PLAN, DO, REVIEW, PLAN (LIFE SKILLS ACTIVITY)

ACTIVITY #1



I chose to try to get to know myself better so for my first activity i interviewed my best friend who i have known for years because she knows me very well. I asked her how am i as a person? Can u list some qualities i carry? My best friend responded by saying that i am hard-headed but that i am not only a good friend but a good person with a good heart that is a hard worker and very smart. She sees that i am a hard worker and have good work ethics because we have both been working ever since we were allowed to work. We both struggle with crazy schedules of balancing work and school.



Also, many people at work are always giving me compliments because they say that they can see my ambition and they see me striving to reach for my goals. They tip their hats to me for traveling everyday 2hrs taking three trains to get to work and then go to school at night and travel another 2hrs to get home. To then wake up the following day to do it all over again. And people at work often tell me that i have a good heart and a lot of patience to work in a nursing home and on a dementia unit because i really do care for the residents and i sometimes do things that i shouldn't do because my position does not allow me to but i do it anyway just to help the residents.



In life, to get to where you want to be, one must make sacrifices. I often get 3 or 4 hrs of sleep because i get home late from school and then have to attend to my studies and assignments. But i know in the end it will all be worth it. I am very kind and understanding and caring with the residents that i work with because i know one day i will get that old, and if i was helpless or didn't have the mental capacity to do things on my own, i would want someone to help me and not take advantage because I'm not in the right state of mind to make my needs known. I do believe in karma so what is the point in being cruel to others when one day it will come back to you in the worst way.





ACTIVITY #2 & #3



I visited old course work from each semester that i have been at LaGuardia. I even visited work i have written from when i was in junior high school and high school. Something i have noticed is that i have always been a decent writer even from my earlier years. Everything i have looked over was written well (of course there were errors) and i got good grades on each assignment i worked on. Something else that i noticed was that for the assignments that i can remember i didn't have much interest in, and didn't put my best foot forward for, i got a good grade but not As and Bs as the rest. Although i still passed and got good grades, even if i didn't put all of my effort into it, it shows and is easy to detect when you read assignment after assignment.





ACTIVITY #4


For this activity, i had to revisit an old friend, teacher or employer. It just so happened that i came across and old childhood friend. We had so much catching up to do. When we began talking about school, college and our majors, she looked a bit shocked. I asked her what was up with the puzzled look she had on her face. She told me that she found it to be crazy that my major is psychology because from when we were little, i always said i wanted to help people and that i was always very curious of the mind and how it works. She told me that i was always trying to analyze people and wondered why they say or do the things that they say and do. I was shocked that she remembered all this. I remembered all that she was telling me but i didn't think her or anyone else would. They she told me how not much has changed with me, just that i am older and more mature (i was always mature for my age). This showed me that my goals have been along the same lines from when i was a child until now. I guess one can say i have always known what i wanted to do with my life, even as a child.

I also came across an old English teach of mine from when i was in junior high school. I came across him in a festival a few months ago. We began talking about life, work and school. When he asked about work and school n i told him how many classes I'm taking and my major, and how my days are..for some reason he wasn't impressed. He was indeed very proud of me but didn't seem surprised or impressed. I wondered why, and then he tells me, that's my girl! That's the Ashley i knew u would grow up to be. He said that he knew from when i was in 8Th grade that i had potential and ambition and that i have always been very determined and that i always had the drive to do whatever it is that i put my mind to.

Through all of these activities and responses from people that know me well or that haven't seen me in a long time, this helped me get to know myself better in the sense that i realized, through every ones response that i have always seemed to be a very well rounded individual who knew what i wanted for myself and my future very early in life. And that i have pretty much stuck to it throughout the years.


ACTIVITY #5 (INTERPERSONAL SKILLS)


I had to write a reflection of a situation in the past where working with others was a bit of a challenge. A few years ago i worked in a store called Afaze in the mall as a manager. There was this lady in the store who seemed very suspicious in the store. She kept getting really close to the costume jewelery wall and kept looking back to see who was watching. So one of my sales associates stood a little closer by her and the woman flipped out cursing and making a huge scene in the store. She insulted my sales associate and my sales associate began to flip out as well. They were both out of line, although the lady definitely provoked my sales associate (who is very kind and very sweet, i never knew her voice could even get that loud). I then had to pretend i was on the Lady's side because this woman seemed completely unstable and i just wanted her out of the store before she caused any trouble, so i talked to her and calmed her down, playing both roles with my sales associate and the lady. The woman was crazy, and she wanted to get my district manager involved which i felt was completely unnecessary because nothing was done, she looked suspicious of stealing and my sales associate did her job in keeping an eye on her. But i was able to talk her down, she then left and all was resolved. I then spoke to my sales associate privately about how she needs to try and keep her composure, although the woman was wrong, but at work, one must keep their composure and maintain a certain amount of professionalism. Everything was resolved and no one got into big trouble. Although i think i handled the situation fairly well. It was a huge challenge because i never came across a customer like that who really seems unstable, who when she spoke, things didn't make sense. It seemed as if she needed to see a psych doctor. It was a huge challenge and i just hoped things didn't get blown out of proportion.

GROUPS PART TWO

When the professor put us into groups, everyone went crazy trying to figure out what it was that we all had in common. In other groups, the similarities were so obvious, but in my group, it wasn't the obvious. We literally spent the majority of our group time trying to figure everything out. All of our majors were different. We are all different ages with different goals. So then i began to ask everyone what did they write when the professor asked everyone to write a paragraph or more telling what type of group you would like to be in and with what type of other people.
Finally we found out the similarity. The similarity was our differences. We each wrote that we wanted to be in a diverse group. With people who were all different so we can each learn from one another. We didn't want to be in a group with people who were all just like each other. But one thing we all wanted was to be in a group with people who weren't shy and who were talkative and we all fit the profile in some way lol.
We all came up with few options as to how the presentation should be. We came up with different options that included adding humor but wasn't sure as to how we should go about it. The thing i like most about this group that i was placed in is that we are all open minded to what each person has to say and how each person feels. We hear everyone out without judging because we all get along and have good ideas.

Lingering thoughts.....

In class activity

I am concerned with jobs...that is my lingering thought. For my future career in which i dream to pursue, will it still be in demand by the time i meet all of the requirements to work in that field. I know everyone hits obstacles they must overcome and every career has its hardships, i just don't want to be completely lost when that time comes, and be left with little or no options. This is something that i fear and always think about. I don't want to feel like i gave my all with school, and attended school for so many years and not be able to find work when all is said and done. After i spoke with the social worker from my job for the mentor interview, i felt relieved and a bit at ease with my lingering thought.

After we did this activity we all had to break up into our groups. When each member from my group discussed their lingering thought, we all realized that each of us basically fear the same. The fear of feeling like time has been wasted, or your career choice being completely unsuccessful. We each elaborated and broke everything down. But our game plan is to just go for the goal and give it out best shot. We also said we should do more research on our future careers but at the same time, the economy is unpredictable. No one can tell when the economy will go bad or when it will be at its best, therefore this is a risk we must take.

MENTOR INTERVIEW

Although the career I desire is to become a clinical psychologist, I wish to pursue a career as a social worker until I meet the requirements to work in a hospital or psych ward as a clinical psychologist. For the mentor interview I interviewed a social worker in the nursing home that I currently work at.

The first question I asked the social worker whose name is Kendra was what type of personalities are required to work with these patients as well as their family members? What personality is needed to work in this field of work? Her response was that one must be compassionate toward these patients because each have a special case and need for care. Also, most are at the facility for long term care. Kendra stated that as a social worker, one must also be a good listener, problem solver and must have excellent intrapersonal skills because there needs to be open communication between the social worker and her patients, their family member, staff and doctors. The skills required other than intrapersonal skills are good writing skills and portable skills.

I then asked is this career changing and if so how? Has the economy had any effect on this career? Is it more in demand than what it was when you first entered this field of work? Her response was that most of the patients in the nursing home are the baby boomers and that there are more people that need help. She says the economy has affected this career because social worker positions are not available at the moment because facilities cannot afford to hire more but she says that once the economy picks up she has a strong feeling that many jobs will be available. She says that in five years she believes there will be an increase in jobs due to the many people that need help and that a social worker position cannot be taken over by computers because this field requires an actual person at hand to complete every task needed.

Another question I asked was what are the hardships that you face as a social worker? Kendra responded by saying dealing with difficult people. She stated that the patients, for the most part aren’t too difficult but their family members tend to be because some do not have a realistic view of the situation. Some are in denial and think that they know what’s best for their family member when in fact; their approach may not be the best. Another hardship she faces is when patients and their siblings do not get along or had many conflicts in the past, and now that sibling is in charge of making all decisions for the patient. This tends to cause even more chaos and difficulty. Kendra just tries to play fair because she cannot take sides in situations such as these; therefore she keeps all point of views open.

Some hardship she faces with staff is that sometime staff forget that social workers are the advocate for the patients and that they must report abuse or any type of neglect no matter if there is a friendship. She cannot worry about what the staff may say or how they feel because she has a job to do and all must be reported and documented if the patients’ needs are not being made. This often causes friction between the staff and social workers.

Lastly, I asked Kendra what is the upside of working in this field and this position? She smiled and quickly said that it is rewarding to see short term patients’ progress and reach their goals so they are able to go home. She said it is also very rewarding to see long term patients content and happy because they are being taken care of and their needs are being met. Most of the patients are very sick in this facility and have multiple medical diagnoses so they are dealing with a lot of end of life issues, so their happiness is very important. Getting to know long term patients family is also rewarding to Kendra.

Eportfolio

At first i didn't really grasp the whole idea of an eportfolio but after taking the cep121 class, it helped me understand everything a lot better. I had taken cep121 before but dropped it and studio hour was dreadful, i guess that's why i didn't understand everything to its fullest extent.

I can see how beneficial this can be for future jobs/. It shows your school work ethic. Your aspirations, goals, ambition. This portfolio can definitely give one the push they need to get ahead in life, its more personal but gives the employer or whoever takes a look at it, a better understanding of the person, who they are, what their values and beliefs are.

Adding photos to each page or link that matches the website or your major is a clever yet creative way in creating this eportfolio. It does show creativity but in a educational way. It adds spice to each page.

About the mock interview

IN CLASS.....

On Tuesday's class we went over how mock interviewing should be in order to be successful. We went over some questions that are usually asked during interviews. I use to think that talking too much about your previous jobs could be a bad thing, but during this class i learned that it can actually be a good thing depending on what you say. As long as you stick to the positive things that you did, talking about previous jobs could be extremely beneficial.

The basic idea is to just stick to all of your accomplishments and positive aspects and qualities you may carry whether it be in the work field such as good problem solving skills, delegating and good customer service. Also with school, showing that you are very dedicated, hard working, never give up on what you want to achieve. All of these qualities, if discussed or mentioned in an interview can definitely work to ones advantage.

I always knew that the way one projects their voice in an interview, the way they answer, sit and place their hands all may affect the interview in a negative or positive way. I was not aware that sitting up straight n speaking with your head up can affect your answers in the sense that it may give you more confidence.

Groups

in class discussions



In groups, we discussed life skills that we would like to improve. I learned more about my fellow classmates and saw what they struggle with and it made me realize that maybe i should work on the same life skills, even if i felt it didnt need work, why not try to make each skill better and improve so its at its best.



In class the professor listed five tips for career goals. They were, eliminating embarrassment, having a goal can be a goal, small steps, most people who are 40 and up say they had no clue when they were 20 and having more than one goal is okay. When the class broke off into groups, my group and i discussed how most of us in class are privelaged to be the age that we are with set goals and ways to accomplish them but No matter the age of all the students in the class, we are all well off for the future because we have a plan.



I've decided that i want to get to know myself better for our life skills plan. I intend on interviewing/ asking someone questions about myself to see what they say as well as look at old course work i have done and compare it to something more recent and see what the difference is. If i have inproved in my writing or not.

Job interview tips

http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco20045.htm



http://www.job-interview.net/



http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/jobinterviewtip.htm



http://www.jobopenings.net/interview_tips.htm





When i viewed job interview tips, there were series of frequently asked questions listed and tips on how one should go about answering them. I can honestly say that this was extremely helpful because simple questions such as, where do you see yourself ten years from now, if not answered with thought, can ruin your entire interview and chances of employment.

Another question that was listed was Tell me something about yourself? This question usually gets people because people tend to answer by telling the employer something about themselves that it more personal when in fact, the employer wants you to tell them something about yourself that relates to the position you are applying for or something that will benefit the company. Something that you were praised for in your previous jobs, not anything personal or about your personal life unless they ask and are very specific.

Also, i wasn't aware that certain colors of your shirt or clothing in general is not appropriate for interviews and could already give the employer an opinion of you, without having interviewed you yet.

Studio Hour...

In our studio hour class, we had to find four websites that had information of any type that deals with our future career or our major. I came across four sites that in my opinion were beyond helpful because i found out things about my future career and education that i didn't know. First, i didn't know that once i receive my doctoral level degree in psychology, i have the option of entering, not only clinical psychology which is my dream but forensic psychology, health psychology, sports psychology and more. I was unaware of this so when i read all of this i became very happy because i now knew that my options weren't limited and i had more that i could pursue with that degree.
In these four sites i also found frequently asked questions followed by detailed answers about psychology. There was a list of recommended schools for psychology. I also found course work required for psychology and each field in psychology individually. It also had each field in psychology with a thorough description of each. I found all of these sites extremely helpful because i learned a lot of things that i was unaware of about my major and job opportunities. I highly recommend students who know what they want to do in the future to research on their career choice, degree they wish to obtain and major and I'm sure students will discover something intriguing.

LIFE SKILLS

http://www.theedventuregroup.org/thelifeseries.html?gclid=CJKeu_-7tp8CFdA65Qod1WMN3Q



http://ext.wsu.edu/lifeskills/viewlife.asp





I searched life skills and saw a list of life skills that caught my eye. On one site there were five that grabbed my attention, they were self-direction, values based decision making, goal setting, personal productivity and personal responsibility. I liked this list because I feel they are not long and to the point. Also, values based decision making, in my opinion is important and not too many people I know understand the importance in this. This is significant because your morals and values and beliefs all play a role, in fact a huge role on what you do and how you do it. They all take part in your decision making because it's based on what you were brought up to believe and find important.



Another site I found about life skills had a list of eight. The eight are decision making, wise use of resources, communication, accepting differences, leadership, useful/marketable skills, healthy lifestyle choices and self-responsibility. I liked this list because although it is longer, i feel that it is more detailed. It focuses on a lot of moral like skills that will make each person, a better person in what they choose to pursue in the future. Accepting differences is very important because how well someone can take change can determine a lot about the type of person they are. It shows they can adapt and think of new ideas or plans due to differences and change. Leadership shows that you are your own person and like to lead the way and make the rules rather than just simply follow all of the time.

In Class...

TURNING POINTS

IN CLASS ACTIVITY/ DISCUSSION



In class we answered a series of questions that helped us determine what skills we have with people, work and how good we are with these skills. This activity was very helpful because i never really took time to sit back and list skills that i was good at in the work place or with others and rate how well i am at each skill. It was a good exercise to think about everything and be able to see my strong points and my weak ones.



In class we did an activity where we rotated and asked each other questions pertaining to school, work, our GPA and our people skills. This activity was good because it helped us get to know one another and learn how others go about their school life and work life and how they have learned to balance it. Listening to other classmates responses makes me want to change my routine for next semester as far as how many classes i choose to take in session one and session two. I got really good insight from my fellow classmates on that.


I feel that the mini interview we had with one another was to help us feel more comfortable with people that we don't know or don't know that well, asking us semi-personal questions to help with our nerves for future job interviews. At first i felt very nervous because i did not know the person so to have to talk to them about my GPA, work, and school was kind of weird but by the time i got to the 2nd and 3rd person i felt really comfortable that my responses came so natural that i didn't even need a second to think about what to say. I think that activity was beneficial in many ways.

10 Best jobs of 2010...

http://www.careercast.com/jobs/jobsRated

The best 10 jobs for 2010 are Actuary, Software Engineer, Computer System Analysts, Biologist, Historian, Mathematician, Paralegal Assistant, Statistician, Accountant and Dental Hygienist. I personally think that the list of best jobs for 2010 is absurd. All of these are beyond difficult to obtain and all require high level of education and training. For someone who lost their job and does not have a degree, this is impossible to gain in a short period of time. Even for someone who has a degree but has to further advance their education, this is still a lot because that would mean that they would have to go back to school in order to fulfill these requirements which leads to it being time consuming and could possibly take yrs to get the degree the person needs (depending on where they are currently standing in their education). So what does the person do in the mean time? Remain jobless? There are no jobs listed that are common or easier to get which makes it unfair to those who do not have a degree in these fields of work to begin with as well as those with little or no education. I feel that there should have been 5 jobs listed of high level education and training and perhaps 5 best jobs listed that are more common or a bit easier to get.

I don't think that stress should be listed in job scores. I feel that everything else is appropriate to consider and be scored but stress shouldn't because not everyones views on stress is the same. Not everyones stress level is the same. Some get stressed easily than others and some people are able to take in a lot before it can be considered stress. Therefore how can one determine what jobs are more stressful than others when they are not in that field of work and don't consider stress to be the same as the next person? How can these jobs be considered the best and the worst if a portion of this conclusion is based on stress when stress levels fluctuate and can be opinionated? I feel stress shouldn't be looked at because each individual is different and view stress differently, in the work place and anywhere in general.

I've noticed that a few of the jobs that were listed as the worst were common jobs. I can't seem to understand how these decent paying common jobs can be the worst oppose to some listed as the "best". Also, I noticed that all the jobs that were listed as being the worst were very high in stress. If being a biologist and mathematician isn't stressful to a higher extent than what is listed, then I don't know what is (lol). I mean it's all in the eye of the beholder. If I love math and spend my free time solving math problems and calculating things than chances are I wont find being a mathematician too stressful oppose to someone who enjoys is but does not LOVE it. This also goes with what I mentioned earlier that stress should not be listed or judged and measured when considering a job unless it is determined by that one person rather than being a general overview.

My Dilemmas

TURNING POINTS.

The first chapter discusses education path dilemmas. The dilemmas I feel I have for my education is what schools have the best psychology programs? Would the psychology courses I've taken carry over when I enter a four-year college or will I have to re-take those courses? These are some of the questions I often ask myself when thinking of my education path towards the career I wish to pursue.

Some career dilemmas I have came across is that my sisters don't think I should major in psychology. They both try to push me to major in nursing because my oldest sister is a registered nurse and my other sister has a BA but is now attending LIU for nursing. I don't pay too much attention to it because they cannot push me towards a career they love onto me. It just annoys me from time to time that they are this persistent when I haven't changed mind at all.

After reading the first chapter, I realized that it is a good idea to sometimes sit back and set aside career dilemmas from education path dilemmas to better understand yourself as well as what you want for yourself in the future. It is some what therapeutic to write down what problems or obstacles you think you have to overcome and how you must overcome them. Also, once you have all these questions you often ask yourself, you can then seek help or research to find out the answers to each. I enjoyed the activity and learned that even though you may think you know all there is to know about your career choice or how to go about your education, there is always a question you ask yourself in mind but often push aside and is best to not ignore these questions but find the answer.

Personality

http://humanmetrics.com/vocation/jci.asp?EI=11&sn=-12&jp=56

Everyone in class had to take a personality test. The point is to try to gain a general sense of what type of person you are and possible career choices one may consider to follow based on the outcome of the test. The categories I fell in were ENFJ. Extroverted (11%), Intuitive (36%), Feeling (12%) and Judging (56%). Although I'm in a low percentile for each section, I re-took the text two more times and the percentage was just about the same.

The professor mentioned in class that he scored a high percentage in each of his categories and when he re-took it, it was the same. Although I scored the same each time I took the test, they were all low in percentage, So what does that mean for me?

The outcome of the personality test I took does not affect my career choice because I feel strongly about what I want to do in life and psychology was listed in possible career choices. My strategy for success is the same also but I'm curious about the schools that were listed for psychology after I took the test. They were online schools and I would like to find out if those schools are any good and if its recommended to take online courses to fulfill the requirements for earning a degree in psychology or is it best to actually attend a school and interact face to face and one on one with the professors ans other students.