Turn Up The Light

This Spring 2011 semester at Columbus State University is very intense, and is appearing as a dimmer on the light. The consensus amongst seniors is that classes are exceptionally difficult. My senior level course load consists of:

1. Compensation/Benefits Administration
2. Information Technology Management
3. Managerial Finance
4. Quantitative Analysis
5. Staffing

My Compensation Benefits instructor has divided the class into 3-partner project teams, and has assigned us the task of designing a pay system for FastCat (fictitious company) based on the concepts and techniques established in Milkovich and Newman textbook, Compensation. We are working intensely through Milkovich's Cases in Compensation 10e, a 74-page booklet that is challenging students' will to achieve an A out of the course. This is a semester long project that requires 5+ hours of time each week, and is conducted in project phases:

• Phase I - Alignment: Designing an Internal Structure
• Phase II - External Competitiveness: Pricing the Structure
• Phase III - Performance and Management

Since I am a Human Resources Management major, it is a joy to work on such a complex system. The excitement brewing between HR Mgmt majors is astonishing. Students taking the course as a business elective are extremely angry.

My Managerial Finance and Quantitative Analysis (math-related) courses require a lot of study time per week as well. Honestly, this a very stressful semester for me in particular. Only one course during the summer semester is needed and that is the Exit - Strategies class. Transitioning from the Dean's List in the Fall 2010 semester into the realization that I am going to need to work outrageously hard to pull off two C's in those two math-related courses.

My family has begun to call me, because I who is known for calling has not done so. My mind is almost entirely focused on these classes and projects. Not to mention my Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team is currently writing scripts and practicing for regional competition to be held on April 4th in Atlanta.

My guess is that when you are in a position to see the graduating degree light at the end of the tunnel, that some unforeseeable force narrows the scope in the lenses to dim the lights. I know that as long as I follow that small glimmer of light, the reward is great once I step through at the end. My focus is on the light! Keep me in your prayers.