Final Mentor Meeting

Last Thursday, March 26, my mentor group met for our last meeting together as a group. Our mentor, Ralph Litolff had planned to take us to a Yacht Company, which I must say would have been very interesting, but instead he decided because of the weather that we would meet at a restaurant in Lakeview. We at dinner together at Lakeview Harbor, a restaurant sports bar with a very fun atmosphere. When I walked in the door, I noticed that although the restaurant was small, may be 10 employees tops a night, they were catering to a lot of customers. It seems as if the restaurant makes its money, obviously by serving food, but they also have a full service bar for all of those who are over 21 years of age. I have to say that although I was told that Lakeview Harbor was a popular restaurant among the local citizens of Lakeview, I had no idea that they could generate that many customers. What surprised me the most about this restaurant was that it was generating so much business being that it was in Lakeview. Although we weren't able to meet the owner of the business, at the last meeting when we went to Lago's restaurant, we were able to meet the owner, who is a current restaurant owner, lawyer, and law professor during the day. The advice that she gave our group was to pursue our dreams no matter what they are, because she always wanted to become a lawyer, but was never good in school, but she persue her dream and it finally came true. Another piece of advice that she gave us was to enjoy our college years, because they will be gone with the blink of an eye and you will wish that you could just go back. After attending my last meeting with my mentor group, I would have to say that it has been a very memorable year for me, this program has definitely allowed me to enjoy the actual class part of college.

Mentor Night

On Thursday February 12, my mentor group went to a dinner meeting at Lago Restaurant in Lakeveiw. As soon as I pulled up to the restaurant, I saw that we were going to be dinning at a fancy restaurant. This made me very happy. As we sat down for our meal, we started to discuss several different things, this made me think about what exactly I had learned from my mentor thus far. So far I have learned that in order to be successful in the business world today you must be able to communicate with other people. The guest speaker that came to eat with us explained the different roles that communication played in the daily life of a business professional. Also, you must be able to write well in addition to speak well. Although most of the business world has turned to technology, we still must know these skills. Although in the last couple of weeks I have had doubts about the profession that I am pursing, Accounting, after the mentor meetings I am definitely reassured that this is the job for me. Accounting is a profession that I know that I would enjoy and be successful in because I love number, correcting things, and money. I am almost positive that this is the job for me. After we spoke about communication skills we spoke about mardi gras and what we expected to experience. I would like to have my mardi gras experience outdo mine from last year. I would like to possibly go to all of the parades, but I don't know if that will happen but I will definitely attend every one that I can get to. I would like to have an amazing time with all of my friends and family. I would definitely like to avoid the dangerous parts of down and bourbon street. Although it is always the talk of tourists, us locals like to avoid all the crazy drunken crowds. Mardi gras is most definitely important to me and to New Orleans, because it is part of our heritage and it helps us to keep our minds off of all the crazy things that are happening in the world today. I would like to wish everyone a very happy MARDI GRAS.

Networking Night

On the night of January 15, 2009 I found myself very nervous about the future events of the evening. Not only was I nervous about meeting many successful business executives, but also what if I don't say the right thing and I make a fool out of myself? After I came over my fear I walked into the St. Charles room filled with all of my fellow College of Business students, mentors, past and future professors and business executives. As I began to mingle with the many people in the room, I found myself conversing with some very important people. I ended up meeting five very wonderful people. First, I spoke to Professor of Marketing at Loyola University New Orleans, Dr. Mike Pearson, PH.D. He explained many of the benefits and affects marketing has in the corporate world today. The second person I met was John J. Zollinger, IV, Regional Manager from Region Bank. He attended undergraduate school at Spring Hill College, then University of New Orleans, and finished his masters at Louisiana State University. He currently works in finance, he explained benefits of taking and majoring in accounting to many of the students at the event. He believes that although his job description does not mention psychology, he uses many of the ideas involved with this everyday at work. I also met Lee Vorisek, President of Alta Max LLC, a packaging company. He graduated with an engineering degree from Tulane University. Another person that I met was Mason G. Couvillon, President of Dardis Couvillon & Associates which deals with Financial Services and Insurance. He attended Jesuit High School and went to Georgetown University for college. He works as a financial planner. After speaking with him and introducing myself I realized that he knew a cousin of mine that also worked in the financial world in New Orleans. How small the world really is. Finally I ended my rounds by speaking to Jude Boudreaux from Bellingrath Wealth Management. He works as a Financial Planner, he stressed the importance of a well rounded education by taking other business classes even though you may not be majoring in them. During this event I felt as if I worked the room well, I worked my way around and did not just stay in one place and wait for someone to come to me. For future events similar to this all I could say is that I need to just relax and stop worrying about what I am going to say, just to involve myself in conversation better. I need to practice ways to start a conversation besides just introducing myself or asking what they do for a living. If I could emulate a certain business professional today I would probably say it would have to be Warren Buffet, who seems to be one of if not the most successful business man today. Tips on Business Networking and Social Networking Helping Your Business to Succeed are some helpful websites on networking.

Executive Mentor Program

The objective of the Executive Mentor Program for College of Business Freshmen at Loyola University New Orleans is to advise students and introduce different types of jobs and or careers available and provide networking opportunities to them. In the mentor program the business students are assigned a mentor, who is working in the field that you would one day like to be working in as well. This allows the student to ask question to help them better decide if this is what they really want to pursue in a career. Our mentor, Ralph Litolf would discuss different topics involving the business world today, and also take us on an occasional field trip, usually dinner, and for a college student free food is always appreciated. To me the experience that I valued the most throughout the program was being involved in our mentor groups, so that we all understood why we were in the field of Accounting. Having this mentor program reassured my decision to pursue a career in Accounting. In going into the program, I just figured that it would be another school assignment, one that I wouldn’t look forward to. After being involved with this program for a semester, I am so glad that it was a requirement, not only did I meet more of my fellow classmates, but I also got to know a lot more about the major that I was pursuing. Many of my high school friends are also going into the business field, but they we not given the opportunity to participate in the mentor program. To these friends I would recommend that they go out and speak to some business people that are working in the field that they are pursuing. This will give them a broader outlook on their career and give them the opportunity to ask someone who has gone through business school questions to help them succeed in their future years. As for next semester, I am extremely excited to participate in the mentor program again. I look forward to my business communications class and participating in other college of business events. I hope to maybe join one of the business clubs. Although I am excited for Christmas break, I am extremely excited about returning to finish out my freshman year here at Loyola. After going through my first semester in the college of business, I have learned to become very fond of several sources that keep me up-to-date with the business world. To the readers of my blog I would recommend reading CNN, Business week and Time. Have a good break.

Wolves on The Prowl

On Saturday November 8, all of the college of business students were required to participate in a service activity called Wolves on the Prowl. My first thoughts of this were that I didn't want to be anywhere except my bed at 8o'clock in the morning. But, since I was required I got up and drove across the lake to get my attendance points. When I arrived I signed in and waited until they placed us into groups according to the activity. At first, I decided to help out with the children's field day, but after all the groups were formed, there was once group that had only about five people in it. Dr. Reed bribed us with bonus points, so of course many of us jumped on the opportunity. When I joined the group, I had no idea what Wilson Charter School was. I jumped on the bus and the whole ride there all I thought was what in the world are we going to be doing. When we arrived we were welcomed by many of the members of the school faculty. After the warm welcome, my group followed one of the teachers to her classroom. Our job was to help her create new ideas for her outdated bulletin boards. After putting our heads together we created both a math board and an English writing board. We were to take down all of the children's old work and replace it with the new work. When we were taking down some of the old work we came across many brilliant children with hopes and dreams to become bright individuals. This part of the volunteering is what touched me the most. It showed me that the children were willing and eager to make something of themselves. Although this was only a fourth grade class's work, they were very articulate and seemed well educated for that grade level. This showed us that this school was indeed continuing education in a great way. After completing my volunteer work, I got back on the bus that was headed back to campus, when I got back on the bus I thought to myself of how I was thinking on my way to the site and how I was thinking now. My point of view was changed radically. Volunteering with this school not only touched me but it showed me that others need help. Even though replacing a bulletin board is minor, in the eyes of the members of that school, it was a great help. After helping out in this volunteer program, it has opened my eyes to other programs around the city of New Orleans. One of the many programs is the Hope House. This organization does a variety of things to help the members of the community. They help with children programs, ministry programs, and emergency assistance. This is just another organization that has a mission that has the goal of helping fellow people. Their mission states that Hope House is aimed to be a gospel people, a visible sign of Christian community; To manifest the human concern of Jesus for all people; To live and work with the poor; To foster dignity and worth in those with whom we live and work; To help create a society in which truth and justice abide. All and all, this experience is one that will be remembered, and that has taught me to help others even if it is just a little. I would like to thank the college of business for making this an opportunity for it students.

Managing Credit in College

Last Thursday night, I attended my second Executive Mentor Program meeting. John Zollinger, the senior vice president of Regions Bank, was there to speak to us about gaining and managing our credit, or most commonly how to make money. He explained what a FICO score was, how to build credit as a college student, how to maintain a good credit rating, and how not to loose that good rating. While listening to the presentation, I learned that there are 6 major ways to kill your credit. If you are a big spender, payment slacker, not having enough credit accounts, being young and eager, being to tidy, and being to nonchalant. As we broke off into our small groups, my mentor Ralph Litolff discussed with us the different credit cards and why it is good to have a credit card as a college student. This definitely helped me in deciding to get a credit card to start establishing my credit in college. In searching the web to find a credible website that also gave tips on personal finance for college students I found websites that caught my eye. The first, shows Ten Tips For Realistic Money Management In College - Without The Nonsense. The second, shared an article from BusinessWeek on Personal Finance for Freshman, how to establish money smarts for your future college years. All of this helped by showing me how to get started with my credit.

CareerBeam Values and Vision

The vision of my ideal future, is to see myself graduating from Loyola University with an Accounting and possibly a Finance degree in 2012. Attending Graduate school to obtain my MBA. I would like to see myself as leader in the business world. I would like to possibly either start my own Certified Public Accounting firm, or work as a CPA for a large corporation of some sort. As a member of the business world I would like to be considered well recognized, distinguished, respected, and intelligent. I would also like a family, but I would like to get my business career started, which has always been a dream of mine that I know I am fully capable of accomplishing in the near future.



Some may ask what are the benefits of writing a vision statement, well there are several. When writing a vision statement, you are "forced" to write down your ambitions or aspirations on paper. All of these thoughts have been pondering in your head, and with writing a vision statement it gives you the time to organize your thoughts and present them in a way that will show others what you are in business to achieve. Also, if you are unsure where you want to possibly go with your aspirations, this can give you a path to follow.


You may be asking yourself, well aren't there challenges to writing a vision statement. The answer to your question is yes. When you are writing your vision statement you many come across obstacles. From experience, I can tell you that I had trouble organizing my thoughts in a way that they made sense, thinking to myself am I going in the right direction to where my dreams can become real, and allowing myself to think so far into the future to where I actually was becoming successful in the real world. I have to say that working as a CPA is a huge change from cashiering a the local Berry Town Produce in Ponchatoula, LA.

After completing the Values Assessment on CareerBeam, I learned about the values that I possess in order to better myself as a business person. I found that my top three strengths were Humanitarian, Pursuer, and Maximizer. As a humanitarian, I am always there to serve others, this will be helpful in a business, this will allow me to attract and retain customers through customer satisfaction. As a pursuer I am ready to learn, and think critically, and analyze situations. Finally, as a Maximizer, I am willing to take risks in anyway to benefit my company, I am ready to achieve my goals. All of these values are important to me in a way that they will allow me to better my business and succeed in the world.

I express and display my values everyday. In the classroom I am always on time for class and ready to learn. If a friend is in need I will offer my help to better them. Also, I set goals everyday, as a plan to better myself. This allows me to succeed, help others, and strive to be the best of the best.

In looking for a organization that expresses a close match between its vision/values and mine, I could look no further than Habit for Humanity. This organization has the vision to help others, pursue a goal, and to achieve non other than the highest.


Their mission is: Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere to develop communities with God's people in need by building and renovating houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which people can live and grow into all that God intended.

Their vision is: Habitat's vision is to eliminate poverty housing by building simple, decent, and affordable housing in partnership with those who lack adequate shelter.

Their values are: We value a community where every man, woman and child lives in dignity and has a safe, decent, affordable place to call home. Habitat for Humanity's core values include:
Families and Homeownership
We believe that homeownership developed in cooperation with partner families transforms lives, promotes stability and breaks the cycle of poverty.
Inclusiveness
We value the richness of diversity that exemplifies San Francisco and Marin County and we partner with people who are willing to work together toward a common goal; to end poverty housing from the face of the Earth.
Volunteerism
We celebrate the passion of our devoted volunteers and strive to provide a rewarding experience that engages and builds our community.
Faith
Our mission unites people from all beliefs to put social justice into action by enabling working families to realize their dream of homeownership.
Community Building
Through the combined efforts of our volunteers, partner families, sponsors and supporters we create, revitalize and engage communities.
Stewardship
We are committed to the highest level of fiscal responsibility to our donors and the community and to make the most efficient use of all of our resources.
Ethical Leadership
We value the dedication of our Board of Directors and staff and seek to empower them through ongoing professional development and support in order to achieve our mission with the highest ethical standards.


If I was to ever work for Habitat for Humanity I would be honored. Working with an organization such as this, I would be able to help others in need. An organization with these values, is one that would have a lasting impression on my life. An experience such as this would teach me how to use what I value for the greater good.

This picture exemplifies my visions and values, as it shows helping others and pursing goals.