There are lots of inspirational people who have affected me throughout my life, but my mother has been the most inspirational and important person in my life. She is now a housewife who takes care of my daily life after we came to Canada. You would never know that she used to be a successful businesswoman and made a fortune out of ‘paper’ (presswork) decade ago. She gave all her business up for my brother and me, because we had to move to Vancouver and study. She has taught me a lot of things. She taught me that women have to be financially independent first then ask the masculine society for equality. In addition, I also learnt from her that knowledge is the key to the future, and possessing solid foundation of knowledge will ensure me a successful future. That was why my mom sent me here to learn English and broaden my knowledge of the world. She is not only a tough businesswoman, but also a caring mother. She plays both roles so perfectly that makes me believe that women can be successful in both career and family. She is a role model and inspirational figure for me, and I wish I can be as successful as her one day in my future.

Since the first class back in September, I have learned many valuable lessons from this course. First and the most important is that I learned to be organized. From Comm 299 interview session, I prepared my first portfolio with resume, cover letter and reference letter in my life, and did question-answering practice at home. The whole preparation gave me a general idea how a formal interview should be treated and what things are there to look for in order to have a successful interview. I understood that fully prepared would help me to be confident in what I am saying in interview, showing full knowledge and proficiency. In addition, Comm299 taught me how to utilize resources in finding jobs online and getting connected. COOL website is a great place to look for internships, full and part-time jobs. Its extremely useful to have access to this website because we now have our own database which is beneficial for both employees and employers. On the other hand, comm299’s public speaking class helped me overcome my fear of speaking in front of people.  Speech topics had a wide range, from politics to toasting speech, which gave us lots of fun. Comm 299 is a great course because we learned necessary skills in becoming a successful and professional businessmen and women.

On Thursday, September 16^th 2010, the “Canada’s most international bank” (as it refers to itself), Scotiabank, claims that it had an agreement with Commerzbank AG to acquire a wholesale bank, Dresdner Bank Brasil S.A, in Sao Paulo. Because of the fact that Dresdner Bank holds a multiple banking license, it provides Scotiabank with necessary tools to open up the markets in Brazil. Scotiabank also said that: “it expects to be the only Canadian bank in Brazile with a multiple banking license.” Scotiabank not only wants to be the pioneer, but also wants to dominate over the markets there.  By buying this bank at Brazil, Scotiabank wishes to branch out its reputation and strength to Latin America and expand its markets throughout Latin America gradually.  I think Scotiabank is smart in the way that it heads down to Latin America, a developing country, to look for opportunities and markets that are mostly depleted in North American markets. It avoids direct competition in North America and shifts its direction to a place where tremendous growth is potential.

Reference website: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/09/16/scotiabank-brazil.html

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