Sydney Minorik Maureen Williams BSAD 220, Section 103, MW, 11:30-12:20 September 1, 2014 What Wikipedia Can’t Tell You About Professionalism After brainstorming ideas on what the word “professionalism” meant to me and getting nowhere, I decided that it would be more efficient to get on my computer and type the word into Google. To no surprise, the first web page that popped up was Wikipedia. Although I typically avoid Wikipedia, I clicked on the hyperlink deciding to give the website another shot. Wikipedia described the word “professionalism” as being the status, methods, character or standards expected of a professional or of a professional organization. I should have trusted my initial instinct because Wikipedia’s vague definition wasted about 52 seconds of my time. As I sat staring at my computer frustrated and discouraged, it hit me. A professional always does his or her best to avoid wasting time. When I was a kid, I was nicknamed “The Procrastinator” by my 6th grade teacher. I spent my days dazing off into space, doodling boys names in notebooks and catching up on sleep while my teachers lectured. When my parents would ask me what I had learned that day, I would sit twiddling my thumbs in an effort to change the subject. I was constantly wasting time. As my grade point average dropped drastically and my parents grew more and more frustrated with me, I decided I needed to make a change. I needed to stop wasting so much time and handle my education more professionally. Instead of turning in my assignments late, I started turning them in on time and instead of hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock 4 times before I actually got out of bed, I started waking up early so I could have a healthy breakfast before school. As I did this, my grades started to improve. Not only were my parents proud of me, I was proud of myself. When I was sixteen and got my first job at the local bakery, I received yet another lesson in time management. My boss expected a lot out of his employees. As soon as we clocked in, we were to check and see if any dishes needed washed. If so, we washed them and then the manger would hand us our list for the day. This list included things like bake 5 dozen cupcakes, clean the bathroom, crack 72 eggs and check order status’. I realize now that all of those things required me to use my time wisely. If I did not complete my job in an efficient and timely manner, my boss could have easily replaced me with someone more capable of doing the job. I believe that my boss, like other employers with his high expectations, would agree that time management skills are the most valuable asset an employee can offer to his or her company. Recently, I signed up for BSAD, a career preparation course. Although I was looking forward to such an interesting class, I was not looking forward to doing work. So, this weekend, instead of writing this paper, I decided to watch 6 movies. Yes, you read that correctly. It seemed for a moment that “The Procrastinator” was back in action. Well, I refuse to relive that name. From here on out, I will get my work done for not only this class, but all of my classes, in a more timely manner, use my time efficiently so that I do not get behind and pay close attention to my professors during their lectures. Looking back, my early experiences were extremely important parts of my life. The day when I decided to become a better student, I started on my journey towards becoming a professional. While the day I started my first job, I subconsciously chose to continue that journey. Although Wikipedia was unable to help me better understand professionalism, as I dug into my past, I found the essence of it all. Professionals always make the best use of their time. Because I am on the road to being an exquisite professional, from here on out, I will do my best to no longer treat time as if it is something to be wasted, but rather, something to be cherished. (Word Count: 713)