GRADUATED!!!

I GRADUATED!!!!!! It was a very l journey. But I got it done! This time last year I was so discouraged to go back to school because I did not make it out in four years. I took advice from many different people and what I got from all of my conversations is that it does not matter how long it takes one to get to the finish line, just as long as you keep pushing and make it to the finish line. I made it to the finish line. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management. I worked really hard to get my GPA back up after it took a drastic fall during the years and again I did it! I earned a GPA I will forever be proud of. I still want to one day run a Non-Profit Organization for Youth. I am honored to say I was offered my first career job post grad at The YMCA as a Youth Support Specialist for Education Success. I have just started and have very much to learn, but I am beyond excited. Being a former foster youth I used to be a recipient of these types of services and it’s so surreal being on the other side. I plan to grow with this company and be a phenomenal Youth Support Specialist. I have so many people to thank for my successful thus far, but Concord Foundation, I am most thankful for. Concord Foundation cared about my education success. You all not only checked on me about my classes, but me as a person. I will always appreciate that. Sometimes people forget the small things in life and even though I will never feel like I will be able to thank everyone enough, I will forever cherish all the people I met, all the lessons I’ve learned, and all the opportunities that have come my way. Concord, WE MADE IT!

MAY 2017!!! 2017 GRADUATE!!!

Concord! The moment we all have been waiting for… Chaquanna Lattimore is finally graduating! I will be graduating from Saint Cloud State University with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management (Bachelor of Science Management). I feel two different feelings about graduation. On one side I am excited to have finished my post secondary education after feeling like I could not do it. Then on another side I am so unsure about what’s next for me after graduating. I have been on so many interviews and it has been very stressful. I am soon going to go on an interview for the YMCA , for the opportunity of a position known as a Youth Specialist. I have tried preparing possible questions and answers that the interviewer might ask me and I feel confident. Even though I rarely am ever nervous for interviews, for some reason when I am in the interview room, and I am asked a question that I do not necessarily understand, I completely shut down. I get a sense that I have been defeated and it is not a good feeling. I want to go into this next interview, the most confident I have ever been before. I really want this position. However before the interview and before graduation I have to finish this last stretch of homework. It is possible for me to finish everything on time, but thinking about all I have to do at once is so overwhelming. I have been taking it day by day and trying got use my time as efficiently as possible. I still think this moment is kind of surreal in a way. I have made it and I have so many people to thank including Concord Foundation. Thank you for everything that you have done to help me throughout my college career. Throughout all these years , I have felt excited, stressed, joyful, incapable, overwhelmed, and happy and back again. However Concord, the faith the program and people had in me is why I continued to work hard and stayed and I am able to say, I made it. Thank you and I will forever appreciate you. Your 2017 college graduate! Thank you…

MARCH 2017!!!

Hey Concord. This month has been really tiring. In my last post I talked about being in a play called “For Colored Girls” It went really well! We just finished up our three day premiere on Saint Cloud State University’s campus. What I learned from the play is to never judge a book by its color. I also learned that everyone has a story and we are not all the same, and our stories are powerful. Aside from the play school is winding down and graduation is weeks away! Projects, papers, and presentations are due and it is becoming even more overwhelming, but I trying to remain positive. I have been really trying to not procrastinate so I can set myself up to be in a real good spot by the time finals week comes around. I’m really excited to be done with school and see all of my hard work pay off. The hard part however is approaching… finding a job. I really want to find a company that I really like because I never see myself working for just the money. I still have the dream of working with kids to help and guide them to live to their fullest potential. There are a few companies I think I want to apply for that work with youth, that I think will be a god start off into my career. Companies like YMCA, YWCA, Urban Ventures, Young Life, and Foster Care are places that I want to apply to soon. I am excited to see what the future holds for me. I will get that degree in a few weeks and see where life takes me.

FEBRUARY (LOVE) 2017!!!

Hey Concord. School has been going well. It is getting to that time where everything is starting to come together and many assignments, tests, quizzes, presentations, and projects are being put together. I would say I have been juggling my six classes pretty well. The projects that I have to develop and present are probably the most exciting for this point in time in school. In my Employee development course, my group is putting together a training program for her class to teach them how to deal with workplace micro aggression. So far my group has developed test questions for our class to check their understanding of what micro aggression is, ways to prevent it, and signs to notice that it is happening. After the pretest my group and I will then know what the class understands and what they do not understand so we can make sure to incorporate those findings into our training program we will present to the class. In my Entrepreneurship class, the class is broken up into groups that focus on different business ideas. The group that I am in someone in the group would like to start a childcare business. I chose this group because I felt that it fit best with my potential business idea of running a youth center. In this class the group is really coming up with a strategic business model and plan to help my classmate to start thinking about getting this business up and running. Those are just two of my current projects in class, but I also recently joined a play through an organization on campus! The play I will be in is titled “FOR COLORED GIRLS”. This play is about expressing the lives of females from the black perspective. I’m really excited to be involved in this and sort of crazy at the same time when I think about the course load I already have, but I think I can do it. I also think wanting to be in the play will help me finish my school work, being that I know I practice at night so in order to have my homework done I will have to complete it beforehand, helping me not to procrastinate. Well I have a lot of work to get to so I will blog to everyone next month. Until next time Concord.

JANUARY 2017!!!!

Hey Concord! The beginning of this semester has by far been the most stressful time ever in my life. I unfortunately lost a family member at the beginning of this year and it has taken a toll on my life. However what keeps me going is knowing that she always thought I was doing great and I was the best at everything I did, so I want to continue that and make her proud and graduate college. I have been trying to push myself beyond my personal feeling and I can say I am proud of myself. I have many classes this semester in order to fully be done with my undergraduate degree in Business Management. The courses I am currently taking are Leading Organizational Change, Entrepreneurship-Starting your Own Business, Strategic Management, Employee Development, International Business Management, and Global Business Ethics. A LOT! In the first two weeks it was pretty overwhelming and the thought of keeping up in all of these courses was just too much, but I now feel like I can do this. I have to keep telling myself that I am capable to get this all done and finish strong. Each of these classes catches my attention and curiosity in a different way. Leading Organizational Change is a class where we are learning the type of employees we want to be or want to have. Entrepreneurship is really opening a door to put our ideas on paper, work with other like-minded people and begin a business. Strategic Management is helping with identifying specific ways to set yourself apart from others business and be the best. Employee Development helps put into perspective that I can be someone’s boss one day and how I would want my employees to operate and how to interact with those around me. International Business Management helps me think big and that there is so much more to the world than just the U.S. Global Business Ethics helps me understand how different people live their life and how no one is wrong or wright, but understanding why they do what they do is important. This is a heavy load but I see myself with that diploma in my hand and it will be a reality. Until next time folks

CONCORD BLOG DECEMBER 2016 Merry Christmas and Happy New Years

CONCORD BLOG DECEMBER 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years

The semester has come to an end and I can almost taste graduation! I am proud of myself and how I have been taking initiative to broaden my horizon by joining groups outside of my comfort zone and challenging myself. The group I have recently joined, Entrepreneurship Club has really gotten me to think about the future business I want to start. I always told myself I wanted to start a Non-Profit Organization for youth.  When school starts back up The Entrepreneurship Club is attending The Winter Institute where they will showcase five business ideas to a group and one of them will be my idea of a Non-Profit! I am very excited for someone to hear my ideas, but I am also very nervous because it hit me that I will be graduating soon and hopefully one day my dream will be a reality. So far I have come up with what I want the business to be which I am thinking a community center type place which benefits youth in different aspects of life and builds up a community. I read this quote the other day and it read… “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough”. That quote, at the moment I was reading it spoke to me because owning my own business is terrifying but I know if I can be successful, it’s worth every nervous bone in me.  I have come very far despite my circumstances and I am nowhere finished yet.  I plan to go far and take everyone that has been a part of my life along with me. I hope everyone at Concord has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year… until next time!

KEEP PUSHING!!!

Hey Concord! The semester is winding down to an end and I couldn’t be more happy. I have had some challenging courses this semester and I know that next semester it will be even harder.In this past week alone I have had two exams and two presentations. I believe they all have went well. Next week I will to control my panic and being overwhelmed with finals and more group projects. I will push through.

One thing I have learned this year is that even though I attend school to better my future and work to live and pay bills, I have to take care of myself as well. I find myself being overly tired after school and work and doing so much has taken a toll on me. In the back if my mind however, I know that it will all pay off in the end.  A degree in Business Management is waiting for me at the finish line and I’m so close!

OCTOBER 2016!

 

School so far is going pretty good. I recently have calculated my grades in my classes thus far and I have three B’s and 1 high C. One thing I can say that has been a struggle for me this semester is Group Projects! We are all very busy college students with having school, work, and a social life, and it is so hard to get together and get our work done in a timely manner, however we have always got it done at the end of the day. Aside from school work I feel this year has been the most adventurous year I’ve had on the Saint Cloud State campus. This year specifically I have tried putting myself out there more hoping to get more involved on campus. I have attended different organization meetings in academics on campus. One in particular is the Entrepreneurship Club.  The Entrepreneurship club is planning an event on campus next semester called “Shark Tank”. It will be a mini version of the Shark Tank T.V. show where people bring their business ideas to other to invest in. I have not yet decided if I wanted to enter into the contest. I am still thinking of possible ideas I can come up with to enter into the competition. I also still have been attending an organization on campus, CAAS (Council of African American Students) and it has now expanded into a sub group of women called P.A.C. (Pan-African Cultural- Women’s Sharing Group), where we talk about our lives as Pan-African women in different aspects of the world we live in. As the semester and year continues I plan to keep exposing myself to different organizations to deepen and further my understanding in academics as well as cultures. Exploring things outside of the classroom is my goal for this year.

The Best Month “SEPTEMBER!”

Hey Concord world! This semester has started off great! One of my favorite classes this semester has been Small Business Management. I like this course because I’m really learning what it means to have a small business. It helps that my professor owns his own business as well, as he shares with  the class the benefits of having your own and working for yourself! I want to one day run a youth center for inner city youth so they can have a place to go and stay out of trouble. As far as my other courses go I really like how they complement one another which helps me better understand the material more. The other courses I am taking are Human Resource Management, Operations Management, and Organizational Behavior. We have already taken our first exams in all of these courses and I earned all high B’s.

Before this semester began I was a little discouraged about going back to school. One of my reasons was that I did not finish within four years like I expected and I felt like I messed up so much in school it would take forever for me to graduate. Well it feels good to keep going and be closer to that diploma. I could not have the drive to keep pushing through without the help of Concord, friends, and my family. I appreciate you all more than you know

March 2016!

The semester is about to end. I feel that I have really been making some improvements in my classes. I am repating my Finance class… the first time I took my test I received the grade 7 out of 25.. this time I got 20 out of 25! I worked really hard , I understand the material more and it feels good. I am in a public speaking class and that is going well also. We have now had a total of three speeches in the semester and I have received A’s on all three. I will be graduating in about a year. I am very excited to see all of my hard work pay off. I’m excited to see what can be offered to me in the business world. My goal is still to work with youth in a non profit organization someday. Being in the business school at St. Cloud State University I have been able to learn different things to get me ready for the business world. I have attended a dinning etiquette class, networking class, and I have been working at perfecting my resume. One day all of my classes, experiences,  and skills I have learned will come together and I will be living my dream. Look out world Chaquanna is on her way!