Category: Words of Inspiration & Motivation
My Own Advice to Some of the Recent College Grads
| May 15, 2013 | Posted by Angela under Business & Technology, Words of Inspiration & Motivation |
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have many cousins graduating from college this year and many that will be graduating in the coming years. As I put together their graduation gifts, I can’t help but think about the advice I want to give them. It has been 8 years since I walked that stage and my life has unfolded in a way that I didn’t plan but I wouldn’t have wanted it any different. If I were to give any advice to college grads, it would be these 3 things:
Your degree is not the one thing that will make you successful, you need experience.
You have your degree, now what? You have to go out and conquer the world, the world will not come looking for you. I see more and more students graduating with the mindset that they will land a job instantly – that their degree is the ticket to endless opportunities. Not exactly so. A degree can qualify you for a position but not guarantee you for a position. A degree also validates the fact that you have the discipline to start and finish something – that’s it. I am not underestimating the degree because it is a huge accomplishment! Trust me, I worked 40 hours and took 18 hours of college courses my last semester – I was determined! It just doesn’t guarantee you success in the real world – you’ve got to go out and earn it.
Go out and do things with purpose, not because it is expected of you.
You have lived all your life up to this moment trying to please your teachers, your parents, your coaches, your mentors. I am not saying that you didn’t want to go to school but let’s face it, you want to make those that supported you through the years proud, right? You are accustomed to meeting everyone else’s expectations. Now, you can use what you’ve learned to do things that have personal meaning to you. Things that will change the world in a positive way – whatever that may be. Always ask yourself “why am I doing this?” before taking on a challenge. Yes, we all need to earn money to cover your basic necessities but make sure you find a way to love what you do and find a greater meaning to your job than just a pay check. This will bring you happiness and relieve unnecessary stress.
Save your money now, treat yourself later.
You finally land a job and start seeing that paycheck come in. What? You now can treat yourself to dinner and not eat ramen noodles in your dorm room? That’s right. I know it’s hard to look into the future but your future can mean bigger responsibilities like supporting a family. Right now you have no responsibilities so you can spend all that money on yourself for immediate pleasure. I would advise saving first and then spending what you have left over on things you want. This will make your life that much easier once you decide on moving on to bigger responsibilities. Although I started my 401K early and was able to purchase my first home when I was 26 before I was married, I still wish I would had saved more money than spending it on a bunch of silly things that now mean nothing to me. (For personal finance advice, I always recommend Suze Orman books)
Please note: This is advice based on my own experience. I am just a manager in the business world. My advice isn’t meant to be the best advice, it’s just based on what I have learned. If it can help you, great! If you are a college grad and have other advice, please leave it in the comments.
Happy February
| February 14, 2013 | Posted by Angela under Family Stuff, The Arts, Film, Music, Fashion, Words of Inspiration & Motivation |
Be Awesome
| February 13, 2013 | Posted by Angela under Words of Inspiration & Motivation |
We had what we call a “marketing all hands” today where our department lead rallies us together to talk about successes and goals. Our CMO, Suaad Sait, shared this video with us as an opening to his presentation.
As you know, I love content like this. What does this video mean to me? As a company grows, it’s easy to get caught up in org charts and processes. It’s easy to call your job a “job.” I’m fortunate, that after 10 years, I still believe in Rackspace and the mission that we’re on. Granted, I’m not always “drinking the koolaid” as one would say but for the most part, I am – and I am proud of it! We’re on a journey to greatness and if you believe in it, it’s easy to wake up everyday and strive to be awesome.
Why Are We Here?
| December 19, 2012 | Posted by Angela under Words of Inspiration & Motivation |
It has been an incredibly emotional month. One of my dad’s cousins, Melissa Zuniga, suddenly passed away on December 7th at only 43, leaving her four young children and husband behind. She was a grade school teacher, a loving mother, sister, daughter, aunt. Her services were so beautiful and it was evident that every person she interacted with, regardless of the depth of the interaction, she left a positive impact on that person. She was passionate about life and all the beauty life on earth had to offer. She loved her family unconditionally and extended that love into her school, community and church. She will be greatly missed by many. Later that week, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut happens and 20 beautiful children are abruptly taken from this earth, leaving their loving parents, siblings and classmates at an incredible loss. We have so many questions.
I can’t help but to continue to think about Melissa and her family, and all the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. I keeping thinking, ‘it’s not fair,’ or asking ‘why?’ Although I am praying for these families that they can receive the strength to move forward with life, I feel so helpless. I want to do more to ease their pain and somewhat guilty that I get to go home and hug my family. It tears me up inside; but this isn’t about me. This is about having faith. At Melissa’s service, the priest that did the homily said, “God never promised forever life on earth but he did promise eternal life.” And though we will never know when or how our time on earth will come to an end, we do know that God does have a purpose for us while we are here.
When Obama spoke at the vigil for the victims of the Connecticut shooting, midway through his speech, he says, “All the worlds’ religions, start with a simple question, “Why are we here?” What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose?”
And as I think about the homily at Melissa’s services and Obama’s speech at the vigil, I am reminded that we all have a reason for living. We have to love one another, respect others and give to those that are in need. And if we do this, we are setting an example for others around us and can only hope that they are inspired to do the same. We cannot expect to keep love within our own circles of comfort, we have to not be scared to share that love.
I am a big fan of The Voice and I think they did a beautiful job paying tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. It’s moments like these that remind us that the world is not evil; that there are people that care and can love. We have to focus on these moments and let it spread like fire.
Alan’s Wish
| September 27, 2012 | Posted by Angela under Why I like San Antonio, Words of Inspiration & Motivation |
When my colleague forwarded me an email about a 4 year old boy, Alan, and his wish to visit the tallest building in San Antonio as he was battling a deadly cancer, I thought, “we have to go.” I didn’t know his situation, I just knew that this was a rush wish through the Make A Wish Foundation and that he wanted to visit the Weston Centre, a special building for many Rackers (where I use to work). Click here to read more about the Weston Centre in a previous blog post.
So we went and were assigned the 2nd floor, banners and balloons in hand. We thought he was going to each floor chronologically but he wanted to skip around, just to make it interesting for us. We waited and waited, and I was so nervous because I wanted to cheer him on yet, I knew that it wasn’t go to be easy. He finally landed on our floor and we startled him with our loud cheer. Such a beautiful child and his family were all right there standing behind him, supporting him. Check out this video Racker Dave Sims produced:
I am glad I went. I pray that the family receives the strength to endure the difficult road ahead. I also want to thank Alan for being brave and for showing all of us what life is about. We can’t control what God has planned for us. We do, however, have control over how we live it and we should live each day without regret.
Click here to watch the video on the news.
Click here to see more photos of Alan.
Later that day, I saw this rainbow right over the Weston Centre, just for little Alan.
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