Category Archives: Others

Recently I attended a Job Search Strategies workshop on Thursday, December 1^st. It is a presentation of job searching. It talks about how we can apply different strategies into interview and job researching in order to get into the job we are pursuing. The workshop tells me how to prepare for interview and use different utilities to search for jobs in a general sense.

Instructor started the workshop by telling us we should better know what we are looking for. For instance, it is a good idea to identify our goals and evaluate ourselves before we go into interview. We should look for realistic goal for a job instead of thinking unrealistically. In instructor’s words, we are the product for the job. Employers are looking for a specific product that can benefit their company and in particularly, they are choosing the quality of our production. Our ability to work is the production they are looking at. Therefore, employers are just like an individual that looking for some quality that stands out of the product. We have to understand our advantage and strength so that we know how to sell ourselves.

Knowing our interest and skills, then we should be aware of the opportunity we can get. There are many ways to search for jobs. For example, advertisement, website, and newspaper are all available for us to look for further information. Networking is another useful way of searching for jobs. Instructor also informed us several websites that can help us to develop a better understand of the work field.

Job searchers also need to know the position that you are interested it and try to make connection within the industry. Know the market is also very important for us because from the market we can gather information of where the jobs locate and how many possible employers are there.

In conclusion, I think the workshop is helpful and I would attend more workshops about job searching in the future.

The Breast Cancer Walk is supportive for the community to hear our voice. Our walk can inspire breast cancer patients and also get more people in our community to help the breast cancer patients. I think as a participant in this community service, I could use my time and energy to support the community. This community service work can spread out the information to all community members if we have more participants. Also, there were couple breast cancer walks took place in different area, such as Brooklyn.

I was happy when I heard I am engaging in this community service project because I was getting involved in this event and it was very meaningful to our community to support people in needed. I feel like this is a good opportunity for me and our fellow students to give back to the community.

I feel excited to give my little time and energy to help others. I am willing to do so because as a member in this community, I think I am responsible to help and give out my time to support this event because there would be more people to get inspired and follow our walk. It is an important event to show our energy and unite our community through this Breast Cancer Walk. I learn that I am a member in this community because everyone else can feel the excitement between the walkers. The people around me near the service site are all volunteers and they are giving more effort into the event. They organized well to direct the event. I learn that everyone has power to let people know more about breast cancer and raise awareness. People are so energetic to participate in the event resulting I am getting more involved in the walk and appreciate the time with all of them.

The best experience occurred while engaging in the Breast Cancer Walk was the enjoyment from the event because everyone around me was very devoted into the walk. What I learned from that was we can gather larger attention and even change other’s lives by gathering our voice together. I found this project related to our discussion of the “Leadership and Service”, because it reminds me that we should give back to our community so that it can be a better place for everyone to live in.

This community service experience changed my thinking toward my community in a way that I feel like everyone in this community is willing to help and support others. There were hundreds of volunteers working in the service sites to cheer people. I think by the experience, I would continue to do community service to help others.

From this experience, I realize myself as a member in this community; I do have a voice to join in the people. I can show my passion in it just like everyone else. I was satisfied with my experience overall. My group members were all enjoying the Breast Cancer Walk and it was fun. I see myself staying connected in the community and I am looking forward to doing more for my community in the future.

Everyone can contribute and bring change to the community they live in as long as they are willing to help their community.

Me and my fellow volunteers

For my group’s community service activity, we decided to join an event from New York Cares. We assisted an elementary school photography after-school program. Pictures are worth a thousand words.  We helped the community by teaching the young students how to identify, analyze, and make conclusions on what they see. These are life long lessons. Words are not presented everywhere we go. Thus, using descriptive skills can lead to better understandings not only of the picture but of the world.

When I think of volunteering, I usually think of a soup kitchen or a hospital. Although I have worked with kids, it wasn’t until this experience that I became more social with them. I thought it was be unmanageable and a bit chaotic.

            It felt good and enjoyable to give up my time and energy to help the kids learn about the world. We went to many diverse trips that showed them a different side of the world. (We went to volunteer for this after-school program more than once because it was such a delight the first time.)

             Even though the students were learning how to “read” pictures, I believe I caught some of the knowledge as well. It was interesting when we all went to the Ruben Museum of Art to see the Buddhist and Hindu statues, pictures, and photos. I learned that children are very engaging when it comes to art.  I learned that punctuality is important. If you’re not on time, then the show still goes on with or without you. I also learned that NY CARES is an amazing opportunity to do vast fields of volunteer work and still have loads of fun.

            The most trying experience would be bonding with the students. Fifth graders are the seniors of elementary school. They are the role models of all their younger peers. They are not little kids but are soon to be pre-teens who don’t favor the topics of silly cartoons or their favorite flavor of ice-cream. It was hard to talk to them about a subject we both were interested in. Silence usually filled the room. However I learned that this batch of fifth graders was into music and sports. Laughter and conversation soon spilled the once I realized there was common ground between us.

            Education is not just math and science. It is creativity, communications, and patience.

A group picture taken after the photo tour at the museum

By teaching the students how to identify photos, they achieved creativity. Creativity is necessary to help solve problems that d not have the most obvious solutions. The pictures and photos they analyzed were of different cultures and religion. This too, helped broaden their minds about the world and is a step to help make them be more open-minded to people that may not be of the same origin as they are.

            This volunteer experience relates to the Leadership and Service session in two ways. Being in charge of ten students is a big responsibility. Leadership was needed to help direct, assist, and be responsible of the students while we went on trips. The second way is that as a leader, I had to cooperate with the teachers and faculty and comply with their requests but also instruct tasks so the after-school trips would be a success.

            By this community service experience, I learned to be more patient. I am very outgoing and engaging but there were times when I needed to reserve myself and let the students take over those roles. Patience was the key.

            I think this community service activity impacted my decisions on what I want to do in the future. By volunteering, it helped me decide on what I want to become based on the experiences I went through instead of blindly picking a job. The most important thing I learned was to be open-minded. They are so many types of people, places, and jobs that it becomes a requirement to be observant and an acceptant of all types.

            I do see myself very well involved in community service because it is a chance to gain experience and have fun.

            A one sentence headline to sum up my experience would be, “Pictures worth a thousand words opened up minds and created relationships for future generation.”

               I attended the workshop which was called Job Search Strategies on Thursday on Dec 1st. Basically, it talked about how to search a job in an effective way. Also, it showed students how to prepare the informational interviewing. During the workshop, there were several conversations between the instructor and students which made everyone participate in the class, so students could get a lot of information about aiding their job search. Throughout the workshop, I was really enjoyed it and got a lot of ideas about the job search strategies.

                 First, we need to keep positive attitude for the research and understand what should we do or should not do. For example, we could keep dream of job but not unrealistic and open to the new possibilities instead of being rigid. Also, we
should not have a tendency toward catastrophizing, on the contrary, we should affirm ourselves and the work.

                  Additionally, in order to search different kind of jobs, we should research ourselves. For example, we should understand our own interests, personality, and skills. Also, we need to know how we value the job and go through the work environment. On the other hand, we should also research the market because as the time goes by, it would change a lot of things. Therefore, we should pay attention to the changes and keep up with it. In terms of those issues, we could use different kind of resource in order to keep track with market. For instance, we could make use of some websites on the internet, such as occupational outlook handbook, wetfeet, career information net, etc. Also, we could focus on the newspapers and Industrial Journals.

                Finally, we could come up with new strategies for searching jobs. For example, we can consider new growing sectors and expand the geographical area of our search. Also, we can consider Civically Minded Services Programs or apply to Government positions that related to our field. Moreover, we can try to apply to positions in other industries which can develop several distinct skills.

                On the other hand, the instructor showed us what Information Interviewing is. Basically, the Informational Interview is one of the easiest, most effective, and, unfortunately, most underused ways to learn about a career. It is asking us about what we do and what we want to accomplish. It is like the best way to understand who we are and structure the relationship among the people who we work with. Also, it can aid our job search because the knowledge gained from an informational interview can help us determine which courses and qualifications are necessary for our specific career paths, and the types of job or companies best suited for us.

             Ultimately, when the instructor gets through most parts of materials for this workshop, I have a better understanding of who I am and what should I do in order to achieve my goals and find some career paths. Actually, I am really enjoying the workshop and it makes me understand how to utilize my abilities to accomplish the goals.

The Breast Cancer Walk is an inspiring event where we support breast cancer patients, honor survivors, and raise awareness to help lives all over the world. By participating in the breast cancer walk, I felt that it was a great way for so many strugglers and survivors of breast cancer to know that we are there to support them and show them our enthusiasm. The Beast Cancer Walk is an event that takes place every year in several places all over the country to save lives.

I was very excited when I heard that we’ll be engaging in a community service project because I felt that we should always give back to our community whenever we can. Our community has given its support to us in one way or another throughout our lives, and we should also give back to help more people in our community. Through community service, our supports, cheers, or helping hands could gain a lot more smiles on other people’s faces. I feel giving a little bit of my time and energy could make someone else in the community feel good and happy. I think that this is one of the most important reasons why I like to participate in community service projects. Sometimes a little bit of our help can change a lot for someone who needs our support.

When I got to the service site, I saw hundreds of people who are there already early in the morning. Everyone was very energetic and the energetic feeling has also spread to me because of the atmosphere. I learned that each participant is very supportive of the Breast Cancer Walk and the atmosphere of cheerfulness fills into everyone. The best part of this event was participating in a meaning event together with my group members. I feel that by giving up a little bit of our time, it could mean a lot to many people out there. The most trying part was meeting up at the service site because we had problems contacting one another so it becomes a problem for us to meet each other at the designated place.

This project was able to help us learn about the community around us that we may have paid little or no attention to before. The little time and energy we give can raise awareness for a lot of people in our community. This community service experience was related to the “Leadership and Service” session because we learn to give support to others in our community that needs help. It is a good way for us to gain experience, meet different people and see a different side of the world.

I was very happy that this project gives me an opportunity to be a part of the Breast Cancer Walk. This is one of the biggest community events of the year and I was glad that I was able to gain a lot from it. I will definitely stay involved with my community in the future. I’ve participated in several volunteer events and I find it to be a great way to contribute to my community.

October 22, 2011

This is the first time I join a walking for Lupus (The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) is a national voluntary health organization based in New York City that was founded in 1999 ), when I got there, my first impression is: Wow! There are a lot of people. Maybe because that’s my first walking, I felt so impressed.

When I first heard about that I have to do community service in order to pass the freshmen seminar class, I wasn’t really surprised, because there was also a requirement for volunteering in high school. I was working at a kindergarten back then, that was a really suffer time (I don’t even want to mention it now). Anyway, when I first heard about this news, my entire mind was thinking that I should pick an easy one, and that’s my initial reason for choosing the walking for Lupus.

However, I changed my mind after I actually get involved in this Lupus Walking. I was inspired by those people there; a lot of people came with their whole family, even the little kid who was sitting in a baby car. People are actually putting a lot of efforts and passions in it, even though they are not even blood related to the patients. As I listened to their speech, I gradually find out the significance of this event, it can actually inspire a lot of Lupus patients, and as people are doing the walking, they can also appeal other people to aware about this disease, and donate for those patients and encourage them to fight for disease.

After this walking, it makes me realize that I was so selfish back then. I should pay more attention on those people who need help in society and try my best to help them, and also appeal other people to help them. This is not about individual, but relates to
the whole society, if everyone corporate with each other to help the weakers, there is going to be less suffering in the society. I think if I have time during my later college life, or even after I go to work, I will continue to do some community services, because it’s not only a way to help others, but also a way to improve myself, either mentally or physically.

I learned a lot during this community service, I hope that any other people who did the community service feel the same way as I do. Well, helping others is also helping yourself.