Tag Archive for 'tips'

How to Say No and Not Feel Guilty

Harvard students do too much

Sometimes, you just get that nagging little feeling that tells you that you should stop doing something because it’s too hard, too time-consuming, not interesting etc. etc.

BUUT, then you’re alter-ego kicks in and says, but you’ve spent so much time on it already! If you quit, it’ll all be for naught.

OR, they are relying on you! You need to be dependable or else it’ll look bad.

OR, if you suffer through it….it’ll look GREAT on your resume!!!

Here’s a few tips I’ve learned over the years on saying no gracefully and shamelessly. It’s improved my standard of living muchly so, thank you.

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Driving Change Without Authority Part II

Influencing without AuthorityThere’s a fine line between being annoying and being assertive, just like there’s a fine line between being a pest and being someone who responsibly follows up.

People might not tell your boss if you did a great job of being respectful of their time, but trust that the feedback will get to your superiors’ ears if you’re not, even if you’re talking to someone in the most distant corner of the organization who technically has a lower position than you.

How do you position yourself so that others willingly help you?

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Driving Change without Authority Part I

Sky-high leadershipIt’s easy to get things done when you’re in charge. Hell, you’re the boss, it should be easy to get things done. But, what if you’re a gear in the corporate cog? No direct reports, just colleagues and higher ups. How in the world are you supposed to make an impact?

One of the most valuable things that my work experience has taught me is negotiating that delicate balance of getting people (who in all honesty have no real reason to help you) to help you.

Being able to effect change without actual power is an important life skill, not taught in the hallowed halls of Hahvahd.

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What They Don’t Tell You about Careers in Other Countries (China)

dscf3041Maybe you were like me, maybe not, but I always thought that working abroad right after graduation in a foreign country (I’m an American) would be fantastic. It’d be a thrill ride, and be totally awesome.

However, after a set of informational interviews in Shanghai, I started to realize that jump starting your career in a foreign country isn’t as easy as OCS makes it seem.

The language barrier can be a total opportunity killer.

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How to Make the Most of Prefrosh Weekend

cookiescompI remember my prefrosh weekend. The weather sucked, and I was a sad prefrosh quad-ed in Cabot without other prefrosh roommates. The weekend was alright, nothing extraordinary. I was more tired of being rained upon than anything, but it was the freshmen concert that ended up clinching my decision. There was such vitality and a quality of pre-professionalism that I knew that Harvard was where I wanted to be.

Prefrosh weekend + not many days to make a decision = stress. Read more to learn about how to make the most of your prefrosh weekend (at Harvard).

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Keep Your Computer Working for You: Minimize Sadness

While I’m not the techiest of all, I’m astonished by how people treat their computers on campus. I hear horror stories of people dropping their computers, scarier stories of people sending their computers to get fixed, and sad stories of Justice papers getting lost.

If you aren’t sure what preemptive measures you should be taking with your computer, this post is for you. Read more…

Keeping Healthy at Harvard

My apologies for the silence these past two weeks, that’s what being sick for the better part of a month is like.

I always get really really sick for a ridiculously long time each semester.  Granted, it usually ends up being the end of the semester when my body is about to crash from the mental stress of finals.

Because of my numerous encounters with the common cold and the flu, I feel like I’m particularly knowledgeable about the ways to deal with these sicknesses.

 Inside, you’ll learn more about the quirks and tricks of keeping healthy at school, ways of minimizing contagion and other wondrous things. 

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Spice Up Your Week with a Random Event

The great thing about Harvard is that tons of events, panels, speeches, lectures, conferences, dances, performances, plays, concerts etc. etc. go on each week. The pulse of activities on campus is crazy, but it seems like, a lot of people get caught up with their own extra curriculars and classes that they don’t get to enjoy the vivacious intellectual life on campus.

One thing I started doing last spring was to spice up each week with a random, quirky event. I went to the IOP and saw Elizabeth Edwards, learned about for-profit micro finance from the founder of a firm, and so on. Just this past week, I saw Brian Greene (astrophysicist extraordinaire) and plan to see Neal Stephenson (science fiction master mind who foresaw Second Life in 1992) this very weekend.

If you give yourself leeway in your schedule, you’ll be able to enjoy awesome events that Harvard has simply because its Harvard and end up loving your experience as an undergraduate more.

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Wear Sunscreen and Other Surprisingly Useful Bits of Common Knowledge

Today was the beginning of Tuesday Magazine’s annual poster sale (go buy your posters in front of the science center all week, selection available at tuesdaymagazine.org [yes, that was a shameless self-plug]).

And I got ridiculously sunburned, which is stupid, because I’m a supposedly well-educated person who knows that sunscreen is worth its weight in preventative gold.

College gets the best of you sometimes, so here are a few common sense things you should keep in mind.

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Surviving The Comp

Comping is truly a unique Harvard experience. You take a bunch of smart kids and make them jump through some hoops of various difficulty to even be allowed to privilege of joining a given student organization.

Some comps are formalities, others are grueling. Some will require perhaps an hour out of your time each week, others will demand a certain single minded devotion. Some comps will cut people, maybe half-way through, maybe even at the end of a long and tiring semester. Other comp directors will turn a blind eye if you’re enthusiastic enough.

Here’s the dirty on surviving this uniquely Harvard “comping” process.

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