Month: September 2021

Author

Jesse Ngoga, Senior at Millikin University, Management Information Systems

My name is Jesse Ngoga, and a Management Information Systems major. I am passionate and determined. I reached out to one of my professors and a fellow student and asked them a few questions.

Ed Weber, Clinical Instructor of Information System, Tabor School of Business

Ed Weber is a professor at Millikin since 2014. He teaches Information Systems in the Tabor School of Business. For most of his life, Ed’s day to day schedule has always been quite special. “I’m not trying to coy here, but my day is not very typical”, he says. He would start work at 11 PM and work until the next morning at 7 AM. He would then go to school, and sleep in the afternoon. He mentions that because his day’s structure is constantly changing.

Ed is the president and owner of Weber Enterprises, Inc. a computer consulting firm. He runs his enterprise together with teaching at Millikin. When working with a client, his day typically starts at 9 AM, and begins office work as soon as he gets to Millikin. He will then hold meetings and teach his classes until 6 PM. After that, Ed heads back home, eats dinner and usually work until 4PM the latest. He explains that this “may not be typical for most people in my profession.

When Ed is not working with a client, he gets up between 7 and 8:30 AM, showers, eats breakfast, and arrives at Millikin by 10 AM. He holds office hours until 11 AM, when most of his classes start. Ed then teaches classes, holds meetings and office hours until 6 PM. He is always done with his classes by 6 PM, except for a few days when he teaches until 8:30 PM. After that, he usually get home by 10 PM. On average, Ed spends 6 hours a week teaching.

Ed has not pursued many outside interests since COVID-19 began. However, he is an avid guitar player. Before the pandemic, he would play at open-mic nights in bars around Decatur. He would play and sing at Darney’s on Wednesdays and at Port Royal on Sundays. Ed also plays darts. He won a trophy in the dart league. He also enjoys hiking, and can usually be seen hiking or biking in the park. Ed used to be extremely involved in clubs and organizations before he came to Millikin. He was in the Rotary Club, and Chamber of Commerce, among many others.

Ed advices students who are thinking of going into Information Systems but are not sure of it to try it. “They may have never done IS or had an interest in it, it’s something that I would encourage them to at least try”, he says. He mentions past advisees that never envisioned themselves in IS but they came to realize how much aptitude they had for it and liked it.

Yves Izabe, Senior at Millikin University, Management Information Systems

Yves Izabe is an international student at Millikin since 2018. He is currently a senior majoring in Management Information Systems.

Yves’s day usually starts at 7:30 AM. He wakes up, takes a shower, eats breakfast and then heads to first class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he starts his first class at 8 AM while on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, he starts at 10 AM.

Yves’s day usually consists of academic activities, where he attends class in the morning and spends most of the afternoon at work. He works at Kirkland Fine Arts Center, where he works a few days a week depending on his class schedule. On a normal day, he will usually work for 2 hours. As an MIS student, he has many coding assignments and projects that he has to complete. Therefore, he spends his evening working on them and other homework. On average, Yves spends 7 hours of his day on classes and other academic work.

Yves does not have a lot of extra-curricular activities as such, but his free time, he allocates his hours to his on-campus job and exercise. He goes to the gym occasionally, and also plays soccer with friends.

Yves has one special piece of advice to anyone who interested in going into MIS. He says that you have to be ready to learn and update yourself each and every day because the digital world changes everyday. For example, in MIS, people deal with various programming languages, and those languages are being updated almost every year. Therefore, as an MIS student, you are required to be learning something new every day.

A day in the life as a Digital Media Marketing major may not seem like much. We go to class, study, do our homework, and continue with other commitments that we have made. However, the thought process of a marketing student is interesting to think about. We notice when a company has done an excellent marketing job on a product or service or when companies could have done a better job. Marketing students are always trying to get ahead of the game. 

A marketing major will spend about sixteen hours, on average, in class per week. However, that is only the time spent in the class. Blake Ohrt spends about twelve to fifteen hours every week doing homework or studying. This can be doing assignments, projects, papers, writing notes, or going over course materials. His curricular activities take anywhere from twenty-eight to thirty-one hours per week. 

Written by: Paige Spitzner

Determined full-time biology student – psych is a minor interest. Future chiropractor that will always have your back! Jokes, animals, and coffee are my jam!

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Being a biology major can be very intimidating. When I took my first biology class at Millikin, I was scared because I did not know most of the information they were talking about. Many of my professors said to the whole class that this information is something we should have learned in high school. I did not cover many of those topics during my high school career. However, through determination, studying, and asking questions, I was able to succeed in my classes.

Many of the classes require hours of studying outside of the classroom. Dr. Schroeder stated, “the general rule is 1-2 hours of studying outside of the classroom for every hour inside the classroom.” This general rule applies to biology majors because, as Dr. Schroeder said, “most of what we learn in biology can’t be memorized the night before a quiz or exam.” It is beneficial to spend as much time, if not more, studying throughout the week for the same amount of time we spent in class. I always try to study the night after class for at least an hour to identify any topics that I need more clarification on or to ensure I understand the materials.

Jazmin Brown, a friend and classmate, understands the struggles of being a biology major. She is also on Millikin’s women’s basketball team. School work and basketball keep her busy, but she also manages to work for the athletics doing laundry at Griswold. On any given day of the week, Jazmin’s daily routine starts out with classes. She then heads to work for for approximately 2 hours. After she is off work, she goes to the gym to work out, for at least an hour. When she is done at the gym, she finds something to eat and she starts to prepare for her final classes of the day, basketball conditioning, and basketball scrimmages. Once all of her classes and basketball practice is over, she finishes her day with homework and self-care.

Majoring in biology is not limiting you to only have careers in health care fields. There are numerous careers outside of health care where it is beneficial to have a background in biology. Many people think that just because they are majoring in biology, they have to pursue a career in health care. However, that is not the case. Dr. Schroeder stated, “biology isn’t just for health fields though.” Many biology majors and their peers believe that a degree in biology means you have to have a concentration in a health care position. When Jazmin was asked what is one thing that she knows now about her major that she wishes she would have known as a freshman, she replied, “one thing I wish I would have known about my major is that the possibilities are endless with a degree in biology.”

Throughout my time at Millikin, I have learned that our professors want to see us succeed, not see us fail. Dr. Schroeder’s advice for biology majors is,

“Study early, study often, and ask questions! Most of what we learn in biology can’t be memorized the night before a quiz or exam. By reviewing material more often, we become more familiar with (and thus less scared of) the terminology. I also find that students are often hesitant to ask questions. Please ask them! It’s the only way we know what we need to re-cover or go over differently.”

There are also many resources provided to us that we can utilize if we are struggling in a class. Jazmin’s advice for fellow biology majors is,

“to use the resources provided to you by your professors because it may be what really helps you pass the course. As well as stay organized with homework, exams, and extracurriculars.”

Written by: Serron Pettis

Futuristic student athlete ready to hurdle obstacles to reach my goal on the track and in life.

My name is Serron Pettis and I am a senior sports and recreational management major. Besides my academic pursuits, I am involved in different organizations on campus as well as being a track & field athlete. This major is a challenging and often changing but, can really be something you love when taking the right chances.

The sports management world is a large and ever-changing field. In sports management there are vast opportunities for you to discover ones career path. There are challenges but, with hard work, help from professors, and peers you will be able to gather skills needed for your career choice.

“My advice to a sports management major would be to stay organize and make connections. Being organized will keep you on top of your regular curriculum and co-curriculum while connects will help you branch out in the ever-changing sports world”

Joel Blanco

Joel Blanco is a professor of five years in the exercise science department teaching different sport majors similar to mine and other students. He feels the struggles of most of his students due to most of them being athletes or have other co-corricular activities.

He tries to make sure he lets the students explore their thoughts as well gain the proper knowledge for their fields, without overwhelming them.

I got an insider on what a day in the life of a sports management major is like from Derek Dayton. Derek is a sophomore sports management major here at Millikin, from Tolono, IL. On top of being a student he is also an athlete that runs cross country.

We sat and talked and ran through regular day for him with all activities entailed. Derek says he starts his Monday’s with an early bird alarm special of 6am then a run that starts at 7am. After his run he eats breakfast and ready for class. His classes last from 9am-12pm then gets a nice break for lunch, homework, or relaxation time.

He then has his last class at 4pm and once done with that the rest of his night consist of eating dinner and homework if he had more. Derek has a busy schedule but, he has learned how to balance everything and be successful by staying organized and making connections. He says his time here at Millikin has been great and some advise he would give would be to keep an open mind, your never know what you’ll experience.

“The professor do a good job at explaining certain questions and processes for your major and career.”

“I don`t like to have like to have a full schedule.”

Whitney Smith, Millikin University

In this blog post, we talked with Millikin student Whitney Smith about her major in Sports Management. She talks about how it is to combine track with a sports management major.

Whitney showed me her schedule, and she told me that she has school from 9 am- 3 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with practice from 3:30 pm-5 pm. She has an internship from 9 am-11 am and lifting from 4:30 pm-6 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also added that between and after that, she uses time on homework and eating. If she has time, she tries to maybe get a nap in. She usually wakes up an hour to and an hour and a half before classes. This time is usually used on looking at her phone and getting ready for classes. She also usually try to get in three meals a day and some snacks between classes. She tries to make the most of her food from scratch, resulting in more time used on making food.

I need to add that this is a normal week when she is out of season, so this is the time you have some extra free time. She has practice six times a week during the season, and they sometimes last even longer than one and a half hours. She also has met during the weekends, so she often has to travel.

“I think my students have less free time then the average students.”

Dr. Joel Blanco, Proffesor at Millikin Univeristy

He says that he thought around 90% of sports management students are athletes and have less free time with sports when talking to Joel Blanco. That is why he believes that most sports management students need to be good at time management.

The question is, then why do so many people decide to do this for four years? The answer I got from Whitney was that she says that it has its cons with less free time and some extra stress, but you can do what you like the most integrated with your education. It is also a way to motivate people that don’t have that motivation for the school itself. Doing good in school lets you do what you want is the little extra that can help people finish college.

Thanks you for reading my blog post my name is Simen Nodland.

Simen is a norwegian sports & rec management major at Millikin. That want too, through sport, teach them to be good citizens. Have experience in soccer as a player and a coach. Highly adaptive to new cultures and social groups.

International student at Millikin university, Senior, Bilingual Business management major, love travelling & music.

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to be a business management major ? Anny Itonde is willing to take us with her on her journey for 24 hours.

Before getting into it, I think that you should know a little bit more about her. Anny is an international student from Burundi majoring in business management at Millikin University. I reached out to her because we have the same major and I relate to her as an international student majoring in Business as well. Anny inspires me a lot, we have shared more than a few classes together and we always happen to lift each other up !

On her busiest days, Anny usually wakes up at 7am, eats breakfast and have a cup of chocolate milk to start off her day. Her first class is at 8 am then she has consecutive classes until her lunch time, which is at around 12:30pm. After lunch, she goes to work, if not, she goes back home and take a one hour nap. Anny always finds time during the day to rest or take a nap, she says : “it’s important to take a break, because sometimes our brain doesn’t work properly if we feel overwhelmed. A break does not necessarily mean taking a nap, you can just do something else that helps you relax your mind (watch a movie, go to the gym, etc…)” After her break, she checks her “moodle” and make sure all her assignments due are done. Anny uses a calendar to keep up with her school work and it helps her organize everything that she has to do. Later on, Anny hangs out with her friends; she thinks that it’s important to keep a good relationships with her loved ones, Anny says: “Sometimes you might need your friends more than you know, they can cheer you up when needed, and offer a fresh perspective.” To keep a good balance between school, work and her personal life, she creates a routine where she prioritizes herself, school, and then she can work during her free time.

Some advice Anny has for other students, is to ask questions when needed and to get as much credits during the first two years of College so that they can spend the last two years focusing on the important classes. Plus, nobody wants to feel overwhelmed right before graduation!

I reached out to one of my favorite instructors at Millikin University, Dr. J. Mark Munoz, professor of management and international business at Millikin University, for some more advice regarding my major.

I have been in most of his classes and he never fails to inspire me ! He teaches Business Creation, International Business, Business Strategy, and International Business Consulting.

Dr. Munoz answers a few questions that I had prepared for him, and I am more than excited to share them with you!

He believes that some essential skills needed in the business world are effective verbal and written communication skills, understanding of financial statements, sales and marketing, entrepreneurship, and grasp of technology.

To organize, plan and prioritize his work, Dr. Munoz starts by listing his goals, then identify steps to accomplish them and the desired timelines. From these, he sets the priorities and start implementation.

“Business is an exciting but competitive field.” Said Munoz, “Students need to have strong basic business skills. In addition, they need to be constantly aware of trends and changes taking place and adapt accordingly. There are occurrences that can’t be planned for (ie, pandemic). Students need to be prepared to adapt, reinvent themselves, and strategize to win under changing market conditions.”

Want to be involved with social media campaigns and marketing for a major company? Then Digital Media Marketing might be the best major for you. A marketing major studies the branding and promotion of products and services to the public. Social media is all around us in today’s world and more jobs are looking for employees who are trained with social media.

Digital Media Marketing undergraduates have busy schedules and have to use time management skills in order to create time for extracurricular activities. I interviewed a current Millikin University undergraduate, who is majoring in Digital Media Marketing, and her name is Cam Wagner. During the interview, Wagner explained to me why she chose marketing, how she makes time for her hobbies and what is her favorite part of her major. Like I stated above, time management is important and not procrastinating will help you succeed in college. Wagner stated, “I have classes starting mid-morning that end mid-day around 2 or 3, then I head to work. During and after work is when I get my studying and homework done. There is not that much time in a day so using my time wisely is important to succeeding as a marketing major.” Having time for hobbies and extracurricular activities is also extremely important to being a college student. Wagner explains that “making a schedule to fit activities that I want to do within that day is important to me. Having time to relax and focus on being with friends and family helps me as a student in order to destress and have fun.” Making time to relax and focus on hobbies will help you as a student because it gives you a break from studying and stressing out about a class.

Since social media is somewhat new, the Digital Media Marketing major is still expanding with more students studying this major each year. My current professor and Millikin University marketing professor, Carrie Trimble, talked to me about advice she would give students who are studying marketing. Trimble stated “The advice I would give marketing majors is to stay informed on current events in general and the marketing trends that are popular”. Adding on to what Trimble stated, undergraduate Wagner talked to me and said “I would tell marketing majors to pay attention to group work. Seeing how other people think, when it comes to creativity is very interesting and can open your mind to new ideas or different ways to create content”. Being able to communicate and listen to other students will help you learn so much and you will be able to see things from a different perspective. Then staying involved with the current trends as a marketing major is crucial, since marketing and social media is always changing. The day-in-the-life of a marketing student is intensive but if you focus, manage your work and give yourself time to relax and have fun, you will succeed as a student. College is not all about the grades you receive on a test, it is the effort used in becoming better as a person.

Each college student faces their own unique college experience that coincides with one’s major. No one has the same experience or goes through the same day-to-day schedule and tasks. Rebecca Gorman, a junior finance major with actuarial science as a minor at Millikin University in Decatur Illinois knows exactly of this struggle.

Through the course of the school day, Rebecca takes a total of six classes totaling approximately eighteen total credit hours. Being that her major is a math-heavy major with a math-heavy minor Rebecca spends most of her day working with numbers with two finance classes, three math classes, and a business class.

Not only is Rebecca a full-time college student but she also works part-time at Von-Maur in Forsyth Illinois. Due to her busy schedule, she tries to get as much work as she can do when she has a break between classes. When she is not studying, working at Von-Maur, or doing homework Rebecca spends her free time with her Greek life fraternity.

On top of all her other work, Rebecca is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity on Millikin’s campus. Alpha Phi Omega works with the community bringing service opportunities to students, along with building leadership qualities. By joining this service fraternity Rebecca is able to help give back to the community through community service, the ability to meet like-minded people, and being given many leadership opportunities.

Through all the work Rebecca is doing she could not be happier claiming

 “I’m a numbers person, so being able to work with numbers and give them meaning is something that I really enjoy. I also like that it is black and white so there is typically only one right answer.”

Being that Rebecca enjoys the work in her major she believes she will never work a day in her life. This happens to be her biggest piece of advice, of only going into something, if it is something that you are really passionate about, because if you do something you love you will never really work a day in your life.

Of course, there will always be struggles as there always are in life. For example, Rebecca’s biggest struggle is having to fit every class she needs to graduate in two years as she switched her major from chemistry/pre-med to finance major and an actuarial sciences minor after her sophomore year. However, Rebecca does not struggle with the hardest part of being a finance major according to the head of the finance department at Millikin University, Doctor Christopher Marquette who claims

”Having the math skills required for the finance major are something many students struggle with.”.

At the end of the day being a finance major has its ups and downs just like any other major would have. But if one is good at working with numbers and is disciplined, students of the finance major gain skills and valuable information that is beneficial to a career and for building a personal wallet so that one can enjoy the finer things in life.

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Perfectionist, bookworm, finance major that understands the analysis of good financial decisions & the powerful value of the right time & opportunity for you. 

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Choosing a college major may be one of the most stressful aspects of joining a college. For you to understand life as an MIS student, this blog will walk you through a day in the life of an MIS student and an instructor in MIS.

I First interviewed Ed Weber, a Clinical Instructor of MIS, and my academic advisor. He has already been my instructor for 3 classes now: Business Analytics, Intro to Information systems, and System Analysis and Design. Ed Weber is also the owner of Weber Enterprises, a computer consulting firm.

Ed Weber explains how teaching MIS for him is to take all the tasks he does in his own business and assign them to his classes. That way, he can bring all his experience into his classes, and give students “a glimpse of what is in their future”. He explained how the pandemic didn’t change a lot in his life because he was already introduced to video conferencing, and remote accessing tools in the 90s. He and his colleague were joking about the fact that the world was “finally catching up!” when we all had to work from home.

When asked about things to consider before joining MIS, he said “The main thing is to understand just how broad the industry is, working in MIS doesn’t narrow you down to one specific thing. There are so many different avenues you can take, you can get into Application development, network and protocols, security of assets, audit, and many more.”

I then interviewed Yves Izabe, a Senior in the Tabor School of Business majoring in MIS. Yves and I are also friends outside of school and also members of the African Student Organization. Yves wants to be an operations research analyst and MIS qualifies him to do so.

When asked about how a typical day for him is, Yves said that he attends classes in the morning and spends most of his afternoons at work. For Yves, being an MIS student means spending a lot of time on projects, especially coding assignments, and that is what he does of his evenings while also giving some time for his other assignments.

Yves also explains how working remotely didn’t change a lot in his working/studying behavior as MIS doesn’t require much time with the professor, but with his computer where he tries to learn new codes that come out.

When asked about what he thinks one should know before joining MIS, he said they should be ready to learn and update themselves as the digital world changes every day. He added, “In MIS, we deal with various programming languages, and those languages are updated almost every year, so as an MIS student, you are required to be updated with them on a daily basis”.

MIS is such a broad major that anyone can be able to find a place in it. The most important aspect of it is that you must be ready to learn new things because MIS evolves every single day.

The life of a Cyber Security Major is not so similar to many other courses available at millikin. Although we have a lot more fun. Millikin introduced ethical hacking techniques and investigation classes into a course line and created one of the most hands-on learning majors in the Tabor Business School. Here are some advice from the maker of the course and one of the students who helped create it, and also went through it as well. 

The Cyber Security course is growing every year and is packed full of hands-on learning and new concepts that are engaging. When learning new concepts in your downtime, it will feel like a hobby rather than a chore or homework. Spending most of your time on homework you will always want more.

Matthew would focus on getting his schoolwork done on the weekend and so he could always have time to spend with family and friends. Building this Major, RJ tried to keep that in mind. He did not want a huge courseload on his students like some of the other majors at various Universities. He thinks that students can pivot on the spectrum of being super busy and having to much downtime. Being built right in the middle, you can take your time and only focus on coursework, or you can do many extracurriculars like sports or even more IT related topics on top of your schooling. Which is exactly what Matthew loves about what Tabor had to offer with this Major. Both of them of many pieces of advice to give to incoming students wanting to enroll in the Cyber Security program.

But before that, RJ made this course for the creative type. He expressed his love with Legos as a child. He still does but you did not here that from me. RJ explained that when you are excited about getting a new lego set you have a book to follow along every step. Then when you complete it, you tear it down and that’s when your creativity begins and build the most fascinating things. He compared this to the course work of the Cyber Security Program, a person who loves to solve problems and search for clues with creative ways on building software and networks would love it. But, everyone at Tabor welcomes anyone to their programs. If you do not think you are welcome they will embrace you with open arms. Never be afraid to try something new, especially at Millikin University. With trying something new, you need some tips from the professionals.

Matthew wants students who enter this major to plan ahead. Always try the software before the classroom starts will save tons of headaches for yourself and the professor as well. He mentioned there are many other sources online to help you understand the topics a little further to stay on top of things. Which also ties in with what RJ had to stay. Staying on top of things is very easy. Professors doors are always open to anyone and google is the best of friends for students. Many outside courses are offered to you on your downtime to learn more about a certain subject. RJ wants you to always use good time management as well. First, find your priorities, which hopefully is your coursework since that is what you are paying for, then focus on them first. Again, he made this course to not be to jam packed with you being so busy so you should not have an issue with never having time for yourself if you have good time management. Get an app, download a software, or even keep things in your calendar to stay on tasks. With everything being said, RJ made an amazing course with a very interesting and fast growing topic. Focusing on creativity and investigation personalities. Matthew went all the way through the course without any issues using the tips told by both of them. Enjoy the new and amazing course Tabor Business school offers future hackers.