A new year beckons…

Every New Year starts with great eagerness and excitement for things to come. The resolutions are always many and diverse: new gym, better food, learn a language, volunteer….The list is endless. This year, though, is especially exciting for me as I have three upcoming life-changing experiences.

First, my fiancée and I are getting married in June. We’ve been together since the summer of 2005 where me met at Tulane University in New Orleans. It’s a very exciting time for us as we plan our future together. The wedding is at our favorite place in the world, the city where we met, and we’ll be spending two weeks traveling through Italy for our honeymoon. Seems like a dream.

Second, I will be graduating from George Washington University in May with a Master’s in Business Administration. It has been an exceedingly long haul to get this degree and there were times where the work seemed endless. But there is light at the end of the tunnel now and it’s getting close day by day.

Third, upon returning from my honeymoon, I start my new career. I can’t say what I’ll be doing but trust that it will be very exciting.

But with all these gifts, it’s important to remember to give back for there is no more grounding experience than an act of selfless charity. To do that, I spent MLK Day at Harriet Tubman Elementary School with several friends donating our time. A good friend, Steven, and I spent several hours “leveling” books in the library. The students have access to a great library but the books are all out of order and the Dewey Decimal System goes unused. They would go to check out a book, try to read, and find that it was well beyond their comprehension. The students were gradually becoming disenchanted with reading and learning because they could not find books on their level. Thus, the need for volunteers.

We, along with dozens of other volunteers, leveled the entire library that day along with many individual classroom libraries. The new stickers on each book display what grade level the books is applicable and students can now feel confident in their abilities. We have already received much good news from the teachers and staff relaying that the students have come in droves to the new library.

To end this entry, I leave you with a quote from the American philosopher Eric Hoffer: “The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

It’s good to be back…

Well well well, look what the cat dragged in. I apologize for the far-too-long delay in a new post but must admit that I’m still getting used to this whole blogging thing. I’m generally a pretty private person so public forums are a bit of a new concept. Anyways, without further ado, I started a new year of volunteer work in the Washington DC Public School system today. Last year’s experiences working with high school students on financial literacy really inspired me to be more proactive in the community by educating youngsters on positive business and financial ideas.

My new project this time around is working with 6th Graders at Emery Elementary School. The project is a really great idea and I must thank our co-sponsors from SunTrust Bank. They’re backing is extraordinary and integral to getting this program off the ground. Essentially, Junior Achievement (the organization I volunteer with) has set up an incentive program for junior high students in certain public school across DC. By participating in class, arriving on time, performing well on tests, and completing assignments, the students can earn certain dollar amounts. These metrics are tracked by the teacher who turns it in to SunTrust Bank every two weeks. The bank then writes checks to each student to deposit in a personal bank account set up at SunTrust. The account carries a really impressive interest rate and offers other incentives at well.

The goals of the program are to teach the values of investment and saving over spending and credit. I was very impressed by my class today when they responded to my question regarding interest rates. Initially, the class was unsure of exactly what I was talking about. They thought it would be better to keep the cash on them or stuffed under a pillow. One of my students even told me he’d give it to his mom to hang on to. After giving a brief example of interest, many of them were quite taken aback and asked me: “So, does that mean it’s free money?”. And, essentially, it is! The values of investment and saving as seen through such simplistic eyes take on a whole new meaning.

My work will continue on throughout the year and I hope the future successes reach my future goals. Only time will tell!

And now for a quote:

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” – Emile Zola

Wilderness Leadership and Learning…

This past Saturday, I volunteered for a local non-profit named WILL (Wilderness Leadership and Learning). The group was started by Stephen Abraham and is designed to educate high school students through outdoor activities. These activities include challenging adventure courses, hiking trips, team-building exercises, and service-related events. WILL has voluntary membership and is completely free for the students. It is truly a remarkable program and the stories of success from its recent graduates are quite impressive. In recent years, WILL graduates have attended Michigan State, Lincoln University, Cleveland State, Purdue, UDC, Cornell, University of Delaware, Mount St. Mary’s, VCU, and Temple.

This Saturday, WILL hosted its annual scavenger hunt on the National Mall. A group of two volunteers worked with five high school students to answer a wide array of trivia questions about DC sights and attractions. The students were given a long list of questions and had to trek accross the Mall to find the answers. Among the locations we studied were the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnams Veterans Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, and the National Art Gallery.

It was so much fun to work with the students as they were excited to learn about Picasso’s “The Tragedy”, the architect of the Lincoln Memorial, the defense mechanism of a Milkweed Beetle, and the famous battle of St. Lo. Our group pushed hard throughout the day as it looked like the test would be nearly impossible to finish. The locations were very spread apart and some of the information was very intricate and took a good amount of research for our team to find. However, our students came up with some very impressive strategies to conquer the task. We pursued security guards, information kiosks, and tour guides to answer our questions. Instead of walking around the sights aimlessly, our students formed a great plan and followed it perfectly. We used the National Gallery’s interactive database to find out information about artists and paintings.

And all of their hardwork paid off. My team won the scavenger hunt and were rewarded with a round of applause and a great meal at the DC Chophouse in Chinatown. It was truly a great event and I look forward to continuing my volunteer work with WILL.

A good quote for the day: “Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.”

Patience is most definitely a virtue…

Traveling abroad can be an extraordinarily enlightening and wonderful experience. You can take in beautiful new sights, visit ancient cities, taste local delicacies, and immerse yourself in a new culture. I have had the lucky opportunity to spend the last two weeks in the Turkish Republic, visiting the cities of Istanbul and Bursa. Through GWU’s MBA program, I along with fifteen other students consulted for three different apparel and textile firms based in Turkey. Our projects ranged from international marketing to customer satisfaction survey development. It was an incredible experience and one that I will most certainly not forget.

International travel is also a humbling experience, even for the most seasoned veterans. I have traveled throughout Western Europe and the Caribbean but by no means consider myself an old pro at international travel. Planes, trains, and automobiles don’t work the same way outside of the US and the means to makes reservations can be shoddy at best. Today, I received a humbling education in just such an experience.

My fiancee flew out to Istanbul two days ago for a little vacation after I finished my consulting work. We spent two days exploring the city, visting the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace. We really enjoyed shopping the cities Grand Bazaar and Egyptian Spice Market. We also took a quick boat trip to the Asian side of the city to have lunch. We then planned on flying down to Bodrum, a resort city on the Aegean Sea of Southwest Turkey. I had made reservations months ago for a morning flight from Istanbul down to Bodrum so we could have the majority of the day on the beach. I had a copy of the confirmation code and all the other information I needed. We were packed, ready with bathing suits on the tops of our luggage positioned for a quick exit.

When we got to the airport in Istanbul, our delightful sales representative informed us that his airline’s first flight to Bodrum was at 16:00 (4pm in the afternoon). Since we had arrived at 9:45am ready for an 11am flight, this was obviously disconcerting and we thought there was something merely amiss in the translation. We checked the departure boards and found that he was indeed correct. But how could my reservation be for 11am and the flight be at 4pm?

Well, you see, they don’t give a s**t. Pardon me for being rude but it seems like a basic tenet of customer service to inform paying customers of changes, especially five hour delays, in the flight schedule. I had sent weekly emails to the airlines to confirm this with them but had never received an answer. I went to their sales desk but only received a sorry. Another sales rep even told me to discuss the problem with the airline that I flew from Washington, DC to Istanbul two weeks prior. “What good would come of that?”, I asked. She had no idea.

So, here we wait for the next five hours to catch a one hour flight to our resort. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I reacted calmly or that I wasn’t infuriated by the events, because I didn’t and I am. We’ll sit patiently in the terminal, waiting for what will hopefully be a smooth flight to our next destination.

$AVE USA

Well, folks, today was the big event for my Junior Achievement volunteer work. I led a program called $AVE USA, which targets high school students in DC. This program is designed to teach both educators and students about the world of money management. Here is a link to the website:

http://www.myja.org/programs/high/ja_save_usa_high.html

I must say that I was apprehensive about volunteering today. The high school where I was working has serious academic problems and is fraught with low academic scores and even lower attendance. The staff only expects 70% of its student population to show up to school and even those often show up to an hour late. 

Nevertheless, I had a job to do and was excited about inspiring at least one young mind. My task was to present a two-hour lecture on financial issues such as credit, loans, savings, mortgages, and debt financing. When I was in high school, lectures were always pretty brutal so I did my best to keep the students involved with real world examples and case studies. I presented a case of a young man who was looking to purchase an automobile, a woman trying to finance a college education, and a couple needing new furniture.

Of the 30 or so students in the classroom, there was a few who showed general interest in my presentation. At first, I was disappointed in the students’ will to learn. I soon realized, however, that one interested student was better than a class led by a distraught volunteer. So, I pushed through, focusing my work on those few students who raised their hands, spoke out during the case studies, and asked insightful questions. 

All in all, I enjoyed my time volunteering today, even with some of the difficulties I faced. I look forward to continuing my work with Junior Achievement and hope that, as my experiences grow, I will be able to interest more and more students.

Growing up, I loved quotes. All sorts from all sources. Today, I leave you with one of my favorites:

“Keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other’s faults and failures.”

- Mother Teresa

My new volunteer opportunity…

I just began my volunteer work with Junior Achievement in Washington, DC. I’m really excited to be a part of this as I participated when I was in middle school. My group worked at Kraft foods (the mac ‘n’ cheese guys) on a marketing strategy for chocolates. It was really fun and I learned much about the competitive nature of businesses and teamwork.

My first big project with Junior Achievement is leading a project called Save USA at Roosevelt High School. The main focus of the project will be to teach students about the nature of credit through group work based on a fictional purchasing and financing plan. 

I’m really looking forward to this opportunity and will certainly update my blog as I learn more.

Opening statement…

Hey all, my name is Joe Annotti and I am an MBA student at George Washington University. I am specializing in Environmental Policy and Management and hope to work in a career in the energy industry.

This is my first experience with a blog so please let me know if there is anything you folks would like to hear about!

I am writing this blog to track and record my work towards the Certificate in Responsible Management from the university. This program is designed to focus on the values of social responsibility in international business activities. It based around core activites of social education, volunteer work, and membership in clubs. I am extremely excited to be one of the first group of students to graduate from the university with this certificate!