Posts Tagged “preparation”

ICS is the Best!

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Andrew

When preparing for those life changing events, it’s good to have some support. That’s exactly what the Internship and Career Services Office does. Don’t believe me? Well it’s not like I’ve mentioned this once or twice before, but I am adamant in this assertion.

Snazziest kid on campus. Who wouldn't hire him? No really, tell me, and I'll go change their mind.

After being called in to an interview in Chicago for a fantastic opportunity, I realized that this wasn’t the sort of thing that I would ever want to drop the ball on. So I called up the office, set up an appointment for a mock interview, and prepared for it.

They were more helpful than I could have imagined. They prepared questions, recorded a twenty minute interview, and then walked me through the recording to show me how I could improve, and where I was doing well.

I’m not gonna make any bets, but I am almost certain that I won’t walk out of that interview disappointed with my own performance. And that’s all I can ask for.

Tagged: and, Butler, career, internship, interview, mock, preparation, services | 2 Comments

Studying on Studying on Studying

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Andrew

Standardized Tests? More like…Stupidized. Yeah. No coming back from that, is there.

Talking to seniors anywhere, and they’ll probably express anger at having to put up with standardized tests. For high school seniors it’s the SAT or ACT. For college seniors, it can be the LSAT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or more. For senior seniors, it’s usually eye exams. I mean COME ON!

And what are these tests anyway? Are they indicators of IQ? Are they objective measures of how much a person has learned during their studies? I’ll loudly and proudly proclaim, “No sir!” For the most part, they are simply measures of how well a person can take a bit of contrived material, commit it to memory, and then regurgitate it on test day. It’s also a good opportunity to spend money on textbooks that would otherwise be worthless.

But we must do them anyway. The achievement of a certain score may be the only thing standing between a person and their dream of two, three, or four more years of school.

Tagged: andrew, preparation, studying, tests | 33 Comments

Sushi Chef, At Your Service

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Andrew

It was a long awaited dream, but I battled against the odds and strove through the hardship and finally, after weeks of labor it became a reality. I. Made. Sushi.

Not saying that it all went well, or that the sushi tasted exactly as I would have liked it by the end. But hey, we’re not splitting grains of rice here. I had (most of) the necessary ingredients, and put those ingredients (in more or less the appropriate quantities) into the sushi. I coincidentally learned the difference between (the asked for) teaspoon and the (misread) tablespoon, and how big a difference this makes when concerning salt.

I didn’t do it all alone of course. I had help from the video above, which not only gave me a history lesson of how sushi and its fast food counterpart Nigiri came about, but also important tips on how to prepare the sushi. All in all it was a fantastic experience, and one that I hope to repeat and improve upon in the future. I may also invest in a sharper knife, because at some point it’s no longer cutting if the blade has to smash through the sushi roll.

Tagged: Andrew Erlandson, cooking, Good Eats, improvement, ingredients, Nori, practice, preparation, sushi, ways to | 3 Comments

Study Abroad Panel

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Andrew

Three to four percent of the US population has passports. It’s stats like these that remind me how lucky I was to have the experience to study abroad. I’m reminded of all of this as I sit in the Pharmacy Building as part of the panel of past study abroad students. I am here in order to answer questions and offer advice to students who are studying abroad next semester. All this has really done is remind me how envious I am of 2011 Andrew!

This time a year ago I was scrambling to get in my info and prepare myself for my trip to Italy. I remember coming to this exact room and feeding off of all the words of panel members who had already experienced their time abroad. As a student I imagined what wonders I would be experiencing soon. Now as a panel member, I find myself reminiscing on the awesome experiences I ended up having.

It’s also a nice chance to give back to a program that did so much for me. It wasn’t my own force of will that got me to Italy (as much as I wish that were the case). The incredibly well coordinated efforts of the Center for Global Education were the real driving force behind my travels, with a special thanks to Sarah Barnes.

To end this post, I’ll leave you with a video that nicely encapsulates the excitement of the international community.

Tagged: advice, Andrew Erlandson, Butler, center for global education, next, panel, prep, preparation, semester, study abroad | 1 Comment

Welcome First Years!

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Andrew

Today’s post comes to you at the initiation of the most hyped moment of the Butler year: Welcome Week!

Put your hands up if you're excited!

Possibly the most exciting, energy-packed week, Welcome Week takes huge amounts of planning and preparation. Most of this is carried out by the incredible staff at the PuLSE Office, including Caroline Huck-Watson and Rob Miller.

Those guys! Caroline and Rob, aren't they great!

The other part of the equation comes from the scores of student volunteers who take it upon themselves to be the face of Butler that welcomes the new freshmen. SOGs (Student Orientation Guides) are perhaps the most outgoing students on campus. We’re in love with this university and not afraid to show it!

We're also goofy

Tagged: Andrew Erlandson, first year, freshman, orientation guide, preparation, sog, week, welcome | 2 Comments

Packing: A College Freshmen’s Guide

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Andrew

It’s basically impossible to know everything that you’re going to need for an entire year. There are so many different things to need that half of the situations you’ll be in won’t be on your mind when you’re packing. Well how do you plan for that? We’ll start here, with a list of the basic situations you’ll be in and some of those items that you may be in dire need of when you arrive.

Dorm room: Bedding, shower items and a carrying case, toothbrush, medicine (we all get sick and it’s never fun away from mom), lighting, fans, seating, small shelving units for organization, filing bin (for those important documents you don’t want lost in the mess on your desk), trash bin

Electronics: TV, alarm clock, phone, mini-fridge, computer, speakers, chargers, headphones, printer. NOTE: almost all are optional with the exception of the alarm clock. You need some way to get up for class.

Clothes: Fall clothes (shirts, shorts, light jackets), fancy-schmancy clothes, shoes, socks, swimsuit (we’ve got a pool here!), workout clothes

Classes: books for class, notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, desk organizer, long attention spans (not sure we’ll be able to fit that last one in the suitcase…)

Leisure: books, movies, TV shows on DVD, sports equipment (depending on your

Holcomb Gardens is a great place to relax!

preference), towel for relaxing on the Mall, sunscreen.

Last of all, don’t forget your great attitude and openness to new people!

Tagged: Andrew Erlandson, dorm, dormitory, guide, help, pack, packing, preparation, prepare, prepared, room | 5 Comments

May 2012

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Andrew

After returning to Indiana from Italy, I readjust myself to a life that for 20 years had seemed normal but now appeared to me foreign and uncomfortable. I was soon to be one of the big men on campus, but it’s clear at this point that no one really cares for that. In fact, the seniors are those already fading themselves out of college life while the freshmen, sophomores and juniors are those who really generate activity on the campus.

My eyes are set on the world beyond college. Again I think of all the options that I’ll have after walking across the stage, the jobs I can pursue and the life-defining decisions I will be making. Yet one cannot deny the horror of stepping beyond. I can imagine a million things to do, and against my will I see myself falling into the English Major trap and getting a cushy job at Barnes and Noble (not that I would necessarily be unhappy but…COME ON!).

Current Issue: so many things to do! And only a summer to do them in. I find myself locked into a number of jobs and internships that should tide me over for the sweating months—turns out that it’s much easier to get a job once you break into that first one. If only someone had told 2009 Me…

Tagged: Andrew Erlandson, college, high, now, preparation, present, school, seniors | 2 Comments

May 2009

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Andrew

I was fresh out of high school. I was the big man on campus, leaving to be the little man on the next campus. I had recently discovered my love of plaid shorts, and was entering into my obsession with Ultimate Frisbee that I would take to the collegiate level. I was putting down the flute—the instrument I had played for a good six years of concert and marching band—figuring that that sort of image might not be in my better interest to pursue (although of course i was mistaken).

With my eyes set on Butler’s campus, I was preparing myself. Stepping back, I looked at everything that I was and everything that I wanted to be, and made those adjustments. It was jitters mostly. The fantastic idea of a blank slate, leaving behind what you are and having the option to rebuild yourself. It was incredibly freeing, and slightly terrifying at the same time. But at the moment I was struggling to grasp onto this freedom, despite my parents still being a daily force in my life.

Current issues: looking for a summer job. I’d decided long ago that few things were more irritating than the job search. After spending my time in high school focusing on academics I had never gotten around to searching for a job. It was a little intimidating. I was basically asking a number of strangers to trust me enough to take me in based off of…well nothing to be honest. It would certainly be a fun time.

Also, who can forget that I still had braces?

Braces that would follow me into freshmen year. Hoorah...

See what’s happening with FUTURE ME!

Tagged: Andrew Erlandson, braces, change, excited, high, image, nervous, preparation, school | Leave a comment

Being Super Interesting: The BSI Program

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Andrew

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had participated in the Butler Summer Institute, a chance for those particularly academic minded students to work closely with a professor on research for 9 weeks in the summer.

The program is fantastic because it is open not only to scientific research (about 20 students are involved in the sciences) but also to the humanities (10 spots total). This keeps the options nearly limitless–projects range from psychology to comparative literature analysis to the study of C. elegans (a worm, I think).

Some BSI students at the IMA! (too many acronyms...)

My project was peculiar: being a Creative Writing Major, I engaged in a creative project. For nine weeks I developed and wrote a science fiction novel. This may seem like a frivolous use of the program, but I was engaging in the literary discussion that exists through several works of science fiction, including the work of Mary Shelly, Phillip K. Dick, and H.G. Wells. I ended up with an 80 page draft of the first half of the novel. What this should tell you is that the program gives all sorts of students with ambitious ideas an avenue to pursue them.

Tagged: achieve, achievement, BSI, Butler, butler summer institute, fun, personal, post graduate, preparation, research, student, studies, university, work | Leave a comment

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