Valuable Personal and Academic Lessons

This Tuesday BWUA hosted its second GBM of the year hosted by Director of Professional Development Titi Oshinayo and Director of Marketing Lizzi Digs. This GBM saw great success with a strong turn out of students from all years. The presentation had two features, one being the importance of crafting your online presence with care and the other staying ahead of the curve academically. Titi emphasized the importance that real companies place on student’s online profiles and gave examples of the dangers of becoming too personal online. In a creative game, the hosts told the membership of a young public school teacher who had been fired for posting inappropriate pictures on Facebook. The membership erupted into discussion on what they felt was that the picture must be. “She must have been in a club somewhere,” one member exclaimed. In the words of another student “It must have been a photo of an inappropriate relationship with a student.” Titi and Lizzie smiled as they revealed the picture. It turned out to be a docile picture of a woman smiling with two glasses of wine in her hands. There was uproar from the memberships. “People were upset because she was an adult who appeared to be enjoying her wine responsibly, “explained Lizze. “However,” as Titi continued,” it simply goes to show that even if something is technically alright employers can still draw their own conclusions and it can have consequences for you.” From there our hosts moved nicely into the discussion on how BWUA members can remain ahead of the curve academically. Titi and Lizie reminded members of University resources like Wine Garden and the Tutoring Center at Penn and spoke to the process of getting involved in both of these. The two directors stressed the importance of tutoring, and recognizing that asking for help was not a sign of weakness. Furthermore, the ladies encouraged members to seek help early in the semester, as this is the time when there is the most possibility for improvement of their grade. In sum, the GBM was incredibly informative.  Members would be wise to heed the advice, as those who put the advice into practice will see incredibly positive results in the future.

Freshman Luncheon is a Hit

BWUA kicked off the year with its annual Freshman Luncheon with a smashing success. Freshman Liaison Alex Wiggins arrived well before any of the guests to put the finishing touches on the room and greet the incoming freshman. As the freshman trickled in, the board divided itself among the many tables and invited the newcomers to sit down and get acquainted. Everyone mingled happily for the next twenty minutes until the first guest Vice Dean Georgette Phillips took the stage. In a concise and poignant speech, Mrs. Phillips encouraged students to be proud of themselves for making it to The University of Pennsylvania and reminded them that there was a far larger number of individuals who are unable to say that, especially those of color. The Vice Dean added to her comments that it was important that the students incorporate a priority for helping others into their schedules.  “We talk so much about mentoring and finding a mentor,” said Mrs. Phillips “but at every point in your life you should also have someone below you who you are mentoring and who you are helping.” The membership gave a hearty applause following the speech and then waited eagerly to be released for the food. Freshman Liaison Wiggins had wisely hired Baby Blues Barbeque to do the catering and the freshman praised her accordingly. With everyone’s plates replete with corn bread, chicken, sweet potatoes the upperclassmen and freshmen bonded over a delicious meal as they awaited keynote speaker Ron Phillips.  Mr. Phillips, the Senior Vice President of Comcast captivated the crowd with not only his strong public speaking skills but also the details of his personal story.  As the son of lower-middle income parents, Mr. Phillips had to fully support himself through college by holding down between two and three jobs. Mr. Phillips encouraged the students to thoroughly enjoy their undergraduate years as well as to discover and nurture personal talents that could parlay into profitable career opportunities. Mr. Phillips shared a story from his own undergraduate years in which he discovered his own talents. Though he had always wanted to be a finance major, he realized soon that the numbers were not his strong suit. As such, he changed paths and found success in focusing his efforts on law. In addition to his academic experiences, he shared the personal experiences that made his college experience worthwhile namely meeting his wife and joining Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. Following his speech, he opened the floor to questions. Students inquired about his personal life and his experience as an African American in the corporate world. In addition to inquiries were requests for general advice. Following Phillips speech, Alex Wiggins closed the event to hearty applause upon which she called the board forward for a picture.

Birthdays and Send-off

The last GBM was expectedly bittersweet. On a bright note, the meeting coincided President Tingle’s birthday so BWUA was able to help him celebrate, however, it was also the last GBM for graduating seniors. Historian Ashimedua Okonneh and VP of External Relations Oyinda Adeofie partnered to host the meeting, which was centered around maximizing your summer internship. Ashimedua and Oyinda took turns offering tips for how to find the best success in summer internships, with key and often overlooked pointers on what to do both before and after the internship. One of the biggest pieces of advice was that members should adequately research the firm they are to be working for as well as to have a full understanding of their role as an intern. Also notable was the fact that members were encouraged to remain cognizant of the reputation they were creating for themselves.  Oyinda and Ashimedua warned against involving oneself with office gossip or overusing personal email and texting, as both could actions could be negatively perceived. Finally, the hosts reminded the members that they should stay current with their firm after finishing the internship, especially if they one hope to return to that firm in a future summer or stay within that same industry. Coupled with the advice were hypothetical situations with an interactive component. The hosts first polled the membership on what they would do in the event that they had booked a vacation before the internship dates were made clear to them. The room was generally in agreement, with almost everyone saying that given that the internship should still take priority to the vacation. There was more discussion with the second hypothetical, in which one had to decide how to handle conflicting assignments from two different supervisors. While most people said that they would hope they would have a strong enough relationship with one of the supervisors to ask for an extension, others suggested contracting a fellow intern to help them complete the assignment. Finally, the last hypothetical asked what do in the event that you have a return offer but you are considering switching industries. Seniors Quasie and Balfe responded that it would be important to be sure that there are opportunities in the industry you are thinking of switching to before rescinding the current offer. After the internship presentation, the meeting transitioned into dinner, and from there current events. Ashimedua presented on the Philadelphia Flyers/Pittsburg Penguins series, as well as the latest developments in the case against George Zimmerman. From there, Oyinda returned and the two presented BWUA: A Year At a Glance, in which they highlighted HEMM, GALA, and the other numerous activities and events the club hosted this academic year. Then came the moment all had been waiting for: Senior Appreciation! Those honored were: Ex President Triston Francis, Ex VP of Internal Relations Balfe Morrison, Ex VP of External Relations Oyinkansola Ayobiojo, Ex Marketing Chair Quasie Jones, Ex Marketing Chair Brooke Hinton  Ex Treasurer Tobi Obegunde, Ex  HEMM Co-Chair Ruth Gillis-Harry, Ex Director of Professional Development Dave Thomas, and finally Ex Social Chair Joseph Smalls-Mantey. After a hearty round of applause for the seniors who have meant so much to BWUA, the board closed the meeing by surprising Jarrid with cake for his 21^st birthday!

Members Appreciation Picnic

The Member’s Picnic was hosted on Easter Weekend and was a great opportunity for all members not going home to spend Easter with their family on camps. Director of Marketing Lizzy Diggs did an excellent job in designing club shirts, which were necessary for entry to the picnic! The picnic was hosted on High Rise field close to Dubious College House. To the chagrin of all, the sun was shining, though it could have stood to be less windy. In all, everyone had a great time between chowing down on food, relaxing out in the sun, or playing pickup games of football and soccer. 

Leadership Event with the Marines!

Partnering with the local Marine Corps, BWUA hosted Leadership with the Marines, which was geared at developing the membership’s leadership skills through unconventional means. Three local Marines who are currently in the recruitment divison divided the members into three teams and put each team to the test with creative games. Each team elected a leader who was given all authority and responsibility for guiding his/her through the task. The leaders’ responsibility and privileges changed with each game. In the first game, the leader was charged with moving 3 imaginary packages from one side of the room to another. The catch was, however, that the subordinate team members were stuck stationed in four hoola hoopsm, each with a different handicap. One’s eyes had to remain shut, one could not his/her hands, one could not turn around, and finally one had to remain standing on one foot. The leader’s job was to direct his/her teammates according to their handicaps so that each of the boxes could be moved from one side of the room to the other side of the room all the while following the rules of the game. The second game was reminiscent of Twister, whereby teams had to cross an imaginary river by jumping on imaginary stones. Much to the amusement of everyone else, teams working on this challenge were seen stretching and twisting themselves about in order to complete the task!  The final game was probably the most challenging for the leader. Blue, green, yellow, and red Legos were strewn across a table and the leader was given a blueprint of a structure to construct. The catch, however, was that only the leader was able to see the blueprint for sixty seconds. He or She then had to direct his/her teammates in building the structure. To make it even more challenging, each teammate was only allowed to touch Legos of one particular color! Though the task was taxing, the Marines admitted that the BWUA teams performed better than average. In all, three tasks were fun and lighthearted ways to teach what it is to be a leader. In each activity the leader had full authority in coming up with the solution, and whatever decision reached by the leader was the course of action taken by the team. Furthermore, the leader bore full responsibility for the success of the team as a result of his/her decisions. In all, the Leadership Event with the Marines was an excellent addition to a GBM on Tuesday and all who attended have hopefully developed skills that they can take with them to the classroom and their future work places.