The final chapter

Dear Readers,

This is the last chapter of a story that started a year ago when I moved to Boston for my Industrial Placement. This story really started years ago when I started to think about the American dream, that dream of living the United States of America for an extended period of time to have that experience that many described as life changing.

 

I remember this moment like it was yesterday, I was sitting in a lecture hall at GCU on my first day of university and the Business Society came to introduce themselves and one of the members mentioned a year long IP he just finished in Boston. The way he described it and seeing how easily he could talk in front of a lecture hall just made me say 'I want to do what he did'. And that was it the beginning of my journey of making my American dream happen during my undergraduate degree.

My first year flew by and then it was the start of my second year and came the time for me to decide where I wanted to apply for my IP. I applied to a few places in Glasgow but my n1 choice was Nu in Boston. I decided that the positions they offered fitted me, so I applied, went through the interview process and that was it, the beginning of my American adventure. 

My Beantown adventure started just over a year ago and I honestly can not believe how fast my time in Beantown has been going. Arrived in Boston June 28th last year on that warm and humid day. I cannot believe how far I have come and how much my time here has shaped me as a working professional and how much it has shaped my personality. Over the past months, I have been asking team members and people I met in Boston how I have changed and they all said the same thing, I become more confident in my work and the way I express myself. 

It's hard to put words on this experience and say exactly how it has shaped the person I am today, a year later. If someone told me just a few year back that by 21,  I would have lived in 3 countries, made friends for life and meet people that have shaped, built and believed in me the way people have over the past 3 years of my life, I would simply not have believed them. My life has now a purpose and I am not afraid of what is coming next. So I don't know how to say thank you to those who have made such a positive impact throughout my journey. 

It's words like the one a colleague wrote last week that make me stronger and when I realized how much the past 12 months have shaped me. It's been an unbelievable experience 
"It is rather easy to praise your commitment to perfection, constant love of learning, ability to follow through, pride in your projects and willingness to help the extended family of Career Services. " 

The few words I will be able to use is that I lived a dream, my dream, my American dream and that not one day will go by with me regretting to go through this incredible and toughtful experience despite all the bumps that were on the road to my dream. 


So thank you Boston & Northeastern University for making my experience spectacular!



Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I hope to see you all really soon!

Best,

Alexandra 

Special time in Boston & finalizing projects ~ week 49

Dear Readers,


I hope you are all doing well, the past two weeks have been flying by and I have been able to finalize some of my projects and I have also turned 21 this week!!

My Industrial Placement is coming to end here in Boston, and I have to admit that I have been thinking a lot about my growth over the past year as well as thinking about what is the future holding. I have been reflecting in the past couple of weeks about how transformative this experience has been not only professionally but also personally. I have realized how much I have been growing through this professional experience, I have learned to manage my expectations of others and what others expect of my work. I have further been able to acquire technical, personal and business skills, including team working, communication, leadership, time- management and business awareness in the higher education sector.  I have been able to understand what is important to me, recognize my weaknesses without hiding behind them but by embracing them, I have been striving for balance,  but also giving and sharing with others.  I strive for perfection by dedicating myself to my work.

It is hard to believe that this journey started 12 months ago but I couldn't have come as far if it wasn't for the support and love of friends, family, and co-worker.

So with that being said, I will make the most of the last 10 days working at Northeastern and will catch you next week for the final chapter of my adventure in Beantown.

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Alexandra

Where is time going? & last month at Northeastern ~ week 47

Dear readers,

I hope that you are all doing well, as I am starting to write this blog entry, I have to admit that I am starting to realize how little time I have left in the US and at Northeastern.
This week has been challenging on a personal level, however, my work has been quieter. Don't get me wrong I still have a lot of work to do as I am entering the last month of my placement in Boston.

As I mentioned in previously in my blog, I have recently worked on creating a complete workshop for Northeastern students returning from a global experience and that want to know to share, sell & network with their global experience.
Creating a workshop has most certainly been a learning process. Creating this workshop I have learned about managing content and learning to make sure that the content is explained right as I will be here to lead the workshop. I have had to explain my vision not only verbally but in writing so that anyone that reads my work would understand the purpose and concept of the workshop. This week I have been putting together the materials that the students should get during the workshop but that would also be available online as a resource, as I am not entirely sure of how often this workshop will be run throughout the year. As I was talking with a colleague our thoughts were that they would go off the feedback from the first group of students as well as the demand that they get.
In the little time that I have left at Northeastern, I will create some of the marketing materials and social postings that will be used to promote the event.

I have learned a lot about my learning style, and how much I can actually create without restrictions, this project has been helping me to create, reflect and learn not only from the Northeastern community but also from my own experience here. This project proved me that I should be more confident in my work as the staff in both departments as really liked my idea and is encouraging me throughout the different steps of this process.

I have further been continuing to do some research for the coordinator in preparation of their different upcoming trips in various countries. By doing the research and contacting some of the employers I realized the consequence and direct impact of the US administration. This directly impact the work my team is doing as the visa are getting more challenging and furthermore some students are concerned with the idea of leaving the United States.  This is challenging as our work end product is to see students going on a global placement.

I can really not believe that this time last year I was getting ready for this unbelievable and life building experience!


Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed and I will be back here really soon to share the last couple of weeks with you! And I have to say that the next couple of weeks are going to be filled with work but also celebrations and trips. 

Love,

Alexandra

Employer conference, workshop creation ~ week 45

Dear Readers,


I hope that you all doing well and enjoying the first days of summers. I certainly am enjoying the first few days of summer as it giving me the chance to do more outside and make the most of the sun.

While enjoying the warm Boston summer evenings, the past couple of weeks has been really engaging as I am multitasking projects I am undertaking prior to the end of my placement.

One of the main projects I have been working on is the complete design and creation of a workshop for students returning from a global experience. The workshop will focus on how they 'sell, share and network' around their global experience, no matter what the nature of their experience was Dialogue of Civilization, Global Co-op or Study Abroad. I have been working on creating the strategy and content of the workshop, including the research, the agenda, the structure and the content of this essential workshop for students returning from a global experience. Designing and creating the workshop is an opportunity for me to not only leave something concrete behind me, here at Northeastern but to further expand and improve my knowledge of career development and global experiences networking, sharing and selling. It will also be a good transition for me as I will be moving to the role of President of the Glasgow School for Business and Society - International Business and Society Network. This workshop design is giving me the opportunity to put into action all I have been learning over the past 11 months and to collaborate with differents department on campus. I am looking forward to seeing pictures and having some feedback about the workshop as I will no longer be in Boston when the workshop will be run for the first time. 
This project is for me a great opportunity to use my creative and innovative skills, but further identify myself how I will, in the short-term future, be able to sell, share & network my experience at Northeastern.

I further had the chance to take part in the annual employer conference on campus this week. Career Services organized a day-long event "9th Annual Employer-Partner Conference: Building Networks, Customizing Learning and Accelerating Discovery" to thank employers for their collaboration with Northeastern University and for employing and engaging with the student body. I had the privilege to listen to Sean Gallagher and Dustin Clinard presentations and to take part in two different breakout sessions.

Overall the past couple of weeks, despite challenging due to the quantity of work, have influence my path here and are helping me to complete my year long at Northeastern University!



Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed and I will be back here really soon to share the last couple of weeks with you!

Love,

Alexandra

Marketing strategy, communication & Commencement ~ week 43

Dear readers,

It is on this really rainy day that the class of 2017 just graduated at Northeastern University. Today I was reminded that my time at Northeastern was coming to an end and moreover that in just over a year I will be graduating myself. With the emotions starting to become really evident about the rest of my time working at NU, I also realized that I had really little time to achieve some of my professional goals.

Over the past two weeks, I have been further involved with marketing strategies and analysis for the department. Marketing planning helped us to identify the need for new workshops that meet the needs of NU students. I will be an integral part of the development of a workshop structure & marketing strategy for part of the GEO Week in the fall. My participation in the marketing meetings is great as it gives me first experience on a large scale marketing strategy creation which is extremely important to me as I am exploring the possibilities of working in international relations and marketing. I know that even if this project is a challenge, I will be able to learn and develop skills that will benefit me in my future career. 
Since my last entry, I was further able to attend Human Resources training on creating SMART goals. After doing the online session, I was a little confused on how the in-person training would go as I felt I got a lot of information and help through the online training, however attending the in-person training helped me to design and craft goals for this last quarter but further helped me to craft personal goals that I will be able to take on after my time at Northeastern.
I am trying to make the most of my time here, and I believe that by making the most of the opportunities I have here, I will be able to expand my personal growth and knowledge.

Over the past weeks, I have attended a presentation on the expansion of Northeastern in Canada. Attending this presentation was an opportunity for me to further realize that I love working in an international environment and that I really want to pursue this as my career.
The professional journey I have undertaken here, in Boston, is unbelievable and I can not believe how much this has changed me. So let's roll the next 2 months of adventures and professional growth!


Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, see you soon!

Alexandra

Creating a team strategy and event planning - week 41

Dear readers,

I am writing this post with a lot of excitement as I have a few things to share with you. Over the past couple of weeks, I have actually been taking some time off as my best friend visited me in Boston. This time off was really great to have as it gave me a chance to re-energized and feel ready to embrace my last two months at Northeastern. With my friend visiting it was perfect to walk around Boston and discover the city at the start of a new season. We were really lucky as the weather was really warm and nice while she was staying over. Having my best friend visiting gave me the opportunity to further reflect on my time in Boston and how much things have changed in such a small amount of time.

 

Talking with her gave me the chance to further be critical and discuss what the future was going to bring my way after this amazing experience. I have to admit that the future is really exciting but scary at the same time. I don't know what the future will look like but I am ready to take on any challenges that life will bring my way and embrace them to design and achieve the life I envision to have.

After taking this time off, I felt empowered to achieve things at work and get ahead with my workload. One of the first things I did when I got back at work was to attend a monthly training about critical thinking and getting things done. What I gathered from this training was that I need to capture /collect things that are out of place, then clarify and make a decision to then organize your thoughts, allocate resources and finally make it happen. Another training that I have attended is the Human Resources SMART goal course. This course is divided into two parts, an online module I took this week and an in-person session I will attend next week. So far I have been able to think about the following questions: 1. Why do goals have to be aligned? What are SMART goals? and What is the difference between a development goal and a performance goal?
Having structured goals and objectives will help me to track them, create transparency between me and the rest of the team, and further clarifies criteria for success and completion.  Having such defined goals will help me to build upon strengths, expand my expertise for future projects and help me to fill gaps where I could benefit from expanding my knowledge.

Another of the task I fulfilled this fortnight was assisting the team with designing support and analytical point of views. I was able to help my team formulate and design their strategy to present to higher management. This was a stressful time however really rewarding as the team used my ideas and that they were aligned with the end goal.

My final words, for this week entry, is that outdoor event planning can really go both ways, running the event from start to finish, or not run the event due to unforeseen weather conditions. Since February I had organized a Sunset cruise for 40 international students in Boston harbor. However, the weather on Friday led me to cancel the event as the visibility was really low and that we wouldn't have been able to see the city's skyline nor be able to take any pictures. I am hoping that the weather will settle and give us the opportunity to reschedule the cruise before I head back to Europe in just 72 days.

But for now, it is time to focus on the last couple weeks in Boston and make the most of them!

I want to finish this entry with the following quote "Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present." 

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, see you soon!

Alexandra

Practicing interview skills, leadership classes, HR training's, 3rd quarter review and 4th quarter overview

Dear readers,

I am writing to you from a still fairly cold and humid Boston. It is with excitement but apprehension that I am writing this blog as in just under three months my internship at Northeastern University will be over. I am excited to embrace the last three months of this life building and changing experience. I am, as most of you already know, really delighted to head back to Europe to my friends and family, but at the same time, I am starting to realize that I will miss friends that I made over the course of this unbelievable experience. But enough about my feelings, for now, I will keep them for later...

Over the course of the past fortnight, I have been really engaged with my work as well as being proactive about my future and getting myself equipped with all the necessary tools to research employment opportunities. To do the later, I have met with a career counselor I previously worked with and sat with her to discuss my CV and current experience to see how I could best present myself in future interviews. After this first process, we met again for interview practice. Both those sessions were really useful as I was able to somewhat determine a logic into the reply I could give in interviews and work on how to best present my skills and qualifications. I was further able to specify in my answers specific examples of experiences I could use to answer the common questions that are usually asked in an interview. I was further able to identify weaknesses that I could discuss and not risk to talk myself down while talking about them. This appointment further allowed me to solidify questions I could ask at the end of any interview after making them more specific depending on the job interview.

I have further been engaged with the organization Human Resources training. I attended a session on Diversity in the 21st century. The questions that were touched upon were the following:
- What is happening?
- How ate labels used to described?
- How often does stereotypes, micro-aggression, micro-inequity, discrimination and prejudice happen?
To answer the later we were put into groups and had to assume the answer to some questions that we could only answer if you knew the person you were sitting with. This was just a reminder of what is happening the society nowadays. We further discussed a definition of diversity as well as the concept, saving-face. That discussion was a reminder that we are living in a changing world and that we shouldn't take anything for granted anything for granted.

I have also attended leadership classes, one of crisis leadership and the other on Culture and Climate in the context of Cross-Cultural leadership. The leadership classes have allowed me to grow and to further put into perspective some of the responsibilities I might have in the future and how the latter will impact my decision-making process when I get into a leadership position. The goal of crisis leadership session explored a new leadership paradigm and to understanding the critically of powerful, honest and caring leadership in a workplace crisis. The later lead into a session where we were creating an evacuation plan for a chemical organisation. The team created a plan that will require command, authority, integrity, caring and stamina. Most importantly, if a leader is exposed to a situation crisis, he must confirm, clear, confirm, cordon, contain and control.
Attending those leadership classes since September have allowed me to grow as a professional and expand my leadership knowledge.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been further involved in marketing creation and research. I have been updating and making some of our presentation more specific and more engaging for students by adapting the layout and content. I will over the next quarter get more involved with some marketing strategy research and creation.

As I am currently writing this entry, I am thinking of my remaining time at NU and looking at my goals and what I am left to achieve. I thought I would share with you some of my goals, they include  strengthening job development and employer outreach skills; Enhancing research skills for site visit preparations and assist Director and Coordinators with upcoming trips; managing annual reporting projects for Global ER and monitor updates; building on marketing skills; participating in employer visits and information session on campus and continue to participate in professional development training. 

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Until next time,

Alexandra 

Only three months left ~ Week 37

Dear readers,

As I am currently thinking of where I am currently sitting, I am absolutely stunned at the fact that I will soon be embarking the last leg of my journey in the United States, working at Northeastern University.

As I am writing this entry, I am contemplating the past 9 months, I am competing with my emotions and the way I feel.
Over the course of my placement, I have so far felt a smooth progression and learning curve from day 1 to today; that being said over the past couple of weeks I have been feeling further progress and learning. I understand even more that learning isn't just about the hard skills but also about the soft skills, the one that you can only learn about by experiencing and being involved in an organization. As mentioned in my previous entry, I have been encountering the reality of the annual operations in a big corporation. I believe that experiencing those challenging situations early on in my career will help me in the future to better assess and react to situations that are not necessarily the most commun. I believe that learning is highly related to thinking, it is about reaching, reflecting, re-coding (provide new knowledge), reinforcing knowledge and thoughts by experiencing more than once, and further review and retrieve knowledge through meaningful reflection.

I have over the past weeks worked on creating more city and country descriptors, as well as working on the accuracy of the teams yearly report. I have further been attending more students facing events with the Pre-Departure Info session for students going abroad with NU faculty this summer.

The past couple of weeks felt busy however rewarding with the fulfillment of several projects.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are well.

Until next time!

Alexandra

PS: Here is a picture of my first race.

Working under pressure and visiting Canada for the very first time - week 35

Dear readers,

I hope you are doing well and that you are enjoying the beginning of spring. I have to admit that as I am writing this blog entry I am currently on my way back from Canada.

Myself and the two other interns thought that it would be a great idea to visit Montreal. Little did we know that March is apparently not late enough in the spring for the weather to be warm. I have just experienced one of the coldest weekends I could possibly imagine…

Despite the freezing weather, Montreal is a really pretty city, with a lot of French and European background.

 

This weekend away was really appreciated, as the past couple of weeks have been really overwhelming at work. I have been experiencing a lot of pressure I have been working under really strict deadlines. I have been struggling to manage all the expectations this week. This week was for me an opportunity to experience a type of work that I always try to avoid personally as I do not enjoy working under such pressure. I realised that I am someone that likes to have time to prepare and plan my work according to a deadline so I don’t have to work against the clock. I do think that this type of work is rushed and as such, I am not I am working at the best of my capabilities as I feel more pressured and my focus isn’t fully on the quality but more on completion the task. I am someone that likes to have projects completed to the best of my knowledge and capabilities and to achieve those results I usually like to spend time on the details and presentation. I think that those are qualities of my work and my personality.

I take pride in my work and I believe that to able to continue to work at the best of my abilities, I will have to learn how to separate my work life and my personal life. To help me in this transition, I have been talking to my friends but also been doing some readings on how I can improve the situation. During my research, I came across an article from The American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org, 2017) that helped me to understand some of the reasons I haven’t felt well over the past couple of weeks. The article also suggests steps to help manage and overcome some of the effects of stress; some of the points that I really feel I could put into practice are the following: (1) Establish boundaries: such as removing work emails from my phone, this should help me to separate work from my personal life as I won’t be available to check my emails 24 hours a day but just from work; (2) develop a healthy response – I have noticed that when I get stress I tend to turn to food or fall into my own world and in those cases reject help offered by friends to help me feel better; I need to find healthier habits. I usually work out a lot but when I get stress, I tend to put working out on the side, I now realise that I should keep working out and go twice if needed.

I know that this thought process is just the beginning of what I need to do to help myself in stressful work weeks, but to me it is the first steps of accepting that I need to accept help, need to actively help myself and that the conditions need to change for me to be able to work at the best of my capabilities.

This is challenging, however: a good way for me to learn and analyse my work type once again.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are well.

Until next time!

Alexandra 

Experiencing organisational change & Only 4 months left

Dear readers,

I hope that you are doing well and that you are enjoying the last couple days of winter and are like me excited to welcome back spring and its warm days.

It is hard to believe that I have now been doing my placement for over 8 months! I am asking myself WHAT? What happened to me? Where is time going? 

All I can say is that the past eight months really have been rewarding on a personal and professional level.

Last week I took part in what will be my last Global Co-op info session for students in the different colleges of the university. I have over the course of the academic year taken part and presented in over 30 Global Co-op info sessions. Through that number of info sessions, I have been able to greatly develop my public speaking skills. I have further been able, by the end of the year to represent the Global Employer Relations team on my own at some of the info sessions. This was rewarding as different co-op faculty members were telling me how great it was to have students sharing their stories alongside given factual and commonly known as 'boring' information. More importantly some of the faculty shared with me that through the presentations, they have seen me grow and improve my cross-communication skills. I have, alongside some of the faculty members, been able to share my passion for exploring cultures, professional sectors and discovering myself in ways that I couldn't have if I had stayed in my comfort zone.

Through the info sessions, I have further been able to share my passion and love for the importance of global studies and work experiences. Therefore I have realized that later in my professional career I want to keep being able to work alongside people from different cultures all over the world.
Other projects I have been working on have helped me realize my interest in other fields; I aim to be working in international relations. I have recently been given more marketing and creative projects. Through those projects I have realized that I enjoy working on projects that are fun, positive, new, challenging, that need brainstorming, need new ideas and challenge the mind.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have further been exposed to industry change and transition. I have been taking part in the meeting with a consultant with the entire department. The consultant was here to discuss the Northeastern 2025 plan. Those meetings were really interesting as I was able to express my thoughts and ideas for Northeastern. Those meetings helped me to better understand the processes behind hiring a consultant, providing expert knowledge in higher education fields but also assisted the department in the examination and groundwork to analyse our work and helped us to facilitate our intentions.

Thanks for reading & I will speak to you next week.

Until next time!

Alexandra