Resume

Terra Palmer                                                                                               terra.palmerzz@gmail.com

Professional Profile

I am a self-driven professional who is experienced with more than 14 years of sales success. My greatest strength is the ability to see and act on opportunities of growth.

•   Ability to "Read" Customers
•  Tenacity
•  Clear Communication Skills
•  Ability to Use "Positive Language"

Professional Accomplishments

Sales

• Quarterly achieved Gold Status which was 30% above the mandatory sales quota 
•    Increased my stores credit card applications by 3% in the first month of hire
•  Trained district stores to increase credit card applications
•    Known for the ability to build relationships and educate customers, resulting in customer satisfaction, retention, and increase sales

Customer Service

• Provided friendly advice to a diverse clientele, promoting Wells Fargo and Toys “ R” Us  costumer-orientated image.
•  Became the lead "go-to" person for new   reps and particularly challenging calls as one of the company’s primary mentors/trainers of both new and established employees.
•  Managed a high-volume workload within a deadline-driven environment. Resolved an average of 550 inquiries in any given week and consistently met performance benchmarks in all areas (speed, accuracy, volume).

Management

• Supervised 50 out of season to 150 employees in season. 
•  Primarily responsible for driving daily operational excellence, ensuring compliance requirements are met, managing the losses and coaching staff associates to high performance levels. Coach and train the team to process transactions accurately, efficiently, and in accordance with established policies and procedures. Provide input to sister stores on staff recruiting and performance.
•   Responsible for maintaining and exceeding stores daily sales quota
•  Maintained a high level of teamwork and moral through group goals and associates value to the company.

Work History

2010-Current

Substitute, Lake Dallas ISD, Lake Dallas, TX

2012-Current

Lead Packer, Sub-Contractor, Dallas, TX

2012-Current

Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children, CASA of Denton County, Denton, TX

2008-2009

Front-end Department Manager, Toys “R” Us, Lewisville, TX

2006-2008

Lead Teller, Wells Fargo, Denton, TX

Education

Nursing

North Central Community College

Corinth, TX

2017

References

[References are available upon request.]

Slides I Created from Grammar Guide

An Important Skill for College

People Skills is Essential to College Survival

 There is no one hundred percent, guaranteed-to-work survival guide to college but there are several skill to help a new college student make it through college unscratched. One key skill is people skills. What do people skills include? People skills include effective communication, efficient collaboration with other human beings and acceptance of fellow school mates. Not only are people skills essential to college, but they are essential in everyday life.

Communication

                Communication is not just a way of talking someone’s ears off. It is the process of sending and receiving messages. It involves active listening and respectful body motion when interacting with others. Making frequent eye contact with the person talking, listening to what is being said, clarifying what is being said by asking questions, repeating details here and there, and eliminating as many distractions as possible are a huge part of communication. Another form of communication is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is also known as body language. Posture, tone of voice, and facial expressions are significant to body language. The student must always be sure that his or her verbal language and body language are on the same page, otherwise confusion will soon arise. Communication is the basis of people skills.

Collaboration

                At some point in life, the student will collaborate with another person whether it is a business deal, a project, or an activity that includes more than one person. In college, there will be times that the student is required to work with a partner or in a group. Working with others to achieve a common goal, and implementing more than one individual’s ideas is collaboration.  To collaborate efficiently, the student will have to communicate heavily with his or her partner(s). The student must ask questions if something is not completely understood, learn to compromise, speak his or her mind, split the work fairly, and always hold his or her end of the deal. Efficient collaboration will not only help the student reach his or her goals faster, but it will also encourage people to want to work with the student in order to achieve other unified goals inside and outside of college.

Acceptance

                Eliminating prejudice carves a path towards accepting others as they are. Once the student eliminates prejudice, he or she opens the door to what others have to say and offer. In college, the student will meet humans of difference sexual orientations, or opposing political views, nonreligious and other religious beliefs, various backgrounds, lifestyles, ethnicities, and some with disabilities. The word “People” in “People Skills” refers to interaction among these unique beings. When the student is assigned to a partner or group, he or she will eventually have to communicate and collaborate with someone who may be his or her exact opposite. Once the student gets past the Russian accent, or the fact that his or her partner has a unibrow, he or she will have succeeded in a key element of strengthening his or her people skills. Success is achieved when the student comes to realize that not everyone is like him or her; not everyone can meet his or her criteria whether that criteria is hygiene or finances; and, there are reasons behind a person’s actions, lifestyle, and clothing. Acceptance is not a part of “Asian Skills” or “Polysexual skills”. Acceptance is a part of “People Skills”. “People Skills” include everyone!

Resources

                A student will use people skills in college, outside of college, in his or her career, in public at the grocery store, and even with his or her family. Key elements of people skills are communication skills, collaboration skills and acceptance skills. These skills are vital because without them, unnecessary academic stress will build, confusion will drive a student up the wall, and unpleasant tension will destroy a peaceful atmosphere. If a student needs advice on communicating, collaborating, or with acceptance then the student should check out online student forums, a speech professor, or even a counselor. People skills are a skill that could always use improvement and will definitely aid the student’s college survival.

3 Questions for Saranita

 Three Truths and a Lie

1. What is your favorite movie?

•  Princess and the Frog

     2. What is your favorite hobby?

• Writing and Volunteering 

     3.Why did you decide to go to college?

• Because I wanted to become a teacher.

The lie was number three. She changed her mind to become a nurse, I think.

Biography

My Life to the Fullest

My name is Terra Ann Palmer. I am twenty-nine years old and am a freshman student at North Central Community College. I am the first child in my family to go to college. My grandmother earned her GED when she found out that I had completed mine. My youngest brothers stayed in school and graduated, because of the example I set. My greatest strength is my positive attitude. My most significant accomplishment was keeping two children from being permanently placed in foster care. Through my volunteer work, I was able to advocate for the reunification of the children with their parents.

I was born in Los Angeles County, in the state of California. My parents were products of the eighties era. My dad had a mullet and my mom had puffed up, permed hair, usually styled in a side ponytail held by a big hair scrunchy. They both were not even legal to drink when they decided to have a baby. The relationship did not last long, and my mother brought me to Texas. My childhood was not the best, but at least I had the sweet memories of building tree houses in the woods. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, fishing and traveling from Dallas to San Antonio. As a teenager, I dropped out of high school in ninth grade, when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I started working five days a week to support the house hold. My mom eventually moved to California, and I was on my own. I now have two children and was married for six years of, before I divorced. In the last two years, my life has dramatically changed for the better.

  Two years ago, I took a volunteer job as a child advocate. I advocate for abused children that had been taken away from their family by the state.  My job is to make sure the child or children stay safe at all times. I monitor the family’s weekly visits and keep up with their progress, in order to promote a safe and healthy unification. I spent a year investigating the well-being of the family’s case. This job played a big part in my motivation to becoming a better human being.  I started to become fascinated with people and began taking an interest in traveling. I wanted to see how other people lived.  

During the summer, I was employed as a packer. I packed everything from huge pristine houses to cute little homes of elderly couples. I love moving people. Right off the bat, customers are nervous about their valuables being taken apart and handled improperly. However, once I introduce myself and talk as proper as I act, the customers tend to relax more and I make them feel comfortable with the quality of service they are receiving. Staying in shape is another benefit to this job, there are days I work fifteen hours, of tough and sweaty manual labor, but boy do I enjoy fitting into my size two dress. I like feeling like I have earned my pretty things.

During the school year, I try to stay focused on getting my associates degree in nursing. I would like to nurse at a retirement home where I think my smile would benefit most. My plan is after I finish school and begin to work I will take one class at a time, in order to further my degree. It is a dream of mine to live in the country with at least a hundred acres and be able to pay for a mortgage in the city as well. I am hoping with a combined income that may not be too farfetched.

Turning twenty-seven had a significant impact on me. I directed my positive attitude towards accomplishing goals to lead a more self-sufficient meaningful life.  I started volunteering and I enrolled in college. I also lost weight and did quite a bit of traveling. In the past three years I have sky dived, rock climbed next to a volcano, river rafted in Washington, surfed in California, and snow boarded in Oregon. I took my two boys on an exciting adventure this last summer. I took them to California for two weeks. We went camping in San Diego, visited four beaches, swam in two, visited Disneyland twice and took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard. I am sure they learned a lot and saw the most interesting people at Venice Beach!

As for my children and my future goals for them, well, I can only hope I set a good enough example of self-sufficiency. I love my life. I would like to think my family is proud of the way I care for my children as well as the goals I am working on. I work hard to feel satisfied. I have come to realize that life is what I make of it, and I enjoy making it great!

Motivation – Popson’s Dilemma

            As a student I was happy to read a Professor trying, not only to get our attention, but to go above and beyond to figure out what motived us to succeed. Out of the eight Professors I chose one that was the most helpful in my opinion. Therefore I think it would be appropriate to list and explain each Professor and their advice by rating, starting with lowest to the highest.

1 for Professor Harvey

Let us start with “You can’t motive someone else.” Wow, it sounds like a bitter person who gave up on teaching a long time ago, if they even started in the first place. I thought teaching was about inspiring a passion for the subject at hand. Unless they took the job for the sake of clocking in and out, at which point you do not have to motive any one. As long as they can secure a check who cares? However, to say that they “can’t motive someone else” is an irritating lie to anyone with any compassion for evolution. They should at least be honest and say they are too lazy to care.

2 for Professor Buckley

            I gave this Professor a 2 not because of the lack of motivational advice, in fact, they were sweet suggestions. A personal learning contracts, different assignments and different due dates per each students, on top of coupons to ditch class. If I were a Professor trying to implement these strategies I would feel over whelmed. Is not the teachers supposed to set a system students can follow, one that works for both the teacher and the student. As far as coupons for missing any three classes that is almost asking for your students to leave. This is college not elementary school.

4.5 for Professor Donnelly

            Donnelly lost me at a quiz before every class. Too many students have a hard enough time with anxiety, to be slapped with it as soon as a student steps foot in a door is not a good start.  I agree with it in terms of discipline but certainly not motivation. Giving extra points for turning work in on time, well that is like saying the electric company will give you money back every time you pay your bill. Last, to reward every positive action with points and take off points when a student screws up, I think it would take too much time out of teaching. Not to mention the arguments about the points taken off.

5 for Professor Chang

            It was a good idea to get students involved with the environment. I think Chang was right to shoot to motive students through compassion, I just don’t see how the advice  would be diverse enough for a class like calculus.    

6.5 for Professor Assante

            I was sold on the fact that college grads make a million dollars more than high school grads. I am sorry did someone say a million bucks? You have my attention, especially when all I have to do is finish what I already started.

9 for Professor Egret

            This Professor cares about the teamwork among his students. I know from experience that pairing up or contributing in a group can put more value in the class as individuals and as an acting unit. I also support Egret’s idea to bring interesting topics to class.   

9.5 for Professor Fanning

            I gave this Professor a nine as well. I like the idea of the ladder effect; challenging students with one step at a time than climbing higher and higher. This seems to be the simplest yet most effective way to teach students by using baby steps to secure confidence.

10 for Professor Harvey

            This was my favorite. “Learning should be active and fun.” Keeping students active keeps them alert and focused. Having fun creates anticipation and competition. Teaching deep and important lessons will help students relate with the subject and most likely retain what they learn. To eliminate the focus of motivating and jump right into the fun of learning is the smartest way to keep a class stimulated.

My Personality Test

On the personality test there are four categories; helper, organizer, thinker, and catalyst. I scored highest as a thinker then an organizer, and tied with helper and catalyst. It makes sense that my strong suit would be thinker as I am often a problem solver. I was surprised to see organizer as my second strength due to my inability to remember anything. As far as being a helper and catalyst, well my glass is always half full; I do what I need to in order to always feel happy.

First off, I liked taking this test. It is intriguing to have a better insight on who I am or rather, how I think. Thus, I am a thinker. I like the whole idea of learning new things, whether it is about me or just something I have to do. Discovering new insights are adventures to me. Solving a thought or a problem would be like finding my gold. When I look at something new, I start by accepting my ignorance. This assures that arrogance will not get in the way of seeing the whole picture. I use the basics of human nature or mother nature, which ever suits, to analyze what I am dealing with. I love indulging in my intuition to fit the patterns together, like pieces to a puzzle.

 I try not to focus too much on the technicality of a problem so I can feel how it flows with its atmosphere, how it connects with the rest of the world, or at least with my world. For instance, I would like to improve my grammar. One on the biggest problems I have is paying attention to detail, like proof reading. I know this because I can see it in my math as well. Several times I get a problem wrong over a simple mistake. Had I paid attention to detail, I would have answered correctly. Although math and English are two different subjects, they still intertwine. Without noticing the flow, I would be stuck on the technicality of the problem as opposed to its pattern. Therefore, I would say my passion evolves around thinking.

Scoring second in organization was a shocker, I thought for sure it would rank last with me. I forget everything and I hate monotony. The reason I hate it is because I cannot master it. I do feel a lack of order. I appreciate what organization offers and I will say that I do enjoy being prepared. I looked at my class binders today and I was impressed to see how organized it was. At least I know my bad habit of forgetting things and do my best to work around it. Stability is also a trait I admire. I think stability goes hand in hand with organization.

It was interesting to see that I scored the same number for a helper as well as a catalyst. I do love to volunteer my labor and I am very pro for the welfare and happiness of others. However, I am not a push over. I can follow just as quick as I can lead. I will compromise on the behalf of the greater good not on the greater self, regardless if it is to my benefit. I do not mind standing alone against an angry mob who are hyped up about the latest emotional trend. I do not fear doing what is right. I do not fear thinking what is right. My strength gives me the ability to set a good example. That being said, I do not go looking for a fight. I only engage when I am forced to. I think my life style says more about me than my confrontations. I like a calm environment.

Completing this helped me understand myself a little better. It was nice to see that living in my head all day has its benefits to problem solving. Finding out that organization is my second strength is motivating. I will try to challenge myself by taking on a few more responsibilities as it would benefit me to be more reliable as far as time is concerned. Ranking the same as a helper as well as catalyst tells me I can do more for people through volunteer work since that is where strength in optimism and justice is needed the most.