Let me just say that if you google “graduate school scholarships,” the search results are disappointing. Has it not occurred to anyone to create scholarship websites that at least appear legitimate? Honestly, when your google advertisements take a more prominent position on your scholarship website than the scholarships, it says something to me. It says, you’re not in it for the kids. After a few initial mishaps, I did come across some valuable information (though, not nearly as much information as I would have liked.) Stay tuned to my Dollars for Students Page for any worth while websites that may allow you to actually win some scholarship money.

Exhibit A

Free Scholarship Guide: This free e-book is virus free! (You laugh, but with these scholarship websites being as questionable as they are, I was concerned.)

Exhibit B

Scholarship Experts : It takes 20 minutes (if you’re lucky) to register for this site. Yes, it’s tedious, but if you can remember your login information, it’s smooth sailing from there. (That’s assuming you have no problem with writing essays for scholarship money.) Some of the scholarships are as easy as providing your contact information for a scholarship sweepstakes, others may require a bit more thought. The site adds new scholarship based

Exhibit C

CollegeNet: If you can handle hanging around this forum for long enough, you’ll win the $4000 weekly scholarship sooner or later. The first time I won, I won it sooner. I will be eligible for the scholarship again on the 29th of this month. If you want to support me in my quest to win another scholarship vote for me weekly. (User name LauraD86)

Of the three scholarship resources for graduate students that I’ve featured here, CollegeNet has definitely been the most time consuming and frustrating. I know that I might be shooting myself in the foot by insulting the source that funds my education, but it’s not exactly like that. The concept of CollegeNet is brilliant. You post topics, you reply to other people’s topics and if what you say is informational or inspirational or elicits some strong emotion from your peers, they vote for you. Each week, he with the most votes wins. My gripe with the website is that it’s a black hole of intellectualism. I don’t even need to go into it, you’ll see what I mean if you just visit the site. CollegeNet’s motto is “It Pays to Think,” yet the most “thought-provoking” thing on the front page is “Advise for the College Virgin.” Are you kidding me? People who can’t even spell are wining thousands of dollars a week! It really gets to me. I have contemplated having an army of intellectuals (or maybe just hackers) invade that site.

Hopefully exhibits D through F will manifest shortly.

As I was saying, I’ve been so busy and, as a result, extra tired. This week I’ve had networking events, meetings, and an extra dog. With all of this life to tend to, I have no time for naps! Fortunately, I made a brilliant discovery yesterday. Actually, my significant other made a brilliant discovery…actually, he just came across something someone else discovered. The caffeine nap. Drink a cup of coffee and immediately take a nap. The way your body processes the caffeine while you’re resting eliminates the chemical that makes you sleepy. The rules are very specific. You must take the nap immediately after drinking the coffee and you must not nap for more than 15 minutes. (Seriously, other than my father, who actually naps for only 15 minutes ?)

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have read a tweet or two about my research on how to live without sleep. (My research yielded no conclusions, but a girl can dream, can’t she?) While you can’t exactly live on caffeine naps, they are the ULTIMATE power nap. I tried my first caffeine nap today and this is how it went…(Please note the photo documentary on the left.)

12:45pm: So tired I could crawl into bed and sleep all day

1:00pm: Down a cup (or 4) of coffee

1:20pm : Awake and contemplating whether or not my caffeine nap worked

1:25pm : Pepped up and on my way to the gym

5:00pm: Still wide awake after going to the gym, walking the dogs, finishing work and getting ready for my meeting.

Survey says, the caffeine nap works. I was totally skeptical at first, but when I found the pep in my step and didn’t suffer the infamous “crash,” I was sold. Something tells me that this revolutionary new (new to me!) way of getting through the day is not something that anyone should make a habit of. I am not a doctor (yet!) and it doesn’t appear that the person who wrote this article is either. (I could be wrong, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time – or any at all– checking sources.) But I think in moderation, this could be my not-so-well-kept secret weapon.

I bet you can’t wait for more of these! (Check out my new YouTube Channel, if you really want more of my silly iPhone videos.)

If you can ignore the title (which isn’t entirely applicable, because they aren’t teaching anyone how to be a bitch) and the totally irreverent tone in which the book is written (hey, not all of us find it funny), you’ll find a wealth of information in Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin’s book Skinny Bitch. While the information is not as extensive as that covered in the Omnivore’s Dilemma (and understandably so, seeing as how the Omnivore’s Dilemma is a documentary and Skinny Bitch is more of a guide to a natural diet), it’s definitely an easier read.

Skinny Bitch has received mixed reviews from the friends I have who have read (or at least attempted to read) it. The book advocates a vegan diet. For most of us the thought of giving up meat and dairy is preposterous. I mean, what would we eat? Fortunately, the book does an excellent job of justifying why one should live a vegan lifestyle. (The FDA and the USDA and all organizations related to regulating the food industry are in bed with the actual food industry. The information they are giving us and the crap they are feeding us benefits their lovers, not us!)

If giving up dairy is as easy as giving up meat was, I’ll have no problem. But something tells me, it’s not going to be. If you get around to reading Skinny Bitch, you’ll find that you can actually be physically addicted to cheese. While I do like to take all of these books with a grain of salt (I’m not quite ready to give up my coffee and my merlot yet…or ever), I know that what Freedman and Bournouin are saying about the food industry in the United States is true and I don’t want to be part of supporting these corrupt industries. As a student, I can’t afford to break my budget shopping at Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck, as it’s so often referred to). But I can buy affordable produce at local farmer’s markets. Fortunately for me, there are a plethora of affordable, vegan-friendly restaurants in Central Florida.

With all of that said, I recommend Skinny Bitch for anyone who is looking to educate themselves on the meat and dairy industries in the United States (and anyone willing to make dietary changes in response to their findings).

Interested in following my vegan dining adventures? Well, remember when I mentioned that I was collaborating with a friend on a new blog? Well its debut is finally here! AMPlified Culture is a work in progress, but I will definitely be documenting my vegan ventures there. Add it to your RSS feed or your blogroll or your google reader, but whatever you do, don’t miss a beat!

Today I signed up for SocialSpark.

Don’t know what it is? Hope on over to Izea‘s site and see what this Orlando-based company is doing for bloggers, tweeters and advertisers!

Social Spark (and it’s creator, Izea) is a type of intermediary between bloggers and advertisers. It allows advertisers to put out requests for sponsored blog posts and it allows bloggers to advertise themselves as advertising mediums. Then SocialSpark does some matchmaking and before I know it, I’ll be funding my college career through blogging. Just kidding. I got a little carried away there. You and I both know that no one ever got rich fast by blogging! It was only a matter of time before a marketer like myself signed up and starting reaping the benefits. Not to mention (though, I am mentioning it so it doesn’t make any sense to say “not to mention”) that the company is located right here in downtown Orlando and I am a huge supporter of local businesses!

What took me so long? Social Spark wanted real bloggers with a history and followers. While I’ve been blogging for years, I’ve never been able to commit to a platform. I used blogger and then I used wordpress and then I used blogger again. Then I wrote a post or two on mindtransfer.net, a domain that the boyfriend and I purchased in hopes of building some kind of online empire. Fail.  But I finally committed. Since September of 2009, Chasing Education has been my blogging home and I intend to keep it that way.  Now, as Chasing Education’s one year anniversary is approaching, I am a real blogger. (At least that’s what SocialSpark lets me believe.)

With all of this said, you may see a sponsored post or two around here in the near future. No worries, I will always be honest and the sponsored posts will never drown out the stories of inferior service, apartment gardens and book reviews. I’m still blogging because I love to be sarcastic and document my adventures in education and exploration, that on it’s own will keep me honest!

Do you know any other companies that are faciliating relationships between bloggers and advertisers? Have you worked with them? Share your stories, if you have them.

Want to know more about Izea and Social Spark? Visit these links.
Code of Ethics
Sign up for SocialSpark

Kenobi wants me to read to him...no can do.

If there is one thing that I am very passionate about these days it’s customer service and my nook. Interestingly enough, this morning I experienced a combination of those two things that left a bad taste in my mouth. Allow me to precede this anecdote with this disclaimer: I tell this story not as a retaliation against Barnes and Noble, but as a warning to their current and future customers. I also write in hopes that a Barnes and Noble employee who cares about the company’s reputation and quality of service might read this and be a catalyst in the re-vamping of their customer service procedures.

Customer service is a big deal. Especially for women. A woman is likely to not buy a product or not shop with a certain company based on customer service experiences. Seeing as how women hold most of the (consumer) purchasing power in the world (As we learned from Bridget Brennan’s book Why She Buys), it’s in a company’s best interest to give this girl what she wants.

Remember how excited I was last week when I wrote this post and this post singing the praises of my new nook? Well this morning I woke up to find that my new nook was unresponsive. Not even 30 days old and the little guy is already defective– not off to a good start Barnes and Noble! I am a smart girl and rather than drive to the nearest Barnes and Noble, I did a little research and a little troubleshooting and then some more troubleshooting. I had no luck. Yet I refrained from driving to the nearest Barnes and Noble. I already knew due to a recent encounter with a store manager that you have a grand total of 14 days to return or exchange your Barnes and Noble products and that manufacturer’s warranties are not honored in the store. With that said, I called nook tech support.

While on the phone with tech support I heard the following nonsense

• You already returned this product (Oh really?)
• We’ll send you a new battery (After troubleshooting proved that the battery was not the problem!)
• Best Buy’s policies are different (After I asked why another company was more willing to stand behind the nook–Barnes and Noble’s own product!–than they are. Great defense of your policies, buddy.)

Three strikes.

I waited 18 minutes to speak with a supervisor. I explained to him why it couldn’t be the battery. (Side note: he was not friendly at all AND he had the audacity to treat me like I was some pesky child, rather than a customer who just spent $300 on their product.) Said supervisor agreed to send me a new nook– that’s right 28 days after purchase they have to mail me a new product rather than exchange it in store!  I put down my weapons (this is definitely a metaphor, as I was very patient and polite throughout this entire debacle) and agreed to follow their exchange procedure.

Unfortunately, it was not that easy. I mentioned earlier that according to Barnes and Noble’s records I had returned the product. (Hm…seems like their return/exchange people in the stores aren’t doing a very good job, if I returned my nook, but still have it here in my hands!) Fortunately for me, my years as a customer service rep came in handy and I recognized that the confusion was due to the fact that I had been given the difference in price, when the price of the nook came down and it had been keyed as a return. (You would think that with as much market share as a company like Barnes and Noble has, they would have a more efficient “system” and I wouldn’t be the one telling them why it was showing up as a return.) Because of this “price match” my exchange required some kind of authorization that cannot be completed for a day or two.

Decompression.

I understand that stores have return policies (though the average return policy, even for consumer electronics, is 30 days and the standard is set by big box retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy).

I understand that electronics are produced in bulk and it’s inevitable that they won’t all function as they are supposed to.

I don’t understand why a company would want to send me a battery, if the battery is clearly not the problem. (Even if it prolongs the exchange of the product–the exchange is inevitable, the prolongation only frustrates the customer.)

I don’t understand why a company with as much market share as Barnes and Noble would not invest in a better “system” (oh the infamous “system”!). It would increase the quality of their customer service ten fold.

I don’t understand why Barnes and Noble would not train their employees (and supervisors!) to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

And maybe I’m a bit biased due to my 4-year career as a customer service rep, but if I had purchased it at Best Buy, I would have been able to exchange my nook for a brand new one on the 28th day (Even if it was working!)

I’m still singing the praises of the nook, but Barnes and Noble’s customer service leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately for Barnes and Noble, you can make as many great products as you’d like, but if you’re not willing or able to resolve a woman’s problem quickly, efficiently and with a great attitude, you may find that she is going to share her negative experience with 500 of her closest friends.

Why She Buys (Bridget Brennan) – A fairly entertaining read considering it’s a marketing book. It was not particularly eye-opening in regards to uncovering what women want. Though, if read by a man, I’m sure it would solicit a completely different review. There are topics covered in this book that I found most compelling. The first is that women have the power! “Women are the driving force of the global economy.” The majority of purchases are either made or influenced by women. There are more women with careers (and therefore their own money to spend) than ever before.  “Men drive the majority of senior-level business decisions. Which means that men are usually the people who have final say in designing and approving products that target women…” (Brennan, 17). Do you see the disconnect people? The second topic that I found particularly compelling was the explanation of biological differences between men and women. Brennan talks about how man and women are SO different (and they see the world so differently as a result), that they basically function in their own (very different) worlds. Interestingly enough, I’ve been identifying many of the marketing shortcomings that are discussed in this book in the world around me. You know that a book/a professor/a documentary has done it’s job when you see it’s application in the world around you. While this book isn’t exactly a thriller or particularly revolutionary, I vote it as a good read for any marketer and every man!

French Women Don’t Get Fat (Mireille Guiliano) – Not much to say about this one. I bought it with the expectation of learning some fascinating tricks. (Silly me, everyone knows there are no quick fixes when it comes to your weight/health!) The content was slightly disappointing. Everyone knows deep down inside that the “secret” to maintaining a healthy weight is moderation, fruits, vegetables and exercise. BUT, the writing was entertaining. Guiliano has a sense of humor and you can’t help but like her as she shares the art of being/acting French. I must say that, above all else, the purchase of this ebook was worth it just for the recipes. The Summer soups, yogurt and bread recipes are enough to send a foodie into a coma AND it’s all healthy. If you’re looking for some new recipes, I give it a thumbs up. If you’re looking for a book on healthy habits, I would only recommend it if pizza, burgers, fries and anything fried is a part of your regular diet.

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel (Karen Karbo) – This was an impulse buy. I mean what [bookworm of a] girl could resist a title like this? I was expecting some Coco Chanel rules to live by with plenty of humor scattered throughout. I was wrong. This is the history of the woman who revolutionized fashion for women. And while I was disappointed at first that it wasn’t some sort of fashion comedy, I found myself really enjoying it. Gabrielle Chanel (yes, Gabrielle) was a piece of work. Always loving, never marrying and always working. While some people might find it a bit silly to learn the history of a fashion icon (especially those of us– like me– who aren’t in the fashion industry), it’s not as useless as you think! I was recently at a networking luncheon and I met a fashion designer. Someone asked her if all of the designs were hers. Her response was that all of the designs were hers, but she had a team that did the sewing for her. And I thought….Just like Chanel! And then I got to share my little story about Chanel! hehe. It’s an interesting read that focuses not only on the life and times of Coco, but also on the evolution of women’s fashion. Whether or not I would recommend it would depend on who you are and what you like to read.

Since I received the nook (on June 10th), I’ve read 2 books! I know that 20 days seems like plenty of time to read two books, but it’s really quite record breaking for me. I’m a busy woman. I don’t have space in my purse to carry around books.  (Ha! Anyone who has seen my purse knows I’m lying.) Even if I were compelled to carry around a novel or two, it gets annoying to flip pages or find the nearest object/junk mail/job application to hold my page while I walk the dog/make dinner/answer the phone. I think you get my drift. I just whip the little gadget out and read no matter where I am…no pages to turn, no place to lose (it knows where I left off!) and even better–no highlighter/pen/notebook to jot down my thoughts or interesting quotes. That’s right, I highlight and make notes right there on the nook’s touchscreen. Love it!

You know what else is amazing? (If you own one, I’m sure you’re thinking “of course I know what else is amazing!”) Barnes and Noble picks up the bill for my 3G. While I can’t exactly go browsing facebook on their dime, I can download a book while I’m in the car, if it strikes my fancy. (Of course I’m in the passenger’s seat when I’m downloading this book. Honestly people! How crazy do you think I am?)

My only gripe, which is sure to be fixed with a simple software update, is that you can only see your highlights/notes by “flipping” back through the book. The Barnes and Noble ereader for the iPhone allows you to view a list of all of the highlights/notes you made. I have done some research and I am not the only one who has taken issue with this inconvenience. I trust that the voices of nook owners across the country will be heard soon and that they can do a little software update to smooth things over.

Until then, happy reading!

Stay tuned for reviews on all of the books I’ve been reading!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindaugasdanys/3766009204/

I have just two more classes left before Summer semester comes to an end. I am amazed with how much I have learned in such a short amount of time. I have discussed the impact of educators on the lives of those they teach before. I had “one of those professors” this semester. Not only is he an educator, but he’s an entertainer and when you’re entertained you learn more. I learned so much, in fact, that I found myself applying the concept that I read about and discussed in class to my past and present experiences. I will spare you all a summary of the topics covered in class, but I would like to share with you a (hopefully mildly entertaining) application of that which I learned in class.

For most of my undergraduate career I worked as a customer service rep for a well-known mega-retailer. My job was to return and/or exchange products that were defective or unwanted. My job was also to ensure that these procedures were conducted according to company policy. That is, within 30 days, with a receipt, cannot be damaged, dvds, cds and computer software must be unopened and so on. Not surprisingly, customers who found themselves a week outside of the return policy or with an open dvd often became frustrated. I was not sympathetic to their frustrations. The policy is the policy, it’s written in English and Spanish on the back of the receipt and I’m not going to read it to you, because if you can’t read you probably shouldn’t be out shopping by yourself. (I may have actually said this to a customer or two…or more.) Also not surprising was that my sarcasm, passive aggressiveness and general disregard for the emotions of this company’s customers led the customers to become enraged.

Needless to say, customer rage was my favorite topic covered this semester. I saw the issue of customer rage through different (and more mature) eyes. It’s a problem that can easily be avoided when you prepare your employees who are in constant contact with your clients. A company must make it known to their contact employees that the company’s goal is happy customers. In my situation at the retailer that will remain unnamed, I was more concerned with upholding company return policies than I was about customer satisfaction. Had I been rewarded for creating happy and loyal customers, the company would have been better off and I would have been far less bitter.

Empowering employees to quickly resolve issues on their own is essential. The longer a client waits for conflict resolution, the more upset they become. The perpetuation of an unpleasant situation is what leads to rage. As a consumer, chances are you don’t get upset because of one mistake or one unpleasant employee. It’s a culmination of bad service and lack of resolution.

While learning about customer rage, what it is, how it happens and what can be done to prevent and resolve it, I read examples of exceptional companies who are making life easier for their clients and their employees. One company has allotted a $10/day budget for employees to spend on a customer who had an unpleasant situation. No need to get a manager to comp the wi-fi or send a fruit basket, the employees are empowered! Another company makes sure that none of their contact employees remain in contact with customer for more than 4 hours at a time. AMAZING! If someone had thought of that back when I was a customer service rep, I may have been a very different person today.

I’d love to hear your customer rage stories whether you were on the giving or receiving end!

Finding the time to post regularly, get good grades, keep my apartment clean, work and actively relax (we’ll save the definition of actively relax for a different post) requires time management…a topic with which I have a love-hate relationship.

On a typical Saturday morning, you’ll find me in front of my computer, cereal and/or coffee in hand making a to-do list while simultaneously responding to e-mail. Then I say my sorrowful goodbye to a weekend that I will never get to enjoy. I find myself saying goodbye to entire days before they even begin. I have meetings and homework, workouts and an apartment that’s never as clean as I’d like it to be. So how…oh how….am I supposed to manage? Oh you think I should stop watching tv at night with my boyfriend and my puppy? No can do Mister, I need to escape from the chaos that is my life. If I don’t I will surely start producing too much cortisol and get fat. Understood?

Here are my time-management rules to live by.

Be Proactive- I know we are all procrastinators in one sense or another. (Even the most organized of us!). But no one can deny that doing things long before they need to be done reduces stress and produces better results. If you’re goal is to clean your house from top to bottom before your guests arrive next week, don’t wait until the day they arrive. Clean the bathroom the day before, vacuum two days before and the only thing you’ll have to do the day of is pick up whatever toys the dog (or baby) has dragged about. If you’re working on any task from house cleaning to class presentations for an hour a day for several days before the tasks need to be completed, you’ll find balance. I know the pressure of being in a time crunch is what motivates some people to get things done. My advice to those people is to find some other form of motivation. If you spend 45 minutes researching today, you get to spend 45 minutes doing something awesome today AND 45 minutes doing something awesome the day the paper is due. See where I’m going with this?

Prioritize – While active relaxation may be on your to do list, that project with a rapidly approaching due date, or that contract you need to send out should take precedence. It’s not always easy to do what you have to do over what you want to do, but you’re reducing your stress level by attending to the more pressing things on your to do list first. Personally, I can’t focus on my workout or on my tv show or even on my dinner, if I know that I still need to read for class.

Be Realistic and Timely- You can’t write a research paper in an hour (at least not a real research paper for a class you want to pass)!  When you make a to-do list it’s good to have an estimate of how long each item will take you. If you struggle with time management, you may want to evaluate whether or not you also struggle with your concept of time. Use a watch or a timer to keep you in check. If I only have time for a 30 minute workout, I set an alarm to remind me that it’s time to get out of the gym. If you choose to relax before you finish your to-do list, set a timer. It’s easy for your hour of active relaxation to turn into a 2 hour nap.

Be careful how you multitask – I am guilty of thinking that I can work on a school project, eat lunch and play with the dog. One task is always going to suffer and it’s usually the most important one. Ask yourself how long it would take you to do those tasks individually. Working on a project, responding to email or anything that requires a great deal of focus can take three times as long, if you’re not giving it your full attention. (For example, I’ve been playing with the dog the entire time I’ve been writing this post. I am certain I would have been done already, if I had sent him off to play by himself. But…I love him so.)

Despite following [most] of my own advice, I always find myself wishing there were more hours in the day. I’m currently doing some research on how to survive with less sleep. Stay tuned for the details on that!