in the library. I think most students can agree with me when they say that the day after your last final consists of lying in bed all day and giving your brain a rest.  Then it’s off to enjoy a nice 6 week long break to enjoy spending time with family and friends during the upcoming holidays.  So for me it’s less than a month until I get to enjoy that feeling, 26 days to be exact! Until then though it’s time to get down to business and study hard!

Brooke

All About Blogging

Well, another blog day has come, another day to try and decide what to write about without putting everyone to sleep. Should I discuss insurance? Nah, I’ll leave that to the experts. What about Thanksgiving? Nope, still too soon, I’ll do that next week (spoiler alert!). I could discuss what’s going on in my school life? That’s not overly exciting though, school is school and finance is finance. I’ve got it! This blog will be dedicated to the process I take when deciding what to blog about!

As you can tell, it’s quite an ordeal sometimes. It’s all about finding that perfect topic. Something you have the knowledge to talk about and something that people will enjoy reading. So far I have discussed stress, I would say I am an expert on that (although only a self-proclaimed expert). Then there was seizing opportunities. I’d say I have some knowledge there, but it is definitely something I would also like to work on more. Last but not least was the election, and I’d say we have all heard enough about that for a while.

Before starting my internship at Nixon, the thought of writing my own blog never even crossed my mind, but I would say it has definitely been an enriching experience. It takes a lot of time and brainstorming sometimes, but that’s the neat part. For me it is like a challenge, and who doesn’t love one of those? Although at times I may dread it, requiring employees to keep a weekly blog is a great way to make sure they are constantly thinking.

 Now, for all of you future Nixon interns who will be writing blogs, just do what I do. It’s a simple process really: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Just kidding. Writing a blog is a great way to challenge yourself to find things that interest you and share them with others.

Jenny

The Dark Side of Social Media

Social media…it’s everywhere no matter where you go or what you do, you will likely see something that says like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  Just like almost all college students, I have a Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. Social media is a way of connecting with people, sharing memories, and photos online. Now it seems like everyone from 10 year olds to grandparents have a Facebook at least. I have to admit, I do use Facebook and Twitter to keep up with what people are doing and to see else is going on in this world we live in. Even though these sights are meant to keep people close and connected with people all over the world, there is a still a dark side.

It’s not uncommon for social media accounts to be hacked, for rude and cruel comments to be made towards others, for picture not intended to be on the web to be posted, and many other terrible things can be done. I’m going to focus on Facebook in particular, because those are the stories I hear about the most. As a college student, I soon will be looking for a full time job once I graduate.  Any employer I apply at, will most likely to on the internet and see what kind of social media profiles I have. This means, that stuff I post on Facebook needs to be “clean”.  According to Maureen Downey, from  the AJC Get Schooled blog, offenses such as essay plagiarism, vulgarities in blogs, alcohol consumption in photos, things that make current or future employees “wonder”, and “illegal activities” are things college students should avoid putting out on the internet. I have also seen a lot of people on my news feed posting how much they don’t like their professors or even bosses. This is a big no no, because I have read stories about people getting fired from their jobs because they have posted negatives things about their work or even the people they work with.  Something else that is becoming more common is that employers are using social media to recruiting potential students.

It is just very important for everyone to remember that what you put on the internet may come back to bite you one day.  Just because it’s on the internet and it can be deleted doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t already seen it and spread the word.

-Brooke

Election Day is here.

Well, today's the day. It’s already been four years  since the American people decided to send Barack Obama to the White House. This first Tuesday of November is particularly important to me because it is the first time I am able to cast my vote in a presidential election. Whether you are physically going to the polls, or took  part in absentee voting like me, it’s an exciting thing to be a part of. Tonight is the night we get to see what direction our country will potentially take. I for one, will be glued to the television,  praying for the best and preparing for the worst.

The United States is founded on the principles of democracy. Each citizen has the right, and dare I say, the responsibilty, to educated themselves and be a part of the democratic process. It’s a beautiful and wonderful  thing when you think about. Many people will say “I can’t change anything,” or “My vote doesn’t mean anything.” The truth is, your vote does matter, and you do affect the outcome. If everyone were to think their vote was pointless, then nothing would be solved. Therefore, determine what you find important in a candidate, and go out and cast a vote. America is depending on us.

Jenny

Communication

In my last blog, I talked about dealing with conflict in a group. I gave a method that groups might want to use try to solve the conflict in a reasonable manner. Since I have so many groups this semester, I’ve decided to talk about them again. But this time I am going to talk about conversations and communication within our groups. Conversation is something that happens in everyday life whether it’s just casual, school, or work related there is no way around it.  Without conversation, my groups couldn’t function and complete projects like we need to. I must admit that a couple of my groups have an easier time with conversation than the others do.

Personally, for me it depends on what type of group I am working with that will determine the types of conversations we have. In one of my groups we are very comfortable with each other and just have casual conversations every time we meet.  A couple of the others, it’s strictly school work and nothing else. Both of these methods work fine with me, because we still end up with the same result in the end a finished project.  Group 1 is the more casual group that can do both casual and school related conversations at the same time and still achieve our goals. Group 2’s conversations usually always have to do with the project we are working on and nothing else.  This is okay with me, but I just make it a little harder for me to get comfortable with the people at first. I think casual conversations let you get a feel of what the people are like and their thought process.

Without communicating in general, you cannot expect other people to know what you are thinking.  You can literally feel the tension in school when you get together with your groups for the very first time. Everything is new and for the most part people don’t really know each other too well. Usually the first person to start a conversation is the leader of the group and feels the most comfortable. That did not used to be me, but now I feel as though I have become more comfortable with just putting myself out there and taking the lead. 

With this said, insurance agencies need to have good communication with their customers.  This helps minimize mistakes, conflict, and other problems that could occur. Something that Nixon Insurance does that I really like, is that the agents log their activity with each individual customer in the customer’s profile. This way for example if Chad is out of the office Dave can look in John Doe’s activities and see what conversations have being going on.  It might not give Dave every piece of information he needs to know but at least he has a starting ground and can help the best way he can. It’s important for the customer to tell their agent when they pay off a car loan, get a new car, or have a new roof put on their house so the agent is up to date on everything. Communication between co-workers is important as well. People who don’t communicate well don’t work well together.  It’s important to remember that you have an opinion and a voice for a reason. Use it when it is necessary because only you can control it.

I have to remember this as well when at school. The people in my groups don’t know what I am thinking or wanting to do unless I communicate with them. There is nothing more frustrating in groups than when someone won't communicate at all. Communication is one of the keys to having a successful and fulfilling life.

An Excellent Opportunity

Hello everyone, I hope you had an awesome weekend and are off to a great start this week! This weekend I had the opportunity to take part in the the first annual Caterpillar Young Professionals-Bradley Engineering/Business Case Competition (what a mouthful!). What this ridiculously long-named event entails is ten teams of five people: three Caterpillar employees, one Bradley engineering student, and one Bradley business student. The purpose of the competition was to not only encourage continued education for CAT employees and networking for Bradley students, but to actually come up with a creative and sustainable solution to an issue CAT is facing (unfortunately I am legally bound to secrecy on the specifics).

To prepare for the competition, all teams met once a week for four weeks. We spent two hours together and discussed the process of Six Sigma (Six Sigma is simply a process that many companies use to improve processes and minimize defects) and what would be expected of us come competition day. Then, the big day came. We were handed the case on Friday at 8am and were expected to send in our solution by 6:59am on Saturday. My group spent almost 22 hours in the same room working on our presentation; there was copious amounts of coffee and takeout consumed. Around 5:30am we decided to call it quits so we could shower and get spiffy. We then met up at the CAT administration building at 7am and awaited the beginning of the presentations which were to be judged by panels of various Caterpillar specialists.  

In total, my team was up for 32 hours straight; we were literally sleeping with our eyes open. I don’t know about you, but that’s the longest I have ever stayed awake, and trust me, I was getting slightly cranky! I regret to say that we did not win, but I learned more about CAT, Six Sigma, and teamwork than I ever thought possible. If any engineering or business students from BU are reading this, I highly recommend you try to be a part of this soon- to- be annual opportunity. It was hard work, and it was tiring work, but in the end I think it was one of the most beneficial opportunities I have ever had the pleasure to take part in. If you have any questions, just shoot me a comment!

Thanks for reading! Stay warm and stay safe this Halloween season!

Jenny Walker

A Way to Manage Conflict

No one told me that is semester at Bradley would be the semester of groups! I have 5 classes this semester, and out of those 5, 4 of those have groups. That means I have to work with 9 different people and 9 different points of view. Now this may seem like a nightmare, but in reality it is not half bad. I mean yes sometimes differences of opinion, working styles, and personalities can make things a little difficult but nothing too horrible. One class I am taking is called Leadership & Behavior and we literally just sit and talk about just that leadership and behavior. Something I've learned after being in this class for over 2 months now, is that whoever your leader is can really change the group dynamic for better or for worse.  With that said, it is important to remember that a team is still a team not the leader doing everything and the other members just sitting there in the background. Everyone’s behavior can change the way the group works, thinks, and managements conflicts.

Luckily, all of my groups are pretty easy going and we can agree on almost everything even if there is conflict. Now when you first hear the word conflict, you probably think it's always bad but in truth there is such a thing a good conflict. Think about it without conflict, everyone would be the same, think the same, and do basically everything the same. How boring right? Good conflict needs to happen in groups, but it is your leader's job to make sure that good conflict management is put in place. According to my lecture from Leadership & Behavior, this is a model teams can follow to help resolve conflict:

1.       Define the Situation.

a.       Talk about what is going wrong and why things are the way they are

2.       Share Personal Impact

a.       Let each member of the team tell how this conflict is changing the way they see the group or how it is effecting them when the group is working

3.       Express Overall Effects

a.       Write down a list of things that have been effect by this conflict like group dynamic, work ethic, and cohesiveness.

4.       Present Desired Alternatives

a.       Come up with ways to resolve the conflict such as accommodating, compromise, or collaboration

This model may not work in every situation but it’s at least something to try.  The important thing to remember is that everyone is different and it’s important to discuss difference. Being a leader is more than just telling people what to do, it’s about being able to influence a relationship among yourself and the team members, keeping an open mind, listening, and being understanding. Next time you have a problem even if it’s with a friend, give this a try and see what happens!

-Brooke

"Insure" a Stress Free Life

I don’t know about you, but I am a bit of a worrier, and not just about the big stuff. I tend to worry about EVERYTHING. Don’t believe me? I had nightmares about trying to decide what to blog about today. Yeah, that bad. I am getting better at relaxing a little and letting life take its course, but I guess I still can’t control my dreams!

            So, what better to blog about then stress? Stress is a part of everyone’s life, maybe some more than others. I’m starting to believe it’s only as prevalent as you allow it to be. It has taken me 21 years (okay, maybe not that long) to gain the ability to manage it, but I can definitely say I have far from perfected the art.  I believe it is important to have some faith, just know God won’t give you something He doesn’t think you can't handle. It is also important to have someone to talk to when you are stressing. For me, it is my mom, but no matter who it is, sometimes you just need to be able to air everything out.

            I’m sure it is probably pretty hard to take a college student seriously when it comes to a life lesson, but I’d say I have become pretty knowledgeable about this subject. Faith and family are the two most important things I use for managing my worry problem, in a way, they are my insurance. Isn’t that the idea of insurance: manage risk to help alleviate worry and stress about the future?

Have a great day everyone. Enjoy the little things and love your family to “insure” a great life!

Jenny, Intern

A saying my mother sends to me when I am stressed to the point of pulling my hair out.

Oh How Things Can Change

Jenny's Blog

The homecoming excitement has died down, and now its time to get serious again. So, what’s more serious than insurance? Well, according to many people my age, not too much. Out of sheer curiosity, I took it upon myself this weekend to ask a few of my peers what they think when they hear “insurance.” The typical answer: boring, expensive, death, (and on a lighter note) something you just have to deal with throughout your life, or a necessity that gives people piece of mind. If you ask me, insurance is just something that most people my age (which is 21, by the way) don’t know very much about. How do I know this? Aside from the more entertaining answers already mentioned, most said they just didn’t know enough to comment.

Before I started my internship at Nixon, I was pretty much in the same boat. I mean, I knew some of the basics- insuring a 16 year old must be a parent’s worst nightmare and simultaneously insuring their older son and his motorcycle surely kept them up at night- that’s enough right? Okay, okay, so I definitely didn’t know much. Insurance wasn’t something I personally had to deal with, it was just always there. It was there when my brother ended up in the ER, his motorcycle in pieces, or when my father’s low blood sugar caused him to pass out at the wheel and hit a ditch.

Like me, many people my age can probably come up with times when insurance was a safety net for the unexpected, we just don’t know too much about the technicalities. Therefore, I look forward to continuing my internship with Nixon, learning as much as I can, and sharing my experiences via our social media. I also look forward to sharing what I learn with you in this weekly blog, bear with me though, it’s only my second month! By the way, my name is Jenny, and I’m a senior at Bradley University. J

 

Brooke's Blog

Insurance, the look on most people’s faces when they hear that word is a look of torture. Hey I’m not going to lie I did the same thing and only thought of horror stories I had heard about insurance. I’m Brooke, a Business Management & Administration major at Bradley University.  Since May 2012, I have been an intern at Nixon Insurance and let me tell you my perspective on insurance no longer has thoughts of horror attached to it. The old saying never judge a book by its cover really comes into play here. After just listening to our agents talk about insurance really let me understand what insurance is all about.  

It takes more than just one day to fully understand insurance and how it works. I’ve been here for almost 6 months and I still don’t understand everything.  Contrary to what most people think, insurance companies and agents do not want to take as much money as possible from their customers. Nixon Insurance is here to serve you, the customer, and to make things easier. Yes, insurance is an ever evolving industry and can be unpredictable. We as the agent do our best to make things easy to understand and help with any transitions the customer have to go through.  

In reality, insurance is always going to be here. You can’t even drive a car legally, without it, and I feel the more people understand it the less threathend they will feel by it. If you have questions call your agent, ask questions, or come into the office the door is always open. Remember there is no such thing as a stupid question and our agents will do their best to answer the questions. Our goal here at Nixon Insurance, is to show you that we really care about you and are not just the middle man. We want to know when you have concerns and want to be able to help you understand what is going on.

As an intern, my journey is just beginning and  I cannot wait to see where I will go from here. Until next time everyone have a great day!