MEMORANDUM

TO: Erika Paterson

FROM: Samuel King

DATE: March.18,2016

SUBJECT: Progress Report on Job & Volunteer Opportunities

I am looking into a few job and volunteer opportunities for this summer and beyond. I will be attending UBC this summer so my availability for work hours may limit my employment opportunities. Here are some of my options for job and volunteer positions.

• My professor for GEOB 370 Advanced GIS mentioned he had some volunteer work available to us in class recently. I have emailed him detailing my desire to acquire some GIS experience outside the classroom. Hopefully I hear back shortly.
• After I graduate next year I would much like to teach English in Japan. I have been notified by friends and colleagues about the JET Program(Japan Exchange and Teaching Program). However my Japanese skills are limited to 3 years in high school and 1 course at UBC. That being the case, I am looking into contacting the Japanese Embassy in Vancouver to find other possibilities of teaching in Japan.http://www.vancouver.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/
• I have also recently checked out Careers Online UBC(http://students.ubc.ca/career). There might be a job that suits my summer schedule. Currently I have looked at becoming a Circulation Assistant for one of the libraries at UBC.

I will aim to have an application package for one of these positions completed by March.25th. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email me at samwhyz@gmail.com.

This unit was even more challenging the last unit. I am overwhelmed with other school work but this class appears to take up most of my time in order to complete assignments. However I feel we are being taught important aspects of professional communication.

The assignments in this unit were interesting to say the least. I really enjoyed the Complaint and Bad News assignment. I have had trouble in the past with receiving incorrect bills from telephone/internet companies so I drew on my experience from those situations for that assignment. It really does pay off when you keep a cool head, stay on topic and express concern along with disappointment when communicating with big companies. It is almost a guarantee that a person who is angry, aggressive and/or rude when contesting bad service will not get the outcome they want. I found when writing emails such as the Complaint assignment that it is best to write some thoughts down but not send the email it right away, save it as a draft. Let your emotion temper off and recollect your thoughts before returning to what you have written. This should allow you to better assess the situation and formulate a cohesive argument. The formal report draft was somewhat disappointing for me actually. I have yet to collect my data but past assignments including the formal report proposal and table of contents did give me a solid foundation in which to work from. Honestly, this part of ENGL 301 feels like a graduate level course since we have to go collect our own data. For the peer review of the formal report draft, I didn’t really have much to critique since my partner also hasn’t had the time to collect their data. Hopefully I will be able to collect my data and finish my report by the end of March.

In conclusion, the end of this unit represents another milestone completed. It always feels great to get assignments done and handed in on time. I am also glad I was able to switch peer review partners as well. Just a one more unit to complete and then…..FREEDOM!