Daily Stuff--8/26/2012

Languages--Chinese

I watched episode 40 of Travel in Chinese. This episode was another review of recent lessons.

Articles:

I read two Wall Street Journal articles today. The first one was about the crucial classes you should take for every year of your undergraduate college career. For example, the article advises getting your general education requirements out of the way your Freshman year and that should also be the time to make connections that will help further your career once you get a job. The article was very informative and will definitely help me when I'm planning my classes for the next couple of years.

• Freshman Year: 
• Writing classes
• Public speaking classes
• Foreign language--either one started in high school or a new one (Chinese and Arabic are desirable)
• Go to the career services center
• Sophomore Year:
• Business writing class
• Accounting and personal finance classes
• Be a part of one or two clubs where you can shine
• Volunteer
• Start looking for internships
• Junior Year:
• If you study abroad, take at least one class that will benefit you in the long-run
• Look for internships while studying abroad (course load will be lighter, making it easier to do both)
• Declare major if you haven't already and get those classes out of the way
• Keep in touch with academic adviser to make sure you're on track to graduate
• Get a summer internship
• Senior Year:
• Take electives based on what you learned during a summer job or internship
• Try to get a leadership position in at least one club
• Join school's alumni association

The second article was about the importance of math and science in society. It is no longer something only "nerds" should be interested in. It would benefit just about anyone to be knowledgeable in math and science and jobs that focus heavily on the two subjects are ones that have lots of spaces to fill.

Philosophy:

I read about Dewey's definition of "desire" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). His definition is closer to what anyone else would describe as "intention" or "purpose". That is, a desire is something that is contemplated over and acted on consciously, rather than something that is impulsive.

Internships:

I found several jobs at Qualcomm in electrical engineering and similar fields. The jobs don't sound too difficult in comparison to some others that I've seen.