Life Is Elsewhere: What I Am Really Doing Here

In lieu of writing a third post in regard to my proposal assignment, I hope that I may be allowed to return to the essay we began the course with, one that continues to impact my perceptions.  Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here is Mark Edmundson's welcome and warning to college freshmen.  He considers the worth of education and the measure of success.  He challenges undergraduates to gather from their privileged college experiences viable applications to their own lives.  He proposes the study of academic material not for temporal letter grades, but for the continuing development of perspective.

While Plato, Emerson, and even Freud may have much to offer, what for the case of the man (or woman) who has already chosen a lens with which to view the world?  What for the person who has already defined themselves more deeply than a passing exploration of these works can commit?  The realm of a University is both a shield and a battleground.  It is a place where ideas can be shared, expanded, and approached in a multitude of ways within a "safe" environment, as we considered in class.  It is also a place that challenges all previous definitions of self, purpose, and goals.  This is an opportunity to engage a large number of unique and competing worldviews and attitudes; to truly assess your own values, priorities, and views.  This is an opportunity for the tough questions to be asked, the hard decisions to be made, and your own independent words and actions to sow your most deeply resonating ideals.  

It has been some time since I was a freshmen.  The initial adjustment was a very difficult process.  I spent much of my time clinging to everything I knew before.  As it faded, I found I was, unexpectedly, a slightly different version of the person I had tried to remain.  The subtle changes of the psyche formed in this time I cannot fully comprehend.  An education, an exploration, life itself has the capacity to alter perceptions.  In the engagement with something so much bigger than myself, as well as so many others in the same position, I developed new mindsets, a deeper appreciation for who I was, who we all are, and what we really were here for.

What of the quantification of success?  How distorted is this beast we call the American dream.  Edmundson confronts the unfortunate realities of the debt to the system incurred in pursuit of material wealth and esteem.  The true meaning exists far beyond the material, far beyond the monetary.  While I would agree that it is wiser to choose a career for the sake of your passion rather than your back account, even that will not complete you.  Then there are the multitudes who are content declining the academic inclination and instead investing themselves in pleasure: parties, booze, sex; temporal euphoric stimulation.  

What are we really here for?  We have been given a grand opportunity.  We are the molding minds, the makers of a future, a new generation of leaders, thinkers, and doers.  We have a responsibility to the world, to our friends, to our families, to each other, and to ourselves to capitalize on this.  What we have is, undoubtedly, a world of possibilities.  Yes, life is indeed elsewhere, in the abstract spaces of meaning that much of academia cannot address, but some of the most profound shaping of that life begins here.  Engage, analyze, decide for yourself.  Spend it wisely.  Spend it strongly.

A Symbiotic Proposal

During one of this week’s meetings, we discussed the process of connecting several central points to a main idea using concrete examples with language as a tool and medium.  My group and I are working to ensure that these considerations are incorporated into our proposal.  Thus far, in a proposal regarding upgrades and updates to a corporate technology ecosystem, we have targeted the primary areas of hardware, software, and economic viability and return.  Each one of these is developed into further subcategories.  For example, potential hardware upgrades include development workstations, business and general-use machines, servers, and displays.

I developed the hardware section by drawing from my unique experiences in information technology and hardware support positions.  I spent volunteered time working with the computing systems in high school, observed a server upgrade during a software development internship last summer, and have been employed in the University’s Information Technology User Services department at the IT Helpdesk for several years.  I have developed a passionate understanding of the amount of work that goes into these upgrade transitions, and I am excited to convey that knowledge in the upcoming proposal.

I suppose that is the ultimate goal.  A proposal cannot simply be an empty and static document.  It is not devoid of compromise, balance, or the essence of human intercession.  As we have discussed before, the proposal is a remarkably complex form of professional writing that is a subtle give and take between two entities.  It represents a refined construct of wills and offerings, a symbiotic connection between unrelated parts.  It represents trust and investment on behalf of both parties.  It is not only the conveyance of knowledge, but the fostering and development of a mutual understanding, the transition from abstract idea to concrete solution.  It is a representation of the differnece between customer and client.  While one requires a quick, one-time transaction, the other is an engagement in a long-term business relationship.

It is difficult to consider how difficult it would be to bring an unsolicited, wide-ranging, high-budget reform proposal to a Fortune 500 organization.  In that regard, I am happy that my group has built on a regularly occurring internal matter.  In a way I feel that we have gotten away with something.  However, our proposal still represents an essential element in the process we are considering.  I suppose this displays how versatile a medium the proposal is, how many are likely on file, and how probable it is that we will all encounter them in the future.

Being a Professional Dreamer

In this past week of preparing for formal proposals, I have reflected quite a bit on how my passion for technology relates to professional and business requirements.  I have found myself to be much of a dreamer, focused on the latest and greatest, anything that can be achieved.  The corporate considerations of timeline, benefit cost, and return on investment are difficult for me to wrap my mind around.  I consider myself organized and goal-driven.  I can act on requests.  I am fairly frugal and reasonably capable of staying within a budget.  Ultimately, though, I find that these constraints are the last things that I consider.

In our proposal, my group is assuming the role of a cross-department committee to propose a course of action for the yearly computer upgrades of a graphic design and video editing firm.  In such a firm, the "upgrades" being considered are remarkably expensive.  We are proposing the acquisition of over fifty thousand dollars of computer workstations and related equipment, not to mention the expenses of specialty software licensing.  In a class setting, it is easy to stand in front of a group of disinterested students (at various levels between asleep and awake, no doubt) and make such requests.  I could hardly imagine, however, being in the position to formally make this request from the financial department or CEO of a large and intimidating corporation.  It would be hard enough to do in writing, let alone forcing oneself to make eye contact in a direct presentation.

We have discussed needs, values, and attitudes in class, important considerations for any proposal.  It is immediately apparent to me that a core value of the financial department is money, and requesting so much may indeed put that value in jeopardy.  Their needs and values, and their responsibilities to the company, are to maintain financial stability and adherence to budget.  Their attitudes may reflect negatively to such an expensive project, not understanding the advantage over cheaper alternatives.  I suppose this is the advantage we have allowed ourselves by considering an internal proposal on upgrades that are required either way.  It is easier to consider the worth of an investment when money will be spent either way.  We can then focus on how the expense will improve productivity, quality, and reliability, also highlighting ways we have been able to reduce costs.

In this manner, I can see how each and every proposal serves as a persuasive document.  Every member of the groups both proposing and considering has something to contribute, but not everyone will maintain the same level of understanding toward all topics.  The proposal must be an accessible document that forms a clear path from each member, through, in this case, more technical decisions, passing close to the company's overall mission, and concluding at a point where the goals of the whole party are met.  This comes not without conflict and compromise, more considerations the proposal must work to meet.  I suppose the beauty of a proposal may be the sense that it isn't set in stone.  The bulk of the work is perhaps in the final tailoring to the organizations preferences and the follow through to accomplish the outlined goals.