Eshayna's WRIT340 Blog

       Jared Farmer is an American historian, writer, photographer, and geohumanist. He is a Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. A lot of his work centers around the intersection of history, ecology, and the environment. He has released three books: On Zion’s Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape, Trees in Paradise: A California History, and Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees. All these books have received multiple awards and appreciation within academia. His background includes being born and raised in Provo, Utah, living in California, and now teaching and performing research in Philadelphia.      His recent work has centered around Chronodiversity: Thinking about Time with Trees, which is what the event talk centered around. The event shared Farmer’s understanding of how our human relationship with trees has evolved over millennia. Trees are organisms that are deeply interwoven with th...

  CareerBridge - A job platform for unprivileged high school graduates The gap between being a high school, or even college graduate, and finding a job is one that is not easily filled. My struggle to find opportunities within a well-connected school such as USC has been slim. It took over a year for me to secure a summer internship, imagine finding a full-time job. Right now I still have financial support from my parents. Imagine struggling to support your life and also not having the option to work. If I can help underprivileged kids with even fewer resources and connect them to a stable, paying job that can help them start their lives, I want to take that opportunity! The way CareerBridge will work is that it will have a database of underprivileged local students who are about to graduate high school or are under two years of school graduation and are interested in finding a job. The second database will have a server of employers and job roles and positions looking to hire mini...

The first step to making the world a better place is empathy. Empathy is the solution to every global problem that you look at. Children are taught to be creative by incorporating art, music, dancing, etc. through their elementary curriculum. However, these creative outlets are hindered in the later half of one's education. Without realizing it you are put into a box that prioritizes just STEM, and you are looked down upon for thinking otherwise, similarly, with empathy. The values of "sharing is caring" are implemented in the early stages of life very briefly but are not built upon through one's life to instill it as a habit. By creating a required curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students that centers around the idea of how to express empathy in everyday interactions, how to be cognizant of others' feelings and thoughts, and co-create solutions, the biggest issues and conflicts of the world could be solved. This obviously is a huge entrepreneur...

Meet my golden doodle, Millie! Millie came into my life in August 2020, when we picked her up from her previous family in Corona, California, three hours away from where I live. Millie actually was not a planned puppy. Her previous family had two golden doodles and they were having a bit too much fun over the pandemic, and therefore Millie was born! She was only 5 pounds and 8 weeks old the first day she came to our house, and her little bunny hopping around the grass in our backyard made me fall in love with her.  The funny thing is that I HATED DOGS before Millie came into my life. I was deathly afraid of them biting, barking, and jumping on me. EVERYTHING. If there was a dog at my friend's house, I simply would not go. That was the extent of my fear. However, my sister and my mom always loved dogs. Ever since I was a child my sister has asked for a dog for Christmas, but it was never taken seriously because of how much I was afraid of dogs. However, my senior year of high school...

I have really enjoyed my experience reading Shoe Dog so far. I have reached chapter 5, in which Phil Knight was trying to find a trustworthy shoe supplier. He goes to Japan to meet with a manufacturer where there are multiple language barriers and cultural differences in the business setting. He did score a deal with Onitsuka Tiger and became their distributor for the United States. After signing on with the company, Phil Knight faces real concerns about handling an international business such as financial budgeting, communicating with executives, shipments, etc. Since the business is international he faced the challenge of balancing quality and the customer demand for the product. He had to go through the major quality checks before selling his product. Additionally, establishing a brand presence against major competitors is something his company, Blue Ribbon Sports, had to go through.  Through this chapter, especially, I took away some key lessons as an entrepreneur that I want t...

The book I chose to read is  Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike  by Phil Knight. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I always try to learn from the entrepreneurs around me and understand how they achieve their success. When I heard about Eli's experience reading the memoir during our Book 1 discussion, I was really inspired to try the book out for myself to see what I could learn from a college entrepreneur's story. I hope to get an idea of how to recover from entrepreneurial failures, and how to successfully pivot your ideas to hit the jackpot business concept and structure.  The book so far has been outlining Knight's thoughts on how to combine his love for running/sports and business aspirations. He mentions how when he was in Stanford in the 1960s he was confused about his future, and what he was going to do post-grad. Through one of his business classes, the idea of creating high-quality running shoes for a low cost from a Japanese business model was introduced, and ...

TO: Clark Hansen, CEO, AMDP FROM: Eshayna Madan, R&D, AMDP DATE: October 20, 2023 SUBJECT: Investment Opportunity with August  As a member of the Research and Development department at AMDP, it is my responsibility to find companies committed to being socially and environmentally conscious while remaining profitable. Today, I want to highly recommend investing in August, a sustainable period care company. August is committed to creating a world where "all humans have their natural needs met with quality care" (August). Throughout this memo, I will describe how August meets AMDP standards to be a quality candidate for funding.  AMDP Standards Triple Bottom Line   The triple bottom line refers to the measurement of a firm's social and environmental impact along with financial performance so that a firm can be evaluated beyond just its profit (Harvard Business School, Miller). The three Ps within the triple bottom line include:  Profit: the financial returns a firm ...

Dance has been a constant in my life. I have been dancing since I was three years old. Whether it be creating performances for my parents in our living room or going to classes and perfecting my technique, performing has been the aspect of life that brings me the biggest adrenaline rush. I danced competitively from elementary to high school and was captain of my high school's Bollywood dance team. It really was my outlet to express my feelings as a child, and that has translated to the present day as well. In college, I was missing the freedom and relief I felt with dance, so in my freshman year spring semester, I participated in the SCIA Cultural Showcase as a Bhangra Dancer. I spent 2 months preparing for this showcase by meeting up with my team twice a week to learn a Bhangra routine, which I had never done before. I took it as an opportunity to learn from my peers and discover a new aspect of my Indian culture. I spent hours in my dorm room practicing the routine and asking que...

It is hard being a brown woman in a white world. Padma Lakshmi, the author of  Love, Loss, and What We Ate, and I face the same struggles of not being Indian enough and not being American enough. We both fall somewhere in the middle. Through Lakshmi's parent's divorce, she switched between her father's house in the US and her mother, Vijaya's, house in Chennai, India. The constant push and pull between the two cultures is what added to her isolation as a child, which carried into her adulthood.  However, her constant was food. Whether that be the classic American TV dinner or flavorful home-cooked meals from her Amma, she found herself indulging in the comfort of food. I personally related to Lakshmi's connection to food, as I never realized the importance of my mother's cooking until I moved off to college. When you are in the absence of good home-cooked food on those long-tiring school days, you finally appreciate the warm food you received as a child.  I real...

Michelin Star Meals at Trader Joe's!! Recreate these affordable, quick Trader Joe’s meals in your college kitchen By: Eshayna Madan “Grrr” your stomach roars against your silent class. Not only are you hungry, but your stomach is angry at you for not feeding it. Day after day of eating McDonald’s fries, Kraft Mac and Cheese, and only one meal a day, you leave your stomach craving some whole foods that will keep you satiated for the next couple of hours. What should you do? Well, luckily you clicked on the right article. I have been in this situation numerous times, and have found the ultimate solution: Trader Joe’s! Trader Joe's is your gate to achieving gourmet at your fingertips. Get ready to embrace a tasteful journey where budget meets brilliance, and everyday ingredients yield high-quality meals that will keep your tastebuds asking for more. As a foodie, I am always looking for high-quality meals, but as a student, I am looking for something quick and cheap to eat. To bala...

The book I chose to read is Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi. As a South Asian woman of color, I try to find representation through all forms of media I intake. When I saw a South Asian author on the book list, I was intrigued to read the book biography. Once I found out the book was a memoir about an immigrant navigating a creative career in the United States, I knew this was the reading I would relate the most to.  Through this book, I hoped to gain a sense of reliability and comfort. Now being away from home, it is hard to stay connected to my culture. I am not as in touch with the Indian traditions my parents enforced at home or the food my mom made for me. Looking at Lakshmi's experiences, I want to learn from her experiences and more importantly her failures. I really appreciate Lakshmi's vulnerability through the first couple of chapters of the memoir. She is not afraid to admit the mistakes she has made in the past, with falling in love with a married man. ...

Social media is a daily part of most people’s life. People scroll past hundreds of posts per day. Yet, strategizing individual social media posts is the job of people around the world. A great example is me! Last year, I worked as a Social Media Manager for Salvi Media, a marketing agency in Chicago. Salvi Media's mission is to convey the story of Chicago-owned businesses through content . Their main project is The CEO Series, where the top CEOs in Chicago share their tips for business success . Through my time with Salvi Media, I juggled many hats: Community Storyteller Influencer Assistant Community Storyteller Build relationships with clients Create a community of marketing professionals Tell the stories of local Chicago businesses I was part of the company for a whole year after they extended my summer internship. I decided to stay part of Salvi Media because of its commitment to telling local stories for small businesses . Imagine reading a book. The story you understand throu...