Perspective

"Stop worrying so much, it will all be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end."

It's been a little while since I've blogged. I'm the type where all my ducks need to be in a row to allow the creativity to flow. For the past month or two, there's been writer's block to the max for any number of reasons. 

As I headed along life's journey and dealt with the toils of young adulthood - most recently, trying to find my place in the professional world with a full fledged job hunt and dealing with people going their separate ways after college - I was fortunate enough to come across something (or in this case, someone) who opened my eyes.

This extraordinary encounter occurred on a very ordinary Thursday mid day shift at Starbucks. After five years with the company, I can roll through a shift with my eyes closed. There's not much in the way of challenges, which is fine since I hope to move on to something new and exciting soon. I still enjoy the interaction with the customers. It's why I chose to stick around for so long.

A man named Dave came through the store early in the afternoon. I gave him a friendly greeting and chatted about the upcoming weekend at the espresso bar while making his tall skinny vanilla latte. I wished him a good afternoon and he set out on his way. As he passed the counter, he did a double take and took a few steps back.

"What is your wrist band for?"

I was taken aback since very few people comment on them anymore. The yellow Livestrong band has a permanent spot on my wrist. I explained the Lance Armstrong Foundation to him, and despite recent doping controversy, how I felt the heart of that particular initiative was in the right place: to raise funds for cancer research and to bring awareness.  Many wore the wrist bands as a fashion statement when they came out in 2004. Mine stays there because I have two grandparents who fought cancer. One lost to it, one beat it multiple times and passed away last year. I don't plan on taking it off. 

"Oh, I was just curious. I have cancer."

....

......

Whoa. Timeout. Hold the phone. That's not the response I expected.

I stepped off the floor for a few minutes to chat more with Dave. It turns out he has stage III colon cancer, and had recently completed his seventh of twelve chemotherapy sessions. I'd estimate him to be in his late 50's, and he had the look of a guy who could jump right into a triathlon without flinching. Sure enough, he had just come from a run at the YMCA. It turns out Dave is going to make it, according to his doctors. 

The cancer itself has nothing to do with the moral of this story, however. The perspective Dave provided me last week is what will stick. In a rare moment of feeling defeated and needing a pick me up, Dave walks into the store with a smile and a laugh, openly discussing his illness as if it were as mundane as tomorrow's forecast or what he had for breakfast that morning. And, quite frankly, looking like a million bucks while doing it. 

That's not to say encounters like this make the problems better. They don't. But they allow one to see the bigger picture when their own small section of it looks kind of dark. If you are struggling with a problem and feel entirely overwhelmed, I hope you're fortunate enough to find your own "Dave" who can help you see what a bit of positive thinking and a knack for leaning on the right people can do.

I know I'm thankful I did. Now Dave is in my prayers, and if I'm lucky enough to run across him at Starbucks over the next few weeks, I'll be sure to tell him that he made a difference in my life by his approach to his personal challenge.

The Time Of My Life - A Marquette University Reflection

I recently came across this video that Marquette University put on their YouTube page.

I'll admit it. I choked up a little after watching it. I've always been the emotional type, and those who are close to me will tell you that.  After graduation on May 22nd, my family took a two week trip to Munich and Prague. Now that I'm back in the states and it's been just over three weeks since graduation, it's just starting to set in that the best four year ride of my life has come to an end. As Marquette Preview for the class of 2015 begins this week, I decided to write this post about my four years at Marquette.

It seems like only yesterday that I was dropped off at Abbottsford Hall as a freshman with no concept or idea of how I would change over the next four years - the relationships I would make, the things I would learn, and the unforgettable experiences that were soon to follow.

In the classroom, Marquette provided me with the perfect support system to learn and improve. I was challenged and pushed to be my best, and as I walked across the stage three weeks ago, I felt confident in my ability to be the difference in the real world with the knowledge that my professors and fellow students imparted on me. That's something you'd hope to have at every college.  At Marquette, it's merely the tip of the iceberg.

When someone asks what I will remember most about my time at Marquette, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to be able to boil it down to a clear, concise answer.

I know I'll remember Tuesday nights at Joan of Arc Chapel, where I've never seen such a joyful, passionate display of sharing the faith with one another on a weekly basis. Lifelong friendships were forged under that tiny roof listening to Father Naus and sharing hugs, laughs, and signs of peace with one another.

I'll remember the events that helped make a difference. Hunger Clean Up. Al's Run. St. Ben's. The experiences I heard from friends about MAP Trips, which unfortunately I never had the chance to be a part of.

I'll remember the first few weeks of freshman year, having that taste of freedom for the first time and being able to share it with your new and future best friends.

I'll remember the ability to do fun things entirely on a whim - a Brewer game, a walk down to Bradford beach, a pick up game of football or baseball, or a trip to the zoo.

I'll remember intramural sports and how it brought fun times, laughs, and strengthened the bonds between new and old friends. Three-peating in intramural softball is no small feat.

I'll remember Jimmy Johns, Qdoba, Gyros, Real Chili, and Dogg Haus. And how if you made the commitment to walk just a little bit further to the south, you'd be treated with a double Sobelman and a Sprecher Root Beer (until you were of age, that is...).

I'll remember the all nighters at Raynor and Memorial, and despite how bad they seemed at the time, how they helped instill a work ethic that Marquette would be proud of.

I'll remember the buzz that permeated campus as January and February turned to March, and basketball season heated up. The long walks down to the Bradley Center, the hours spent bundled up outside the doors, the mad rush to the seats, the national anthem, Alma Mater, Where The Streets Have No Name, Thunderstruck, and two hours of yelling yourself hoarse.

I'll remember the seasons - how beautiful the campus looked after the leaves first turned or after the first fresh snowfall, and how as spring turned to summer, the AMU and Central Mall were overrun with frisbees, baseballs, and people looking to get a head start on their tan.

I'll remember the great nights out in downtown Milwaukee making unforgettable memories with your best friends only to return back to campus and be greeted at Caffrey's or Murphy's by hundreds more of your friends - all celebrating another successful night together.

More recently, I'll remember the last few months and weeks leading up to graduation and how we all finally began to appreciate what this place and these people meant to us. Senior Week, Baccalaureate Mass, and graduation - how beautiful, joyful, and slightly sad it was that these were the last times we were all going to be together as one group, the class of 2011.


As I reflect with a bit of sadness that it's over and a whole lot of joy that it happened, I now understand that when Marquette built their four pillars - faith, leadership, service and excellence - they have every intention of making that difference in your life so you can be the difference after you leave. I still don't know what I want to do with my life or what the next years will bring, but I know I'm better off as a professional and even more better off as a person for having been lucky enough to attend Marquette University.

To all the people at Marquette who help make it possible year after year - the professors, administrators, Jesuit priests, RAs, etc. - Thank you for having a hand in making Marquette University one of the best institutions on earth.

To any prospective students - if you're looking for a place where you'll have the ability and resources to chase your dreams, the chance to make life long friendships, and grow as an academic and a person, I would never hesitate to recommend Marquette University.

To current students - Please heed my advice. As freshmen or sophomores you may not realize it yet, but you're in the midst of something pretty amazing. Don't take it for granted. Cherish every moment. Be involved. Get the most out of the academics, and just as importantly, get the most out of those times with friends that you'll never, ever get back.

And most importantly, to my fellow graduates from the class of 2011 - If you get the opportunity to read this, thank you for making this the best four years of my life. I'm proud to call myself an alumni with all of you, I cherish the relationships we've built over the past four years, and I hope you'll remember me as much as I remember all of you.  If you haven't had the chance yet since graduation, take a moment to really reflect on all we've done here. How we've all changed. And how we're never going to be the same.

I'd love for any of my classmates, former students or current students to comment with their memories or stories of what makes Marquette so amazing to them.  Please share.

-Dan Kowalsky
Marquette College of Business '11

A Guest Post From Jigsaw/OrangeAid

As I finish my time as an intern at Jigsaw, a Milwaukee-based creative communications firm located downtown, I wrote this reflection for OrangeAid's Tumblr blog on my time as an intern there, and figured I would run it on my own blog, too. I learned plenty in my few months there, as as much as I enjoy work at Starbucks and as a volleyball coach, I wish I would have taken the time to have more internship experiences like this one.

I say that not only for the professional benefit of applied internships, but for the bonds that are quickly forged in the agency setting.

Feel free to keep an eye on OrangeAid. As the program gets rolling on non-profit projects around the area this summer, you'll see great content coming from them hard and fast.  If you're a potential intern (or know anyone who is), this is one of the best opportunities and experiences out there.

Life And Times At OrangeAid - It's Not A "Goodbye", It's A "See You Later"

Hello Jigsaw/OrangeAid readers!

It’s a pleasure to see you again. As the new cycle of OrangeAid starts up for the summer (and I have no doubt they’ll provide some sweet content to you guys once their projects are underway) it’s time for me to say an unofficial goodbye.  I came into Jigsaw a little over five months ago looking to get my feet wet in the agency world. Before that, I had been plugging away at my academics and working way too many hours as a volleyball coach and a barista. I thought it pertinent to get some experience in the field I may actually be working in post graduation, and boy, am I glad I did.

The people at Jigsaw have been wonderfully hospitable to me, and I’m sure my fellow OrangeAid team members would echo that sentiment.  I think it would be fair to call the four of us - Dave, Roxanne, Kim and myself - a fairly green group when we began our time at Jigsaw. Sure, we were bright. We could write. We could design. But what were we going to do with it?  

Enter Sue, Steven, Addy, Trevor and Danielle. To handle an overly rambunctious group like us required a certain measure of patience and humor. They took on the challenge admirably, and provided constant nuggets of knowledge and guidance while maintaining enough distance that we had confidence in building this thing on our own. 

I can now walk out of my time at Jigsaw with a better grasp on how the branding process works, from creating a brand identity to drafting a communications/marketing plan and finally executing the strategies and tactics we’ve designed. Not only that, but I’ll walk away with a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever I see future iterations of the OrangeAid program doing great things in the community, knowing I had a hand in bringing the program to life. So to Sue, Steven, Addy, Trevor and Danielle - thank you. I’d like to hope you learned a thing or two from us, as well.

So with out further ado, here’s five things that I learned from my time as an OrangeAid intern at Jigsaw. I’ll spare you the technical stuff. You heard about that before. The folks at Jigsaw are experts at it, and I can assure you if you check out the rest of their blog and see their work, you’ll have no question. We’ll call what I’m about to tell you “life lessons.” - things that apply both in the workplace and elsewhere that I will take away from my experiences at Jigsaw.

1. No idea is wrong, but every idea can and should be challenged. - This was perhaps my most striking take away from Jigsaw. During our brainstorming sessions for OrangeAid, there was nothing that was off limits. As the ideas developed, it was amazing to see the wheels turn for Sue, Addy and Steven as they helped us take what was “pretty good” and tweak, tweak, and tweak it some more until it was near perfect. Steven said it best when he described how we were used to thinking in an academic setting. (“How good does this document have to look to get an A?”) That doesn’t apply in the real world. The expectations are raised and the work has to be painstakingly revised until it’s nothing short of great.

2. Learn from people, and allow them to learn from you. - I know both Sue and Steven mentioned that they’ve learned just as much from us as we have from them. If that’s the case, there’s been quite the exchange of knowledge. Each of us comes from different backgrounds with different cultural influences and different ideas. Personally, I was inspired by Roxanne’s fiercely creative style of writing, Dave’s passion for photography and art, and Kim’s eye for creativity and design. That melting pot helped make the final OrangeAid product what it was.

3. Be fearless. - Starting a new internship can be intimidating. As I job hunt, the prospect of starting in an entirely new setting to start a career can be, too. It’s a natural feeling, but to challenge I ask: What is there to lose? If you do the subsequent lessons #4 and #5, and surround yourself with the right people, there’s a very high probability of success. Never be afraid to explore, discover and try new things. I did with Jigsaw, and I’ve made some friends, some great professional connections, and came away having participated in a pretty cool project.

4. Work hard. - Nothing comes easy. I learned this first as a volleyball player and then as a volleyball coach, and became very successful in both. The same applies to the creative communications field (and, I’m sure, in any other field as well). I see the people at Jigsaw pushing themselves to make their work top notch, and the effort shows in the results. Each of us has talent, but it’s not going to grow on its own. Monet went through thousands of canvases and Michael Jordan spent thousands of hours in a gym. Commit yourself to the same level of dedication if you want to be great.

5. HAVE FUN! - Seriously, people. As I move forward in my quest to find the right career path, the people at Jigsaw made something painfully evident to me. Find a place you enjoy. Sure, there will be deadlines, tough stretches, and late nights, but if you find great people, you’ll have a lot more fun and add a lot of great years to your life. Watching the camaraderie, laughs and goofy things that happen, even in the limited time we had in the office, reinforced my need to find the right fit instead of jumping on the first thing that comes along.

To close, I have a message for any potential interns who are considering Jigsaw’s OrangeAid program. Do it. You won’t regret it. To any firm wondering if they should look into Jigsaw to revamp their brand? Do it. You won’t regret it. And to my Jigsaw friends and fellow OrangeAiders. Thanks. It’s been a blast.

Cheers,

Dan

To The Cloud!

For all the complaining we do about the lack of sun in Milwaukee, I've heard a lot of hoopla recently about the cloud. Everything is moving to the cloud, but what do we make of it?

First, let's discuss what the cloud is. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has put several years of research into coming up with a working definition of cloud computing:

"Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction."

Pretty clear, right? In laymen's terms, cloud computing is the ability to place some form of information (documents, music, numerical data, etc.) in a place that is not housed locally (at a home or business computer) and can be accessed or modified from a remote area.

How do you know if you've done something on the cloud? If you've ever published a document on your home computer, gone to the grocery store and edited it from your phone, then edited it again from grandma's computer after dinner that night, you're familiar with the cloud. You may also be familiar with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I would recommend seeing a doctor as soon as possible.

To some who don't live on the leading edge of technology, it may sound like the stuff of the future, but tech giants are taking note and businesses are following suit.  Cloud computing has become the focal point of many of Google's web services, including Chrome OS and the Android mobile OS. Google allows for e-mail, documents, contacts, calendar, and most recently music, among many other features, to be housed on their servers and accessed from a number of different locations.

In fact, Google's strategists did all they could to market it as a sustainable competitive advantage before the new year in this nifty video.

If Google is perceived to have any tangible lead in this category, it's not much. Other computing giants are on Google's heels when it comes to cloud computing, including Windows, who is marketing their iteration towards the business community with this ad:

(Side note: Seeing this commercial again makes me want to pull my hair out, as Windows ensured that it aired at least two dozen times during every Packers broadcast of the 2010 season.)

Most recently, Steve Jobs and Apple have moved forward with their quest to go wireless with Apple's infrastructure, announcing plans at the Apple WorldWide Developer's Conference (WWDC) to launch their iCloud service in the near future.

As the computer giants get on board, businesses will surely begin to use these services to make themselves more accessible to their consumers.  To tech savvy individuals, the services that are already available can be immensely useful in making day-to-day life in the digital age more organized and easy to navigate.

If you have any experiences (both good and bad) with cloud computing, or have seen an innovative way that it's being used, feel free to share in the comments.