The Think Room

The half point is upon us. To my fellow O-terns, I hope you have learned as much as I have! Through my conversations with all of you, I know that is the case. It never ceases to amaze me how 10 O-terns can have such vastly different experiences, while all being taught under the same roof!

We are going to start out our pool club, you know. They don’t know that yet. Don’t worry, I’ll whip up T-shirts. Everyone wants in when there are T-shirts. You know, if I could pick one thing to spend time getting better at (inside), it would be pool. Have you ever heard that if you were to spend half an hour each day doing the same thing, you would become an expert at it over time? Even five minutes a day of practicing at something would be impressive as time progressed. What would you do? OK, just to clarify, that was not a rhetorical question, just in case you were wondering. :) Go ahead, scroll down to the bottom of the blog, and let me know, fill me in. I'm interested to see what you will say. If we were getting to know each other and I asked you that question, what would you tell me? I promise it won’t take more than a few seconds to respond. Winner gets a prize...

So, there were a few neat things that happened at work during the past week. I got my first taste (literally) of what it’s like to be an agency person and receive gifts or swag in hopes you’ll do something in return. This typically happens in the media department of an agency. Nearly every day, media teams receive extravagant gift baskets, breakfasts, tickets to events, etc., in hopes they’ll consider magazine/newspaper/cable channel/website X for media real estate purchase in the future. Well, I’m not sure what makes me so special but a 12-pack of a new protein-enhanced drink was delivered by a street team to Olson with my name on it! I felt like the cool kid with the new toy that everyone wanted to play with.

The second cool thing? During our infamous Friday BBQ, we played another “Minute To Win It” game called “Stack Attack.” This time, each contestant had to stack 36 cups into a pyramid and then take them all down and put them into a stack, all in under a minute. The team to do it in the fastest time would win! Ready, set, go. Right? You know what I like about the people at Olson? I like the fact that they cheered louder for the people who didn’t quite do it the fastest (but who, might I add, were quite entertaining in their execution) than those who did. Well, I decided to try and ended up winning. I have to say, it was pretty fun. :) But MAN was my heart racing when I was done. Ha!

Tip of the week: Go out of your way to meet someone new! Awww, cheesy. Now wait, hear me out. Now, I realize that every person is different, and there are more personalities in this world than there are seasons in Minnesota (and yes, Minnesota has MANY more than four seasons). However, no matter your life story or personality, you can go out of your way to make a new friend. Have you ever had someone who did not need to do something nice for you, or go out of their way to meet you? It just makes you feel good, doesn't it? So, you know what I think? I think you should do just that. Go meet someone. Go do something nice even if you don’t get recognized for it. Why not, right? The other day, I met a lady who cleans Olson after most people have headed home for the night, and, although I don’t know her very well, I do know that she is really sweet. It makes me smile to think that I have made a new friend. It brings back the joys of childhood to befriend someone just for the sake of befriending them. You should try it. (And don’t forget to answer my question in the second paragraph.)