Changes and Similarities

This week has been more exciting than recently. In speech class we had a group presentation and needless to say I was dreading it. We used a program called Prezi, which is similar to Powerpoint , except it's more complicated and web based. I went to put my part into the presentation and our whole presentation got deleted. I'm unsure of what I did and I felt really guilty for screwing up my team's work. Thankfully they were nice about it and someone in our group is a Prezi expert and the problem got rectified. We ended up getting 100% so it went great even with the setback. Yesterday we had a guest speaker in government relations and lobbying. Class goes until 8 p.m. and we usually spend the last hour or so working on our group projects for the final exam. Well on this particular day the presenter spoke until about 7:30 and we met in our groups after that. We are allowed to leave whenever our group feels we accomplished enough for the night and our group seemed to be working longer than normal that night. At about 7:50 I realized I had to leave because I get the train at 7:59. Even though it's a short walk and I had nine minutes to get there I felt rushed because I typically leave about 5 minutes earlier. Being in a rush did not work in my favor and I ended up forgetting my notebook in the classroom. I realized this as soon as I got to the train station and had no time to go back to get it. I ended up keeping my composure and emailed my professor and some classmates to see if they picked it up but I got no response. I also called the school and they ended up not being able to locate it either.
The way I reacted to the mishaps I had this week makes me feel very proud. The old me would have lashed out at people that didn't deserve it. Instead I owned up to my irresponsibility and attempted to solve the problem as soon as it occured. Even though I didn't fix the problem with Prezi on my own or find my notebook I handled the stress in the correct manner.

Even though I haven't accomplished all my dreams I'm proud of what I've done so far

This week in school I didn't have any big assignments. I seem to be doing well in both of my classes and I hope the good momentum continues. At my internship with The Genealogical Society I've been doing many tasks related to public relations, and most recently I created a database that consists of contacts from many different areas of the media and organizations related to geneaology. The document is very lengthy, especially the section where I had to document all of the genealogical and historical socities in the state of Pennsylvania where there ended up being over 300 entries. I don't have a very long attention span so I was extremely proud that I was able to complete significant parts of the database without getting distracted. Hopefully this work ethic will shift itself into my school work as well.

Grad school is opening my eyes to new careers

This week I worked one day at my internship and had my regular school week. I got back my paper on The Spina Bifida Association's grassroots lobbying program SPEAK, and I got an 85. While this is a good grade I am disappointed because I thought I would do much better. My professor said that the paper could have been written better and after reading it again I agree with her. Perhaps I got caught up in my passion for what I was writing about and concentrated less on style and I definitely won't do this again. My professor also wished that I used outside sources instead of just the SBA website to get my information. I agree with her on this point too and I think this was another consequence of taking the easy way out and writing what I know.In regards to the title of this post, from taking two classes that are totally unrelated to eachother, I have the opportunity to explore many aspects of the communications field. I know that I want to do something with non-profits but I am not sure what specific job would fit me best. Yesterday in Government Relations and Lobbying we had a speaker come present to us about the use and importance of social media in advocacy and public relations. I am an avid user of a few social networks and I could definitely see myself doing something with it in a career. I also see this type of work becoming more popular as technology takes over the world.

Putting lessons into action

This week I worked at my internship as well as went to school. I did a speech for class this week on why it is important for companies to hire individuals with disabilities and I received another grade of 90% percent. I am very happy with  this because this is a topic I am very passionate about since I am currently looking for full- time employment. At my internship I have been doing lots of work on the computer including building a database on Excel. I am also starting to learn my way around a program called Constant Contact, which is a website that companies can subscribe to that creates great looking email blasts and newsletters using different templates. I am very excited to learn this skill because I think it will look great on my resume, especially wanting to enter the non-profit sector. I also plan to introduce this program to my local Spina Bifida chapter to help with their public relations.

I'm full of good news!

Since I last wrote something very significant has occured in my life. I had an interview a little over a week ago for an unpaid public relations internship at a local non-profit organization, and I ended up getting the position! I am so happy to finally have something that resembles a job even if it is temporary, unpaid, and part-time.  I am so thrilled to finally get some experience in my field and hopefully this position will give me the opportunity to learn new things, make tons of contacts, and maybe it will turn into something long term down the road. Another piece of good news, I got a paper back that I wrote for Government Relations and Lobbying and I receieved an 86. I am very happy with this grade for my first grad school paper, although the over achiever in me wishes I got an 'A'. My professor told me the main issue with my paper was organization. I was not surprised to hear this because it has always been an issue for me when I write. Hopefully the more papers I write at the graduate level my grades will improve. Last piece of good news, I was supposed to do a presentation on Mondy for Speech Writing, but my professor gave me the option to go next week and I gladly accepted. I was really tired and was wearing a skirt that was hard to move around in which is very important in public speaking. I was prepared to deliver a good speech on Monday but now that I have extra time I can perfect it even more.

Playing to your strengths is the best way to achieve your goals

There is nothing much to report this week. I didn't have to do a speech this week but we got assignment sheets for 6-8 minute persuasive presentations due in 2 weeks. I'm thinking of doing mine on why it is important for companies to hire people with disabilities because finding a job is main focus in my life right now. I'm almost certain that the reason I'm still unemployed has nothing to do with having Spina Bifida, so despite being told differently ,I bring it up whenever I think having a disability can give me a leg up in the position. In my opinion living with a disability helped me approach and overcome unique challenges better than the average person and that is a characteristic that is essential in any employment role. Speaking of employment, I got some good news today! I was contacted to have a phone interview tomorrow for an internship at a local non-profit. I'm typically not a fan of phone interviews because I like to be able to read facial expressions, but I'm really glad to have the opportunity because it could lead to something great. Unless I find out something related to my job search within the next week there won't be a blog entry because it's Spring Break. Talk to everyone soon.

You gotta take the good with the bad

This week in Speech writing I gave a presuasive presentation about why people should neuter their pets. I was graded on the spot, and got 180 out of a possible 200 points, which is equivalent to 90%. According to my professor the content in my presentations has been very good but I need to work on eye contact, movement when I speak and reducing my use of non-words ( ex. umm). I tried my hardest to be concious of these issues during this speech but since I was little I've had difficulty improving many issues in a task at one time. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with having Spina Bifida but I'm not going to fall into a crutch and use it as an excuse.
Now for the bad news, I didn't get the paid internship I recently applied for because another candidate had more experience than I did. The woman let me know via email, and while inside I was not taking the rejection well at all, I immediately replied back and asked what she recommended I do to gain more experience so I can earn a similar position somewhere in the near future. She kindly wrote back and told me to consider doing some unpaid internships to build my resume. While I know she's completely right I really want a paid position because I need to build an income if I want to start living a completely independent life within the next few years. I'm very frustrated at this point with my job search and I'm constantly kicking myself in the ass for not starting my search prior to graduation this past May. For now I'm just going to chalk the rejection up to experience, find an unpaid internship or if I'm lucky a paid position. Through this last interview I also found out about a young professionals group run by the organization and i'm looking forward to getting involved in that to expand my networking contacts.