Weekly Blogs
Blog Post #26
4/2/18
Over the past week, I have worked on my final product, logging over 14 hours and I also went on a mentor visit which involved H-1B visas. I wrote my Product Progress Assessment, which resulted in the reorganization of my calendar in order to accurately account for changes in the process of my final product. Originally on my calendar, I included that I would be creating my website weeks after I had finished the scenarios. I also moved the time when I would interview people later on... Read More...
I have been making progress on my final product and figuring out the printing of my invitations over the past week in ISM. Also, the interviews for the incoming ISM students were happening this week which made realize that I am coming to the end of this experience. It does not feel like I have accomplished as much as I actually have within the past school year, and I am excited to complete my final product and present it. I am very grateful for this program and the opportunities it has provided me and I have made very strong connections throughout the process. Read More...
Blog Post #25
3/26/18
Blog Post #24
3/19/18
Over spring break I mainly focused on making progress in my final product. I made significant progress on my table and website. First, I completed a research assessment over Japanese immigration. I found out significant information regarding the sentiments of immigrants in Japan and that some people are not as receptive or accepting of immigrants due to cultural differences. Japan is also facing a significant decline in population and they may soon be looking to immigrants to supplement their workforce and decrease their dependency ratio. Read More...
I was unable to go on a mentor visit this week because I had the opportunity to attend the Business Professionals of America State Competition in Corpus Christi. The major work I did for ISM this week was to write an assessment. I chose to write this assessment over the legal research tool, LexisNexis, which Mrs. Wiemann’s team received training on during one of my mentor visits. I learned that legal research is constantly changing and what I learned might not be in use when I am in law school or even when I am working in the field. Read More...
Blog Post #23
3/5/18
Blog Post #22
2/26/18
Throughout the past week in ISM I made progress on my original work and went on a mentor visit on Friday. I accomplished six and a half hours on my product log by setting up and adding to my spreadsheet which listed the different employer-sponsored visas available in the United States. I looked more into the E category of visas and also set up a standard with the H-1B visas in terms of categories. I looked specifically into the E1 visa which is very broad. It deals with international trade which can be defined... Read More...
Over the past week in ISM I have gone on a mentor visit and formulated an assessment regarding previous mentor visits. On Friday, I was able to attend an HR meeting that looked at the company retirement plans. I am not well-informed on personal finance or planning for retirement so it was difficult to understand some terms and concepts that were discussed. I recognized some of the terms they used from my AP Economics course and I anticipate that I will learn more of these terms as I progress through the semester. Read More...
Blog Post #21
2/19/18
Blog Post #20
2/12/18
This past week in ISM I learned more about employment-sponsored immigration and I was able to apply this information in my mentor visit on Friday. I looked into H-1B visas in more depth and found out more of the strict regulations involved in getting a visa approved and the steps necessary to increase the chances that a candidate can get the opportunity to work in the country. In my mentor visit, I had the opportunity to see the development of an H-1B package for the immigration office. Read More...
I delivered my Original Work Speech and had a mentor visit. I prepared my powerpoint slide and outline. My speech overall went better than my previous Research Speech because I made sure to check and make sure I included all aspects of the rubric were incorporated into what I presented. Since I went over the allotted time during my last speech, I made sure that I was in the correct time frame. I could have even added more to my speech as it was only 12:20. Additionally, on Friday I had a mentor visit where I had the opportunity to sit in on training with Mrs. Wiemann’s legal team. Read More...
Blog Post #19
2/5/18
Blog Post #18
1/29/18
This week in ISM I watched original work presentations, attended a mentor visit and brainstormed what my final product will be. My original work presentation is coming up this Friday and I will need to be preparing it throughout the week. I will ensure that I am dressed professionally and have my binder with me. I enjoyed listening to my peers’ presentations and seeing how their original work really helped them to have a deeper understanding of their topic and become more involved with their field. Read More...
The Research Showcase at The Star was the major event in ISM this week and I was also able to have a mentor visit and worked with a new member of Mrs. Wiemann’s legal team. I was able to walk around and see many student’s boards and topics before the event actually started. It was interesting to see what other students had on their display boards who had similar topics to me in terms of corporate law and international law. I also found that some students are studying a specific area of law that I had not previously given much thought to, such as patent law. Read More...
Blog Post #17
1/22/18
Blog Post #16
1/15/18
We are now preparing for the Research Showcase in ISM. In the past week, all students received feedback on their display boards during class before we glued anything to the board. I included a section of my board dedicated to my mentor and WorldLink, a section related my original work, general information about international corporate law, and the required quote and mission statement. The feedback on my board was mostly to make some of the text I had bigger so that it filled up more space. Read More...
Over the break, I completed my original work and had my first few mentor visits. My original work altered over the process of my research since there was little data on specific companies that had failed. I changed the major structure of my original work from a research study across many businesses to a case study of three specific business. I ended up being able to go into more depth in my analysis of the businesses which allowed me to have a deeper understanding of my topic. Read More...
Blog Post #15
1/8/18
Blog Post #14
12/11/17
This past week I have evaluated my research speech in ISM and have been communicating with my mentor to make sure that I have permission to be in her office. My research speech was not the best I have ever given, due to my inconsistencies with the rubric. I did not include my secondary research from all of my research assessments which were an important component of the speech. I took a long time to explain all my interviews so I was over the time limit. Read More...
Over the Thanksgiving break and the past week I have worked on my original work, figured out where to print my invitations, and worked out paperwork with my mentor. I began researching the companies for my original work, looking for technology companies that have failed. As I began researching the companies, I began to realize that some of the categories would be more difficult to define than others. It took me a while to figure out everything I need for each company and I need to come up with a sufficient amount of companies for each category to compare the data. Read More...
Blog Post #13
12/4/17
Blog Post #12
11/20/17
I confirmed my mentor and also gave a speech on the research I have done so far, this week in ISM. Maria Wiemann, the Vice President and General Counsel of WorldLink agreed to be my mentor. I’m glad to finally have it confirmed and I appreciate her willingness to help me and guide me through my ISM journey. I expect to begin the mentor visits as soon as possible. Additionally, in ISM, I had to prepare and deliver a speech regarding my research so far in professional dress. Read More...
I figured out what my original work proposal will be, and also watched research presentations this week in ISM. I have decided to conduct a research study on the legal factors that influence business’s success or failure. I will be examining multiple categories of businesses within the failures and successes either by the size of the company or the way it was incorporated in order to find a correlation. The results of the research study should help me in my future career when I want to work for a smaller company who is expanding internationally. Read More...
Blog Post #11
11/12/17
Blog Post #10
11/6/17
This week in ISM has consisted of research assessments and brainstorming of my original work. I am still in the process of tying to confirm my mentorship and I am awaiting approval in order to make it official. For my research assessment, I am looking at the same article as before and I am analyzing the different principles within corporate law. It is a fairly lengthy article with many principles so that is why it is taking me multiple research assessments in order to complete the article. Read More...
I mainly focused on getting my digital portfolio and my physical portfolio updated, as well as my research assessments this week because the field trip to UNT was canceled. I am also still in the process of trying to confirm my mentor. Since I have completed all of my interviews I was able to finish all of my research assessments and update that page of my website and in my portfolio.The research assessments I worked on this week had to deal with ethics within the corporate sector. Read More...
Blog Post #9
10/30/17
Blog Post #8
10/23/17
Over the past week in ISM I have set up classes I will visit on the field trip to UNT and also asked Mrs. Wiemann to be my mentor. Many of the classes I hoped would be available in the time we are on campus were not in session this fall or take place on Monday nights. This was discouraging because Some of these courts related to International Corporate Law very closely. I emailed four professors asking if I would be able to sit in on their Wednesday class and so far I have three responses. Read More...
This has been a generally uneventful week in ISM. The major event we had this week was the ISM teacher appreciation breakfast to thank all of our teachers for allowing us to leave their classes to go on interviews and to functions such as the Business Symposium. I wrote to three individuals, two people I interviewed with, as well as an ISM alumni. I appreciate all of the professionals who came out to help with exposing ISM students to professional situations and mock interviews. Read More...
Blog Post #7
10/16/17
Blog Post #6
10/9/17
This week, all of the ISM students attended the Business Symposium at Independence High School. I also had my last two informational interviews this week. The Business Symposium was great for networking with professionals in a wide range of fields and practicing interviewing skills. I got to have an extra interview instead of networking with the students in my group, which was beneficial. Mr. Wysong’s presentation was very informative with his advice about life. Read More...
I had two interviews this week during ISM. My first interview was with the General Counsel of RugDoctor in Plano. This interview allowed me to get the perspective of a domestic company rather than an international company. RugDoctor is a much smaller company, and Ms. Howell does not have as large of an area to cover compared to large international corporations. I have found that most general counsels have worked with various size firms and businesses before becoming the head of a company. Read More...
Blog Post #5
10/2/17
Blog Post #4
9/25/17
My focuses this week in ISM were to get my portfolio organized, finish my résumé, and set up more interviews. My binder has to have an established color theme, for which I chose blue and green. These are the same colors for my website, and I had a 2-inch blue binder to use for it. Looking at how many pages we have left to fill in the portfolio reminded me of all of the work I will accomplish by the end of the year. Read More...
My main focuses in ISM this week was to work on my résumé and conduct my first informational interview. Even though I do not have any work experience, I was still able to fill the page with my extracurriculars and volunteering. I have used the same basic format of my résumé since sophomore year, but have continually updated it. I just added to the résumé I needed to create last year when I was in AP Seminar, instead of completely starting over. Read More...
Blog Post #3
9/18/17
Blog Post #2
9/11/17
This past week in ISM I worked on my first research assessment and building my contact list. My research assessment was a career outlook on lawyers, which is very broad considering I want to specifically focus on corporate law. Since law is such a broad field it covered a large range of data and skills necessary to be a lawyer, but I considered the information through the lens of international corporate law. Additionally, when building my contact list, I focused on finding potential individuals through LinkedIn. Read More...
Blog Post #1
9/4/17
The first two weeks of ISM have been eye-opening as to what the rest of the year will look like. I am excited to begin researching international corporate law and setting up my informational interviews. The class will be extremely challenging on top of my five AP classes, but I am confident I will be able to manage my time. Within these two weeks, I created my digital portfolio with all of the requirements and prepared my introduction speech. I need to work on my speech more so that it is better organized and I also need to strengthen my delivery. Read More...