Hillsdale (Day 4)

One of my favorite parts of the week! Commercial presentations! Here are a few of the commercials presented this week:

Mucho Munchies

Pretty Little Entertainers

BESTyle

It's amazing what these students come up with! I love the creativity that shows through this project.


Our first guest speaker of the day is the director of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation, Heather Pfitzenmaier.

Pfitzenmaier began her presentation discussing how to make a good first impression.

"A first impression, negative or positive, is made in an average of 7 seconds," said Pfitzenmaier.

Pfitzenmaier asked the student audience how they think they can make a good first impression. She pointed out all of the good answers including a warm, firm handshake, a comfortable amount of eye contact and, above all, a nice smile! Pfitzenmaier encouraged students to get involved in college and to find out what what you like or don't like. She encouraged to students to get excited and become passionate about something that truly moves you. She ended her presentation by commenting on résumés.

"Make sure that your résumé and cover letter are ERROR FREE! That is my best suggestion," said Pfitzenmaier. "My personal number one pet peeve is inconsistent formatting. Format all of your résumé sections the same!"

The Heritage Foundation is a research and education institute (a "think tank") whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principle of free enterprise, limited government, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Young Leaders Program promotes the mission of The Heritage Foundation to the next generation by developing and implementing outreach to younger audiences.

My other equally-favorite part of the week! Speech contests! With such a bright and talented group of students, the FELC staff is eagerly awaiting the presentation of the speeches. Each company chooses two representatives from their team to give a speech on a specifically selected topic. Like the video of the acceptance speech that Jimmy Valvano gave at the 1993 ESPY award ceremony, students are expected to present with their best public speaking skills and the utmost confidence and enthusiasm in their content. This speech topic is the following questions: Does capitalism encourage, or foster, greed? This week, some students answered "yes" and some answered "no." Some students answered "yes and no!" The speeches were judged by a panel of three counselors and as mentioned before, judges are instructed to look for a combination of several different speech-giving skills. One of the criteria is about content - but not necessarily about whether the speaker takes a "yes" approach or a "no." First, judges seek to acknowledge if the speaker simply understands the topic! Judges also grade based on logical evidence, persuasion skills, theories supported by facts or opinion, and overall presentation skills. Did he or she stare at his or her notes the entire speech? Did he or she make good eye contact? Was his or her hands in jeans pockets or being used for emphasis when needed? Could we understand the speaker? Did he or she even answer the question topic?

I am extremely proud to say that I, Madison, personally and as a 4-year counselor, heard some of the most expertly-formatted, well-thought out, and admirably-delivered speeches this week. Way to go, y'all!

 Our second guest speaker of the day was the Associate Director of Admissions for Hillsdale College, Fred Schebor.

Many of our FELC rising junior and senior students this week dream of getting their college degree from Hillsdale. What better way to learn more about the college and make a good contact than to introduce them to the director of admissions of Hillsdale?

Schebor gave a very motivational speech and explained the college's mission. Hillsdale College pursues the stated objective of the founders: "to furnish all persons who wish irrespective of national, color, or sex, a literary and scientific education and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of it's pupils"

Hillsdale is a selective, coeducational college of liberal arts for approximately 1,200 students. It was the first college in Michigan, and the second in the United States, to grant four-year liberal arts degrees to women. It was the first American college to prohibit in its charter any discrimination based on race, religion, or sex and became an early force for the abolition of slavery.

One of the most notable characteristics about Hillsdale is that rather than complying with "unconstitutional federal regulation", it would not allow bringing federal taxpayer money into the college.

"Not a single penny!" emphasized Schebor regarding the refusal of federal money. "Instead, Hillsdale replaces that aid with private contributions."

With the Virutal Trade Missions and the Founding Principles presentation due tomorrow, students are having to really use their skills of "time management" to complete all of their tasks and make money for their company. Tomorrow is the last day! Tonight is the student's last full night to sell, sell, sell and they will have only a few hours tomorrow to get rid of the rest of their inventory. If they haven't figure it out yet, delegation and time management are two of the most important keys to success.  Tonight the pressure is on! The concessions team is grasping the "supply and demand" concept and beginning to lower their prices to sell more snacks and beverages. The entertainment companies are getting quite bombarded by the same concept. They have a direct competition team! They will need to offer something that will target their market differently and better than their competitors. The style company is furiously finishing orders for tie-dye t-shirts selling last minute supply! Tonight is the night to make a big difference!