Back in America

After I traveled in Europe, my father suggested starting this domain so that I could keep track of my adventures in good, old USA. I hope to use this website to document my experiences now that I'm back here in the states. Because I am once again taking UT classes, I do not expect to update that often. In fact, this blog is mostly for me to help me remember all I've done. So without further ado, it's time to try the great experiment.

What did I do when I returned to the states? First I took 15 hours of business summer classes. There I worked as VP accounting in a group of six people. We ran a Marketplace Live simulation where we sold personal computers around the globe. Our company was called Anchor Systems.

Above: Nothin' Sinks Like an Anchor.

We started off last, and worked tirelessly over many days and nights. Finally, eight weeks later, we finally finished... last again. The irony of our name and placement was lost on no one. But we did have one strength - we gave excellent presentations. For instance, for our venture capitalist presentation, we raised the full five million in capital, even though there were groups with better returns. Also, on our final presentation, Anchor Systems told the class that we were going green. It was our turnaround strategy since we were last. We concluded by revealing our new logo.

Above: We are so good at spinning.

We gave a huge, spectacular final presentation which put our competitors' powerpoints to shame. We were  called the "poster child" of how to give a presentation despite subpar performance, and ended up with the highest grades. I really had a great time with my Mötley Crüe of unique individuals, who showed me what people outside of my standard social bubble were like.

After I finally finished classes and got a business certificate (which is somewhere between a business minor and a major). What was more important though was that I now understood some of business vocabulary and human psychology. It's weird to see now how motivation is broken down. Now I notice how targeted advertisements are. For instance, you get different movie previews depending on which movie you're seeing in a movie theater. Also, employee of the month awards are a way to increase productivity in minimum-wage, unskilled jobs. This is because for these kind of jobs,  productivity increases due to recognition equals productivity increases due to a cash reward. Strange seeing how all the invisible cogs work. I'm not sure I like understanding how complicated running a business is, but the knowledge is valuable.

Anyways, after my classes were over, I decided to see my Uncle Oreste in California. Next up, time for breezy San Francisco!