2_ChuW

Dear Professor Kim,

I am a student studying Business Administration at California Polytechnic University, Pomona. I am focusing my studies in the area of Human Resources. The reason I am writing to you is to discuss with you my personal strengths and weaknesses as a writer, presenter, and speaker. Furthermore, explain how I plan on developing my professional pitfalls. As a person outside of the educational and professional field, my interests in writing is strong. I believe, like most things in life, with practice one gets better at their craft. In this case, the more I write the more enriched my experience becomes. A well-rounded writer is one that isn't afraid of exploring new territories. And what I mean by that is one who dares to step out of their comfort zone in order to write differently opposed to the usual. Personally, I always attempt to incorporate something different in hopes to become an effective writer. Whether that method is using a few new words or phrasing some sentences in a different fashion; I view every piece as a growing process. During my time in Las Vegas, being an assistant manager of quality assurance/quality control for the Veers Tower project; I was responsible for taking good quality notes during conferences at the MGM office. The conference meetings would take place every Tuesday in the afternoon. I would drive to MGM's corporate building with my manager, and every conference call we would write every important thing exchanged between MGM and the vendor that was PianoR. After the meeting, I would then take those hand-written notes and polish them up into a professional report format, so I can send it out to my superiors. I have great confidence in my ability to write anything from an essay, a letter, to a simple formal e-mail. However, by the same token I have a tendency of cluttering my sentences with too many words. And I feel as a result, the reader get confused which is never a feeling I want to project to my audience. One reason I believe why I exercise that bad habit so frequently is due to unsatisfaction. I have so much that I want to put down yet I am never satisfied with the briefness of that one sentence or two, so I lengthen it assuming it will strengthen its impact. But to my dismay, it has always been the polar opposite. So this is one area that I would love to improve upon. I want to learn how to create an effective message behind my writing without feeling the desire to clutter. Being an Asian American growing up in San Francisco, California with a traditional Chinese family; I came from a wonderful upbringing. I was taught the common practices and customs of being Asian, which were to respect your elders, sit up straight, never speak with your mouth full, etc. So respect for others familiar or unfamiliar has been deeply rooted in me since a child. When it comes to a professional setting, my etiquette bares similarities to my etiquette in a regular setting with friends, but with a few added mannerisms. For example, at Walgreens I would stand completely straight with my shoulders wide, hands together behind my back, quiet, and eyes on my store manager when he is speaking to me during a group meeting. I would treat my manager the way I want my employees to treat me when I am speaking to them. Respect is of the utmost important when it comes to business along with professionalism of course. I feel that even though I have the competency in showing respect to someone who is speaking to me; I have a weakness in asking questions for clarification in the end. For instance, my manager would appoint me tasks to do in the store and I would do as told, yet sometimes I feel bombarded by so much information at once I get lost. So in the end, I would arrogantly tell him I fully understood him instead of asking questions. So I hope I can learn effective ways in listening when someone is speaking. And as well as determine the key parts to be remembered from a spoken message as opposed to remembering everything that was said. For my last strength, I am a team player. I am fully aware that when it comes down to business, working in teams or groups is essential to getting progress. I was not an avid supporter of groups before my college days. I pessimistically felt that issues frequently arise in group. The issues ranged from indecisiveness to unequal contributions of work to someone simply not having any input in the given group assignment. My reasons for having that mentality were valid because I have been through situations like those in the past. However, my opinions on groups all changed once I got into college. Group members in college were a lot more involved and helpful. When I am in a group, I do every tasks delegated to me by my group members. And when completed, I would send in my work either via e-mail or in person during group meetings. My weakness when it comes to groups is the verbal presentations in front of a live audience. I have always struggled speaking during presentations. I am not a shy person, but speaking front and center is not one of my stong suits by any means. When I get nervous, I tend to speak too fast which causes my mouth to dry up adding to the predicament. And by the last word, I usually leave my peers confused and restless. I have given many presentations throughout my educational career, but the difficulties still wanders when I am standing behind the podium. Thank you for your time and hopefully with your teachings I can improve upon my weaknesses and reinforce my strengths. Sincerely, Wilson Chu