Pac-Man in Switzerland

This is what happens when you mix design students and business students in a castle in Gruyeres, Switzerland. I swear this wasn't planned at all. Kudos to Brandon Weber for editing the video.

Thanks to Stephen R. Covey Group and Huntsman School

The Stephen R. Covey Group is a wonderful organization to intern with and I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to work with the Great Work, Great Career project. Janita Andersen has become a good friend of mine along with others in the organization as well. I also want to extend a thank you to the wonderful staff of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business and Utah State University's Career Services. Without these people mentoring us along the way throughout the Great Work, Great Career process, I don't know how it would have turned out! Relying on people who have more experience than yourself is very important and Utah State University has plenty of faculty and staff with good experience.

I highly recommend that students at Utah State University, especially in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, take advantage of the internship program. They can open doors in your life that you never knew were there and I can't imagine my college experience without having applied the principles I learn in class into real life. If a student will visit the internship coordinators, the career accelerators, and Career Services, there is no way he or she wouldn't succeed upon graduation. Each of these three organizations have been very kind to me and true friends in my life.

Stephen R. Covey Certification & Closing Event

Last Tuesday night we celebrated the completion of the Great Work, Great Career Learning Group experience for over 30 students!

To receive certification, students completed the online learning lessons, set goals, attended weekly classes with other students, and made moves towards applying principles into their lives and career searches.

Janita Andersen of the Stephen R. Covey Group joined us once again for the celebration, along with Dr. Chris Fawson, Krystn Clark, and many other influential faculty and staff members of the Huntsman School of Business.

Students received the Stephen R. Covey Certificates one-by-one after a few opening remarks from Janita Andersen and Lynne Pettit, lead facilitator. Following the ceremony, students engaged with employers from over 13 organizations across Utah Valley in a special networking event hosted by Donna Crow and Melissa Scheaffer of Career Services.

Over the last two months of the group, many students have already obtained jobs, internships, and are engaging in applications and interviews towards graduate school. Many others have found their passion and are now striving to attain it. 

We are excited to hear about the many successes of the students from this first ever Great Work, Great Career Learning Group throughout the future!

Our Meeting with Covey Executives!

This week we had the privilege to spend time with Jennifer Colosimo!


Jennifer is the co-author on Dr. Covey's Great Work, Great Career. Jennifer currently serves as the Chief Learning Officer of FranklinCovey. Janita Andersen of FranklinCovey also joined us on this evening.


Jennifer shared her career path and life experiences, teaching us to take charge of our lives and "create our own weather." Jennifer emphasized the importance of controlling "what you think, what you say, and how you behave" in making real changes within your circle of influence. Students discussed reation vs response and shared their own experiences and real life examples with each other.

After class, students were able to meet and discuss with Jennifer one-on-one at a special pie social.

Of her interaction with Jennifer, one student, Anna Guadarrama, says, "Jennifer Colosimo has become one of the most influential of today's leaders I can look up to. She reflects confidence and truth that one can live a fulfilled life with great work, despite the challenges one must face."

This was a special evening with such amazing business leaders. Thank you to Jennifer Colosimo and Janita Andersen for spending time with our class!

This week, take special notice of the opportunities that come up in your work environment where you get to decide whether to be reactive or responsive. Avoid passiveness or passion/reactiveness. Take charge!

The End is Not the End

I can't believe it. Yesterday was the final day of "school," for the Design Thinking program. Only one week left to explore and create, or should I say, design more experiences that will shape my future. It's hard to believe that things are coming to an end. There was so much anticipation for this journey to begin and now we near the end. But I hope this is not the end. I don't believe it has to be. For me personally, I hope to make it the beginning of a new life. A life forever altered by all that has taken place the last three or so weeks.

Coming on this trip has been a sacrifice for all of us, some maybe more than others. Many left behind spouses and children with faith that what would take place here would be worth it. Me personally, I parted with my wife and my daughter, which has been something of a hardship at times. Regardless of each person's individual situations, weall left our homes, families and way of life with faith that this program would enrich our lives enough to make it all worth it. I can't speak for everyone (though I feel I possibly could), but for me, it has been worth it. The sacrifice feels to have yielded a greater, long-lasting reward.

The collaboration of the business department and the design department was a unique idea. I was curious to see how the two schools of thought would mesh. How we would learn from one another. We all seemed so different. But you know what? I think we found out we were more the same than anyone would have ever guessed. I learned so much from the business students and professors (I am a design student, by the way). Not only did we educate one another with our knowledge of our respective fields, but we taught one another more than that. Forging relationships-friendships would be a better way of saying it-I learned lessons from a perspective outside of my own. The two different brains, the left from the business and right from the design, brought together created a new way of thinking. We learned together the attributes of human centered design. Seeing and experiencing history, in person, specifically design in history, along with new and modern forms of human centered design, accelerated the learning process and made a huge impact. We learned a lot from all we saw and did, but I think we learned just as much from each other.

As I review all the events of the last few weeks, my initial feeling is that of sadness that it is so quickly coming to an end. Then I think of what will live on and feel nothing but joy. The lessons were not just for a grade, not just for USU credit-they were life lessons. They were real. I'm sure that years down the road I will recall my days here and pull inspiration and ideas from what took place in the beautiful land of Switzerland. The friendships forged here will go on. I have no doubt many of us will keep in touch for decades to come. Coming to Switzerland may have taken us away from home, family and our way of life for a time, but what I, personally, have gained during this time will be with me forever. It is not the end. It is only the beginning.

The view in Leysin:

Olympic museum:

Chillon Castle:

Castle ruins in Sion:

The Valley of Death on the way to St. Bernard Hospice/Monestary:

Cow fighting:

Yvoire, France:

Cathedral in Fribourg after a barefoot pilgrimage:

From the top of the cathedral:

Solar boat experience:

Rolex Learning Center:

Castle view in Spiez:

This is how you feel when you're in Switzerland:

The days are long, but always worth it:

Vitrahaus:

The most beautiful mountains and hike in history:

Freitag store:

Me with my mustache:

Thanks for reading!

And Finally, Geneva

Our official study program came to a close on Friday, June 25, with a trip to Geneva. Geneva is a beautiful, international city with a bustling city center and incredible museums. It is also the watch (as in time pieces) capital of the world. We had an incredible visit to a Patek Phillipe watch collection that included over 1000 historically significant time pieces, many of which were made for and owned by royalty. The artistry and craftmanship of the pieces in the collection were stunning.

At the end of the day everyone was weary but fullfilled. Field guides with the attendent assignments were completed and plans for continued travel were finalized. It's been a wonderful experience that none of us will ever forget. Thanks especially to Professor Bob Winward, our leader, mentor and guide and to Dr. Chris Fawson whose teaching sessions added so much to our experience.

-Dave Clark

Freitag Bags in Zurich

One of the most interesting business visits we've made came on Thursday, June 24, in Zurich. We went to Freitag, a company founded in 1993 by design students in Zurich who wanted to make sturdy, waterproof bags for carrying art and school supplies. They came up with the idea of making bags out of discarded tarps that are widely used in Europe of cover truck loads. After a long period of making bags for friends and friends-of-friends the demand for the product began to grow and the company now has an international sales presence. To fit with it's image of recycling otherwise outlived materials the company constructed its headquarters building in a rundown section of Zurich using old shipping containers. It was a fascinating example of design and business synergy.

-Dave Clark