The business symposium is the first major event for the ISM year. It is a networking opportunity where students learn from former ISM students and current ISM 2 students while interacting with professionals of various careers from the area. I learned valuable information, both directly relating to my path this year in ISM and more broad life and professional skills through advice from the people I spoke with. One of the main takeaways from this I have is what type of mentor I am looking for and what types of people I may be trying to contact and interview. Going into the symposium it seemed clear to me that I would be best off contacting criminal lawyers as that is my specific area of interest. However, while I still plan on reaching out to criminal lawyers, I am also now looking towards professors in either law or criminology or a related field that can pertain to my research as well as possibly judges or other legal professionals that may not be directly lawyers. This is a huge piece of information that I can use as I begin forming a contact list. Additionally, I saw some examples of Original Work projects from ISM 2 students which is something I will need to begin thinking about in this second quarter. The Business Symposium was a great success for me and was something that I feel will have a major impact on the rest of my year.
Goals for the coming week
Each school conducts their schedule for the year slightly differently, but, for me as a Frisco student, this was the transition from secondary research towards primary face-to-face research. This means that I need to begin creating a contact list and finding possible professionals to try and interview. This also means the start of the dreaded cold calling period where I need to brace myself for the inevitable rejection I will face along the way. This week I plan on beginning that call list and compiling possible interviewees as well as thinking about what I want to gain from these interviews. Additionally, I am doing a complete revamp of my website, which you are now seeing this blog on, and this will be a part of my week that I dedicate a lot of time to.
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