Well it looks like this is it. This is our final blog posts. This moment actually feels a bit surreal right now. I was just getting accustomed to my new surroundings here at Edutus College and in Budapest just a few days ago, and now I'm sitting here writing my last blog entry. It's true, time really does fly when you have fun, and these last couple of weeks have been just that. For our flash mob dance group we finally nailed the choreography. We've been practicing twice a week for the last two and a half months and we're finally ready to perform. We haven't picked an exact date yet but we should be performing it sometime within the next week - I'm really starting to get excited!
Things had been a bit hectic during my regular working hours. A professor that I had befriended earlier in the semester had asked me if I could substitute for her so she could attend a conference in Italy. I filled in for a total of three classes for her, two tourism classes and a business class. She gave me some suggestions as to what I might want to include in my lessons, and while I included a few things she had insisted I cover, I ultimately took my own approach. I had never had to teach or substitute for a full class. I was a bit nervous, but I wanted to be a team player and help my colleague. Being that the students were in their last week just before their exams, I decided to show empathy. I had been in their shoes before and since it was the end of the semester, I knew they were probably a little burnt out. For the two tourism classes, I figured that since I had done a bit of traveling up until the point I would show them the world from a tourists point of view through the photos I had taken around the globe. With the grace of their professor, my colleague, my plan had been approved. Hungarians generally don't venture to far from Central Europe being that traveling far distances is not a luxury for most of them. I had been to a total of 29 countries on four continents so I thought they might want to see a few different parts of the world. I created a map displaying all the different points on the globe I and been too and created a slideshow of all the different photos I had compiled in my journeys. I tried to display the different types of tourism they had been learning about in class and asked them to keep in mind which different types of tourism were associated with the pictures they saw.
Just about a month earlier I gave a presentation in the business class I was supposed to substitute teach in. At the end of my presentation I remembered that I asked a question regarding what kind of presentation the students might want to see next. Luckily, one student had asked me if I could give a presentation on sports marketing and the business side of sports. I took this into mind when I was thinking about what I could possibly teach for their business class. I didn't know much about sports marketing or the business aspects involved in sports, but I knew one person who did - Jerry Maguire. My pitch to the professor was that the movie pertained to the business side of sports and that their was a love story involved so it would appeal to multiple groups within the class. Furthermore, it was a great movie and a lot of the words that were taught to the students earlier in the semester were in the movie. I wrote a good portion of the words they had learned through out the semester on the board right next to the over head projector and asked the students that these words would be brought up at some point in the movie and to see if they could hear them when they were said. We didn't finish the whole movie but a number of students asked me for the link which tells me that the movie had piqued their interest enough to watch it outside of class.
After the classes were finished I finally had finished the material that would be incorporated into Edutus's booklet for perspective students. Edutus is a small college so I thought it would be a great idea to include some testimonials from the current students about what it was like being a student at Edutus and why the chose to apply there. While I was completing the booklet my supervisor had walked in with a professor and they asked me to correct some documents that the dean of the college needed completed by the end of the business day. There were a total of three documents. The dean had met with a delegation of Chinese representatives from a university in China and now she was interested in making a few programs for Chinese students that covered wine production in Central Europe.
It's sad to say but I only have another couple of weeks left at my internship. Over these next couple weeks I will create a document stating what my duties were at Edutus College, what barriers I faced regarding those duties, and how I overcame them. This will help paint a better picture of what potential challenges incoming interns may face. Edutus is a fairly fast growing college so their expectations should grow in detail and less in number due to a more specified niche as Edutus hires more staff members to account for their growing size. I keep my work area clear and clear it every time before I leave home for the day, but I do expect for them to fill my desk with another staff member for the next semester.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Internship Blog Post 5 (May 5th)
Spring break is now over, however, just because we were on break, that doesn't mean I didn't take the opportunity to learn something new. We visited Milan and Rome, Italy, the Vatican, Athens, Greece, and Barcelona, Spain. As an intern here in the tourism department of Edutus College, I could now play the part of the tourist and apply a few things I've learned here in my travels. All cities have made great accomodations for english speakers regarding tourist information and public transportation. Typically I am the type of traveller that likes to simply book my plane ticket and hotel or hostel and be spontaneous, however, it never hurts to plan ahead of time either. This trip involved a little bit of both. We knew we didn't have too much time in the cities we visited so we planned on seeing just a few major attractions in each city and left whatever time we had remaning to be spontaneous and venture off where ever we deemed fit.
Here at Edutus I have learned that nearly every major city in Europe has various transportation options to get to the city center. These may seem a bit trivial to the well travelled, but helpful nonetheless. You may be swayed or hounded by taxi cab drivers upon entering the main terminal, but if you have patience, you will notice trains, trams, or shuttles that can take you close to where you want to be at a much cheaper cost. When looking up hostels, I knew that location was extremely important, but my colleagues here at Edutus told me that location should be considered first and foremost due to the short duration we were in each city. Although a particular hostel may cost 10 euros more per person per night, it may be the cheaper option if located closer to main attractions, public transportation, and drop off points of airport shuttles. If exchanging money, it will usually be cheaper to exchange cash in the city. Some hostels and hotels can exchange cash for you, and there are usually banks and currency exchange stores in larger cities that see many international tourists.
Returning back from spring break wasn't too difficult, I just started right where I left off. I planned on giving a presentation on the history and business practices of a Walmart a few weeks ago, but the professor was sick the day I was supposed to give my presentation so he postponed it for last tuesday. The presentation went very well. I still get a few butterflies in my stomach when I present in front of a class, especially one where I don't know any of the students, but this is great practice. I have also found out that I am not as nervous as I was at the beginning of the semester. I practice the presentations before I give them. Rather than making presentations static, I've tried to make them more interactive by involving the students with questions or short discussions about a topic conveyed in the presentation. I have also found that good visuals help to keep a class engaged. I know what it's like to be a student in class, and even if a professor or guest speaker is extremely knowledgeable, his or her presentation will probably not be too well received in front of a group of undergraduate students if the visuals are sparse - it always helps to know your audience! I will be giving a presentation on the Washington D.C. area as well later this week in the Hungarian language and culture class I take on Wednesdays. This will be a great chance to show some of the students the beauties of the Washington D.C. area and hopefully to erase any negative misconceptions. I have inserted pictures through out the presentation to show the different areas of D.C., and I have even found two youtube videos that highlight two bustling neighborhoods in D.C., the U street cooridor, and Columbia Heights.
One of the responsiblities I decided to undertake involves getting students involved with the college. I thought it was especially crucial to have the involvement of the Erasmus students - being that they are non Hungarian students and may feel a bit alienated at times during their studies here. One of the Erasmus students is from Turkey and is a professional dancer, and came to me and asked if I would like to be a part of a flash mob. Practices are held on Mondays and Wednesdays generally after most classes have finished. Currently we have Michael Jackson's "Beat it" well rehearsed, and are working on our second song right now. We hope to perform "Beat it" sometime within the next week.
Here at Edutus I have learned that nearly every major city in Europe has various transportation options to get to the city center. These may seem a bit trivial to the well travelled, but helpful nonetheless. You may be swayed or hounded by taxi cab drivers upon entering the main terminal, but if you have patience, you will notice trains, trams, or shuttles that can take you close to where you want to be at a much cheaper cost. When looking up hostels, I knew that location was extremely important, but my colleagues here at Edutus told me that location should be considered first and foremost due to the short duration we were in each city. Although a particular hostel may cost 10 euros more per person per night, it may be the cheaper option if located closer to main attractions, public transportation, and drop off points of airport shuttles. If exchanging money, it will usually be cheaper to exchange cash in the city. Some hostels and hotels can exchange cash for you, and there are usually banks and currency exchange stores in larger cities that see many international tourists.
Returning back from spring break wasn't too difficult, I just started right where I left off. I planned on giving a presentation on the history and business practices of a Walmart a few weeks ago, but the professor was sick the day I was supposed to give my presentation so he postponed it for last tuesday. The presentation went very well. I still get a few butterflies in my stomach when I present in front of a class, especially one where I don't know any of the students, but this is great practice. I have also found out that I am not as nervous as I was at the beginning of the semester. I practice the presentations before I give them. Rather than making presentations static, I've tried to make them more interactive by involving the students with questions or short discussions about a topic conveyed in the presentation. I have also found that good visuals help to keep a class engaged. I know what it's like to be a student in class, and even if a professor or guest speaker is extremely knowledgeable, his or her presentation will probably not be too well received in front of a group of undergraduate students if the visuals are sparse - it always helps to know your audience! I will be giving a presentation on the Washington D.C. area as well later this week in the Hungarian language and culture class I take on Wednesdays. This will be a great chance to show some of the students the beauties of the Washington D.C. area and hopefully to erase any negative misconceptions. I have inserted pictures through out the presentation to show the different areas of D.C., and I have even found two youtube videos that highlight two bustling neighborhoods in D.C., the U street cooridor, and Columbia Heights.
One of the responsiblities I decided to undertake involves getting students involved with the college. I thought it was especially crucial to have the involvement of the Erasmus students - being that they are non Hungarian students and may feel a bit alienated at times during their studies here. One of the Erasmus students is from Turkey and is a professional dancer, and came to me and asked if I would like to be a part of a flash mob. Practices are held on Mondays and Wednesdays generally after most classes have finished. Currently we have Michael Jackson's "Beat it" well rehearsed, and are working on our second song right now. We hope to perform "Beat it" sometime within the next week.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Internship Blog Post 4 (April 7th)
International Week (IW) turned out to be a great success. We had 59 students and eight professors representing seven different countries who paricipated in our IW. I had the opportunity to play a few different parts as I wore a few different hats during our IW and had a great time fulfilling my various roles. I was a part time photographer, guest speaker, greeter, tour guide, entertainer, and representative. My goal was to give the students a good introduction to the city and to show them a great time through out the week - a task I knew that would require me to work beyond the normal hours of my internship.
IW began with opening presentations that were given by participating students and a welcome dinner. During this first day of IW, I greeted students, passed out their weekly schedules, took pictures for the Edutus website and booklet, and gave a presentation about my home institution - A.K.A. the prestigious George Mason University. It felt great to be the sole representative from the USA and to stand up there in front of such a large and diverse crowd. During our IW, the international students were required to attend classes that were taught by either their professors or other foreign professors. After their classes were complete they had the opportunity to participate in cultural excursions through out the week. I was absent from the classes as I was working on the booklet. I did however, participate in all of the culural programs that were held after classes.
The first cultural program was the most entertaining in my opinion. We traveled via bus from Budapest to a castle about an hour away called Visegrad which was located on a bend on the Danube (Duna in Hungarian) river. A small side note, our bus driver turned out to be the same bus driver that drove me to Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina for my GMU winter break program last year. It's always great to see a familiar face! Visegrad was a once in a life time experience. The location of the castle being situated atop a hill and at the bend of the river was spectacular. Aside from the natural beauty of its location, the castle served a more practical role during its era. Through out our tour of the castle we learned that the castle at visegrad was constructed to serve as a defensive outpost from the invading Mongols reigning from the east. Our guests, the IW students and professors, absolutely loved their time there. Following our tour of the castle we were entertained by a "royal court" of knights demonstrating their skills in various medieval games. After they finished, we were then split into different teams and participated in the games ourselves! The games were followed by a delightful Hungarian feast, a feast that was fit for a king! I recognized that this was the best time to get to know as many students as possible during IW as Visegrad was the only complulsory event that the students had to attend. Apart from taking photos through out the day and convsersing with the different groups of students, I also invited them out to a venue that hosted a night for international students.
IW began with opening presentations that were given by participating students and a welcome dinner. During this first day of IW, I greeted students, passed out their weekly schedules, took pictures for the Edutus website and booklet, and gave a presentation about my home institution - A.K.A. the prestigious George Mason University. It felt great to be the sole representative from the USA and to stand up there in front of such a large and diverse crowd. During our IW, the international students were required to attend classes that were taught by either their professors or other foreign professors. After their classes were complete they had the opportunity to participate in cultural excursions through out the week. I was absent from the classes as I was working on the booklet. I did however, participate in all of the culural programs that were held after classes.
The first cultural program was the most entertaining in my opinion. We traveled via bus from Budapest to a castle about an hour away called Visegrad which was located on a bend on the Danube (Duna in Hungarian) river. A small side note, our bus driver turned out to be the same bus driver that drove me to Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina for my GMU winter break program last year. It's always great to see a familiar face! Visegrad was a once in a life time experience. The location of the castle being situated atop a hill and at the bend of the river was spectacular. Aside from the natural beauty of its location, the castle served a more practical role during its era. Through out our tour of the castle we learned that the castle at visegrad was constructed to serve as a defensive outpost from the invading Mongols reigning from the east. Our guests, the IW students and professors, absolutely loved their time there. Following our tour of the castle we were entertained by a "royal court" of knights demonstrating their skills in various medieval games. After they finished, we were then split into different teams and participated in the games ourselves! The games were followed by a delightful Hungarian feast, a feast that was fit for a king! I recognized that this was the best time to get to know as many students as possible during IW as Visegrad was the only complulsory event that the students had to attend. Apart from taking photos through out the day and convsersing with the different groups of students, I also invited them out to a venue that hosted a night for international students.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Internship Blog 3 (March 24 )
These last two weeks have been filled with a great deal of excitement for me. We will soon be in the midst of our annual international week here at Edutus College. I'd like to finish the booklet before international week kicks off so it can be handed out to the various students, professionals, professors, and other individuals that will be in attendance. Earlier in the week I gave a presentation on starting a business. When the professor came to me and asked if I could give this presentation, I was unsure as to how I would accomplish the task at hand. In my personal opinion, working on these presentations simulates real-world scenarios. Once we find employment, we will be assigned various tasks from or supervisors with deadlines. We may not now how to go about accomplishing these tasks initially, but we are expected to complete these tasks by their deadlines in a dilligent manner. I have been told that I am not required to take part in these presentations, but in doing so I satisfy personal goals I have for myself, allow the students to hear english being spoken from a native speaker, and I improve my public speaking skills.
In my presentation I discussed necessary steps potential entrepreneurs should address before they open their business. When necessary I gave examples from a small business that I had started with a few friends back in high school. The presentation went very smoothly. I am no expert within the field of business or entrepreneurship, but I was able to give a productive presentation. I did this by slightly altering my approach; I practiced giving the presentation out-loud, I called on a volunteer from the audience to avoid scanning between the crowd, computer moniter, and screen projection simultaneously, and I also positioned myself as comfortably as possible. I decided to pull a desk up just next to and underneath the projection screen and sit on top of it. I'm aware that this an unorthodox way to give a presentation but I was more comfortable in this stance. If the students see that I am comfortable than it in turn should help them to be more comfortable and will hopefully lead to a higher degree of participation. I believe it also helped to garner the attention of the sudents better (at least initially) while still providing me with an optimum focal point in relation to the seating placement of the students in the class. I remember taking a sociology class back in community college and on the very first day of class our professor stood up on a chair and began to lecture. We had a fairly large class and during that lecture she had attained the attention of every single sudent.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here a Edutus College. Being here not only is helping me to improve in the areas of public speaking, organization, and preparation, but has also excited many different interests and aspirations of mine. As a geography major, I have an innate curiosity for geography and exploring the world around me. I have an wide interest in topics ranging from population characterstics, globalizaion, natural sciences, mapping, and many more. Geography affords me with the opportunity to study and learn about many of these personal interests I have. Many of the geogrpahy courses I have taken at George Mason have taught me about the different aspects associated within map making, I plan on creating a few different maps of Hungary to incorporate in the booklet I am currently working on.
As previously stated, I have many interests and aspirations. One of those interests is working for the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. As a Foreign Service Officer, you are required to live in different countries abroad. Living here in Hungary gives me the opportunity to discover new places, meet new people, and immerse myself in a culture completely foreign to that of my own. Foreign Service Officers are expected to establish and maintain professional relationships with the local populous and represent the United States of America with the highest degree of rectitude and integrity. Being here in Budapest allows me to contribute to my personal and professional development by mirroring these same qualities exhibited within professionals in the foreign service.
Interning in the tourism department here at Edutus has allowed me to explore my interest with potentially starting a business within the tourism industry pertaining to reviewing hostels and owning hostels. I've consulted with the professors a part of the faculty here and they possess the necessary knowledge and background to point me in the right direction. I absolutely love to travel which was the primary reason I chose to be placed within an institution that operates within the field of tourism and travel.
In my presentation I discussed necessary steps potential entrepreneurs should address before they open their business. When necessary I gave examples from a small business that I had started with a few friends back in high school. The presentation went very smoothly. I am no expert within the field of business or entrepreneurship, but I was able to give a productive presentation. I did this by slightly altering my approach; I practiced giving the presentation out-loud, I called on a volunteer from the audience to avoid scanning between the crowd, computer moniter, and screen projection simultaneously, and I also positioned myself as comfortably as possible. I decided to pull a desk up just next to and underneath the projection screen and sit on top of it. I'm aware that this an unorthodox way to give a presentation but I was more comfortable in this stance. If the students see that I am comfortable than it in turn should help them to be more comfortable and will hopefully lead to a higher degree of participation. I believe it also helped to garner the attention of the sudents better (at least initially) while still providing me with an optimum focal point in relation to the seating placement of the students in the class. I remember taking a sociology class back in community college and on the very first day of class our professor stood up on a chair and began to lecture. We had a fairly large class and during that lecture she had attained the attention of every single sudent.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here a Edutus College. Being here not only is helping me to improve in the areas of public speaking, organization, and preparation, but has also excited many different interests and aspirations of mine. As a geography major, I have an innate curiosity for geography and exploring the world around me. I have an wide interest in topics ranging from population characterstics, globalizaion, natural sciences, mapping, and many more. Geography affords me with the opportunity to study and learn about many of these personal interests I have. Many of the geogrpahy courses I have taken at George Mason have taught me about the different aspects associated within map making, I plan on creating a few different maps of Hungary to incorporate in the booklet I am currently working on.
As previously stated, I have many interests and aspirations. One of those interests is working for the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. As a Foreign Service Officer, you are required to live in different countries abroad. Living here in Hungary gives me the opportunity to discover new places, meet new people, and immerse myself in a culture completely foreign to that of my own. Foreign Service Officers are expected to establish and maintain professional relationships with the local populous and represent the United States of America with the highest degree of rectitude and integrity. Being here in Budapest allows me to contribute to my personal and professional development by mirroring these same qualities exhibited within professionals in the foreign service.
Interning in the tourism department here at Edutus has allowed me to explore my interest with potentially starting a business within the tourism industry pertaining to reviewing hostels and owning hostels. I've consulted with the professors a part of the faculty here and they possess the necessary knowledge and background to point me in the right direction. I absolutely love to travel which was the primary reason I chose to be placed within an institution that operates within the field of tourism and travel.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Internship Blog 2 (March 10)
Things are going fairly smooth at my internship in my third week here. I've been assigned a good amount of work and have displayed a good amount of enthusiasm in getting my tasks completed. Over the past week and a half I have completed two presentations for two different professors. All the classes are taught in english which on the surface presents an ideal environment to me to give presentations. However, many of the students are at various levels in their ability to speak english. It's a bit hard to get them to participate, but I believe that they'll begin to speak and participate more as I improve my relations with them throughout the semester.
My first presentation was in a tourism class. The class was learning various terms that involved airport functions and terms. Before I started working on my presentation, I made sure to ask some of the students what they'd like to see in my next presentation. I decided to include pictures of the top 10 most beautiful airports through out my presentation to satisfy their requests and to help maintain their focus throughout the presentation. I also created a jeopardy game in power point on some of the terms my presentation covered and from the current unit they were studying in their textbooks.
My second presentation was with an international business and marketing class. It involved EU and US relations regarding Delta Airlines; how a multinational corporation such as Delta operates within the framework of the EU and some of their business practices with EU based airline companies. I felt that I did a decent job presenting the material, however I was a bit nervous as this was the first time I had met with them.
I was also asked if I could work on a booklet for the college. I decided to accept the challenge and started brain storming on ideas I could use for the booklet. I was presented with a few booklets from other universities and college across Europe, but ultimately I decided to create my own unique design for Edutus. I searched a while for different templates within Microsoft Word and Publisher, but opted for the highest level of creative freedom by using a program called Adobe Illustrator I've used to create maps. I've attached my current cover page to the booklet to this blog post. I still have a good amount of work to do for the cover page, but I believe I've completed the basic design themes that will be expressed not only on the cover page but through out the booklet. I also plan on taking photos of and around the two campuses and incorporating those into the booklet as well. I brought my Canon T3 Rebel (digital still lens reflex) camera with me to Budapest which should provide excellent quality photos for the booklet. I've even asked a few of the students if I could take their pictures and insert them in the booklet. Aside from having simply their photos, I also plan on inserting some statements from them highlighting the academic environment at Edutus and some of the positive experiences they've had there. Not only should this booklet be a well refined product, but I believe it also needs to be designed from a student's view point. Apart from being a student myself, I can also ask the students around Edutus for any of their suggestions regarding the booklet.
My first presentation was in a tourism class. The class was learning various terms that involved airport functions and terms. Before I started working on my presentation, I made sure to ask some of the students what they'd like to see in my next presentation. I decided to include pictures of the top 10 most beautiful airports through out my presentation to satisfy their requests and to help maintain their focus throughout the presentation. I also created a jeopardy game in power point on some of the terms my presentation covered and from the current unit they were studying in their textbooks.
My second presentation was with an international business and marketing class. It involved EU and US relations regarding Delta Airlines; how a multinational corporation such as Delta operates within the framework of the EU and some of their business practices with EU based airline companies. I felt that I did a decent job presenting the material, however I was a bit nervous as this was the first time I had met with them.
I was also asked if I could work on a booklet for the college. I decided to accept the challenge and started brain storming on ideas I could use for the booklet. I was presented with a few booklets from other universities and college across Europe, but ultimately I decided to create my own unique design for Edutus. I searched a while for different templates within Microsoft Word and Publisher, but opted for the highest level of creative freedom by using a program called Adobe Illustrator I've used to create maps. I've attached my current cover page to the booklet to this blog post. I still have a good amount of work to do for the cover page, but I believe I've completed the basic design themes that will be expressed not only on the cover page but through out the booklet. I also plan on taking photos of and around the two campuses and incorporating those into the booklet as well. I brought my Canon T3 Rebel (digital still lens reflex) camera with me to Budapest which should provide excellent quality photos for the booklet. I've even asked a few of the students if I could take their pictures and insert them in the booklet. Aside from having simply their photos, I also plan on inserting some statements from them highlighting the academic environment at Edutus and some of the positive experiences they've had there. Not only should this booklet be a well refined product, but I believe it also needs to be designed from a student's view point. Apart from being a student myself, I can also ask the students around Edutus for any of their suggestions regarding the booklet.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Internship blog 1 (Feb 24)
I am interning in the tourism department at Edutus College here in Budapest, Hungary. I was very eager to start my internship, albeit a little nervous. I was to report to the director of the college, Csilla Jandela, and the first thing I wanted to establish was what was expected of me. After introducing myself to Csilla, I was later introduced to the other faculty members of the college that I would potentially be working with. When we returned back to Csilla's office, I made sure to ask her what they had planned for me and what their expectations were of me. I wanted to know what was expected of me not to only meet their specific expectations of me, but to surpass them. While at Edutus college, I am expected to proofread and correct the english content that is published on their behalf, help in the organization of their annual international day, develop brief presentations pertaining to travel within the tourism industry, participate in group activities and field trips, engage with the students in english, and to help motivate the students in their aspirations to learn english as a second language.
I feel extremely confident that I can not only meet these expectations, but that I can exceed them. With my previous experiences, I am poised to help Edutus and their students in this specific role that has been given to me. Within my first week I've already given one presentation in a business class on marketing within the Airline industry, due to my work experience with Delta airlines. The students are still learning english and I observed that many don't speak it quite fluently yet. I've tried to make my presentations mentally stimulating for the students while keeping them easy to follow as well. A class on Hungarian culture and language is taught at my college for students from different countries who are studying at Edutus. I have decided to sit in on the class while it is in session in order to help me learn hungarian while I am here. The Hungarian students in my college have informed me that Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn (lucky me), many of them believe that it is harder for a person to learn Hungarian than English. By learning Hungarian, I hope not only to improve my experience here, but I also hope to show the students at Edutus that I am serious about helping them and that learning a second language is attainable.
Many of the students that are in the classes I have been requested to make presentations for have aspirations to hold careers within the tourism industry. I am currently working on another presentation that highlights the operations of an airport. I asked for a copy of their lessons so that I can incorporate the vocabulary they're learning into my presentation. I tried to incorporate their point of view, not being fully fluent in English. I know that learning another language and speaking to a native speaker in that language can be difficult. I can relate with the Hungarian students in their endeavors to learn english as I studied spanish for six years. I have also spoke to a few of the students individually and asked if they'd like me to incorporate anything specific into my presentations.
I feel extremely confident that I can not only meet these expectations, but that I can exceed them. With my previous experiences, I am poised to help Edutus and their students in this specific role that has been given to me. Within my first week I've already given one presentation in a business class on marketing within the Airline industry, due to my work experience with Delta airlines. The students are still learning english and I observed that many don't speak it quite fluently yet. I've tried to make my presentations mentally stimulating for the students while keeping them easy to follow as well. A class on Hungarian culture and language is taught at my college for students from different countries who are studying at Edutus. I have decided to sit in on the class while it is in session in order to help me learn hungarian while I am here. The Hungarian students in my college have informed me that Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn (lucky me), many of them believe that it is harder for a person to learn Hungarian than English. By learning Hungarian, I hope not only to improve my experience here, but I also hope to show the students at Edutus that I am serious about helping them and that learning a second language is attainable.
Many of the students that are in the classes I have been requested to make presentations for have aspirations to hold careers within the tourism industry. I am currently working on another presentation that highlights the operations of an airport. I asked for a copy of their lessons so that I can incorporate the vocabulary they're learning into my presentation. I tried to incorporate their point of view, not being fully fluent in English. I know that learning another language and speaking to a native speaker in that language can be difficult. I can relate with the Hungarian students in their endeavors to learn english as I studied spanish for six years. I have also spoke to a few of the students individually and asked if they'd like me to incorporate anything specific into my presentations.
Monday, January 27, 2014
By Jared Harris (Budapest, Spring 2014)
Learning Objectives
1. Connect Budapest’s location in Europe with the main groups of people that are typically found spending their vacations in Budapest.
a. Note what additional languages information pamphlets, websites, tourist guides and other tourist publications are written in to help better assess which groups of people are mainly found visiting Budapest.
b. Hold dialogues with my managers and coworkers about the Schengen Border Agreement and ask which countries have signed the agreement.
2. Compare the advantages a smaller isolated culture, such as Hungarian, presents in garnering the intrigue of potential tourists over other European cultures that are more prominent and known about.
a. Research travel websites, travel blogs, and articles that highlight the unique attractions that Budapest has to offer.
b. Discuss the cultural landmarks and sites that are most frequented by visitors and tourists with my managers and coworkers.
3. Gain more knowledge about tourism in Hungary and how much tourism attributes to GDP figures within the Hungarian economy.
a. Research the Hungarian economy to see what percentage of the GDP tourism accounts for.
b. Discuss what outlets are used to measure the overall health and vitality of the tourism industry in Hungary, and Budapest to a lesser extent.
4. Create a project that can help draw more tourists into Hungary.
a. Develop a project that incorporates social media to help divulge the unique Hungarian culture with the masses.
*Learning Objectives Revised*
After completing my original learning objectives, I am now more familiar with my role here at Edutus College in their Tourism Department.
I will add to my learning objectives based off of my expectations and goals here at Edutus College. My expectations and goals are as follows:
Expectations
1. Proofread and finalize materials here at Edutus that are written in English. 2. Help in the organization of Edutus's annual international day. 3. Develop and present powerpoint presentations for tourism and business classes tought here at Edutus College. 4. Participate in group activities and field trips 5. Create a booklet (in english) for Edutus college in their effors to recruit students from abroad.
Short Term Goals
1. Quickly gain confidence of faculty and instructors at Edutus by demonstrating creativity and competence with the first few assigned tasks. 2. Quickly establish relationships with students here at Edutus.
Long Term, Revolving Goals
1. Spend time with students here at Edutus College to help improve their english communication skills.
2. Offer ideas on how to improve student enrollment from abroad.
3. To learn Hungarian. Not only for myself, but in an effort to relate with students and illustrate my devotion for them to learn engilsh.
My additional learning objecives are as follows:
1. Give short presentations to students at Edutus college pertaining to international business, e-commerce, and tourism. By accepting requests from teachers to give short presentations in their classes, I will improve my public speaking skills, a highly coveted skill amongst professionals from all fields.
a. Collaborate with both professor and student to create presentations that are relevant to current terms being taught in class along with topics and subjects the students find intriguing.
b. Practice presentations to give students a more meaningful class experience.
2. To learn the Hungarian language.
a. Attend hungarian language classes taught here at Edutus.
b. Practice hungarian with the students here at Edutus to attain a better grasp of the language and to help in my efforts to improve my relations with them.
Learning Objectives
1. Connect Budapest’s location in Europe with the main groups of people that are typically found spending their vacations in Budapest.
a. Note what additional languages information pamphlets, websites, tourist guides and other tourist publications are written in to help better assess which groups of people are mainly found visiting Budapest.
b. Hold dialogues with my managers and coworkers about the Schengen Border Agreement and ask which countries have signed the agreement.
2. Compare the advantages a smaller isolated culture, such as Hungarian, presents in garnering the intrigue of potential tourists over other European cultures that are more prominent and known about.
a. Research travel websites, travel blogs, and articles that highlight the unique attractions that Budapest has to offer.
b. Discuss the cultural landmarks and sites that are most frequented by visitors and tourists with my managers and coworkers.
3. Gain more knowledge about tourism in Hungary and how much tourism attributes to GDP figures within the Hungarian economy.
a. Research the Hungarian economy to see what percentage of the GDP tourism accounts for.
b. Discuss what outlets are used to measure the overall health and vitality of the tourism industry in Hungary, and Budapest to a lesser extent.
4. Create a project that can help draw more tourists into Hungary.
a. Develop a project that incorporates social media to help divulge the unique Hungarian culture with the masses.
*Learning Objectives Revised*
After completing my original learning objectives, I am now more familiar with my role here at Edutus College in their Tourism Department.
I will add to my learning objectives based off of my expectations and goals here at Edutus College. My expectations and goals are as follows:
Expectations
1. Proofread and finalize materials here at Edutus that are written in English. 2. Help in the organization of Edutus's annual international day. 3. Develop and present powerpoint presentations for tourism and business classes tought here at Edutus College. 4. Participate in group activities and field trips 5. Create a booklet (in english) for Edutus college in their effors to recruit students from abroad.
Short Term Goals
1. Quickly gain confidence of faculty and instructors at Edutus by demonstrating creativity and competence with the first few assigned tasks. 2. Quickly establish relationships with students here at Edutus.
Long Term, Revolving Goals
1. Spend time with students here at Edutus College to help improve their english communication skills.
2. Offer ideas on how to improve student enrollment from abroad.
3. To learn Hungarian. Not only for myself, but in an effort to relate with students and illustrate my devotion for them to learn engilsh.
My additional learning objecives are as follows:
1. Give short presentations to students at Edutus college pertaining to international business, e-commerce, and tourism. By accepting requests from teachers to give short presentations in their classes, I will improve my public speaking skills, a highly coveted skill amongst professionals from all fields.
a. Collaborate with both professor and student to create presentations that are relevant to current terms being taught in class along with topics and subjects the students find intriguing.
b. Practice presentations to give students a more meaningful class experience.
2. To learn the Hungarian language.
a. Attend hungarian language classes taught here at Edutus.
b. Practice hungarian with the students here at Edutus to attain a better grasp of the language and to help in my efforts to improve my relations with them.
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