I will be in Tucson this summer for an internship I have with Lasertel for some marketing and business development, which I'm pretty excited about. It should be a good opportunity for experience combining business and optics together.
I hope that I can use the summer productively while I'm here. It was a much different experience last summer in New Jersey. I'm looking forward to staying connected with friends this summer but I expect that work will be different since I don't expect there to be many people my age working with Lasertel. I'm gonna have to try and stretch to connect with them but I think it will be good.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Traveling
So I've done a lot of traveling recently:
-New Jersey for summer internship with Edmund Optics
-Philadelphia, PA to see Phillies game
-Boston, MA to visit Tim Lin
-Washington, DC to do sightseeing
-Brazil for MBA international business trip
-Argentina for MBA trip
-San Francisco, CA for Photonics West
-Sunrise, AZ to go snowboarding for the first time ever
All of that within the past year! I feel like quite the traveler. My life feels kinda like a movie with all these trips.
BTW, I went to Veritas Forum tonight. It was a great experience to see Dr. Hutchinson speak about Faith and Science, I really enjoyed it. I also liked talking about it afterward with other people.
-New Jersey for summer internship with Edmund Optics
-Philadelphia, PA to see Phillies game
-Boston, MA to visit Tim Lin
-Washington, DC to do sightseeing
-Brazil for MBA international business trip
-Argentina for MBA trip
-San Francisco, CA for Photonics West
-Sunrise, AZ to go snowboarding for the first time ever
All of that within the past year! I feel like quite the traveler. My life feels kinda like a movie with all these trips.
BTW, I went to Veritas Forum tonight. It was a great experience to see Dr. Hutchinson speak about Faith and Science, I really enjoyed it. I also liked talking about it afterward with other people.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sports and Life
The Green Bay Packers just won the Super Bowl, but the game kinda felt like a letdown. I mean, I wasn't cheering for the Steelers (I actually found myself cheering for the Packers) but the halftime show was weird and the level of football play was... lousy. You'd think that at the pinnacle of football would be the best plays (see the previous 3 Super Bowls) but it wasn't. Ben Roethlisberger threw some really horrible passes that were more typical of a low-level college football quarterback. What happened to him? There's an ad that was running on ESPN Radio about how Ben is a better quarterback in playoff games than during the regular season and better late in games than earlier... but it was not showing during the Super Bowl. It kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth as we now go into some horrible negotiations between the players and owners. I just hope that the Titans have a good draft and that there'll be NFL football again come September.
The Cats have continued to do well in basketball by beating lesser opponents (except Oregon State... what happened in that game?!) and competing against medium level talent. I think we'll be a 5 seed and make the Sweet 16. Momo has been on a nice scoring streak and the team seems to do better with him almost playing the 2 rather than running the offense through the PG spot. We'll see.
I've been thinking about school and my career in the future and I feel like i've had a shift in thinking. During the past year I've considered myself as an optics student that is adding an MBA but recently I've thought about the other possibility. What if I'm an MBA student that also has an MS? The latter seems to have more possibilities for employment and advancement. How can I best market myself and what would I enjoy most? I like the idea of capital budgeting for optics projects. We'll see what God has in store for me.
Psalm 19:14 - "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer."
What a great verse. The meditation of my heart is a deeply personal thing and I pray that it glorifies God with what I desire. Praise God that He is my rock and redeemer. Two very good things to have.
The Cats have continued to do well in basketball by beating lesser opponents (except Oregon State... what happened in that game?!) and competing against medium level talent. I think we'll be a 5 seed and make the Sweet 16. Momo has been on a nice scoring streak and the team seems to do better with him almost playing the 2 rather than running the offense through the PG spot. We'll see.
I've been thinking about school and my career in the future and I feel like i've had a shift in thinking. During the past year I've considered myself as an optics student that is adding an MBA but recently I've thought about the other possibility. What if I'm an MBA student that also has an MS? The latter seems to have more possibilities for employment and advancement. How can I best market myself and what would I enjoy most? I like the idea of capital budgeting for optics projects. We'll see what God has in store for me.
Psalm 19:14 - "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer."
What a great verse. The meditation of my heart is a deeply personal thing and I pray that it glorifies God with what I desire. Praise God that He is my rock and redeemer. Two very good things to have.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Fall/Winter
I guess my blog will really be more about periodic posts than regular anything. I think I'll just have to accept that.
So last Fall was interesting, after reading my last post I saw that the early success in football did not carry through the season because the Cats and the Titans were both disappointing by the end of the season. Zendejas missed a bunch of easy kicks and apparently we are about the trade away/release Vince Young, the 3rd pick of the 2006 draft. Both very disappointing things.
Looking forward in sports, I think that it will be Green Bay against the Jets in the Super Bowl and Green Bay will win (24-20). While I don't like the arrogance of the Jets, but something about them makes me want to cheer for them. I don't understand it.
The Cats in basketball are 15-3 right now which is surprisingly good. It seems like the entire team is supported by Derrick Williams so all it would take to stop us is a solid defender down low. I'm also not too pleased with our guard play, so I find myself not believing in the team despite our great record. I don't want to be pessimistic but I just can't see the team progressing very far in the NCAA tournament, if we make it. I hope we do. I think we'll make it as a #7 seed or so, maybe win a game. Hopefully we do way better and my prediction is proven wrong, that'd be awesome.
School last semester was very interesting. It's been a long time since I experienced something as new and difficult as switching from optics to business. They are two very different fields. In optics (at least the kind that I like) you're designing a system to solve a problem. As long as it meets the customer's needs, you did a good job. In business you're trying to make money. This is a very difficult process that many, many people are also feverishly trying to do. There is much more competition in the business world than in optics. In business you probably have to be very experienced in something before you're considered an expert, but after graduating with a BS in optics I was already considered to be an expert. Two different fields with very different mind sets.
TVM - Time Value of Money. Very interesting concept which intuitively makes sense, but I had never thought this way. I always thought that it was incredibly smart to save some of my money in a savings account. Little did I know that I was potentially wasting opportunities to increase my money by investing it in other places. Saving money is still good, but there exist many other places that are better. Even treasury bills and CDs return more than a savings account. Yes, there are liquidity drawbacks, but I'm willing to give up liquidity for more money since it just sits there anyway.
I also visited Brazil and Argentina as part of an international business experience for my MBA. It was a great experience and I loved seeing the different cultures and learning more about business. It's always interesting to see how God created people and the world that we live in. Before this trip I hadn't traveled internationally for 7 years and I forgot how different it can be. Americans have so much wealth and so much infrastructure that I have taken for granted. I thank God for the blessings he has given me and I pray that I will not be corrupted by the immense wealth around me.
About the recent shooting here in Tucson, it was a crazy thing. I almost can't believe it happened. On the nice side of Tucson, in a shopping center that I would routinely visit, its just weird. Why did it happen? I do not know, but I pray that God can use it somehow for His own glory. It seems so sad. I've often thought about my own apparent invincibility as a young man, but this further demonstrates to me the frailty of humans. Our lives are so fragile and can be taken away in an instant. Are we living our lives with the correct priorities in mind? Love God, love others. I pray that those would be my priorities.
So last Fall was interesting, after reading my last post I saw that the early success in football did not carry through the season because the Cats and the Titans were both disappointing by the end of the season. Zendejas missed a bunch of easy kicks and apparently we are about the trade away/release Vince Young, the 3rd pick of the 2006 draft. Both very disappointing things.
Looking forward in sports, I think that it will be Green Bay against the Jets in the Super Bowl and Green Bay will win (24-20). While I don't like the arrogance of the Jets, but something about them makes me want to cheer for them. I don't understand it.
The Cats in basketball are 15-3 right now which is surprisingly good. It seems like the entire team is supported by Derrick Williams so all it would take to stop us is a solid defender down low. I'm also not too pleased with our guard play, so I find myself not believing in the team despite our great record. I don't want to be pessimistic but I just can't see the team progressing very far in the NCAA tournament, if we make it. I hope we do. I think we'll make it as a #7 seed or so, maybe win a game. Hopefully we do way better and my prediction is proven wrong, that'd be awesome.
School last semester was very interesting. It's been a long time since I experienced something as new and difficult as switching from optics to business. They are two very different fields. In optics (at least the kind that I like) you're designing a system to solve a problem. As long as it meets the customer's needs, you did a good job. In business you're trying to make money. This is a very difficult process that many, many people are also feverishly trying to do. There is much more competition in the business world than in optics. In business you probably have to be very experienced in something before you're considered an expert, but after graduating with a BS in optics I was already considered to be an expert. Two different fields with very different mind sets.
TVM - Time Value of Money. Very interesting concept which intuitively makes sense, but I had never thought this way. I always thought that it was incredibly smart to save some of my money in a savings account. Little did I know that I was potentially wasting opportunities to increase my money by investing it in other places. Saving money is still good, but there exist many other places that are better. Even treasury bills and CDs return more than a savings account. Yes, there are liquidity drawbacks, but I'm willing to give up liquidity for more money since it just sits there anyway.
I also visited Brazil and Argentina as part of an international business experience for my MBA. It was a great experience and I loved seeing the different cultures and learning more about business. It's always interesting to see how God created people and the world that we live in. Before this trip I hadn't traveled internationally for 7 years and I forgot how different it can be. Americans have so much wealth and so much infrastructure that I have taken for granted. I thank God for the blessings he has given me and I pray that I will not be corrupted by the immense wealth around me.
About the recent shooting here in Tucson, it was a crazy thing. I almost can't believe it happened. On the nice side of Tucson, in a shopping center that I would routinely visit, its just weird. Why did it happen? I do not know, but I pray that God can use it somehow for His own glory. It seems so sad. I've often thought about my own apparent invincibility as a young man, but this further demonstrates to me the frailty of humans. Our lives are so fragile and can be taken away in an instant. Are we living our lives with the correct priorities in mind? Love God, love others. I pray that those would be my priorities.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Blogging again
So I did a terrible job keeping up this blog the past summer. I've found that I always want to write a great blog post like other people (see http://lintim.wordpress.com/) but I don't want comparisons to stop me.
Over the summer I decided to join the dual degree MS/MBA program at UofA and the difference between the two programs has forced me to adjust. I've also noticed a few things and decided to share them with you:
-More people can relate to my business courses than optics courses
-People associate a business degree with money, so I've heard a lot of comments about making more money with this business degree than with just the MS alone
-If you are under 22 you probably wonder why I would add a business degree
-If you are over 28 you probably understand why I am getting a business degree
-Business school has a lot of group work so I have a lot of scheduled meetings with other people
-Eller business school schedules a lot of "networking" events that are just people hanging out together with buffets and open bars
-More people in business school are married and have children than in optics
That's all about business school... about sports: The Cats are 6-1 and the Titans are 5-2! What a great year for football. :)
Over the summer I decided to join the dual degree MS/MBA program at UofA and the difference between the two programs has forced me to adjust. I've also noticed a few things and decided to share them with you:
-More people can relate to my business courses than optics courses
-People associate a business degree with money, so I've heard a lot of comments about making more money with this business degree than with just the MS alone
-If you are under 22 you probably wonder why I would add a business degree
-If you are over 28 you probably understand why I am getting a business degree
-Business school has a lot of group work so I have a lot of scheduled meetings with other people
-Eller business school schedules a lot of "networking" events that are just people hanging out together with buffets and open bars
-More people in business school are married and have children than in optics
That's all about business school... about sports: The Cats are 6-1 and the Titans are 5-2! What a great year for football. :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Traveling
I am now in Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport writing this blog post. Ah, the advancements in technology!
I just had an interesting flight from Tucson to Phoenix. Partially because it was so short, and also because there was a child sitting behind me. It didn't bother me when he kicked my chair for a little while, cried for a little bit or when he made little grunting noises. It was actually cute and enjoyable. The thing that did make it interesting was that his name is John. Periodically I would hear his mother say "John, no" or "John, stop that" which gave me a little scare each time she said it. I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong and trying to draw my attention. Like when she said "John, don't kick that man's chair" it made me pull my feet in a little bit. I know that I don't have a monopoly on the name John, but it was a weird experience.
The flight was only about 20minutes from take-off to landing so this whole experience was very short, but while I'm waiting for my next flight to Philadelphia I thought I would blog about it.
I just had an interesting flight from Tucson to Phoenix. Partially because it was so short, and also because there was a child sitting behind me. It didn't bother me when he kicked my chair for a little while, cried for a little bit or when he made little grunting noises. It was actually cute and enjoyable. The thing that did make it interesting was that his name is John. Periodically I would hear his mother say "John, no" or "John, stop that" which gave me a little scare each time she said it. I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong and trying to draw my attention. Like when she said "John, don't kick that man's chair" it made me pull my feet in a little bit. I know that I don't have a monopoly on the name John, but it was a weird experience.
The flight was only about 20minutes from take-off to landing so this whole experience was very short, but while I'm waiting for my next flight to Philadelphia I thought I would blog about it.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Coffee!
I used to think it was just a Navigators thing to drink a lot of coffee. I know at almost 10 navigators that have worked at Starbucks at one time or another (even myself three years ago). I also think of Ryan Mullarkey, who is totally awesome, and also at one point was drinking around 10 shots per day of coffee. Whoa that's a lot.
I subscribe via google reader to the Mint.com blog about money/finances and I saw a post about the coffee economy that piqued my interest. I added the link and image to my blog.
*Note who is the #10 coffee drinking city in the nation! Woohoo! Maybe that's why so many people have been hired by Starbucks... there's such high demand for coffee that there is an associated high demand for workers.
Link: http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/perking-up-the-coffee-economy-awakes-05272010/
I subscribe via google reader to the Mint.com blog about money/finances and I saw a post about the coffee economy that piqued my interest. I added the link and image to my blog.
*Note who is the #10 coffee drinking city in the nation! Woohoo! Maybe that's why so many people have been hired by Starbucks... there's such high demand for coffee that there is an associated high demand for workers.
Link: http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/perking-up-the-coffee-economy-awakes-05272010/
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