Can You Tell Me What You Know?

My new quote:
"It does not matter how much you know if you cannot communicate what you know."

I have realized that if I cannot express myself or my knowledge I look really stupid to teachers, peers, interviewers, family, etc. Who will seek advice from someone that cannot tell you what they are thinking? Who will ask a pharmacist for information when that pharmacist talks all high level science or is uncomfortable talking to people? Who will hire a person that cannot describe their strengths. What employer will hold onto an employee that cannot communicate well with management or coworkers?

From being a TA over the past two semesters and going through numerous interviews, it has become much more apparent to me of how wide the range of communication abilities are among individuals. Some people may know a wealth of information about a topic but are just not good communicators. The Einstein's of the world have so much to share with people but sometimes they do not know how. To the world, these people will never know much if they cannot communicate it. I know a lot of REALLY smart people, including professors, scientists, students and philosophers but sometimes they cannot explain to me what they know or how they feel. In these situations, these people seem unintelligent even though they may be one of the brightest people. Many times I know that students understand a specific topic but I find that they cannot explain that concept to me. When they cannot explain what they know, it seems like they do not know anything at all. A good example is a very intelligent doctor. If the doctor knows everything there is about medicine but he cannot explain that to his patient, in the patients' eyes that doctor does not know anything. If only we could extract the brain and see what people knew...

Communicating with people is relevant to every aspect of life. Relationships, careers, friendships, learning, etc. It is VERY important for everyone to have communication training and an understanding of how to effectively communicate with others no matter what their career or who they are. It just makes sense.

"It does not matter how much you know if you cannot communicate what you know."

All 5 Million OTC Products in One Semester!

I am currently taking a one semester course all about over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Drake is one of the better pharmacy schools in that this "OTC Class" is not only offered, but required. Some other pharmacy schools do not offer the class which is unfortunate because I think know OTC medications is VERY important and necessary information for a pharmacist to know. Think about how much people self-treat their illnesses with OTC products rather than a prescription. Knowing information, proper usage, safety, dosing, etc is very important because these products are medications just like any other that a pharmacist must prepare. I am glad that I am taking the class because it will only help me help my patients understand the products they are using. Helping people live better lives is a major goal in my life.

Now all that being said, this OTC class is also turning out to be one of the hardest classes. Just think about how many OTC medications there are. Yeah....hundreds of thousands, and they change daily because of newer better medications, regulations, requirements, trial results, etc. There is not just one pain reliever but hundreds for every kind of pain and for every kind of person. They may have similar ingredients, different added ingredients, different dosages, different side effects, different uses, etc. So we have to pack all those products and more into a one semester course. Trust me it is overwhelming. To add to it, the class is mainly independently taught...the students teach themselves. This is why I am struggling with this course and will be for the next few months. It is a very interesting course that I know will be one of the most applicable to my career and life but getting through it will be a challenge! Bring on the OTCs!

How Come?

How Come...

Most jobs require a college education yet most people cannot afford one?

People of different religions cannot live together in peace?

Some people at denied education or learning on purpose?

A few people can control an entire countries fate?

Health care is so expensive that many people have to go without?

Women are pair less than men for the same work?

People spend more money then they have?

Less than 0.1% of the population control most of the world wealth?

Not everyone has clean water to drink?

Someone always has to be right and someone else always has to be wrong?

People constantly judge one another?

People verbal, physically, and mental abuse each other?

We all lose our innocence?

Time goes by so fast?

......How come?

Ethics, what do you do?

I did not have a weekend as I had a grad business class all night Friday and all day Saturday. It was about as fun as sitting in rush hour traffic but I will admit that I learned a few things and really thought about some new concepts. The class is all about how corporations are governed and ties in a lot of business ethics.

When ethics are brought up in the context of business I think of all the corporations that have shown a blatant lack of ethics, Enron, WorldCom, etc. and have a hard time understanding how it could be so hard to be an ethical business leader. Through other ethics classes and through this weekend, I realized that ethical business decisions are more than just not cheating your accounting books or dumping waste into a river. I have become almost shocked at how hard it is to remain an ethical business leader and still be successful in the competitive business world. Think about the follow scenarios. These decisions are hard to face and business leaders have to face them all the time.

1. You just have a newborn and the formula for your newborn is $4 cheaper at Walmart, however you think that Walmart acts in some unethical ways when it comes to labor policies. Where do you buy the formula?

2. Almost all of our clothes are made in sweatshops, is that ok with you? Would you rather pay 10x the price and go search for clothes that are not?

3. You know that your boss does not always treat your co-worker fairly when it comes to accepting new ideas or promotions. Do you put your job on the line?

4. You are a manager and you know that the stakeholders (owners) are expecting big returns this quarter. You know that in order to produce the best product for the customer, profits will not be that large. Who do you satisfy?

5. Your favorite shoe company makes your gym shoes at a sweatshop in El Salvador but donates a portion of the profits to a children's foundation. Do you buy the shoes?

6. You own a drug company. The company could make billions of dollars by creating a generic blood pressure medication that is similar to one that already exists or the company could make very little money by creating a vaccination that could save thousands of lives. What do you do?

Sign Me Up!...For Extra Work??

Have you ever accepted an invitation from a person or group thinking it was going to be a great but realized a little too late the work associated with accepting the invitation? For the person extending the invitation it is almost equivalent to telling a lie. The invitee should expose and explain all duties or 'strings' attached to their invitation and not just let the 'invited' blindly follow a path of assumptions.


For example:

I was invited to take part in a discussion group consisting of about 25 seniors. The invitation just stated the time and place for the first meeting. It also mentioned that there would be a total of about 4 meetings. I figured this would be a fun time to reflect with other peers on the past four years at college as well as the plans we had for the future. Four meetings at about an hour each did not seem like such a huge commitment so I said, sure.

We had the first meeting. Only after we were all graciously comforted, given materials, priased and thanked for signing up were we all explained our responsibilities now asmembers of this discussion group. We were going to meet weekly for the next two months and we had to compose a reflective paper and then present that paper. Not super hard work, but the problem is I thought I was signing up for something simple and not very time consuming. It turns out accepting that seemingly great invite just cost me a paper and over 8 hours or meetings. Now this would not be so bad if I was living life as a true senior with the minimum amount of credits and carefree semester, but I am VERY LIMITED on time as it is and this semester is one of my hardest academically. The work will not be hard but will take time, time I am already lacking.

If I would have known the strings attached to the invite I probably would have thought twice. I feel as though I was lied to because not everything was told to me up front; however, I feel too bad to back down now. I guess it is partly my fault for just assuming what the invited meant but I feel as though I was blindly misinformed. I know I accepted an invitation to provide senior reflections but I feel as though I was tricked into more than I bargained for.

Congratulations David and Maggie Porcher!

My weekend was hectic but in such a GREAT way!

As a kid weddings were just really awsome social gatherings that I loved to attend for the food, fun, and family. I have been to well over a dozen and been in about 6. I never really got the meaning of weddings and marriages until I began to understand the feelings and commitment behind them. This realization was further embedded with the wedding of two of my greatest friends this past weekend.

One of my best friends, Maggie had her wedding on Saturday to another one of my good friends, David. I was asked back in October to be apart of their wedding party and of course I was beyond honored to do so.

On Friday, I drove the 5 hours home, the northwest suburbs of Chicago, after my 9am class to make it in time or rehersal, dinner and some bonding time with the girls before the big day. We all got about 4 hours of sleep since we had to be up at 4am Saturday to get ready for the festivities but it was well worth what was to come.

The weather turned out just perfect, considering it is February. The church was so simply perfect. The truffle brown and teal color theme was elegant and the flowers were gorgeous. Everyone and everything was so beautiful that day, especially the bride. The ceremony was simple, short and so meaningful. I will remember forever the looks on Maggie and David's faces as they exchanged their vows, as they kissed and as they were announced as "David and Maggie Porcher". They were both filled with so much joy and happiness that they could have lit up a night sky. The newly married couple radiated their love the entire day as we took pictures, as the reception began and even as the festivities came to an end.

The reception was livelier than most and as much fun as anyone could ask for. I got to enjoy the time by seeing some of my best friends, reuniting with some old friends, and getting to know perfect strangers.

The best part of the day was seeing how happy Maggie and Dave were and knowing that was how happy they would be forever while together. Many times throughout the day, I wanted to cry out of sheer joy for my friends but managed to gulp down my tears since I promised Maggie I would not open the flood gates.

I felt so honored to be apart of the wedding but even more priveliged to be apart of these two people's lives. I do not think I can say it enough but I am so thrilled for the newlyweds. I cannot wait to see how they grow old together!

Congratulations Mr and Mrs David and Maggie Porcher!!

FOUR!

This semester I decided it was time to try something new, challenging, and fun. So I gathered up an limited time I had, some money and my nerves and signed up to take GOLF lessons. I never would have imagined myself playing let alone trying to play golf. I would consider myself an athletic person that enjoys intense sports so I never was too attracted to golf because it just seemed boring.

Since starting college, taking grad classes and through outside experiences, I have realized how important networking really is to a career and in life as a whole. The more people you know the more help you can get, the more you can help others and the more connections you can make through the already existing ones. Networking is a necessity of life no matter who you are or what you do!

Networking can happen anywhere and happens everywhere, even on the golf course. How many times do you see or hear about business deals taking place over a round of golf? About as often as it is show in the movies...so A LOT!

The graduate business school in collaboration with a VERY LARGE grant from the PGA on behalf of a Drake alum who is a successful PGA player, Drake started a "Golf for Business and Life" seminar. It combines biweekly class like sessions where business people come to talk about business, networking, and golf as well as 10 golf lessons with a PGA professional golfer.

I had never held a golf club in my hands, I sucked at miniature golf and still thought of golf as a lazy man's sport. This all changed after my first lesson last Monday and second lesson this past Monday.

The lessons have started out slow...thank goodness for my own sake. We have just been going over and over the stance, the grip, the movements, and basics of clubs. I have learned that the sport is a lot more complicated than it looks, the game involves strategy, and it is actually stress relieving and sometimes fun. I say sometimes fun because right now I still am in the sucky stage and when I miss the ball or have horrible shots the game is frustrating. But as I hit more balls and actually get some out further than 20 feet, the game becomes fun.

The frustration will continue as I practice but even if only out of about 100 shots, I hit only 3 correctly, those 3 shots make it worth going back for more. I will keep you up to date on my golf skills as the semester progresses!