NaNoWriMo for the Uncreative

Posted on November 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

The other day, my sister asked me if I wanted to do National Novel Writing Month with her. This means writing xxxx number of words a day.

She’s doing a minor in a creative writing. How do I compete with that?

cannot compute

I’m exhausted already.

But what if I didn’t restrict myself to a creative exercise? What if instead, I made this into a multi-chapter technical writing exercise?

I’ve got a couple ideas for using the idea of NaNoWriMo to develop written communication skills for real-world applications. Just try to flesh out your own personal, professional writing style by practicing, practicing, practicing. No word count minimum required. Such fun! So adult!

For the Procrastinator: respond to one email a day. Or maybe write one email a day (perhaps that “stupid” question you were too scared to ask your prof?). If there’s no email to be drafted or responded to, unsubscribe from one of those annoying marketing e-blasts that you receive because you wanted to win a free watch that one time. Okay, I never said any of my ideas were good ideas.

For the Interview-Challenged (ayyyyy): answer one interview question a day. Google or Bing the most common questions, and brainstorm your best answer. Keep your work in a folder to pull up and review the next time you get a call back from that internship you really want. I’m excited to try this one, especially since I’m collecting interview-worthy experiences through my co-op right now.

For the over-sharer at heart: blog every day. Pffffft, ok. Hasn’t worked well for me, but maybe for you?

For the Extremely Ambitious: a cover letter a day. No, I’m not suggesting you do 30 job applications. I just think that by trying to write the same things over and over again, you’ll find the best way of explaining what you really meant. Plus, you can write draft cover letter templates for different job types—a sports marketing company is gonna look for very different things than a physiotherapy clinic.

Got any better ideas? Holla at ya girl (dats me!).

Happy writing!

Email, RSS Follow
Share on Tumblr

Leave a comment

Posted in Fifth Year, Kin Co-op

Tagged , , ,

Look what the cat dragged in

Posted on October 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

Me! I’m what the proverbial cat dragged in.

It’s been a very, very long time since I had something to say published something on this blog (December 2014, actually. The number 2015 apparently doesn’t exist here). Since that last post, I’ve been busy. Still growing, still learning, still writing and making bad jokes!

I wanted to start blogging again because I need practice articulating my experiences in a way that makes sense to potential employers. Also, I think that as a senior student I’d have useful advice for up-and-comers (debatable, though). Hopefully I can get back on track with my writing!

(Maybe I can make it a weekly practice? Who knows!)

Email, RSS Follow
Share on Tumblr

Leave a comment

Posted in Fifth Year

That’s a wrap!

Posted on December 17, 2014 | 1 comment

This week, I finished the second portion of my 8 month co-op term with UBC Athletics and Recreation. It’s been an incredible journey in terms of professional and personal growth, and to be honest I’m a bit sorry I haven’t documented every step of the way.

(First year!Courtney thought that Third year!Courtney would still be pushing out blog posts every other day. Silly girl, that one.)

So to recap the last 7 months of my life, I’ll make a list of highlights:

  1. May 12th: my first few hours of work. I was introduced to the building and a lot of people, so the thing that went through my head the most during those few hours was probably “wait, what“
  2. Event month: FIVB Volleyball, a huuuuge private banquet, Yonex Badminton Open, the Vancouver Special Olympics.
  3. Hiring: my supervisor knew that my least favourite thing was talking on the phone… so of course, I spent a day and a half conducting screening interviews over the phone. Needless to say, I’ve gotten good at saying “Hi, how are you?”
  4. I developed a Diversity Training module and I’m actually super proud of it. A lot of the issues discussed in it are important to me, and I’m glad that I got to work on that project.
  5. His Holiness the Dalai Lama: I STOOD >100m AWAY AND BREATHED THE SAME AIR AS THE DALAI LAMA WHAT. But seriously, it was simultaneously the most stressful and rewarding event ever.
  6. Also I talked to Zachary Gray of the Zolas in a two-second conversation where he said “Do you know where so-and-so is” and I was like “uh I don’t know who that is” and he was like “ah ok bye”. And that’s why I will never go to a meet-and-greet because what do you say?!?!?!
  7. More events: Googoosh & Ebi, the Yeah Show, Lace Up for Kids, the Davis Cup press conference, Sesame Street Live.
  8. An awkward holiday staff party where there was too much food and no one showed up. For party favours, each person received an entire box of pizza.

That list probably didn’t make sense but basically, I had a good time. Shoutout to my manager for being cool and taking extra time to offer support and feedback throughout the term 😀

Anyways, it’s vacation time! Happy holidays everyone—see y’all back in class!

Email, RSS Follow
Share on Tumblr

1 Comment

Posted in Kin Co-op, Third Year

Make the most of your commute

Posted on August 6, 2014 | Leave a comment 
As seen on the UBC FYI blog.

Confession: fall at UBC is my favourite time and place of the year.

There’s literally nothing to dislike about it. The weather is nice, I have a new set of school supplies (seriously, nothing beats fresh notebooks), and there are so many opportunities out there!  Student life is at its most vibrant at this time of year.

As a commuter student, I often find myself torn: do I stay at school to immerse myself in this crazy amazing atmosphere—or do I go home to get some work done, unwind, and of course get some much needed sleep?

The struggle is so real.

So every term, I do three things:

First, I scope out the ultimate spot for studying and relaxing. Sometimes it’s Brock Hall, other times it’s an unused classroom in Woodward IRC. In the long hours between classes, I need somewhere I can be comfortable!

Secondly, I plan out my bus route to a T. With two hours of public transit a day, I need to make the most of my commute by minimizing the time spent waiting at the bus stop, and using the bus ride to do something useful (i.e. nap time! Or studying time, if you’re into that).

Lastly, I find friends who have similar schedules to mine. Staying late at school to study is fun, but studying with friends is better!

I’m super excited for this year. Are you?

Email, RSS Follow
Share on Tumblr

Leave a comment

Posted in Involvement, On Campus, Third Year

Tagged , ,

Kinesiology Co-op

Posted on June 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

Hello, friends!

For the past month, I’ve been busy working full time at UBC Athletics and Recreation as a summer co-op student. Specifically, I’m the Events and Services assistant at the Doug Mitchell Centre aka Thunderbird Arena. Three cheers for my first big girl job!

My role is to help out with a variety of things. I’ve done some work on the recreation.ubc.ca page, looked up history for all of UBC’s sports facilities, sat on the employer side at a job fair (which evoked all kinds of amusement and second-hand embarrassment), and more! I’m also heavily involved in the facility set-up of the big events that are happening at Thunderbird Arena this summer, like the 2014 National Special Olympics.

It’s been quite the experience—I learn new things every day! They’re not exactly technical skills, but rather soft skills like talking on the phone without crying from embarrassment. I don’t know why, but I honestly get super nervous about communicating with people over the phone or email. How am I supposed to disguise my ineptitude with charisma if they can’t see my face??

What’s nice is that I’m on campus basically all the time. It’s like I’m going to school! Except there’s not really any homework*, and pretty much everyone is older than me.

*Technically, I do have homework. It’s just documentation for the Kin Co-op Office that is required every work term, but keeping on top of them has actually been the hardest part. Time management is still a thing I’m working on (it’s one of my learning objectives, in fact!).

In any case, my point here is that I feel like grown adult with responsibilities—and it both frightening and exhilarating.

Email, RSS Follow
Share on Tumblr

Leave a comment

Posted in Kin Co-op, Kinesiology

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,