Written by: Caleb Bleich
My name is Caleb Bleich and I am junior business management major here at Millikin. I am also on the track and soccer team. As a student-athlete and business major I understand the struggle to manage your time. In this blog post I interview fellow student and two sport athlete Bailey Coffman and Professor Vernon.
Bailey Coffman is a Junior Business Management student here at Millikin. She also competes in basketball and softball. I decided to ask her a few questions to help other students see into the life of a student-athlete in a business management major. The first question I asked her was how her typical day looked and her response was, “I start most of my days early with team lifting, or I go to Griswald to get some shots in before my school day starts. Then before and after lunch I have my business and sports management classes, and the end of my day is usually softball or basketball practice and homework before bed.” Bailey is a great example of someone who can manage their time well despite being in two sports. She says she has found a good balance between social life and school. I asked Bailey if she had any advice for business majors and this is what she said, “The biggest thing that has worked for me is being present in class and actively listening, and don’t be afraid to ask for help and use your resources provided when you don’t understand or just need extra help.” After interviewing Bailey, she made sure to say If you see her around campus don’t be afraid to say hello and ask her questions.
I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Vernon who is an associate professor here at Tabor School of Business. I started off by asking him what his typical day-to-day routine looks like and responded by saying that he is not so sure there is a truly typical day, but as a professor at Millikin he said, “This is a job where you get a lot of control over how and when you do work. That is one of the things that attracted me to it.” He then went on to tell me his daily routine, which starts with him waking up at 430AM and making coffee well before most of us are awake. Once he has his coffee, he checks Instagram and Twitter and reading the news. He generally spends an hour on Reuters, which he says is a great source for business news. He then heads over to his computer to check his bank accounts and investment accounts. Now that it is 6AM he eats breakfast while reading BBC news. He has National Public Radio playing until 8AM most days. After breakfast he checks personal email, work email, and his work calendar. Then he checks Moodle and loads quizzes, assignments, etc. He keeps a clipboard with a fresh sheet of paper so he can create a list of things to be done for the day. At 7am he takes his daily 30-minute walk and then showers and gets dressed to be back at his computer by 8AM doing work such as class prep, grading, and reading. He arrives on campus 1-2 hours before his first class depending on the day. Some mornings he has meetings or may meet with a prospective student. As you can tell, his day-to-day routine sets him up nicely for the rest of the day. Once we were done talking about his routine, I asked him if he had any advice for students at Millikin looking for a career in business. His response was, “Take advantage of the opportunities and the time that you have in college and get as much work experience as you can. Be entrepreneurial, start a business, or at least be involved with some sort of startup.” He said to try different things and make contacts. For his final pieces of advice he said, “Learn to do simple things well. Keep a calendar, make lists, submit assignments on time, arrive to class on time, etc. Develop a good personal routine and never get completely out of shape. Start learning how to exercise in the morning, because after you start your career, it is more difficult to make time to exercise in the afternoon. Read! News, sports, novels, or anything. Just read!