Finding a Direction

This past week was quite difficult. At the beginning of the week, I managed to compile a list of 25 professional mobile app companies. Initially, this process was going quite smoothly but the challenge was trying to find all 25. Finding the first 10 was quite easy but restrictions such as commute time and reputation made the process selective. One of the most important things I learned this week was contacting professionals. Initiating contact is a huge leap in the process of finding a mentor and eventually creating a final product. I filled out several contact forms and started calling companies, but I am yet to receive a response. Getting a response seems like the hardest part of my ISM journey so far, primarily because it is completely out of my control. While I am still awaiting responses from professionals I previously contacted, this will continue to work down my list of 25 professionals. Perhaps the biggest challenge I faced this past week was writing my research assessment. I want my research assessment to be a cohesive reflection of what I learned and to do this I needed a specific direction to take my research. Finding this direction proved to be an obstacle. I do not want my research assessments to seem very random and loosely related as that reflect unorganization and in turn, unprofessionalism. An unprofessional reflection would undermine the purpose of ISM. I eventually found my direction in wanting to focus on how decisions by mobile app programmers affect the consumer experience. Everything I research has to relate to the consumer somehow. As this first six weeks has drawn to a close, I look forward to tackling the most assiduous six weeks yet.