School Year

With the school year coming to a close, I get the same feeling that I got when I finished high school. Some what sad, some what excited, and some what scared. I'm sad because I made some great friends that I pretty much see and talk to everyday and when peoples lives move on and they aren't in the same place doing the same old routine things change. I'm sure I will still keep in touch with the close ones through all the technology these days such as facebook and cell phones. I'm somewhat excited because schools out which means summer vacation for most of us. Time to hang out with friends, and do summer activities such as camping, swimming and water activities. Also I feel scared because seeing I chose to do the one year program over the two I'm graduating this year and I don't know what the future holds for me. A lot of people don't know what their future holds but its just different when it's yours. We had the business showcase tonight where employers from towns close in radius come to look at your portfolio and see if your a potential employee. It went really well for me. At first I was really nervous and didn't want to be there, but once I started talking I found it very easy to talk with them. They seemed really interested and cared about what I was saying which made it really easy for me to talk. My teacher said that this was a very worthwhile experience to attend and I found out that it really was. The whole plan was to "network" with people and I felt that I successfully did that with many employers that I would possibly want to work with in the future.

Books

Some of my favorite book are by the author David Pelzer. He writes about his struggles growing up and how his alcoholic mother abused him. He tells this very inspirational story with some hate against her but then seems to still love her in the end because she is still his mother. He has 7 books that tell about his life from growing up from a small boy to a grown man. He nearly died by the hands of his mother. Either it be by starvation, isolation, abuse, or even just stabbing him straight with a knife. In the year's following his escape from this terrible childhood it was found that his case was one of the most gruesome and extreme as California had ever seen. This may not sound like a happy go lucky story that you want to go out and buy right off the shelf but I highly recommend his books about his life that start off with A Child Called It. My mom got me interested in these books when I was younger. I know it's not exactly a book you want your children to read but when their mature enough to know that this abuse and isolationism happens everyday to ordinary children they will be ready to sit for hours indulged in Pelzer's books. Their easy fast readers that keep you guessing whats going to happen next and what David will try to do to survive his horrible mother. It is a very sad story but to see a happy ending come out of it makes the story that much inspiring. So if you haven't read these books yet I highly recommend either going to your local library and checking out these books or even purchasing them for your own personal library.

Whats Next?

There is only three more weeks left of school which is very nice but yet I don't know what to do after school. I thought about maybe going back for something else but I have no idea what. I also thought about getting a place up here but as I said in recent blogs that I am in a job search mode. I have applied at many places but haven't really heard anything. I check certain job sites everyday but it just seems that most empolyers aren't hiring right now which sucks becuase I was planning on moving out of the dorm and right into a apartment. My plans of right now are to move back home seeing I don't have a job set up and just keep looking up here. If I do get a job set up I plan on moving here with a good friend of mine into a apartment. I know I will find a job eventually but I wish everything would just fall into place. My friends around me make it look so easy to get a job, one came with her program and the other one went to an employer that needed help desperately. I know that this shouldn't effect me but I just feel that I will never get a job. It sucks! So hopefully sometime soon I find that job I want and can spend the summer in La Crosse surrounded by friends.

Summer

This summer I'm planning on getting an apartment with some of my close friends. We have things planned for the summer to do to make sure it will be fun. Going to some brewer games for sure on the the list. Along with road tripping anywheres, going to the Mall of America. Some amusement parks or water parks would also be fun. Now I know that all of this takes money hence the reason I'm still on the job search. When getting an apartment they ask you for your income information to make sure that you can afford your monthily rent payments. So basically everthing is riding on getting a job. Moving to La Crosse this summer and having a fun summer with friends. With all the people getting laid off with the sucky economy these days, it's harder for college students that are graduating to get that job that they have been training for. Especially when future employeers see that work experience on their resume and hardly anything on yours because you've been in college for the past year. They get the feeling that these people understand what its like to work for an organization and they understand the ins and outs of what is to come if they were to get hired for the job that is posted. Job hunting can be very frustrating but as I've heard a lot of instructors say it's not what you know it's who you know. Which is totally true so hopefully this business showcase thats coming up will hopefully help me get in with the employeers. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Job Searching

Seeing graduation is right around the corner the job search has begun. I have been applying at a few places and the application process is stressful yet rewarding. I've been through a lot of classes that have taught me all about the interviewing process and I fell like I know what to do. But when I get in that room with a potential employer it's a whole different story. There's no training you for when you get face to face with someone and they ask you questions that your not prepared for. Also I get very nervous under these conditions and I have to remember to be calm and collective and try to represent myself well. Employers look for these things especially in my field of work because every day I will be out there answering questions I won't be prepared for from clients or consumers. And I need to be calm and collective and try to answer these questions to the best of my ability and represent the company in the best way possible. There are many jobs out there, people just have to have the urge to apply and go throught the drawn out process of the paper work and interviews that go along with getting the job. I feel that I have the application paper process down packed because I have filled out quite a few. But I can never get used to those always nerve racking interview sessions. You have to walk in there with confidence and be perpared with anything that these people will throw at you. I feel that a person can become very succesful with anything that they put there mind to if they just practice and try their best.

Baseball Season

Every year about this time I get the urge to drive down to Milwaukee and see the Brewers play at Miller Park. I wasn't always a Brewers fan but after one summer a couple years back I fell in love with the game and the atmosphere. I believe that you dont have to be a true blue brewer fan to love the atmosphere and have a fun filled day at the park. There is many things that a person can do there that can make them keep coming back every season. During the whole game theres always something going on either it be bingo on the jumbo-tron or Bernie the Brewer sliding down his slide. Its very family friendly where you can bring your youngest child or you can bring your oldest it dont matter. I even like the road trip down to Miller Park especially when its with people that you know and are fun. I usually end up going to about five games a season and wish that I could attend more. If I wasn't afraid of driving in big towns I would probably go to lots more. My brother is going to the game opener this season and I'm so jealous. This year my birthday falls on a friday which also is a home game so I'm thinking about attending that game with some friends, that should be fun. So if you haven't been to a Brewer game because you think that it won't be any fun because your not into baseball or any sports give it a try because I used to be that person but now it's one of my favorite past times to watch.

March Madness

Every year when March Madness rolls around people start talking about brackets and college basketball. Even people that usually have no interest in sports are hopping on the band wagon and flipping there tvs to espn or sports center to get the lastest box score. I was one of these people. I didn't give two hoots about college basketball and didn't know what the sweet sixteen was other than a television show that spoiled kids getting whatever they want. I started enjoying March Madness a couple years ago when I was invited by a friend to fill out an online bracket. I filled it out with no background on who was who when it came to college hoops. After pretty much choosing teams by random, I didn't even know how it worked. After my brother explained to me that when a team wins I gain points and the higher the upset the more points I receive. After figuring out the ins and outs of the brackets, I started to check my standing more and more. It was exciting one minute you were in the top five the next your in the bottom five. It didn't help that there was money involved. I haven't been a big gambler but when it comes to March Madness I get all excited to watch the games. I haven't done so well this year, even though I did start off in first I have now fallen to eleven place out of twenty two players.