Career Fair and Networking

I went to BYU Career Fair yesterday to improve my networking skills and most importantly to look for a job. At first I was hesitate to go because I couldn't find any companies that really match my interest. However my friends said I would never know how it was going to be unless I attended. And it turned out to be a great and valuable experience for me.

Before I went, I did a little research on what companies I should approach. I came up with a list including some information about the companies, positions I look for and questions I plan to ask. When I got to the career fair, I wandered off a bit to examine the environment and headed to the targeted companies. After talking to two or three companies, I realized it was not as scary as I thought. All recruiters were trying their best to represent their companies and gave me the best accommodations. Moreover, I felt like I could apply what I learned in Mcom to make an impact and learn from others as well.

By coming to the career fair, I learned to effectively network. In addition I also got a chance to practice my interview skills by talking with different people and companies. Now I know what I have to do for the next career fair. I would definitely do more research next time so I can tailor my conversation to fit each company. Besides I also want to grow my networking skills by coming to those professional opportunities like the career fair, Although I have a little bit of introverted traits sometimes, practicing will assuredly result in positive results.

Happiness and Responsibility

Yesterday while I was driving back from Salt Lake City with my friends, one of them persuaded me to listen to his current favorite book "You Can, You Will: 8 Undeniable Qualities of a Winner" by Joel Osteen. Yup I know I am talking about self-help books again with those boring and repetitive principles to solve personal problems. But I can't stop myself from discussing what I learned from those books. So please bear with me:)

The part that I listened to is about how to find our happiness and how to be responsible for our own happiness. Osteen says we often try to please everybody and that road will eventually lead us to failures and stresses. Trying to please everyone is not a bad thing; however, by doing that we abandon our ideals and life purposes. As a result, making someone else happy does not bring happiness to our lives. Moreover, Osteen mentions there are various types of people out there and we need to choose who to stay in our lives and who should not. There will be friends who inspire us and help us to better and there will be friends who drag us down, take advantage of us and make us feel bad all the time. Therefore, it's crucial to spend our time with the right people. What I like most about the chapter is Osteen's advice to fulfill the path that God created for us. Each individual is created with a purpose. And we have the responsibility to fulfill our life purpose.

While listening to the book, I wondered what I could to do follow what God has in store for me. I have been trying to help out people with the thought that their happiness is my happiness. However at the end of the day I feel worn out and empty sometimes because some of them are not taking responsibility for their problems. The book motivates me to follow God's plan for my life by living life more abundantly. God always challenges me so I can become stronger and better. Embracing the positive perspective and ignore the negative influences will lead me to where I need to be.

10,000 hour rule

Yesterday I decided to read "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell before going to bed. Years ago, when the book first came out, I actually read the book to see why it got so much attention. However, I did not find the book interesting and consequently I did not care less about finishing it. Surprisingly, the book blew my mind this time. I guess the first time I read it, I was having too many self-development books at the same time or I was not mature enough to understand the notions and principles.

One of the rules I want to mention here is the "10,000 hour rule." According to Malcolm, geniuses or prodigies are not different from us. We can all become an expert in a specific field if we know the formula to become successful. From Malcolm's observation, all successful people who reach the top of their fields possess a common trait: they all reach a total of 10,000 hour practice. Malcolm states that it's not the innate talent that makes you become an expert, it's the deliberate hours of practice. Furthermore he said successful people do not work harder than us, they work much harder then everyone.

So what's next? First I want to take the time to actually find out what my interest is. Once I know what I love to do, practice won't be a burden anymore. Second, I need to set goals and try my best to accomplish the goals. I will start with small and shot-term goals.  Right now I am thinking of improving my reading skill. Instead of spending one hour reading before bed time, today I will increase my reading time to one and a half hours, to two hours tomorrow, etc.

Work harder days by days. That's my motto!

Getting back on track

I created this blog a while ago for one of my writing classes. I forgot how much I enjoyed writing about the wars and life stories of refugees from all over the world. I forgot a lot of people out there were not as lucky as I am. Time flies and my passion was swept away.

Now MCom 320 once again reminds me of my life purpose. Well I'm not sure if I have found it yet but I'm getting there. I hope this blog is a way to help me express myself, to find what I love and to find joy in it.

Currently I am public relations student. It's really interesting to learn how to effectively influence people and drive them to action. We are all different yet similar in some ways. Identifying the similarities and triggering people to support a cause are my job. I'm excited for this semester, for MCom 320 and many more.