An Eggs-cellent Way to Plan

When the competition for the egg contraption begun, our group was not very well organized from the start.  As a matter of fact we completely forgot about the idea of planning.  Instead we immediately jumped into discussing the best way to build the egg saving device.  A few minutes later I paused, looked around the room, and saw chaos in almost every single group.  It hit me then and there that the way we went about this whole thing was wrong.  Our planning phases were pretty much out of the window.  We skipped step 1 and even though the goal was clear to all of us, we didn't really define the objectives.  We did, however, spend a few minutes on how much resources we had.  The fact that there were only 9 straws did catch our attention, yet the fact that we only had a limited amount of tape didn't bother us.  We thought two feet was way too long, only to find out later that we were completely wrong. 
We did consider step 3 but not in as many phases as we should have.  We took notice of any ways that our contraption might tip over or fall the wrong way thus breaking the egg.  However we didn't really come up with anything to actually fix those pitfalls. 
Step 4 was probably the worst of our planning phase because we did not implement any strategies or tactics on how we were going to actually build the device.  We also didn't assign any roles in terms of who's in charge of the tape, the straws, or even the egg itself.  Thus when the actuall materials were distributed, the building process was hectic.
Since we pretty much skipped step 4, step 5 of actually implementing our tactics was rushed and unogranized.  It seemed as if though 10 minutes went by way too quickly.  Since we didn't really think of any alternative just in case our first one didn't work out, we had to just go with the flow..resulting in the breaking of our egg.
I definetly see now that planning plays a HUGE role when it comes to completing a certain task.  I could read all the textbooks in the world and they wouldn't teach me even half of what I actually got to experience in terms of planning.  This was definetly a very fun and learning exercise.

Culture Differences

     I personally was not born in America.  I came here when I was 13 years old, just about 7 years ago.  I came here during the spring break recess, which meant I had a week to enjoy before school actually started.  I will never forget the first day of school here in America.  It was probably one of the biggest culture shocks that i've experienced since coming here.  Back in my country, Belarus, there is a specific way students are supposed to represent themselves in school.  They are obligated to dress appropriately.  Boys are supposed to wear a suit with a tie, just like little businessmen, and girls are supposed to wear a neat dress that is lengthy enough to cover their knees.  This was definetly not the case I saw during my first day of school here in America.  As a matter of fact I was very upset that I didn't have a tie that I could use for my first day of classes.  I thought I was going to stand out from the rest of the students.  Sure enough I stood out, but for a whole different reason than a simple tie.  I was the only one in the school that was wearing a suit!  Everyone else around me was wearing jeans, regular t-shirts, and plain sneakers.  I was very suprised to see such a free dresscode.  After being disciplined for almost six years to wear formal clothes, it was starnge to me that anything else could be allowed. 
     That same day I went with my parents to buy a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers because I didn't have any back at the house.  Here I was worried that I was going to stand out because of a tie, and it turned out that I stood out for a much bigger reason.  From that day on I started adjusting to the new dress style and I began to like it pretty quick.  Obviously it was much more comfortable and I didn't have to look like an outsider.
     Nowadays I sometimes see those tuirist people that wonder around manhattan with a funky looking outfit and a camera on their neck looking up at the tall buildings around them.  I can't help but laugh because that is probably how ended up looking on my first day of school in America, awkward and amazed.

About Me

Hi, my name is Vitali Melnikau and I'm a Baruch College student currently in my second year.  My major is finance and I'm looking to get into stocks and investing as a career choice.  On a personal note, I practice martial arts and I'm currently a first degree black belt in tae kwon do.  It's something I've enjoyed doing ever since I was a kid.  Currently I'm actually one of the instructors at my martial arts school.  The name of the school is Dragon Spirit Martial Arts and it is located in Brooklyn.  My other interests include basketball and football.  Whenever I have some free time I also like to do a little web design.  Besides all of this I also have a job at one of my local pizzarias called Davinci's Pizza.  Other than that I'm a pretty laid back guy and I look forward to learning some management skills this semester.