Project Management Programs

Thanks for all the input guys! Didn't know so many of you were so knowledgeable in Law School stuff and Culinary Arts Schools. Anyway, 2nd year Accounting students have several big project presentations coming up within the next few days (why am I blogging and not working on it? ah!) and I thought I'd take a moment to tell you guys about project management programs because I think all university students could use project management training.

Project management programs teach you the art of managing several projects at the same time. What is project management? Well Wiki defines it as:

 "Program management or programme management is the process of managing several related projects, often with the intention of improving an organization's performance. In practice and in its aims it is often closely related to systems engineering and industrial engineering."

So project management is usually applied in an organizational work setting, and involves learning about how to do multiple projects at once effectievly and efficiently. I took a project management program offered by the VSB in seminar format, but there are course formats or stuff like that too, whichever appeals to you.

Many organizations encourage their employees to take it because they know the benefits of this skill. In fact, your workplace might even be willing to subsidize it too -- check it out!

Anyway, my point is that project management is far more applicable to students than it is to working adults. If you think about it, students use it all the bloody time! I've had several times where I was loaded with 4 or even 5 projects due within the week.

During my project management program, I learnt how to organize my schedule, time management, and most importantly how to structure my projects so that they are applicable to each other and somehow correlated so that you can "double dip" that work. By that I mean using the work or ideas in both projects and in essence killing two birds with one stone.

Give it a shot, let me know what you think of project management programs. I've had great experience in these programs and just wanted to share this handy university tip with all of you so you can excel in your academics. Good luck!

Culinary Schools, Online Law Schools

Hey guys,
I've been thinking about changing degrees. Accounting really just isn't right for me... I'm not very good at it, it's very tedious and boring, and the studies are insanely difficult (my courses are ripping me apart!)

There are two choices that I might consider as of this moment:
1) Culinary Arts Schools
This is my topmost choice. Living by myself, I've been forced to cook more often than I thought... And I found out I love it. So I want to go to culinary schools and perhaps work as a chef. Right now I'm considering a few schools in USA, particularly NY, Cali, Chicago, that I might want to attend (something else I've always wanted to do). As I mentioned in previous posts, University reputation is paramount. So I did some Google searching for culinary schools in California, culinary schools in New York, and culinary schools in Chicago. I'm kinda liking the California School of Culinary Arts and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. Not quite sure about this just yet, because both are very costly choices. Maybe I'll just look for a simple pastry school. A bakery? I dunno.

2) Law Schools
And not just any law schools, but online law schools. That's right, an internet law school. Preferably an accredited online law school... But yeah. My top choice would have to be Concord Law School Online. I checked out the Concord Law School website and I like what I see! See for yourself: Concord Law School.

That's all I have for now. Since it's up in the air still, I can afford to make these widely varying choices... I figure, if I'm going to switch, might as well go all out rather than half-ass it and do some other BCom specialization.

Anyway, I haven't finalized any decisions yet, just kinda pondering at the moment. What are your thoughts on this? Does anyone have experience in culinary schools/graphic design schools/law schools?

Yahoo Domains

Afternoon update:

Thank God it's Friday! Going to have a hella hard weekend... Tons of work to do for the Accounting Club, plus another project due on Monday. But you guys didn't come here to hear me whine about my workload, so I'd like to bring up something new...

Recently, I've been getting a few emails and questions about buying a web domain and registering a web domain. I've set up a few websites for various UBC clubs, most of which involved buying a web domain. So having tried various providers, I'd like to share my experiences with you guys...

Go with Yahoo domains!! They are the best web domain host out there!!

Seriously they have some of the best customer service you could ever ask for. GoDaddy is great, cheap, nice to use... But I'm not very fond of the service. People have been telling me that they're not too responsive to emalis, and aren't too friendly when it comes to resolving billing problems (and believe me, when a billing problem arises, the worst think you can have is irresponsible customer reps!)

Anyway, Yahoo Domains only costs about $10 a year, which is competitive with most other webhosts. In fact, I believe Yahoo offers a deal for new customers of $4 per year (it was even $2 for a while!). They have 24/7 customer support, call them or email them and they respond immediately. They're control panel and DNS management is insanely simple to use and straightforward (some other guys make it super complicated and guarded). Not to mention they have a range of domain name extensions, including the popular ones (.com, ,net, .org, .biz, .info, .us)

So all-in-all, if anyone is looking to invest in their blog, I encourage you guys to try out Yahoo! Domains. I'm not advertising for them or anything, I genuinely believe they have a great product and excellent service! For those of you who aren't as familiar with web domain registration, imagine being able to link to your blog as easily as "www.alphabetalife.com"!

That's all for now, let me know your thoughts if you have experience in web domains!

Life lesson: Sleep early

Here is a tip for all you college/uni students out there:

Sleep early. (If you can.)

A couple of days ago, I slept before 11pm. I woke up at 7:30 the next day feeling INCREDIBLE. Got up at the first ring of the alarm, no grogginess whatsoever, even had time to go online, check my email, check the markets, etc etc. Wide awake and alert throughout class and the rest of the day. I haven't felt so A-game since like elementary school.

So yeah, I encourage everyone to set an early bedtime! That's my "lifehack" as it were. Just a tip. Even if you have a bunch of stuff to do and you plan to stay up 'til 3 (as I often do), try sleeping first then waking up a couple hours early to finish off your work. You'll be completely refreshed, crystal clear thinking, and you won't regret it.

Let me know how it goes!

And of course, on to our submissions:

Today in class, I had so much chocolate, that I forgot to bring normal food.-elexerdelex

Today in class, I played angry birds. -James

Today in class, I left in the break as usual on thursdays. The teacher never notices, but he doesn't care anyway. -slyght

Today in class, I distilled alcohol and ended up blinding myself. -G

Today in class, I sat around and did nothing. -Asty

 Today in class I slept for 2 hours. Refreshing.-Silent Crawler

Never stay at school past midnight.

I am thoroughly exhausted right now, just got home. Long, tiring day... I'll summarize it in the form of a "Today in class":

Today in school, I stayed until midnight working on a group project. Little did I know, the busses stop running at around midnight... And it took me half an hour of standing at the busstop to realize it. Well, I ended up having to cab home; it cost me $30.

 Yeah. Moral of the story: Never stay at school past midnight (unless you plan on staying the night at a friend's dorms or at the student hostels). Anywaaaay, on to more reader submissions! Not as many today as yesterday, so try to keep them streaming in guys. I've added a direct link to your profiles/blogs so readers can check you out too =).

Today, I skipped class due to shitty weather. No way in hell I'm walking through that blizzard of slushy rain. -Alixander

Today in class, I played WoW. -~Fabi

Today in class, there was a strike. Day off. -Tyrone

Today in class, I was late to take a quiz, and my gay ringtone for my girlfriend went off when she sent me a text and I got super embarrassed. Good day...? You decide. -Drab Maestro

Today in class, I began following your blog. -Acidflaw

Today in class, I pooped my pants and it was sho damn bad I took them off and then I started smearing the feces on myself and danced like a monkey. -ed (Somehow, I doubt it ed!)