Month: January 2022

To begin with, I interviewed my friend, and former teammate, Truman. He begins his day with a workout, this is followed with breakfast and reading current events. He likes to stay up to date with what’s going on in the world and finds it fun to predict what will happen in his current interest. Following this he will go to classes, then lunch, back to class, and then to soccer practice. Soccer is Truman’s biggest extracurricular activity, some others include video games, working out, and watching TV. When asked about how he manages his time he responded with “I don’t…. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Your days are so fluid a plan needs to be adaptable to the day. I wake up with an idea of what I want to do in the day, set my priorities, and attempt to complete everything.” After this, I asked him what advice he had for people in the business  major, he responded with, “To be a business major you have to choose a concentration, separate yourself even just a bit, find something that interests you and inspires you, and just get in there.”
The second student I interviewed Kyle. He has the same concentration I do for my major. To begin his day he will stretch for about 10-20 minutes a day. He normally skips breakfast and goes to class. He will go back to his apartment for lunch, catches up with his stocks, then back to classes again. After classes, Kyle likes to run, then lift weights. Following that, he goes home and relaxes before dinner.  He will then research stocks and do investment simulations until bed. Kyle said, “yeah, that’s about it.” His time is spent mainly on school and “keeping a good mindset”. The extra curricular activities he mentioned was yoga, lifting weights, running, meditating, and reading. His advice for people in the business major was, “learn from others, see what they do well and what the do poorly, then make it your own. Most importantly is learn from your mistakes, you will fail in this major, but learn from it and don’t do it again.”
Finally, I interviewed Dr. Wafford. He told me he started his day early, he gets up at 4 am and starts his day with a good coffee and water. He then said “I then go do handy work, I know you don’t understand what that is.” Continuing with a smile, he explained some of the daily work, it just came down to maintaining his land and house. I’m general, he is either at school or home. He occasionally goes around town to the local businesses. This was mainly before Covid, but he still does this from time to time. He didn’t really go into his personal life too much, but he did talk about some projects he was working on at his house. Then he would get into a story, which are always entertaining. His time is primarily spent on his work, whether that’s at home or school, it is what he does everyday. His advice to people in the major was, “practice what you want to do, the more experience you have, the better you’ll do. I mean, that’s obvious, but it’s what’s important. “

I am Harry Hilton, I have just graduated from University of The Ozarks with a Business degree and a minor in psychology. With an aspiration to complete a Masters in economics. I am much interested in numbers and the financial aspect of business.

According to Jordan Carson, a Senior Business Administration major. He likes to start his day with a good home-cooked meal. “A home-cooked meal is the best way to start your day because you should always have a good amount of nutrition in the morning it can help you be more productive with your day.” Jordan typically has about 2-4 classes a day depending on the day, after those classes he goes to his apartment and gets a little snack and nap in before his wrestling practice which usually takes about 4-5 hours a day.  “He says he takes a nap so that he can still be productive at practice and still have the energy to do his homework afterward.” After wrestling practice, he usually eats dinner and then spends about 1-2 hours doing homework, after doing that he just relaxes for the rest of his day. Now he does all these 5 days a week and is usually consistent with having the same routine throughout the week. he said, “he spends about 8-12 hours a week doing schoolwork & about 20-25 hours a week practicing”. His best piece of advice he said he can give was “to not stress about one assignment do the best that you can do and move on to the next. Study no more an hour each session and at the end of the day if you know it you know it and if you don’t you don’t at least you gave it your best effort.”  Jordan and I have taken the same class but just at separate times and had the same professor which we both like. Her name is Professor Nikki Garry, Mrs. Garry is one of the best teachers to have at Millikin, she makes everything fun and understanding in her class. She is also very helpful with stuff going on in the classroom and out. She said, “I like to crack jokes and add some fun to the class so students can stay engaged and understand their assignment I’ll even add in some games sometimes so that they can work on their communication and teamwork skills when they’re in their career field after college those will play big factors.” Some advice she had for students were too “Explore different internships opportunities… The experience will help you to know what you want to do or what you do not want to do. The earlier you discover the better.” A couple of things they both mentioned that can help future students are, “To never be afraid to participate in class even if you feel like you may be wrong it’s always good to get the mistakes out during class rather than on an assignment or test and to always ask questions, you’ll never find your answer you’re looking for if you don’t ask.” Another thing was to “always show up to class 1-10 minutes before class to ask for any help or questions you need answering too.” 

First Picture: Jordan Carson 

Second Picture: Nikki Garry 

Third Picture: Fabian Gomez  ( Author)  

Author Bio: I am Fabian Gomez, a Sophomore Business administration major at Millikin University. I am a member of the Big Blue Football Program. I love to play football and binge-watch movies or shows. I also enjoy going out and hanging out with friends, I am also very into video games and love playing warzone call of duty. 

A day in the life of a sports management major starts with a good morning breakfast. According to Taylor Chase, a junior sports management major, she likes to start the day with a coffee and cereal. “Starbucks is the first place I go before I start my day of classes. I typically have 3-4 classes a day that start around 10 and end around 3.” After finishing her multiple classes for the day, Taylor heads back to her apartment where she has a small break to eat lunch and relax before going to golf practice, where she is on the golf team. For practice, Taylor usually plays 9 holes and finishes after 2 and a half hours. Taylor then heads back to her apartment, makes dinner, and starts to destress for the night. She spends an average of 1-2 hours on homework and studying for the night, then she watches Netflix for the rest of the night. Her days do not differ from this routine and are usually the same as this one. Taylor and I share many classes with one another and our advisor, Thad Walker, teaches them. Professor Walker oversees all sports management majors and the practicum classes that require us to come up with games in small groups, market them to the Millikin population, and host them for the students of Millikin. “We have some great turnouts then some not so great turnouts, but we make the most of it and have fun with those who do show up,” Taylor said. The reasoning behind having so many games a semester is all a part of Professor Walker’s outlook on learning. “I do not believe in tests, and I do not think that students learn from them. Millikin is a performance-learning school, so I see how so many students benefit from doing performance learning throughout their classes,” states Professor Walker. The sports management students learn how to run a game like, bags, kickball, softball, basketball, and more. They also learn the skills of how to market the game and gain supplies and a space from Millikin. Professor Walker also states, “My students get so many things out of learning how to run their own games and activities. One large skill that I stress is teamwork. When they graduate and go into the real world, they will have to work with many kinds of people in many kinds of places, so I try to set them up to have the best experiences possible.” As a student in sports management, I have learned so much from Professor Walker and I have so many skills that can be applied outside of Millikin. A piece of advice for those in the same major would be to focus on academics and create ties with your instructors, because there are 3-4 professors that will teach your classes every year that you are at Millikin. It is super important to create good relationships with your peers and instructors to better your education at Millikin.

First Picture: Taylor Chase

Second Picture: Thad Walker

Author Bio: I am Carson Reynolds, and I am a junior sports management major at Millikin University. I am a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and of the golf team. I am obsessed with the TV show FRIENDS, and I have probably seen every movie ever made. I have three cats at home, and I drink more Dr. Pepper than water. I am an avid video game player and could beat anyone at Madden. Sports mean everything to me and my family, and I religiously root for Notre Dame, St. Louis Cardinals, Kentucky Wildcats, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Overall, I am an outgoing individual with a passion for sports and television.

Third Picture: Author (Me)

What does it mean to be a student in the organizational leadership major at Milllikin University? Well, for starters, most of the students enrolled in this program are seeking a degree while working full time during the day which results in lots of evening classes and late night homework.

“Most days I go to work, then head home & eat supper, then get to working on homework.” says Jordan Carroll, a senior in the OL program.

Despite the hard work and long hours, a balanced life is quickly established with OL majors and before we know it– it’s graduation time!

Millikin’s Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership. Janet Kirby, Ph. D, shared her favorite part of instructing in the department. “OL students are generally full-time employees and can make immediate use of elements of most classes in real time. Right up with this reason is the sense of self-confidence that grows in each student as they advance along the path to degree completion. Without exception, students become the kind of people they have admired professionally but never felt quite at the level. To be a part of that process is remarkable.”

So if you were wondering if the hard work is worth it… it most definitely is. The benefits that come from the relevant courses students are able to participate in become useful instantly in their professional roles.

Although there are some obvious obstacles associated with students in the OL program, there are also some benefits. As we pointed out earlier, majority of OL students are employed and for some, have had full professional careers before returning to education to complete their degrees. This professional experience and hands on learning opportunities sets them up for success when learning about and discussing work place situations in class. “There is knowledge and there are skills developed in class which have immediate applicability for students.” says Kirby.

The curriculum that is available to students in the OL program is both traditional and unique. Of course, there are the basics such as accounting and business communication but then there are some more nontraditional courses such as creativity & innovation and self-leadership. I think the combination of traditional and nontraditional courses perfectly embodies the organizational leadership students and their unique career paths.

If I could give a new student in the OL program some advice, it would be to remember the end goal. In times of struggle, it is important to remind yourself of the end goal and to keep pushing forward through the rough patch. It most likely will get better, but even if it does not, the end goal is going to be so worth it!

Written by Kelsie Wujek, Millikin University, Organizational Leadership ’22