Blog #3 - Generative Research

Can't Live Without:

1. Faith- This will always be my #1. It's the principle behind everything that I do and it gives my life a purpose. 

2. Family- They will always be there for me. I know that I can always count on them to help me in times of need and love me unconditionally.

3. Friends- These are the people that make life enjoyable. One of my biggest fears is being lonely and with friends, that is impossible. 

Care About:

1. Texas- I love the state that I'm from and I will always be a Texas boy at heart. I plan on living here my whole life and it's apart of my identity. 

2. My Job- Working for the Office of Admissions at The University of Texas at Austin, giving campus tours, has been one of the greater joys in my life. This program is not just a job to me, it's a way for me to tell my story and give back the university that has given so much to me. 

3. Texas Mascot- Having the opportunity to be Texas Mascot this year is a dream come true. It's been a humbling experience to represent something larger than myself. 

1. Web Search

I use web search, particularly the Yahoo! newsfeed, for national news or big headlines throughout the day. On the Yahoo! homepage it highlights the biggest current stories. I use this, because it’s the easiest and fastest way for me to get a glimpse of what’s going on in the world that day.

                      

2. Online Videos

I use online videos for entertainment and television recaps. Such sources, as YouTube and “Prime Time in No Time” videos are among my favorite to gather from. I use these sources, because of familiarity. Ever since I can remember I have been using these videos to keep me up to date.

3. Twitter, Facebook, etc

Social media sites, such a Twitter and Facebook, keep me up to date on what’s going on with my friends and how I stay connected on upcoming events. I gather this information by creeping on friend's profiles and creating/accepting events. I use social media to gather updates, because it's the online tools that I use most throughout the day. 

Access:

Work: During work, I tend to have more time than usual to surf the web. This involves going through the Yahoo! homepage highlights, watching online videos, and getting caught up on social media.  

Extra-Curricular's: Due to the variety of extra curricular activities that I'm involved in, several of these categories overlap. Whether it be hobbies, sports, or other random events, they all take place at this time. 

Blog #2- Journey Mapping

Kyle Campbell is a sophomore finance major in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Along with finance, he is also majoring in BHP (business honors program), economics, and math. Most of these additional majors serve as extensions of his main focus, finance.  As I learned more about Kyle’s career path, I developed a 5-stage process that highlights his turning points.

The first stage is labeled “when I grow up,” which is a common phrase people use today. Kyle first thought of his future aspirations when he was a little kid. He dreamed of being the stereotypical professions for that age such as a firefighter, policeman, or a doctor. Along with these professions, he also showed interest in being a lawyer. The biggest influencer of this sparked interest was his father, who was lawyer himself. Due to his young age, Kyle had little confidence in most decisions he made and a future career choice was no exception.

The second stage in Kyle’s journey was “prior to college.” As he began to become more knowledgeable and understanding of the value that a career can have on one’s life, Kyle began considering the field of chemical engineering. With this as the primary interest at the time, law was demoted to a secondary thought. The influence behind this change came again from his dad, who studied engineering as an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University. In high school, Kyle enjoyed science and math, thus leading him to believe this field would be a perfect fit for him. At this stage in his life, he was only somewhat confident that this was the career field for him. This confidence completely evaporated when he participated in a chemical engineering research project at A&M between his junior and senior year of high school and absolutely hated it.

The third stage we have is the “freshman fall.”  When applying for college, Kyle wanted a stable job that he could depend on and loved working on group projects with teams. After hearing about the success and great reputation that the McCombs School of Business had, Kyle decided to change his career focus to business. The main influencer of this decision was himself and his personal interests. Along with being accepted into McCombs, he was also accepted into BHP (business honors program), which allowed him to have small class sizes and an honors curriculum. Due to his success and happiness at the time, Kyle was somewhat confident that business was the route he wanted to take.

The fourth stage was “freshman spring.” It was during this semester that Kyle began to think of possible specializations and major options. He desired a field that did not involve much abstract thinking, as he enjoyed math and logistics. One of the key deciding factors was his interest in how money controls people’s lives and changes their perspectives on certain things. This ultimately led to his decision to major in finance. He also added a major in economics, after thinking about it during his freshman fall semester. This was intended to help enhance his fiancé skills even further. Some key influencers in these decisions came from his friends, Emile Gerard and Ryan Crestani, who were senior finance majors that became mentors to Kyle. At this point, Kyle felt very confident that he was making the right career choice.

This brings us to present-day. We are currently within our final stage, “sophomore fall.” Along with his other three majors, Kyle recently decided that he wanted a fourth major in math because he just finds it fun. Though this balance is hard, he finds the course work interesting and hopes it will help his business and finance career in the future. He is currently 100% confident that finance is the right major and focus for him. Since graduation last year, he has already found a replacement mentor. Neha Vaidya is a senior finance major that helps mentor Kyle in finance and extra curricular activities, such as Student Government.

Those are the 5-stages that Kyle has gone through, in order to develop his career path. While going through this journey, he has had many different influences and levels of confidence about his potential career and future. Everyone has their own story to how they got to where they are today and this assignment has helped me evaluate my own personal career path and the long, but rewarding journey that it has been.

Blog #1 - Empathy Map

About The Person

Caleb Bates is my brother who is 2 years younger than me. He is currently a sophomore at Texas Tech University, studying agricultural economics. Though Caleb is apart of my family and we are close in age, we do have a very different segmentation profile. Our different personas center around life stage distinctions. As Caleb is beginning his search for personal identity and career possibilities, I'm wrapping up that stage of my life and moving on. Throughout this blog I included my personal assumptions prior to our interview, supported by quotes from Caleb that i gathered during our follow-up interview. There are few people that know him better than I do and this exercise has truly helped me gain empathy for our differences. 

 

What He Thinks and Feels

Caleb lives a fairly private life, keeping his personal thoughts and feelings to himself most of the time. He truly values simple life and the art of contentment. To him, being happy is what really counts. Caleb aspires to be just like our dad, Floyd Bates, who lives a very fulfilling and satisfying life. He has few worries, but one is loneliness. In our interview he said, “I don’t really care about what people think of me, I just do what I enjoy.” 

  

What He Sees

Caleb is an extreme right-wing Republican. Having been raised on the farm and in church, he has acquired a conservative view of the world and the environment we live in. When it comes to friendships he values quality over quantity. He said, “I would rather have just a couple close friends, rather many friends that I only know on a surface level.”

What He Does

As alluded to in a previous section, Caleb is a man of few words. When it comes to his behavior, he is often misunderstood. Due to the fact that he stays relativity quiet in public, Caleb is often perceived as shy. His fraternity inspired clothing tends to automatically categorize him within the greek stereotype.  Caleb strives to live by the golden rule, quoting “I want to treat others the same way that I would want to be treated.” 

 

What He Hears

If I were to describe my brother's character, the two traits that stand out are determination and hard working. After interviewing him, it turned out that this is what others think of him as well. First off, I think the word “determined” is used too loosely today. It tends to be one of those default characteristics that we pin upon ourselves to make us look more marketable, but in reality very few people have raw determination. Caleb is one of those people that once his mind is set on something, it's going to be accomplished. Whether it is school, work, or a hobby that he has, my brother is one of the most determined people that I know and he is out to disprove peoples misinterpretations of him. “Bosses and mentors say that I’m a hard worker and that is something I pride myself in,” he said.

  

His Pain Points

“My biggest fear is not knowing my own self,” said Caleb. He is currently trying to find his personal identity and what he wants to do with his life, which is a fearful process for him. Caleb often gets frustrated with himself and the personal decisions that he makes. Growing up in the church, he has always been surrounded with faith principles. In college, he has found spirituality to be an obstacle as he continues to try and adjust to the new lifestyle and environment.

  

His Hopes To Gain

Though Caleb is still trying to find his calling in life, he does have high aspirations for himself. “At the end of the day I want to feel loved,” he said. Caleb’s needs in life, include money and women. Consequently, his love for money and women will also be his biggest obstacles to success. He measures success on his level of happiness, which correlates back to his desire for contentment. At the end of the day, family will always be one of the most important parts of Caleb’s life.