Christmas at Mercyhurst

Well... I couldn't resist publishing a Christmas post.

There's nothing like Christmas at Mercyhurst. The school itself is beautiful year round, but at Christmas time our campus transforms into something special. A Christmas tree with white lights welcomes you into Old Main. The Student Union is transformed into a winter wonderland and the buildings are decorated with wreaths and lights.

Above is a picture of the Christmas tree located in the lobby of Old Main. 

The school holds several Christmas events on campus this month. Christmas on campus is a popular one. Kids from the Erie area come to Mercyhurst for the day and make crafts and play games. We also have our annual lighting of our campus Christmas tree. Free horse-drawn sleigh rides are given that night as well.

This is my favorite time of the year and I'm glad I'm constantly surrounded by Christmas here at school. Now all we need is some snow!!

As far as intel is concerned, nothing much has changed since last week. We are still grasping our project, we'll find out more during tomorrow's class. Once we have some developments I'll post them here.

Exactly 20 days until Christmas as I write this :) This is exciting!

Merry Christmas!
Ryan

Competitive Intelligence

Hello Again!

We're back from Thanksgiving break and winter term is officially here! This term I am taking Competitive Intelligence (business intelligence). I had my first class yesterday and it seems like this will be an interesting course! We were given a company to analyze for ten weeks (similar to the country study in Advanced Intel, but this time it'a a company study). Our class has been "hired" by Starbucks to construct a company profile of Starbucks' biggest competitor - Tim Hortons.

Over the next teen weeks we will be looking at Tim Hortons in depth; their sales, marketing techniques, current research and development projects they are working on, and their overall company background - all of which is useful information to Starbucks.

In the intel program at Mercyhurst, we are exposed to three disciplines of intel: national security, competitive, and law enforcement. This is class is designed to give students an introduction to competitive intelligence (CI). The course teaches the basic fundaments and terminology associated with CI.

We are also required to read a business book for this class and do a book report. The book I selected is "The 5 Levels of Leadership" by John C. Maxwell. I just started and it is so far pretty interesting.

Competitive intel is a career I am considering so I hope to learn a lot in this class. I will have more posts coming regarding our project and the class.

Last post I attached a photo of the new intel building that is being constructed on campus. When I returned from Thanksgiving break I couldn't believe the progress that has been made, so I thought I would attach an updated picture of the new building.

This is an updated photo of the new intel building on campus. Notice the skywalk from the new building to our library.
It looks better and better everyday. Can't wait to finally have class in there!

Thank you for reading!

Ryan 

Crisis Week

Hey everyone & Happy Halloween!

Well-tomorrow is our last day of crisis week! We started last Wednesday and I've been living in the Intel Lab every since. (In case you forgot, crisis week is when our professor will assign us a tasking and we have exactly one hour to report back to him with our analysis and briefing) I received my first crisis week assignment last Friday, which was a written briefing, also known as a SFAR (Short Form Analytical Report). I received my team briefing earlier today and it went great! Tomorrow I expect to receive my individual oral report. I'm really not that nervous though, as we've been researching the European Debt Crisis for eight weeks now!

Immediately following Crisis Week, our team needs to get started on our final briefing. Our final briefing is scheduled for next week and will be approximately one hour long. In our final briefing we will discuss our group's findings and analysis regarding US trade and the European Debt Crisis. We are also expected to create a link chart, just like we did in the Advanced Intelligence Analysis course I took last fall (I have a blog entry specifically on that class if you would like to read it).

In other news, tomorrow is November and the end of term is near. I've already registered for four winter term classes:
       1) American Government
       2) Advanced Computer Applications
       3) Competitive Intelligence
       4) Criminal Justice

All of the above are required classes for intel students. We will also have a new intel building next fall, which everyone is excited about! Here is a picture of the construction:

New Intelligence Studies Building Construction

Thank you for reading! Enjoy the fall!

Ryan

Update

Hello again!

Well midterms are over and Thanksgiving break cannot come soon enough! I'm starting to feel the end of term coming - everything is starting to creep up on me. I've started on my final projects and reports for my classes after looking at my calendar and realizing we have like three weeks left of this term! 

On Wednesday we start our Crisis Week for Intel. It lasts from 10/26-10/31. Our professor will call us and give us a "crisis" going on in the world and we then have one hour to prepare a briefing for him on the situation. One of the briefings is a written piece and the other is an oral piece in which you have to meet him and give your briefing. It's going to be a nerve-wracking week but I'll be glad once it's over! 

We just had an Open House on campus yesterday and we had a great turnout! I gave four families a tour of campus and answered their questions. We had a few people interested in the Intel major so I was able to talk with them one-on-one and tell them my personal experiences. If you are considering a major and want more information just call the school and ask to set up a meeting. It helps A LOT. 

Anyway, I'm going to get back to writing this final essay for my history class - even though it's a beautiful day here in Erie. Welcome to college. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ryan 

 

Back at Mercyhurst!

Hello again!

I'm back at Mercyhurst for my sophomore year and I can't believe how fast it's going! Last week I had midterms and fall break is approaching! Soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas!! I'm taking three classes this term: American History, Writing for Intelligence, and Macroeconomics. I really enjoy all three classes and I like my professors. I really like the trimester system here because I'm not bogged down with a bunch of classes. I have my three classes and I can take my time and focus on each one. My favorite class this term is Writing for Intel. We have a ten week project on the European Debt Crisis and our final briefing is right before Thanksgiving break. Our project is going well so far, I've learned more about financials than I ever thought I would. But more importantly, I've seen how the economic trouble in Europe is directly tied to the US and our future. It's a great class and I've learned SO much.

I think the cold weather has arrived in Erie, 50's & 60's all week. The snow will be coming in another month or so! I'm considering joining ski club again this year. They go to Holiday Valley one night a week. They provide transportation to and from the ski resort and the college pass is affordable.

Well- that's a small update of my life at Mercyhurst right now. I'll keep the posts coming with more updates and information.

Thanks for reading!
Ryan

Easter Break

Well, today was my first day back to classes since Easter break and we are on final approach to summer vacation!! It was nice being able to go home and see the family but pretty soon I'll be home for 3 months and I can't wait! It's now crunch time for Intel. We've been working for the past 7 weeks on our country studies and next week we give our final briefings! This week I will be busy getting my report together and preparing my presentation. I will post updates. My goal is to have my report finished by Monday! Anyway- have to go work on Intel homework. Sorry it's a short post-but thanks for reading :)

My Weekend

I just got back to campus after a great weekend with my family. My sisters are in high school and they had spring break this week so they came down, along with my parents to spend the weekend with me. They picked me up Friday night and we got a hotel by the mall and as soon as we got there, we headed for the pool and hot tub! We went out to dinner and went to the movies after to watch Soul Surfer. After the movie we drove around downtown for a bit then went back to the hotel to swim and hang out. Saturday was a shopping day. We went to the mall and the stores around it. My mom and sisters love to shop-dad and I just walked around. I did buy some new shorts and jeans though. Saturday night we went out to dinner again and then hung out at the hotel...back in the pool and hot tub. They just dropped me off back at campus and they're on their way back home now. It was a great weekend with the family. I've missed them a lot and it was nice spending the weekend together. I LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANK YOU FOR COMING :)