dis 6
Discussion Topic 1 of 2:
· A concept I found particularly interesting was unit 6 - corporate strategy and decision making. When in the workforce there are always going to be tough decisions that will have to be made and in this chapter it focuses on how to do that. I had this one incident at work and I did all I could to make the better judgement. I work for an after school program and it was my second school year. The moved me to a new school with a new supervisor. Lets just say she was not the friendliest person. I help her out and made sure everything would run smoothly for our campus. One day I said to her, "I am taking September 20th off, can you please tell me where the sheets are to request this day?" She told me where they were at so I went and put the binder on the table and as I was looking for the form she slammed the binder on my hand and said that I needed to wait. Fast forward she could not get along with parents so they removed this woman from my campus and it was the best day of my life. If I did not use my judgement I would have reacted completely different when she slammed the binder on my hand but I knew I had to see her everyday so I just let it go.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey
ThursdayApr 22 at 1:02am
Since I have already had more than 10 years of working experience it is hard to determine which part of this class was most interesting. All of the things we looked at in this class (and most of my other management classes) have always been highly relevant to my previous work. Even if it only was to understand a decision that had been made which I had not understood at the time.
The most memorable thing and what I thought was most useful were the Wall Street Journal articles. In a world where most people get their news from social media as of new, it is very important that we learn to sit down and read an article that does not contain multiple images or videos. Being able to summarize these articles and filter out important information relevant to what we are learning in class is equally important as being able to organize ourselves in teams. I enjoyed working with my team a lot and although the work load might not have been evenly spread out at some times, we all managed to contribute and pull together for good grades. I encourage you, Professor Parker, to keep this as part of your class, be it online or in person. The modern business needs people to work as a team to analyze and take on problems efficiently.
The fact that you used real life examples for questions in the Quizzes was also ver effective to highlight the practicality of the lessons learned in the chapters. The one concept that stuck in my mind thank to the quizzes was the Type 1 and 2 errors, quiz 3 has so far been my worst quiz and i took it to heart to learn the difference between a type 1 and 2 error. I think that it's very important for us to understand these kinds of errors and how they occur in order to prevent them from happening.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Joshua Nguyen
Joshua Nguyen
FridayApr 23 at 11:51am
Hey Alexander, it's good to know that a lot of what we've been learning will be applied to our futures. A lot of the time it feels like we're learning so much information that we'd probably never use again, but I guess that isn't the case. The Wall Street Journals were great, because we got to read through multiple articles and get truly unbiased news, unlike what social media gives us. Sorry to hear your group wasn't fully pulling their own weight but sadly that's reality and it happens. I do hope he keeps this part of the course, because it helped prepare me to work in teams in the future. The Type I and Type II Errors confused me so much because I swear on the quiz, I had to put the Type I errors in the Type II section and vice versa in order to get the question correct. I forgot to ask him about it, but it's too late now.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Waleed Mustafa
Waleed Mustafa
ThursdayApr 22 at 10:56am
The most interesting topic in my opinion was most definitely the VRI/NO framework from unit 3. Not only did I find this topic to be quite interesting, but I found it to be quite important as well. Anytime I hear of a business failure, one of the first concepts that comes to mind for me is the VRI/NO framework. Conversely, hearing of a business’s success prompts me to refer to the VRI/NO framework. Being able to apply the various aspects of the framework to certain aspects of a business can be quite useful. As an individual that aspires to own a business one day, I know that the VRI/NO framework will come in handy when I need to reflect on the successes or failures of my business. For example, if an issue arrises where my business is too similar to another, I know that I will need to create inimitability into it in order to distinguish myself from competitors.
Another topic I enjoyed in this class was the idea of global strategy from unit 7. What I learned from this strategy is that a business strategy should not be confined to the borders within a country. Seeking global business opportunities is imperative in the expansion of a business. What I enjoyed most in unit 7 was the world map exercise that was conducted. This exercise was my favorite, and I most definitely recommend that is be provided in future classes. Firstly, what I learned from the exercise was that I needed to sharpen my geography skills. Furthermore, I learned that acquiring knowledge of other countries and where they are in the world is imperative for a business owner. How can a business be expanded into foreign territory if knowledge of other countries is not acquired? This concept was key in my comprehension of unit 7 and all that it had to offer.
In conclusion, the concepts taught in this class were quite informative. Although I enjoyed some units more than others, the way that the units were taught was quite creative. I enjoyed the amount of effort that was put into creating videos to help further our knowledge and understanding of the concepts within each unit. Furthermore, I felt that the discussion exercises were quite effective in helping me grasp the concepts. Overall, the content within the modules was quite effective in helping me comprehend the information provided in the book.
Edited by Waleed Mustafa on Apr 22 at 10:57am
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Collapse Subdiscussion Tuyet Huynh
Tuyet Huynh
ThursdayApr 22 at 11:39am
I have always been interested in Leadership. I've been working for 8 years, in two different environments. Both jobs require a lot of customer services. Leadership plays such an important role in an organization. Customer services are hard jobs because we're dealing with people, and not everyone is as easy. Employees for sure have a lot of down time when they got scold for no reasons. Any companies that have a good leadership will understand how to treat their employees right and being able to keep talented people to work for them. Researches have found that most employees would stay at a firm longer if they're satisfied with the way their companies treat them. Employees are willing to turn down a job with slightly higher salary just because they believe they are being treated very well in their current job, and don't want to risk leaving. A business with a strong leadership is like a home with a good foundation.
Business-strategy is another topic that I had some sort of experiences with. I work for a local business from the time they started open a new location so I can see how important it is to plan a good business strategy. The team had to realize their strengths and weaknesses, who are their competitors, what are the threats and what they had to do in order to stand out. How about when things go wrong? If their business strategy does not work, what is going to happen with at decline stage? The team had to sit down and really look further to prepare for anything that could happen. I thought this is very crucial for any businesses to take it seriously. Don't ever underestimate your competitors and don't ever rest on your laurels.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Nathan Settelmaier
Nathan Settelmaier
ThursdayApr 22 at 3:02pm
Hey Tuyet,
Although I've never worked in customer services, I did work as a soccer referee. As with referees in pretty much any sport, as you say, we often got "scolded for no reason". I definitely understand how it feels to deal with a wide range of people, good and bad. To tie it into the topic of leadership that you brought up, that's a good point I never really thought about. When I started as a teenager and got yelled at by coaches and parents for the first time, it definitely didn't feel good. However, the head of the referee organization was watching my game and gave me plenty of support and reassurance that I was doing well throughout the game, and this helped a lot. Like your customer service example, having a good leader and structure was key in my time as a referee until I built up tolerance to the negative people.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Joshua Nguyen
Joshua Nguyen
FridayApr 23 at 12:02pm
Hi Tuyet, I agree completely and I remember reading how important a good leader is. The leader sets the tone for the rest of the employees, so it's important for them to do things right. Money isn't everything, so that's why a lot of people are willing to decline the extra paying job for the job that offers better treatment. I think even if you aren't in a leadership position, it's important to still implement some of the things we've learned in order to stand out and show your bosses they made the right choice hiring you. The business strategy concept was definitely the most important to me. No matter where you work, there should always be a business strategy. There should be a plan for the future, whether it's a plan for when business is going well or poorly. I hope I can help a future business come up with a business plan in the future and ensure that they thrive.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Angel Santillan
Angel Santillan
YesterdayApr 24 at 7:25pm
Hi Tuyet,
I agree that leadership is an important aspect to an organization. I think it can have a great effect on not only the people working but also the culture within an organization. Often times poor leadership can cause a toxic work environment. When this happens it can be bad not only for the company and their reputation, but also the employees and their mental health. I think customer service jobs can be extremely difficult, so I agree that leadership is very important in this type of role. I agree with you, when a company has good leadership, they tend to understand how to treat employees and often have a great culture and environment within the organization. Also, I really enjoyed your point on business-strategy. I agree that it is very important to local smaller business to have a good strategy because they already have so many obstacles to be successful. Great post Tuyet!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Nathan Settelmaier
Nathan Settelmaier
ThursdayApr 22 at 3:15pm
I definitely found the concept of global strategy the most interesting. Particularly as I get my degree in Information Systems, I see the growing effects of tech in globalization. As a facet of that, understanding other place's culture, history, art, language, and even geography is beneficial. I meant to study abroad for a semester, but unfortunately, it was canceled due to covid. The example of Starbucks failing to understand the culture and consumer market in Australia was especially illustrative of the importance of cultural understanding. Particularly as an American, we are geographically and financially isolated from much of the world, and have little understanding of anywhere else, as evidenced by the video of people not being able to name any countries. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, it will become more and more important to at least have an understanding of other places so that we can do business, connect with, and understand each other.
I would love to work for an international company, or remotely so that I am able to travel as I work, and the concepts provided in the global strategy chapter provided the foundations for understanding the international corporate workings of the world from the inside, not just as a visitor or outsider. It demonstrated that everything is interconnected, and something that works or is liked in one place, may not be at all in another. I hope to take the lessons learned in this chapter about adaptability and cultural education and apply them in my personal life, so that I may become a more well rounded world citizen. (Happy Earth Day!!)
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Collapse Subdiscussion Waleed Mustafa
Waleed Mustafa
ThursdayApr 22 at 6:25pm
Hi Nathan, I found the global strategy topic to be quite interesting as well. I am sad to hear that you were unable to study abroad due to the pandemic. It is always unfortunate to think about all of the activities and plans that have been cancelled as a result of the pandemic. It seems as though traveling is a passion of yours, as you mentioned the desire to travel for your job. Having the ability to see the world is extremely important in truly understanding other countries and their cultures. It is difficult for one to truly understand another culture without either visiting the country, or taking the time to study that country's culture. Furthermore, the knowledge that you acquire from learning other cultures can help you significantly in a job that requires you to travel. I can most definitely say that the experiences I have had in other countries have shaped who I am today. Overall your post was great, and I enjoyed your contribution to the discussion Nathan!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Ivan Pineda
Ivan Pineda
ThursdayApr 22 at 5:07pm
As a business student I could argue that the majority of concepts covered in this semester will likely be applicable to many of my future work experiences. I was impressed with how many of the concepts in the course applied to my previous work experiences, being that most of my experiences are in the hospitality industry. Some of the concepts that i found particularly interesting were surrounding the value chain analysis and how firm's create value, specifically the four criteria that a firm's resources have to posses in order to maintain a sustainable advantage. I feel like if you took a poll of business students at the very least more than half of them would answer yes if you asked them if they wanted to own their own business one day and almost all of them would answer similarly if you asked them whether they wanted to be any type of business leader one day. I'm making that generic assumption based on my interactions with my peers in previous classes and my own desire to own a business some day and/or be part of a senior leadership team in a firm. In my opinion this concept provided a very clear breakdown how a firm can leverage resources to provide them a competitive advantage. Whether you are managing your own business or someone else's these concepts can be invaluable to creating value and leveraging resources. As the book states, resources alone are not the only basis of competitive advantage but they can be leveraged to provide a sustainable advantage, drive revenues, or reduce costs for firms who do it correctly. Anyone that can do this successfully would surely provide value to their own firm or a firm they are working for and would likely be rewarded for it in the form of raises or promotions.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Erin Woodruff
Erin Woodruff
ThursdayApr 22 at 5:44pm
I personally have easily learned more in this class than I have in any class in my four years of being at UTA. Even though my main focus is marketing, it makes complete sense why this class will also help in my future and I cannot wait to apply what I have learned in the future work force. Unit 3 materials- the internal environment and sustainable competitive advantages, was the first unit that caught my interest in this course.
The topic that interested me the most had to have been the VRINO framework. Something that I had never heard of before that seems to be such a big part of business strategy, is the VRINO analysis. Strategic management is so important when it comes to being successful in corporate companies. Therefore, it is prominent that organizations know what they can and what they are able to do in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage, and that is what we call the VRINO analysis. It makes your competitive idea easy to differentiate by analyzing if it is valuable, rare, inimitable, and/or organized. By applying this analyzation, it will make your company sustainable and will decide if this decision is a good or bad idea for your corporation.
I believe the reason of my interest in this topic is that how I can use this in the future while working (hopefully) at a job that I enjoy. I have always been a competitive and creative person and with that, it would be great to come up with new out of the box ideas that could set my organization apart from other competitors in a positive way.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Waleed Mustafa
Waleed Mustafa
ThursdayApr 22 at 6:53pm
Hi Erin, it is interesting to read that you learned more in this class than any other class at UTA. That fact is especially interesting considering that you are a marketing major. I personally am an information systems major, and am taking two very interesting marketing classes in social media marketing and consumer behavior. However, I do agree that this class has been excellent, and quite accommodating. The VRINO framework is one of my favorite topics in this class as well, since it can be applied to so many aspects of one's work life. I feel that the topic of the VRINO framework has been mentioned so many times during this course that it will forever stick with me throughout my career. With that being said, it is safe to say that I will be leaving this class with some extremely valuable information. Hopefully you are able to apply the VRINO framework in your future job Erin!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Taylor Brady
Taylor Brady
ThursdayApr 22 at 5:56pm
A concept that I surprisingly found interesting was the VRI/NO framework and analysis which measures value, rarity, and imitability and organizational ability. This is then used to assess an organization's potential, competitive advantages, and current situation. This interest didn't hit right away, it wasn't until I was writing out an entire discussion post, applying VRINO to why Starbucks is successful and how they sustain competitive advantage, that made me realize how useful this topic truly is. As I currently work for Starbucks is was easy to apply this knowledge to the work I see Starbucks put in from the Barista perspective. VRI/NO will also aid me in future positions I hold within companies to better the companies and promote ideas within the organization through the lens of VRI/NO.
Another concept from this course that I found interesting was Chapter 11’s focus on strategic leadership and how it is tied to emotional intelligence. As someone who is very interested in learning more about people and ensuring that everyone is in a good state of mind learning about how to be an effective leader emotionally is very enthralling to me. The emotional intelligence section addresses the capacity of recognizing one’s own emotions and those of others and the 5 components, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill, involved with that. I believe this will be beneficial in my future career as it highlights the human side of being a leader or in a managerial position. Yes, getting work done is important, but ensuring everyone is in the right headspace to do so and finding ways to maximize that “right headspace” is equally important.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Maher Ibrahim
Maher Ibrahim
FridayApr 23 at 4:16am
As stated in previous discussion posts I have worked at a commercial gym called Youfit for 2 years and have seen many reasons why it was successful and what lead up to its ultimate downfall one of the main topics that particularly were interesting that play a role in its defeat was unit 3 simply internal environment and competitive advantages. While Covid-19 was at its peak Grebb Abbott decided to open gyms at half capacity opening the flood gates of everyone going back to the gym. However, youfit thought it was a good idea to postpone their reopening for a month after many large chains decided. This ultimately lead to many of our members leaving entirely and go to other chain gyms around the area. To put the cherry on top many locations simply close outright causing people no place to go to cancel their membership unless they went out of their way to come to locations that were hours away or to mail a certified letter stating that they want to cancel (With 10.81 in envelope LOL! Trust me I had to deal with the nastiest customers rightfully so but first hand I was told that they planned on moving down the gym across the street. Just recently I saw a photo of the old location I worked at and on a Monday afternoon, it was squeaky quiet I have never seen that my entire time working there. Just wondering when they're going to close it down so I can rent out space for my own gym!
Discussion Topic 2 of 2:
· First of all I would like to say I really enjoyed the course. I highly appreciated the effort my team put into the assignments. I think this has so far been the most team oriented class I have taken. Furthermore I highly appreciated the fast reactions from you, Professor Parker, when you saw that certain questions in the quizzes were not giving you the results you were hoping for. I thought the grading of the quizzes was extremely fair even if at times it was a bit frustrating as a student.
The one thing I might have liked to have in this class would have been a periodic get together especially in order for you to highlight what aspects you were looking for in our papers. I think with a bit clearer guidance of what you would expect from us, the case analysis might have turned out better.
Another thing I would have found useful to learn material would have been some practice quizzes throughout the modules. For example my finance class uses canvas to create quizzes we can re-take as often as we want that ask us important questions about the theory of the material in the class, these homework assignments are mandatory but because you can retake them not all too hard. They do however provide a perfect practice for the exams that are very intense.
While I enjoyed the discussion section and understand that this is to replace a discussion that should have been held in class, I think the way this was set up might have seemed a bit forced at times. Here again, I would have welcomed a good discussion in a virtual environment such as teams.
Again, I highly appreciated you communication. You seemed to be ahead of the game and were very quick to respond to issues that might arrive.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Tuyet Huynh
ThursdayApr 22 at 10:55am
Hi Alex, I had a really great teams for this class too. It's nice to hear that most of us have good teams. Isn't that mean every single one of us is very responsible and really put effort in this course? A discussion in a virtual environment would be a little hard for him to grade, I thought, but it would be very interesting to attend. This course was the one I complaint the most about when the semester first started, but now that I look back, I seem to really enjoy it. And you're right, he is very ahead of the game which makes me feel like he knows what he's doing, and it's great.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Larissa Brown
ThursdayApr 22 at 11:27am
Alexander,
Professor Parker was very fair and helpful throughout this semester. It was smart of him to allow us to get 3 attempts on the quiz but averaged out the grade to ensure that we are understanding the concept that we previously missed on the quiz taken before hand. I am sure if this course was online 2 that would not have been discussion post required every 2 weeks but this was to ensure that we were keeping up with the material and engaging with other students in this course. I hope you had a great semester!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Nathan Settelmaier
ThursdayApr 22 at 12:34pm
Alexander,
I have to agree with you that the team oriented nature of the class was refreshing. I skipped a few grades, and as such, was only able to have 2 years at UTA, of which only 1 semester was on campus, in person. Suffice to say, my social experience within classes was lacking. It was really nice to have a team that we remained in contact with throughout the semester, not just a 1 and done group.
As for the rest of your comments on the class, you hit the nail on the head. Discussions did feel a bit forced at times, though I don't think there's any way to easily remedy this. That's just how they are sometimes. Communication and grading definitely felt clear and fair. And I agree, A bit more communication on the project may have been good. It felt a little too open ended in some ways. I definitely enjoy the freedom, but at times my group and I weren't really sure if what we were writing was what we were supposed to be writing.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Waleed Mustafa
ThursdayApr 22 at 12:52pm
Hi Alexander, I too enjoyed the team oriented aspect of this course. Working in teams is a great way to develop imperative collaborative skills. In the work place, it is inevitable that one will work with others. Therefore, it is understandable that there is a great emphasis on group work in this course. Furthermore, my teammates were great in communicating and working on the assignments. If this class was in person, it would have been great to have met my classmates along with some of the other students in this class. In addition, I enjoyed the point you made about the professor acknowledging the questions that most did not perform well on, and accommodating us in those situations. I highly recommend that this be repeated in future semesters, as it creates a positive and engaging environment for students. When I notice the effort that a professor puts into making the course enjoyable, it motivates me to work harder and engage more. Great post Alexander!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Bidusi Dhakal
FridayApr 23 at 11:05pm
Hello Alexandar
I agree with you this was also the most team oriented class I have taken so far, and I really liked it, because we helped each other learn and better understand concepts we were confused about. I also think it's important to learn how to work with other people, because in the future we need to be able to work well with our coworkers. These types of interactions really prepares us for the job environment. Another thing you mentioned that I really relate with is, that professor Parker has fast reactions to email and gets back at us quickly. This is something I really appreciate, because some of my professors don't respond to my emails at all, or respond when it's too late. I liked reading your post and seeing that I also relate to most of the things you mentioned.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Taylor Brady
YesterdayApr 24 at 2:54pm
Hi Alexander!
I agree with your point that practice quizzes would've been really useful for this class to really aid in learning the course material. A get-together every now and then would've been very useful also just to make sure everyone is excelling in the course and understands what needs to be done. I personally really enjoyed the discussion post aspect of this class and how it allowed every student to discuss what exactly they thought about the material we were learning at the time and how they applied that knowledge.
While this class was challenging I'm happy we both excelled and enjoyed it.
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Collapse Subdiscussion Angel Santillan
YesterdayApr 24 at 7:10pm
Hi Alexander,
I agree with you, this has really been one of my more enjoyable courses this semester. I especially appreciated how organized this class was and the professionalism that was displayed by everyone including professor Parker. I agree that a periodic get together would have made some assignments more clear and would of helped in having a better understanding of what professor Parker was looking for. I also agree that quizzes for practice on each chapter would have been a tremendous help in learning and retaining the topics we learned. I also agree with your point on the discussion aspect of the class. One thing I recommended was to have fewer of them in a longer period of time. I think this would give people more time to give more meaningful discussions and not feel forced to put one up because of the lack of time. Great post Alexander!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Larissa Brown
ThursdayApr 22 at 11:04am
When the semester first started I immediately was stressing about this course. As the weeks passed I finally found a routine that worked for me and I was not stressed anymore. When the I was writing the first discussion post, and took the first quiz I did not know what to expect. Professor Parker was very organized and I appreciate the way he had this course laid out. When a course is not organized that is when everything gets confusing but that was not the case here. Professor Parker was quick to respond to any email I sent him and was very helpful when I was confused. A student can tell when a professor cares and you have shown that you do care about your students. This course was not easy but it is definitely doable. For future semesters in this course I would keep everything the same because it works. I am very happy at the outcome of this course and I would recommend any student to take Professor Parker! Thank you for a great semester!
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Collapse Subdiscussion Tuyet Huynh
ThursdayApr 22 at 11:42am
Short and nice opinion Larissa! I notice he didn't say we have to follow any words count. I bet all of us have the same thought when we first started. The course however flows so well I did not know we're so close to the end already. Such a great environment for a virtual class. I enjoyed his class overall :)
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Collapse Subdiscussion Waleed Mustafa
ThursdayApr 22 at 1:02pm
Hi Larissa, I felt the same about the rigor of the course in the beginning. What the professor has been able to do with this course is combine a great mix of rigor and enjoyment. I like how you mentioned the organization of this course. There seems to be a great combination of resources to help students grasp concepts within the modules. I can only imagine how great this course would have been with professor Parker if it were taught in person. However, even under the circumstances of online, I felt that the course was great. Students can most definitely tell when a professor cares about their students, and it is quite clear that professor Parker seems to want the best for us students. overall you brought about some great points to the discussion Larissa!