Keys for Economic Success

1. Hard Work
2. Opportunity
3. Skill
4. Luck
     The way I look at this is if I was an employer looking to hire a new employee, what traits would I want this person to have. Most importantly, I would want someone who is dedicated to their trade and will work at it no matter what. I ranked hard work above anything else because I feel that if a person has a strong work ethic, they are able to achieve anything. It doesn't matter how skilled someone is at their craft, but whether or not they are willing to work at it. No one is good at something without working and practicing it. I ranked opportunity next, ahead of skill, because a person can have all the skill in the world, but if they do not have the opportunity to use that skill, they can't really be successful. After opportunity comes skill. As an "employer", I would want my employee to have some skill in the area to which he is applying, however, in many things skill comes with practice. I ranked luck last because luck is not something that can be controlled like the three previous ideas. If someone is relying solely on luck for their success, they most likely will not be successful.

What I Learned Today

Esri uses data analysis and demographics to
create maps for their companies.

      Today, I decided to research about what big companies do to decide where they will put their next store and what their requirements are. Companies have many things to think about before opening a new store, and many of these things differ depending on what the store sells. One main thing companies have to worry about is not only where the population of consumers is now, but where they will be 15-20 years from now. These companies are not trying to build stores that are going to thrive at first, but in 10 years fail. They want to build stores in places where they can thrive for a lifetime. What I learned was that many companies use a software called "Esri" that takes all of these factors into account and creates a technological platform to visualize this data in the form of a map. They then provide this map to the executives of the companies and they decide where to place a store. This map makes the process much simpler for the company becuase there is not only data specific to the companies needs, but it is in an easy to understand, helpful platform. Using this data, companies are able to determine where they can place a store to exapand the company and boost revenue and sales. Some examples of companies that use this software are Petco, Wendy's, and Starbucks. Petco, for example, has made great use out of this software. When deciding where to place a store, Petco must find a location where much of the population owns pets, and where there is not a competing pet store nearby. Esri takes these requirements and finds the best locations for Petco to place their next store. 

Immigrant Letter

Old Friend,

            It’s been a while since I’ve seen you last, and I am sorry I haven’t written more. I have been so busy trying to get my family settled in to our new life here in America. For the time being, we have moved into a small neighborhood with people we met on our journey, they are from Ireland too. There are many Irish living here with us, but we will not stay here for long. When we got here, we lacked the economic foundation to establish ourselves in the city. We spent almost everything we have on the journey over, and we are all having a difficult time finding work in the city. It’s not that there’s not enough jobs available, but many of us lack the education necessary to do them. Also, we are being discriminated against for just being Irish. Many people will not even let us apply for jobs because of our ethnicity. I cannot wait until we can find work and, hopefully, move into the city.

            It’s strange though, how it seems like no one else wants us here. Aside from the other Irish, most people treat us like we’re nothing to them. We are all facing hostility from the natives, and it is very difficult for us to get along with the other immigrants. I don’t understand why we are all upset with each other, because we all want the same thing. I know I can speak for everyone when I say that we all just want to be a part of this culture. We don’t care about our old traditions anymore; we just want to be “American”.

            I know your family was trying to get the money to make it over here, and I hope you can come soon.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Until next time,

                                                                                          Tabitha