Michael @ University of Washington, Bothell

I Got the Right Temperature...

2006-07-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's been another long time folks, but I'm back. Well, I finished my Spring Quarter class and I am also taking one finance class this summer. It is BBUS 451 Financial Planning and Policy. The class is with Professor James Miller. It's a pretty decent class, kinda easy actually. I'd recommend taking it in the summer in either a A or B term, not during a Full Term. Better to get it over with sooner rather than drag it out longer.

Well my friends, see you later. Gonna go study....uh on second thought, gonna go PARTY!!!!

-- Michael Wang (CAPM)

Spring into Action

2006-04-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Hey, the Weather's Nice!!!

So, after a nice Spring Break, I am back to school. Its all Finance this quarter, with: Financial Institutions and Management & Investments. I held off in taking a third class, because the Finance courses I wanted were not offered. At any rate, the going is already tough, dunno why its so intense this quarter already. But hey...I knew it was gonna get like this sometime. Oh well...

I hope everyone else had an excellent break and their classes are going well for them as well. I'll be back soon.

-- Michael Wang

Director of Internal Affairs

University of Washington, Bothell

Hello Again

2006-02-22T01:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone

Well I know its been a while, but I have returned. Finance and History are quite interesting still. I had a midterm and papers due in both classes. I am hopeful in these classes. In Marketing, it is a somewhat different story as I did not do so well in my midterm.

Well I do have more tests to look forward too. The Student Government is going on quite nicely. We have several projects in the works which should be completed by the end of Winter Quarter. So, stay tuned...

Michael Wang

Director of Internal Affairs

University of Washington, Bothell

More Updates

2006-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Bothell News

Well its been a few weeks, and I'm back. First off I'll talk about the classes. Globalization and History is going ok. While there is a lot of reading, the material is very interesting and informative. It deals with a lot on economics, business, government, and companies. There is also quite a bit of discussion in class which keeps it interesting and not boring nor does it feel like lecturing.

For Finance this class mirrors Accounting 210 and 220 a lot. So, pay attention in those classes! Lastly Consumer Marketing is alright. This class is pretty abstract and the teacher has a lot of leeway with her lectures and presentations. So sometimes its confusing.

Well for student government, we have passed something known as the Quarterly Report. The student government will publish a quarterly report that will be an informative publication to inform students of the actions of student government.

I hope everyone at BCC is doing ok. We've got midterms next week, so it'll be busy!

Michael Wang

Director of Internal Affairs

University of Washington, Bothell

Winter Quarter 2006

2006-01-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

Michael is finally back for new and exciting updates!!!!

So, to begin with I'll tell you why I been away for roughly 3 months. My fall quarter was extremely extremely busy. I know you heard this all before but, I've had quite a hectic and busy quarter.

Starting in the fall, I became a part of Student Government at UWB. I am the Director of Internal Affairs. My position is to keep student government in check (providing checks and balances if you will), writing the bylaws and bills for student government, and advocating the needs and issues for the student body.

I also maintain my job at Bank of America as well. Furthermore, I applied and got an internship with the Intuit Corporation. Intuit makes tax and business software. I'm sure you've all heard of TurboTax, Quicken, and Quickbooks. Intuit owns roughly 85% of the tax software market, and Microsoft has less than 5%! Take that Microsoft!!!! My internship is that I sell their product to stores such as Best Buy, CompUSA, and Costco. So, I do quite a bit of driving and traveling.

In addition to all these responsibilities I am still a full time student. I took Business Operations, Marketing, and Environmental Science last quarter. Here's a quick run down of what happened and my reflections.

Operations was VERY time consuming and a bit challenging. We learned all about the manufacturing process, like Just In Time, Batch Order, and Production lines. Its not really accounting, but its kinda like learning what Costco is. In addition we learned how to measure efficiency, losses, and costs. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest, Ops. was say 7.5.

Marketing was pretty fun and interesting. I thoroughly liked and enjoyed the Professor. He made it exciting to go to his class. We learned of course how companies market to consumers, what the four P's are, and segmentation to name a few. On a scale of 1 to 10 again, I'd put Marketing at a 4.

Lastly, for Environmental Science, I learned quite a few things. Sustainibility, hands on activities such as making soap, plastic, and biodesil. We learned how pollution, acid rain, and chemcials and how they effect our planet. So basically a science class, not really technical though. On a scale of 1 to 10 again, I'd give it a 5.

I did ok this quarter, and I will attempt to do well this quarter of course. This time, I am taking Finance, Globalization, and Consumer Marketing. I've decided to double concentrate, yep UWB says that they only allow a Business Administration major and within this you can concentrate on a certain subject, meaning that you take classes in a certain area. So I've decided to concentrate on Finance and Marketing. To oversimply things, I'm kinda double majoring, if you will...My projected graduation is Winter 2007, so about one year and 3 months.

I know I've talked a lot about knowing Accounting and Statistics here at UWB in order to do well and yes that is most certainly true. Also though, I must advocate this. You NEED and MUST build a network of friends. This may sound dumb, but this is key to survival here. I am assuming you are going into the Business Program. Within the Business Program, UWB only offers limited classes at certain times. This means that everyone takes the same class at the same time. It is NOT like BCC where General Business 101 is offered like 7 times. Therefore, the people in your class in the first quarter will most likely stick with you until you graduate.

With the class structure and format at UWB there is a ton of group activities and projects so you must work together. There is NO escaping this. Furthermore, your friends motivate you and each other to do well. The work load is such that each class equals two at BCC, so imagine taking 6 classes at BCC. This is how I am getting through and how I'd say 95% of all Business students are as well. You can't make it here all by yourself. While I'm not advocating to be a freeloader, I am saying that friends and study groups are VERY important!

Now, lets go on to something else....

Dual Enrollment at the UWB. The UWB currently has a dual enrollment program where a Cascadia Community College student can apply to UWB and while taking courses at Cascadia take UWB courses as well. So its kinda like a Running Start but at a university level. Yes, you are accepted at the UWB if you are Dually Enrolled. I hear from the Business Administartion Department that this feature might and I repeat might be offered in the Fall of 2006. I'll keep you updated!

Student Government at the UWB. As part of student government it is our primary objective to make this campus a better school for its students. We host things such as club fairs, movie nights, finals week, and other events. They are all designed to help and facilitate students. We promote students issues and concerns as well.

Well enough rambling I guess....See you all soon. I'll try and come back to update everyone. It's a rather tough quarter...again...I throughly miss the days of BCC...everyone of you are extrememly lucky!!!!! UWB work can make you jump off a cliff!!

-- Michael Wang

Director of Internal Afffairs

Associated Students of the University of Washington, Bothell

Second Week...

2005-10-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Well its the second week and thus comes more work. BUS 340 Operations Management seems to involve quite a bit of studying, reading, and researching. So folks, again I'd like to emphasize that you know your statistics WELL. Also, Excel is your best friend. You need to learn this, as I am doing now!!

BUS 320 Marketing seems to be a more funner and laid back class. You do still need to do some reading and studying, but it is less intense. For my evironmental science class, it seems to be that we deal with a lot of equations, calculations, and applications. You study something, say like acid rain, and you learn to apply this to real world issues and problems. Its pretty hands on with lots of experiments and activities. So its pretty cool, actually. Some work, but fun work!!

Well folks, I'll post more messages as school continues...

Second Day of Fall 2005

2005-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

The second day of class, I attended the following classes BUS 320 and BUS 340. The BUS 340 class is quite interesting. It seems like a very hands on type of class with a lot of activities and group work. The BUS 320 class seems more of a group discussion class that is also going to be lots of fun. The following professors for the classes are 320 Sandeep, Reid, and Henry for the BES 302 class.

Well that's just the preliminary review of the class so it could change within now and the next few weeks. At any rate, I'll keep everyone posted.

Fall Quarter 2005

2005-09-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

September 28, 2005 beings a new quarter and year at the UWB

Hello everyone. Its back to school for students here at Bothell and yep, this year is gonna be full. This quarter, I am taking the following classes: BES 302 Enviornmental Problem Solving, BIS 320 Introduction to Marketing Management, and BIS 340 Introduction to Operations and Project Management. The environmental class is simply an elective for me. It was the first day of class today and I only had the enviornmental class, so there is not a whole lot to say yet. I will however go to my Business classes (320 and 340) tommorrow and have much more to say then.

I want to make a note here. Last spring, there were student government elections at Bothell. I was able to run and be elected Executive Representative of the student government. What I do is act as a liasion between the students and the President. I also represent the voice of the student body. Furthermore, I hold the position of Internal Affairs too. Internal Affairs maintains the so called 'checks and balances' of the student government. I make sure everyone is complying with the rules, oversee the issues, concerns, and problems of the student body, and act as the auditor of the government budget.

At any rate, I am glad to back at school and seeing both new and familiar faces. Some students such as : Amit Kaushal, Emily Griffitts, Rae Kang, Mimi Ha, and Jayne Collins are all here at Bothell. Well, if anyone has any questions feel free to e-mail me back. The address is located on the righthand side of the website under "About."

Summer Quarter 2005

2005-06-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, after a week of vacation, Captain Mike is back and in action!!!!

Yes, while it is the summer I have decided to take summer classes at Bothell. Two classes, Garbage as Art (BIS 322) and Modern China (BIS 402). These courses are electives in my degree. So far, being the first week of class, the workload is RATHER ABUNDANT!!! Since it is summer, the classes are longer and the number of weeks is condensed from 11 to 8. So, it explains the 250+ pages of reading I have to do in both classes combined.

There is not much to say for the two classes. There is a lot of reading in both classes. The Garbage as Art class seems to be more hands on and interactive, while Modern China seems to be more of a traditional (listen to the Professor and take notes) sort of class. Although, it is only the first week and things do change...

Stay tuned for future updates!

Blog Updates

2005-06-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Captain Mike is Back

Ok, I know I've been gone for a while. I know each and everyone of you missed me and dearly wished I updated my blog more often. Well wipe up those last tears and start rejocing, because Captain Mike is back! I've been bogged down with a lot of homework and group projects for the past month. There's nothing else like homework that eats up more of your free time.

Well tommorrow (Tuesday) I will have my last final for B BUS 310 "Managerial Economics." A required class for all those who are doing Business Administration.

First of all, B BUS 300 "Organizational Theory and Design" was an average class. I took it with Professor Gibson. Unfortunately for those of you who may wish to take his class next quarter, he will not be teaching. B BUS 300 is about learning how organizations function both a as unit and as a whole group. Overall, many of the topics you learn, you kinda already know or are easy to understand once you read them. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the hardest, B BUS 300 was a 3.

Second comes B BUS 305 "Managerial Communication." This class was taught by Professor Roger Neale. This class teaches you on how to communicate in the business world. How to communicate to your boss, to subordinates, to other companies, and to the public. It also teaches on public speaking and how to be an effective communicator. The group projects are kinda hard. You have to actually do studying, not just with Goggle, but with databases such as Ebscohost and Hoovers and such. Using the scale rating, its a 3.

Last comes B BUS 310 "Managerial Economics." This class was taught by Professor Mehrdad Karimi. This class should be renamed "Statistical Economics." It has nothing to do with Managers and everything to do with Statistics. "Bivariate Data, Regression Analysis, hyothesis, and everything else!" I am not the best at Stats so naturally it is a bit of a struggle for me. At any rate, the professor is an excellent teacher. He clearly know and has knowledge of what he is talking about. On the scale, its a 4.25. Also, his tests are pretty hard, do STUDY!!!

More and More Things to Do

2005-04-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

Homework and Groupwork just keeps piling up

In my classes, I have a test to prepare for, a presentation, and a speech to make. The test and presentation are due tommorrow 4/26 and the test is on 4/28. I am beginning to realize that UWB takes a lot more time than your average BCC class. Again, I stress that you PAY ATTENTION to Professor Lum's statistic class. Her projects into pharmaceutical companies will help you out immensely in the B BUS 300 class with Professor Al Gibson.

Well, that's about it folks. I need to go back and study...

Captain Mike

Homework Reloaded

2005-04-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

Students up in arms against too much Homework!!!

As the third week at Bothell comes to a close, I am under a barrage of homework to finish. Each class has homework which averages about 3-4 hours per week. A lot of this homework, especially in the group projects involve extensive research. This is not something that you can pick up in your textbook, read about it, and answer the question on page 32. This is much more extensive and research oriented.

I would heavily suggest forming study groups!!! I know this sounds stupid and rhetorical to many of you, but believe me, study groups will be your best friend. Well unfortunately, I have to go back to my studies folks.

Till next time,

Captain Mike

Second Week at Bothell

2005-04-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Homework and Projects!!!

With the second week at Bothell having come and gone, I've realized that Professors there also know of the word 'Homework' and 'Projects.' Yes indeed, there are lots and lots of group projects to do. This quarter, I have projects in my B BUS 300 and B BUS 305 class. The projects involve analyzing pharmaceutical companies and communication. If I had to compare these projects with something similar to BCC, it would be from Paquette's Accounting courses and Lum's Statistics courses.

While I did not take Professor Lum for statistics, I know that she has projects involving analyzing pharmaceutical companies. In B BUS 300, we must choose a disease and conduct research into pharmaceutical companies to find how their drugs perform.

As usual, there is a lot of homework involved in these 3 classes. The work load although heavy is manageable if you do some everyday. It works better that you have every other day OFF at Bothell. That way, you have some time to catch up on the homework.

Well stay tuned folks, for the third week :)

Captain Mike, signing out!

First Week at Bothell

2005-04-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. This quarter (Spring) I am taking B BUS 300, B BUS 305, and B BUS 310 at Bothell. The classes are very similar to BCC. There are roughly 30 students in each classroom, and the professors there all know what they are teaching and doing. I bet at Seattle, there would be at least 100+ students for the exact same classes. However, there are some noticable differences.

At last count, BCC hosts approxmately 20,000+ students. At Bothell, there are only 1,600. So, it is quite smaller, with only two buildings. The library, is much superior here at Bothell, than BCC. I am not saying that ProQuest and EBSCOhost, are not good resources, but at Bothell, there a wealth of information. In addition to those resources, you have access to: Factiva, ABI, and Hoovers. In addition, all classes here are at least 2 hours long, and meet only twice a week. (M/W or T/Th) Same as accounting, for those of you at BCC (sort of)

Since this is the first week, I cannot really compare the homework load yet. It seems pretty average so far, (like BCC).

The B BUS courses that I am taking are all required for the BA degree. If I were you, I would brush up on my economics and writing skills for these classes.

Other than this folks, that's about it. If there are more questions, please feel free to contact me at: mwangnc2000@excite.com