#which while the volunteers knew this was an unpaid position they did NOT know the owner was pocketing so much money | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fakeboitherottengirl · 1 year

Text

Burn All Copies of “To Train Up A Child”

I once had a man I was babysitting for pull my pants down and hit my nude bottom with a PVC pipe when I refused to beat his child with one. I was probably 9 or 10. He read me sections of that book to justify himself afterward. I kept it to myself because so many people in my church followed that book that I was embarrassed for having “gotten in trouble” and wanted to keep the job (which I lost because I refused to use a PVC pipe to beat a toddler as advised in that book).

I had a Sunday school teacher for 2 years who would hit our hands with a ruler if we couldn’t perfectly recite the memory work (I escaped him by dropping out of Sunday School to volunteer in the nursery and as a sub in younger classes and then eventually to serve as an assistant administrator because my mom for once stood up to the church after I developed blisters from being beaten in the same spot every week). I was called manipulative and over-indulged when my mother put and end to the physical abuse during the 2nd year. When I shaved my head and started dressing like a boy and rumors of me dating girls got around I was brought to a meeting with all the church elders where they berated me about the horrible immorality of homosexuality and my mother’s refusal to use violence as a punishment was seen as the root of my “falling into a dark path”.

I had a crying breakdown one Easter while singing because Jesus died for me and I couldn’t even be a good girl for him and every body around me clapped and gathered around and encouraged me to “weep for my sins” like my distress was this beautiful holy thing.

ive mentioned before but as teenagers mind control tactics like malnutrition and sleep deprovision were practiced on us and presented as “staying up late eating junk food, with some prayer” nobody I knew came out of that place normal.

In the nursery if a child cried i risked both myself and the child being beaten and it causes me to over-coddle the babies I work with and not let them self sooth because a crying child makes me panic. I considered my church family.

Apparently there is a new pastor there and he is very progressive and has actually expressed to my mom that he wants to meet me along with members of my generation to apologize for the abuse allowed to go on at that church during our childhood but i feel weird about it. I also feel like its just physical abuse. There was no sexual abuse by clergy, just first generation German immigrant strictness and old world child rearing tactic and a toxic book that is responsible for pretty much all the religious trauma that wasn’t homophobia-related. My grandpa got his knuckles hit 5 days a week and turned out fine so maybe im just a sissy snowflake but thank god I at least had the nursery as a refuge because my learning disability was treated like a moral failing on a religious level deserving of physical violence and because I was so good in the nursery instead of doing my last unit of Sunday School I took charge of the nursery and I still wonder what happened to some of those kids but Im not sure if an apology from somebody who wasn’t even involved is what I want but I did a lot of work for that church (Enough volunteer hours to graduate as a senior girl scout, the female equivalent of an Eagel scout) and did thousands of hours of unpaid labor for them in my life. I don’t know if it would be healing just to be acknowledged and told what was done to me wasn’t god’s work but I also don’t want to risk anger coming up and coming out at a man who has done nothing wrong and just wants to right the past.

My best friend was in an arranged marriage at 16 to the grandson of the abusive teacher so her family could get in with the church elders and they are on like their 4th kid. My mom finally stopped working for them for 1/4 the asking salary for her position so Im at least glad that she got away from them financially even if she is still involved socially and Id like to believe her claims that drastic progressive changes were made. Im debating attending a service just for her this sunday but Im also wary that even being back in that building might be triggering.

But even though there were so many bad memories, there are so many good ones, so many more good ones of it being the only place I really had friends as a pre-teen. I feel like when most people talk about traumatic childhoods they consistently say it as bad. But in my case it was rose-tinted other than a few “weird” (thats the world I like to use, I know its minimizing but id rather not be dramatic) incidents. And the crazy thing is the people responsible for those incidents especially within the church probably didnt know they were being abusive, they probably think they were “stern” to save our souls. I had moments in that church where I truly felt god’s love. But ive also had wrath enacted upon me in his name.

But yeah TLDR if u purchase a copy of “to train up a child” the state should take ur kids that book is pure evil I don’t think any book should be illegal but “To Train Up A Child” really tests the fortitude of that belief because I want every copy of it destroyed.

#csa mention #to train up a child #cult survivor #child abuse mention #religious trauma

5 notes · View notes

mcleaha · 4 years

Text

hello lovelies ! i’m bøffy , i’m 20 years old , prefer she/her pronouns , and currently reside in the pst timezone ! uhh . . . i am posting this intro at nearly 5 AM my time , and i would be almost willing to bet it’s littered with errors and it’s . . . probably a bit all – over – the – place since this is very much a new muse ! however , with that being said , if you give this a like , i will definitely contact you via tumblr ims or d!scord ( 𝓲𝓷𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓪 / 𝓮𝔁𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓪#1384 ) to plot !

[ jasmine brown . 21 . cis female . she/her ] just saw MALEAH AMICK dragging their suitcase up the steps to CABIN 1B . good luck living with HER , i hear that that they’re INDECISIVE , FORGETFUL , SOCIABLE & CREATIVE . Apparently they’re the ATTACKING MIDFIELDER . let’s hope the upcoming season doesn’t affect their JUNIOR year of ART EDUCATION .

STATS:

name: maleah amick .

nickname(s): leah .

age: twenty one .

gender identity: cis female .

pronouns: she/her .

sexual orientation: bisexual / biromantic .

birthday: 26 february 1999 .

zodiac sign: pisces .

myer-briggs: esfj .

pinterest: coming soon !

HISTORY:

born on the 26th of february 1999 in orlando , florida , maleah was the youngest of the three amick siblings . her mother worked as a prestigious board – certified pediatric surgeon at a local children’s hospital , and her father worked as a high school mathematics teacher and volunteered as the school’s unpaid soccer coach , a move that saved the program from ending due to budget cuts ( he claims he was roped into the position as a first – year teacher with no seniority , but while he’s reluctant to admit it , he eventually grew a passion for the sport he had previously known little about ) .

with her mother’s long shifts and emergency work – related calls , she ultimately became closer to her father and two older brothers while growing up . most knew her father as a man who towered over them at 6’7” , ordering his team to run laps or practice drills ; however , maleah knew him as the man who would crawl around the living room floor playing barbies with her or would prepare fruit and herbal teas as she twirled around dressed as a princess , declaring it time for a royal tea party . just as easily , she could be found exploring the great outdoors or playing whatever sport was currently in season alongside her brothers .

she practically followed in her brothers’ footsteps . as they approached high school , each brother chose one sport to specialize in , hoping to secure a position on a college team and eventually on a professional team . maleah did not have professional athletic goals , but although she had immaculate grades with limited effort put towards academics , she knew extra – curricular activities were important for college applications . thus , when it was maleah’s turn to choose which sport to pursue , rather than having to weigh the pros and cons and make her own decision ( or perhaps , fearing that she would make the wrong decision ) , she simply chose the sport that her brothers had previously chosen : soccer .

her high school coach knew the perfect position for maleah . years of informal practice with her brothers in the backyard had enhanced her skills . she had learned how to evade skilled high school defenses by pretending as if she was heading in one direction before bolting in the other . soccer was one of the few areas in life in which she possessed enough knowledge to make quick and effective decisions ; she could read the field and immediately determine the best course of action : dribble , pass , or shoot . ultimately , she possessed the vision and the creativity necessary to secure playmaking and goal-scoring opportunities for her team .

with a line of college scholarships , both academic and athletic , waiting for the attacking midfielder’s choice ( unfortunately , none from either of the schools her brothers played for ) , the time came for maleah to make a decision . as deadlines for summer practices , class registration , and tuition payments crept closer , she finally determined a means of deciding . she numbered her offer letters , 1 through 13 , and allowed a random number generator to make the decision for her . thus , mere chance ( or perhaps fate ) led maleah to hollis university .

her first semester at hollis was . . . rough , to put it lightly . while most freshman shed a few tears as they watched their parents’ car drive off into the distance , homesickness lingered in maleah’s life . coasting through high school with limited effort had done her zero favors ; with no effective study skills , her grades dropped dramatically . between soccer and trying to salvage her grade point average , a social life was virtually out of question . ultimately , she found herself on academic probation , unable to play soccer , for her second semester of freshman year at hollis .

luckily , she was able to develop effective study habits , and even discovered along the way that maybe pre – med was not the best major for her . when asked what she wanted to do , maleah gave an entire list of generic answers – “i want to help people” and “i want to make a difference” came up quite often , but nothing specific enough to point her in the right direction . thus , she changed her major almost every semester , desperately seeking for the right fit . in the meantime , though it took several letters petitioning her temporary removal from the team , she was able to resume playing soccer during her sophomore year .

as junior year approached , maleah was almost certain that she was back in her coach’s good graces – no longer viewed with a sense of skepticism . she had proven herself capable , finding her name on the dean’s list nearly every semester and assisting her team in numerous wins throughout the soccer season . however , with hollis’ soccer teams’ restructuring , maleah can’t help but question if her coach views her as a valued athlete or a liability .

PERSONALITY:

two words : social butterfly . almost to a fault . even if someone has expressed quite literally zero interest in talking to her / getting to know her , she will still make an attempt . kind of a . . . people – pleaser , in a sense , she just wants to be well – liked ?

avoids ! conflict ! at ! all ! costs ! generally just . . . tries to avoid people or situations that upset her . not very prone to like . . . yelling or crying , but those close to her can definitely sense a change in her demeanor when she’s upset ? just . . . a lot more tense , probably lots of eye – rolling and just . . . subtle , quiet signs that she is over whatever the problem is .

kinda . . . chill , mellow , easygoing ? she very much lives in the moment , and tries not to stress too much about the future . always down for a drink , a party , whatever – genuinely just around for some fun and some friends !!!

the kind of person who genuinely gets excited over like those fun facts and jokes that are on popsicle sticks and whatnot – absolutely must share the information with everyone within earshot . honestly , those jokes are very . . . on point with her own personal sense of humor jflakdsj .

HEADCANONS:

she suffers from a terrible case of youngest child syndrome . ultimately , without guidance , she’s terribly irresponsible . she’s always having to run extra laps because she sets her alarm too late to make it to morning practices on time . she’s always receiving overdraft fees for spending more money than is available in her checking account . forgets everything – from homework assignments to names to grabbing her keys before locking the door on her way out . just . . . imagine a child asking for an adult’s help and her looking around until she comes to the realization that “ oh , shit , i am an adult ” .

she’s practically always doodling – in the corners of notebooks , on napkins while eating lunch , on her clothing , on her own skin . she loves making art , particularly drawing or painting portraits or nature . ( ultimately , she only decided to incorporate this into her choice of major after hollis threatened to not allow any further changes to her major ) .

she has a . . . unique sense of style . she has a passion for thrifting and upcycling . practically lives in hoodies and t – shirts that she has purchased from secondhand stores and cropped herself . always adding cool iron-on patches to her clothing . she should be listed as your emergency contact if you’re prone to ripping your clothing because she can definitely fix it .

she probably thinks she’s good at trash-talking on the field , but she actually sounds like a second grader ( and that’s being kind ) . if you looked at her browser history , there’s probably at least one record of her actually googling “ best soccer trash talk ” .

CONNECTIONS:

friends !! friends she’s met through courses throughout her adventures of attempting every major possible , mayhaps soccer friendships that continue off the field , mayhaps that complicated emerging new friendship state for some who are new to hollis ! unlikely friends ! best friends !!! quite literally those unbreakable ride – or – die friendships !

muses !! i feel like every artist needs that little dose of inspiration , even if it’s simply the inspiration of a work – in – progress portrait throughout the duration of camp ! complaints of “ stop moving ! ” and her stopping every ten minutes to ask what they think and probably at some point , her flinging a brush dripping of paint in their direction (if things didn’t end in an all – out paint fight djlfakds ) .

enemies !! honestly i’m sure there is ?? so much ?? potential for this , bt . . . mayhaps someone’s just . . . fed up w her irresponsibility ? thinks she doesn’t take her soccer position seriously ? maybe someone doesn’t think she takes anything seriously ( they wouldn’t be . . . wrong tbh ) . maybe someone from cali takes that “ california vs florida ” feud a little too seriously jflskdja . idk there’s always bound to be personality clashes !

exes !! relationships that ended badly , so she actively tries to avoid them and who even knows what happens when she’s forced to acknowledge their existence at some point at this camp !!! maybe relationships that ended on mutual terms so they’re still p chill with each other ?? maybe ended relationships that never quite got closure so there’s still unresolved feelings !!

hook-ups !! they are . . . college students . they are . . . college students stuck at a camp all summer . idk i feel like this one is pretty self – explanatory jflakds .

honestly i am tired & want to sleep , bt genuinely i am up for & open to anything ! good influences , bad influences , unrequited crushes , requited crushes , idk the world is y(our) oyster !! these are . . . rlly just some ideas to get the whole process started bc i am actually terrible at . . . thinking of plot ideas on the spot . always open to jst . . . doing a thread and seeing how things naturally flow too !

#hollis.intro #i . . . don't know what most of this is #it is jst #almost 5 am now actually i need sleep #also too lazy to log on to my other account to access my other gifs so :) this is what we have to work with for the time being jflaksdj

14 notes · View notes

jkid4 · 4 years

Text

Spending Christmas Alone

It’s been over a year since I posted my cry for help in 2018, and I still remember it and the overwhelming response to it. The money I’ve received helped me and my family a lot to starve off eviction. Good news it that due to some foresight I took when I was at the Prince Georges County Social Services Office I was able to get Social Security Disability Insurance around March 2019. I had to use over half of the backpay to support my parents who still could not get a job no matter how hard they tried. I was also burnt out from emotionally, physically, and financially care-giving and I’ve been running on zero for years, despite the fact that I’ve gotten SSDI and this source of the burn out is from my parents. Ending my own life was not option and abandoning my parents isn’t an option because everyone in my family will call me a pile of shit instead of stepping up in my absence. I was simply forced to endure it because no one else wants to help.

I was simply forced to endure until I could not deal with it anymore. And that point came when my autistic brother had a seizure while on the his laptop and my mother was upset and screaming fearing that my brother is going to die. I could not control her emotions no matter what I done in the past, it was all bioscripted. After the incident, and the day where I visited the hospital and told my mom politely that I can’t support the family anymore and I did all I could as my brother needs round the clock care.

It took me 10 days from that to starting packing and starting to find a place to live, and for me for a person who knows no one that can help and public housing and section 8 is non existent anywhere, it was pure luck that I found a room in a house for 650 dollars and near a bus line to a metrorail station. I had to pay it out of my own pocket and from the student loan refund because social services explicitly told me that unless you have children or pregnant, regardless of disability, they will not help you with moving or rental assistance.

At one point, and I was serious, I planned to just put all of my stuff into storage, everything and just traveled across the country, because is relatively cheaper to live as a homeless person on SSDI and food stamps than to pay any money for a roof over your head.

My brother is at a group home, my mom and dad are making sure he’s doing ok and good. I’ve signed up for a part time care-giving service so I can be paid when I have to visit my parents to watch my brother. Unfortunately I have to wait for my pay to come because my first check I was supposed to received in direct deposit was sent by check instead and they it was lost in the mail. So I have to wait until next week Friday to receive it.

My mom finally has a job, paying 15 dollars a hour for the next six months with a possibility for being hired permanently. She’s also trying to get a small business running to make money on transporting elderly people to and from places using a used van. As for the house, it’s already three months behind, and I’ve told my parents to sell the house or rent it out if we can’t catch up with the mortgage. I’ve done all I could, and I’ve done enough. I come back to check on them on a periodic basis to make sure that the house is OK and make sure the trash and recycling is taken out. She’s also filed for bankruptcy, which means all of her debts are clean off.

As for me, I might has my independence back, but I’m paying for it for the rest of my life. Credit cards deb thave since been defaulted which I have to pay of for the rest of my life, same thing with student loans. This is because I’m unemployable due to a number of reasons that normal people can’t and don’t want to understand. Too many employers, even temp agencies don’t want a gap, and despite having relevant skills, too many employers don’t take resume reading seriously.

And NO, employers don’t accept caregiving as volunteer experience. Caregiving is not something you volunteer as you get nothing from it when you’re done caregiving or can’t do it anymore other than “just go to social services”.

And you will not believe the unsociltzed advice and advice dumps I get when I tell people online about my ordeal: Go watch a movie, travel, go date. Do I look I have money for all of this? And go date? Dating has changed, everyone uses phone apps to date. Worse, after age 30 you’re not supposed supposed to approach people anymore. Society has changed, and most people are stuck in the Pre-Great Recession era when it comes to getting social relations advice and job advice.

And too many employers for good paying jobs want a credit check and many will not hire anyone with a bad credit rating for any reason. This includes federal jobs, because there’s simply too many people who are in a better life position than I do. So I’m basically unemployed for life.

Oh why not the gig economy? I don’t have a car for most of them.

As for my relatives that refused to help or didn’t want to help, I can tell you straight up, that none of them offered me or my parents any help since I moved away. None of them. More proof that caregivers are just disposable and just told to shove themselves back into the job market. It worth nothing that none of them called me to say Merry Christmas, not even my friends or people I know who I contact on a regular basis. I basically don’t exist.

And this is one part of many of my life is destroyed by caregiving. I’m expected to rebuild my life with the scraps of what’s left of society that has radically changed in the past 5 years. It’s very difficult to reenter society as a ex-caregiver because there’s no resources online, and resources available are those assuming you have a large inhertance given to you. I have no motivation to live, no desires, and the interests I used to have are just chores. Chores to make sure that people who knew I was struggling for years, see that I’m still alive and I have not ended it my life. Aniem conventions, tv shows, anime, films, games, they’re all chores that I do so I won’t have to think about ending my life because my future no longer exist.

The only reason I’m not dead is because my parents would be upset, the people who know me but don’t contact me on facebook or whatever will be upset.

Even people I know, suddenly turn into social landmines because of something I did that I was out of my control, and already one of my convention exhibiters became a social landmine immediately. I didn’t knew she was going to turn into a landmine because all the years I’ve could have developed social skills was diverted to being a unpaid therapist to my long-unemployed mom. It’s simply not fair that I have to pay for this for the rest of my life for things too many people proudly take for granted.

I have too many things I wanted to do: It’s not a bucket list but a Dead List: Things I have to do before election day 2020, everything that I wanted to do before my life was stolen when I was forced to caregive for five years. After Election Day 2020, I’m done. I don’t belong in a society that has become unsympathic to caregivers or those pushed out of the lifescript or it has become polarized politically polarized. And I don’t see a future for American society other than a dystopic hellworld that I’m not equipped for and there is no future for me other than existing day to day just experiencing a dystopian hellworld that I have no interest seeing because I already know how 2020 will end and no one will believe me. If I was not forced to caregiver, I would not be worried about this, I would be more than prepared, but for me I have no interest experiencing a dystopia so that others won’t be upset.

I wanted to post this on tumblr so bad, but I had no energy to write or type this out or to post because the motivation is simply gone. While I’m back in school, all I’m doing is building more debt.

As for this Christmas? I spent it alone, I’ve only called my parents to say merry Christmas and see how they were all doing including my autistic brother. And the only thing I ate is a large baked chicken I’ve bought two weeks ago that I didn’t had the motivation to eat until today. And someone had to audacity on Reddit to insist I have a merry Christmas, even though I expressed misery.

I even didn’t had the energy to promote my gofundme because I simply don’t have a celebrity that can help me. Because in this day and age, unless you know someone that can help or have gobbs of money there is no way out of poverty.

So yeah a person with autism who has his life destroyed by caregiving, and no relative or friend or loved one to spend time with on Christmas. More proof that ex-caregivers are worthless to society despite how “noble” and “admirable” they are. But not noble enough for society to help them when they’re done caregiving and when isolated and alienated.

-------

If for some unknown reason this post blows up:

https://gofundme.com/help-jkid-get-out-of-debt/ - That’s my gofundme

https://www.paypal.me/Jkid4 - my paypal

https://cash.app/$Jkid - My cashapp

https://www.patreon.com/Jkid - My patreon for some unknown reason people are interested in what I’m doing as a hobby.

7 notes · View notes

ofsylvias-blog · 5 years

Text

SYLVIA PRESTON — twenty. political science major. the bibliophile.

hi everyone ! i’m meredith, i’m eighteen, and i never learned how to fucking read i’m from the est. i use they/them pronouns, am about to be a freshman in college ( let’s hope no one disappears ahjdkks ) and ... there’s not a lot interesting about me. i have a cute cat, tho. i play sylvia ... duh. you can find some more information about her under the cut. i’m meredith#3445 so slide into those dms 2 plot xoxo !

have you seen [ SYLVIA PRESTON ] since the storm? some say they look like [ SYDNEY SWEENEY ] but they’re [ 20 ] & go by [ THE BIBLIOPHILE ]. [ SHE ] lived in halloway for [ 8YEARS ] & they are originally from [ NEW YORK CITY ]. before the town vanished they were studying [ POLITICAL SCIENCE ] and lived at [ UNI BLVD ]. most people knew the [ CISFEMALE ] as [ DEDICATED ] but i’ve heard they can also be [ SELF-IMPORTANT ]. for some reason, they feel [ UNEASY ] about the town’s disappearance.

QUICK INFO:

Name: Sylvia Elizabeth Preston

DOB / Age: January 6th, 1999. Twenty.

Zodiac: Capricorn sun, Virgo moon.

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw.

MBTI: ESTJ.

Positive traits: Strong-willed, intelligent, organized.

Negative traits: Stubborn, judgemental, hypercritical.

Sexuality: Bisexual.

Main Inspo: Betty Cooper, Nancy Wheeler, Michaela Pratt.

BIOGRAPHY:

Despite the fact that she had a white-picket fence ( not literally, of course, as for the first twelve years of her life she lived in an apartment ) upbringing, with a wealthy father who could have given her everything she wanted ... Sylvia has always had to work for what she wanted. Of course, she was privileged: pretty and blonde and attending the best private schools, with the best tutors and healthy lunches prepared by her nanny, but Sylvia wasn’t spoiled. She didn’t have the walls of toys her friends with parents that had the same income did, she didn’t have the vacations around the world. Her father was determined to teach her the merits of hard work — no matter how young she was. Flashcards every morning over breakfast, only getting her dolls and trains out of the locked toy chest when she came home with an A on her spelling test, no dinner if her room wasn’t entirely pristine. She’s always been neurotic, and a perfectionist, from when she set up her toys in perfectly neat lines to when she corrected the grammar of a love note she got when she was eight. Her hair was always brushed neatly, her skirts without a crease in them. Presentable is perfect, her mother would say, through breath that always smelled like red wine. And only perfect is presentable, she would echo back, whether it be through the lisp she carried as a young girl ( speech therapy squandered that quickly ) or the braces she got at ten, the second her last adult tooth grew in.

Her father was transferred to Concord in the middle of her sixth grade year, and her family settled neatly into Halloway after that. Of course, just because the clean, modern furniture and city skylines of their old were replaced with a big front porch and a bigger backyard didn’t mean anything — it didn’t mean the Prestons expected anything less. When she was fourteen, her mom’s belly was swollen with another baby ( a little girl to be born three months later, called Beatrice ) and while some older children had the expectations shift off of them with new arrivals, thus was not the case for Sylvia. She was expected to be an example. She joined the cheerleading squad in the seventh grade, and carried on to the high school team. She joined the debate team, and was on the student council, even volunteering for the mayor’s office — she fell in love with politics, and decided then and there that she was going to be the first female president.

Straight As in five AP classes, every extracurricular under the sun, volunteer work on weekends ... Sylvia was perfect in high school, and she’s perfect in college. Acing every course, the same volunteer and internship opportunities ... she went to parties, of course, and hooked up with people, of course, but she always calculated mathematically just the amount of drinks she needed to feel a buzz but still be in control — and not get a hangover in the morning — and using every form of birth control possible. She’s still a cheerleader, of course, though now it’s for the Halloway University team instead of the high school. She’s never been really drunk, never been in a relationship ... she’s not a sociopath or anything, but the social scene is more of a transaction for her than anything. She’s as kind as she can be because it’s the right thing to do ... but she makes connections because they could help her down the line. She’s always been a bit of a loner on the inside, but she does crave real affection instead of just attention. Her real connections are very limited.

TL;DR — Sylvia is the perfect girl with the perfect life, a straight A student popular at parties and a cheerleader. She moved from NYC when she was twelve, and was also a cheerleader in HS and on the debate team, as well as being involved in student govt. An unpaid internship / volunteer work at the mayor’s office sparked an even bigger interest in politics, and she wants to be the first female president. Her nuclear family is equally perfect, though they exert pressure on her, and she loves her little sister Beatrice, who’s six, more than anything in the world. She’s a severe perfectionist that is perfectly calculated socially, but doesn’t really have a lot of fun, despite appearances.

PERSONALITY / UNI LIFE / FUN FACTS:

Again, Sylvia goes to parties all the time, and drinks enough to get buzzed while remaining in full control. That’s also the sole reason she doesn’t do drugs, because she can’t stand the idea of not being operating at full awareness. She’s hooked up with plenty of guys and gals, but has never had a relationship either in high school or college.

Sylvia wakes up at least two hours before classes every morning to perfectly do her hair and makeup, and curate an outfit. She’s never really fallen into the sweatpants and makeup free to class thing, and is always looking like she’s ready to impress.

She’s a cheerleader, and incredibly involved in classes. She’s a bit of a teacher’s pet, and knows all of her professors and almost always goes to office hours.

She’s a cheerleader, involved in Women in Leadership, and Future Politicians as her extracurriculars. Sylvia also 100% runs a studyblr and whatever the Instagram equivalent is.

Everything in Sylvia’s life is in her planner. Birthdays, assignments, passwords written down in the back, sticky notes advertising different inspirational quotes ... all from female politicians, of course. Each page is perfectly crafted in even more perfect penmanship, and color coded. She wears the key for it around her neck, and the tiny silver lock has never budged at anyone else’s hands.

Sylvia loves vintage and classic romance movies. Anything from Casablanca to John Hughes or cheesy Netflix flicks, and she’s seen it. She’s a romantic at heart, despite her own lack of experience. Not for lack of trying on other people’s parts, but she’s after success, not a relationship. She’s always thought, secretly, that if she wasn’t so focused on success and politics, she’d love to be an actress or a producer or something in Hollywood.

Sylvia is ridiculously nosy. She makes note of things she overhears, of things people tell her, she knows how to ask a good question, and isn’t a stranger to picking a lock, which she learned from the pile of Nancy Drew books in her childhood bedroom. Not that anyone knows this, of course, but information is always good to have. Maybe she should be a reporter instead. I’d predict she’d be very interested in solving the mystery of what’s going on, and trying to figure everything out.

Pinterest. Spotify.

#ooc / and that's what you missed on glee.#hallowayintros #hallowaypoints

24 notes · View notes

guccigiuliaposts-blog · 5 years

Text

My Journey with the Marketing Seminar Series...

This Marketing Seminar series brought me a lot more insight and valuable information about the marketing industry than I could have ever imagined. Each speaker brought a new perspective to a different issue within the world of marketing and opened my eyes to various job positions and extremely valuable tools that I can use in my future. Many of the speakers had an effect on me.

Learning from the Best.

When I think of one that stands out the first person that comes to mind is Brad. The advice he gave is something I have been using while searching for my internship, which is that we never stop learning. I have been working for free and volunteering for eight years in the PR and marketing world.

Currently, I am searching for an unpaid internship and have had to get my old job back at a restaurant. It frustrates me that after all these years I still have to work for free and go back to working in the service industry. What I keep reminding myself is what brad said, we never stop learning! I need to do this to learn and advance my career. He also talked about being laid off because companies have chosen different marketing strategies. I am not getting the internship I had my heart set on, but I also keep thinking back to Brad's story about being laid off, sometimes it isn’t personal. There is a reason they are not choosing me and that is not something I should take personally.

The second speaker to impact me was Josh from Tokyo Smoke. WOW. That talk really affected me. There was so much that I took from what he had to say. I will discuss the two main takeaways I took from his story.

1. You need to have passion!

Josh took something that was a taboo topic in society and normalized it. He worked for months unpaid and overlooked all the negative opinions and stereotypes that come with the notion of cannabis. He didn't focus on the money but more on the big picture. Looking at how far he has come, I know he got there because of his passion and commitment to the topic. It is a reminder that I do not want to settle for where I work because I want to be passionate about the brands I am representing, this is what will bring success in the realm of marketing.

2. Target Marketing

The product the Josh is selling, cannabis, hold long-standing negative ideas towards the product. To overcome this opinion Tokyo Smoke opened up a coffee shop that would sell cannabis. By identifying who their target market is, they created an environment that consumers already know and trust, a coffee shop. From there they took this environment that people already trusted and started to sell their product there. By identifying who they were trying to sell to, they made a safe environment that they knew people would be comfortable with and introduced what they are selling from there. It brought home the notion that you need to know WHO you are selling to before you can figure out how you will sell to them. This idea is one that I keep thinking of when I walk past Tokyo Smoke on the streets of Toronto.

Networking! Networking! Networking!

This course really helped me gain not only insight on the world of marketing but network and build relationships. Previously in the semester, I was able to work as a Micro-Influencer for the brand UGG. They were represented by the Agency Trevor//Peter agency. Matt Wilkie who came to spoke to us was also from there. When at the event I was able to get to know the people hosting it who worked at Trevor//Peter. I was able to make that connection explain how I am currently enrolled in a post-graduate digital marketing program. This made them remember me. I am currently on the hunt for my internship. With my passion for the fashion industry, I decided to apply to FASHION Magazine. It turns out they are owned by Trevor//Peter. I have now been able to apply and reach out to the contacts that I made. After speaking to them about my journey in digital marketing they were eager to help me out. I have not secured anything yet but because of that connection, I was able to get my resume into the right hands.

I was also encouraged to get online and join networking groups. I created a LinkedIn profile that easily showcases all of my work and accomplishments. I have already gained connection and profile views that are only helping me move in the right direction and network within the fashion PR industry. I was also encouraged to start a blog that I have slowly used as a personal outlet to showcase my thrift style GucciGiulia. These two networking sites have given me the upper hand when applying for Internships and helped me learn more about the marketing industry in the digital sphere.

So......What did I really learn?

I learned that marketing is truly a mix of art and science. It is all about taking the data you have about consumers and selling them in a creative way. Through these talks, I learned that I have a passion for Influencer Marketing and that is something I would like to break into in the near future. The final thing I learned is that you need to go the extra mile and always make a good impression with people. The old saying still rings true..... your network is your net worth!

1 note · View note

tipsyraconteur · 6 years

Text

Good Boy, Part 4

Annnd here is the last part of this fluffy dogstrosity. I managed to break 200 followers during the blogging of this story, so thanks to everyone that followed! I really enjoyed writing some pure fluff for tumblr, and I’m sure I’ll do it again in the future when I need a break from my longer stories. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Good Boy, Part 4

KakaSaku Coffee Shop AU

Rating: T

Word Count: ~2.5k

[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ]

The next day, Sakura started her shift with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. Well, not really, but she definitely began the shift in a good mood. It was hard not to feel positive: she’d totally aced her make-up test with her professor and she was about to have two days off that she could spend catching up on schoolwork and sleep. Most importantly, however, was the company she was expecting during her shift that day.

Maybe it was stupid to feel so excited, but she was excited.

Four days ago, Kakashi had been a strange man with a pug who’d flirted with her before not paying for his drink. Now… well, she was starting to hope that he’d be more. Maybe a lot more. When Sakura had made the dubious decision to call Ino and ask her for advice, Ino had squealed “ASK HIM OUT” loud enough that Sakura had had to pull the phone away from her ear.

Sakura wasn’t sure she had the courage to do that. But maybe she could handle reminding him that she had the next two days off, in the hopes that he would ask her out himself. Sure, it was pretty cowardly, and that didn’t exactly sit well with Sakura, but neither did asking out a customer while she was at work. Somehow, she thought her boss would frown on that.

Sakura didn’t want to piss off Hana. Hana was the older sister of Sakura’s friend Kiba, and the last thing Sakura wanted to do was upset her boss, especially since it would also reflect badly on Kiba’s recommendation that she work there. And after the conversation she’d had to have with Hana earlier that week about a certain unpaid-for drink, Sakura was probably on thin ice already.

As if her very thoughts had summoned her, Sakura felt her stomach drop as she heard the sound of the back door opening and her boss’s voice ringing through the air.

“Hey Sakura,” Hana said easily as she locked the back door behind her. “I’ve had to rearrange my schedule this week, so I thought I’d come in and do inventory tonight,” she said, smiling brightly.

Sakura forced what she hoped was a believable smile in return. It was a few hours before the time when Kakashi came in, but who knew how long inventory would last? If Hana was still here when Kakashi arrived with four dogs, Sakura wasn’t sure how she would react.

And it had to be four dogs. He had to have run out by now, right?

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sakura asked hopefully. Maybe she could hurry this along.

“No, I just need you to run the shop. I’ll try not to get in your way too much.” As Hana set down her bag and plucked her inventory clipboard from the wall, Sakura held back a sigh. All she could do now was hope that inventory was finished before Kakashi made his grand appearance.

For the next two hours, Sakura handled customers while Hana puttered around the shop counting things. She counted milk jugs, syrup bottles, and boxes of napkins and stir sticks. Sakura mostly tried to ignore her steadily growing anxiety and failed miserably every time she checked the time. However, a certain fatalistic mood began to settle over her as the clock hands crept closer to what she thought of as “Kakashi Time”. After all, he was just a customer who had some dogs, and they were a coffee shop that was dog-friendly. So, it wasn’t like either of them were doing anything wrong.

…Right?

“Sakura.” Hana’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and Sakura turned to take in the sight of Hana counting the various sizes of cups. “Do you know why we’re missing shot cups?”

Without thinking, Sakura answered, “No, I don’t know why we would be—” and then stopped, trailing off. Puppuccinos. Goddamn puppuccinos.

Hana’s eyes narrowed. “Sakura?”

Sakura gave a wincing smile. “Well, you see, we’ve had a customer lately who likes to bring in his dogs, and Starbucks does this thing where they give out little cups of whipped cream and call them puppuccinos…”

Hana folded her arms, looking unimpressed. “And you thought we needed to keep up with Starbucks, apparently. Did you not realize that would throw off inventory? It looks like theft, Sakura.”

Sakura swallowed. Why did she have to have so many conversations with her boss regarding Kakashi and thievery? “Well, I figured that we don’t charge for extra whipped cream, so it would be okay.” When Hana’s expression didn’t change, Sakura sighed. “I didn’t think about the cups. I’m sorry.”

Hana watched her narrow-eyed for a moment longer, and then a curious little smirk crept over her face. “So… who’s this new customer?”

Fuck. Sakura felt her face start to get hot, and her voice was a trifle squeaky when she answered, “What? Which customer?” Smooth, real smooth.

Hana casually inspected the nails of her right hand, although she was obviously still watching Sakura from the corner of her eye. “You never break the rules, and now you’ve broken them twice in one week.”

“I— Well, I mean, I just made a few mistakes. It’s a coincidence.”

“So, you’re telling me puppuccino customer isn’t also didn’t-pay-for-a-drink customer?” Hana’s smile had begun to take on a positively wolfish quality. “He must be cute.”

Sakura opened her mouth to make some sort of excuse—just what kind of excuse, she wasn’t sure—when she was saved by the tinkle of the bell over the door. At least, she thought she was saved, until she looked over and saw a certain lanky figure in the doorway.

Kakashi leaned casually in the door, holding it open, smiling lazily. Lifting one silver brow, he whistled—and then the dogs started walking in.

"Oh, no," Sakura whispered to herself in mounting horror. But there was no stopping it.

First was Pakkun. Out of the backpack for once, he was wearing the same blue halter that all of Kakashi's other dogs had worn, but it was so small and cute that Sakura had to repress the urge to make a very awkward high-pitched noise. Next came Shiba, and the Bisuke. All of them were holding their own leashes in their mouths. When Uhei came in the door, he paused briefly and wagged his tail before continuing forward.

That wasn't the end of Kakashi's dog parade, though.

Another smaller brown floppy-eared dog stepped through the door, followed by two other dogs of lanky, medium build. All three looked like mutts of indistinguishable breeds. But the last dog that came in caused both of Sakura's hands to fly up over her mouth. He was a dark dog whose breed wasn't immediately obvious—definitely some bulldog, maybe some bull mastiff—but he was easily the largest dog that Sakura had ever seen, the top of his head reaching higher than Kakashi's waist.

All eight dogs filed into a line before the counter, and each of them sat politely, still holding their leashes in their mouths. Completely ignoring her shocked expression, Kakashi let the door swing shut and approached the counter himself.

"Medium flat white and eight puppuccinos, please," he said pleasantly, like he hadn’t just released a canine horde upon her workplace.

“Kaka—” Sakura began, trying not to cringe, but she was cut off.

“Kakashi Hatake, why the hell are you standing in my coffee shop with every dog you have?” Hana’s voice boomed from behind her. Sakura turned to blink at her. “Let me guess… you’re the new customer I keep hearing about?”

“Oh, hi Hana. I didn’t know you worked here,” Kakashi replied in that same pleasant, unflappable voice. “It’s nice to see you outside the shelter.”

Confused, Sakura asked, “You know each other?”

Hana snorted, smirking at Kakashi. “You know I volunteer at the animal shelter. This guy,” she said, pointing at Kakashi, who looked admirably unphased by her ire, “is the guy they call when there’s a dog no one else will adopt.”

Sakura turned to look at him, briefly distracted from the tense situation. "Really? You take all the dogs that no one else wants?"

"No," Kakashi answered, looking offended, as if there was no way he would be that much of a sucker. After a long, pregnant pause, he added, "I only take the ones that Pakkun likes." Another pause. "Mostly. Pakkun didn't really like Shiba at first. I had to talk him into it." From the front of the line of dogs came a small, disgruntled 'boof'.

Sakura really wanted to ask how one went about talking a pug into something, but she decided it wasn’t the time. Especially when Hana glared from her to Kakashi and then said, “Neither of you have answered my question. Why are you here with all of your dogs?”

There was a moment when Sakura and Kakashi both looked at each other and then back at Hana, and then they both started speaking at the same time.

“Well, he saw the ‘Dogs Welcome’ sign in the window—"

“Oh, it’s really a simple explanation. I really like Sakura—”

“And when he asked what the limit was I didn’t know what to tell him because no one’s ever asked that—”

“And I thought I’d bring in a whole bunch of dogs to try and impress her.”

Sakura had trailed off, belatedly registering what he’d said about liking her, and was now struggling not to turn red again. Hana had her arms folded and was staring at him.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Kakashi finished blithely, though the smile he gave was a little sheepish.

Hana was now pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes squeezed shut. “Sakura,” she said slowly. “Make the man his drink.” Opening her eyes, she pointed at Kakashi again. “You. Take your dogs outside. There’s not enough room for them in here. And pay for your drink first!” she added as Kakashi started to move toward the door.

Kakashi chuckled awkwardly as he moved back toward the counter. “Right. Of course.”

In the awkward silence that followed, Sakura rang up Kakashi and made his change, both of them endeavoring to ignore the indistinct muttering coming from Hana, who had returned to her clipboard. Sakura quickly moved to make his flat white, very carefully not looking in Hana’s direction as she did so, and also avoiding looking at Kakashi.

“Medium flat white,” she said in a meek voice devoid of her usual cheer as she approached the counter and held out the drink.

Kakashi gave her an apologetic smile as he took it. “I’ll, uh, just take this to one of the tables outside,” he said, and within a few moments he’d herded his dogs back through the door, and Sakura was once more left alone with her boss.

Quickly busying herself by wiping down the hot bar, Sakura was startled when the silence was broken by Hana slamming down a whipped cream canister and a stack of shot cups beside her.

“When you give out whipped cream for dogs, you need to adjust the cup tally on the inventory sheet,” Hana scolded. “Don’t call them ‘puppuccinos’ again until I can verify that Starbucks doesn’t have that copyrighted.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sakura said, hope rising in her chest.

“Go take a break,” Hana finished gruffly.

Sakura blinked. She was always by herself in the shop on Wednesdays, so she never took a break. “But I don’t take breaks on—”

“Fuck’s sake, Haruno, know a good thing when you hear it!” Hana said in exasperation. “Take. A. Break.” And she shoved the whipped cream and cups toward her.

A silly grin threatened to break across Sakura’s features, and she quickly repressed it. “Of course, Hana. Thank you!” she said sincerely, albeit quickly, as she slid out from behind the register and beelined toward the door.

“Fifteen minutes!” Hana called after her, and she might have muttered something else, but Sakura was already out the door.

Letting the door shut behind her, still holding the cups and whipped cream canister in her hand, Sakura looked toward the table that Kakashi stood beside. And maybe it was the charmingly shamefaced grin he had, or all of the built-up tension of the last ten minutes—or maybe it was the pile of dogs who were crammed around his feet. But Sakura couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she burst into slightly hysterical laughter.

“I can’t—believe—you brought—eight dogs in here,” she gasped between giggles, and Kakashi’s grin grew as he watched her, his eyes warm. “I thought Hana was going to kill me. Or you.”

“Are you impressed yet? Because I’ve kind of run out of dogs and I promised Pakkun I wouldn’t adopt another one for at least a year.” Kakashi carefully stepped out of the pile of dogs and toward her, plucking the stack of cups and whipped cream from her hands and placing them on the table behind him. “Hey, do you think Hana can see us from inside the shop right now?”

Perplexed by the apparent change in topic, Sakura answered, “Well… no? She’s probably too far back to be able to see this table from—”

Sakura cut herself off as Kakashi dipped his head down close to hers, her breath catching in her throat. “Good,” he murmured, and with one hand raising to cup her face, he pressed his lips to hers.

She didn’t react at first, completely stunned by this turn of events. But when he went to pull away, her courage finally decided to show up, and she leaned toward him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back with an enthusiasm that Ino would’ve been proud of.

Kakashi hummed low in his throat in response, his free hand finding the small of her back. When she pulled back slightly to take a breath, he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“You know, I probably shouldn’t show up here again… at least not for a while,” he said as she slowly moved back a little, her face warming as her actions caught up to her.

“At least not with so many dogs,” she quipped, biting her lip.

“You’re off tomorrow, right?” he asked, and when she nodded, he continued, “Let me take you to dinner. No dogs.”

“I don’t know…” Sakura hedged, trying not to grin. “I’m kind of only in it for the dogs.” The fact that Uhei chose that moment to come and sit on her foot made the grin break through.

Kakashi laughed, somewhat ruefully. “How about dinner and a dog park afterward?”

“Yeah… that sounds fun,” Sakura said, beaming.

Sakura didn’t miss Kakashi’s quiet, relieved sigh as she bent slightly to stroke Uhei’s head, much to the dog’s obvious tail-wagging pleasure.

“Now then,” she continued, reaching past Kakashi for the cups and whipped cream, directing her attention toward the dogs. “Who wants a generic equivalent, definitely-not-copyright-infringement cup of whipped cream?”

#kakasaku #my stories #coffee shop AU #good boy #JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF DOGS #the end #tipsyraconteur

172 notes · View notes

rhythmic-idealist · 6 years

Text

A short while ago, when I was loudly narrating a barrage of “everything that’s making me upset right now,” @commanderfraya posed the question (paraphrased, here, from something like three separate questions in a set of about six) “what is the path I can set myself on that is going to be the thing that clears my Soul Gem, instead of just hypothetically caring about so much that I put out and work for an abstract idea of good and shrivel up into a Grief Seed?”

(@commanderfraya, I do not expect you to read this through. I do not expect ANYONE to read this through. It’s tagged to you as a thank-you, and a very, very heartfelt one.)

With that in mind, I’m thinking out loud about the life plan, and because I’m really, really excited about what I’m coming up with you all can come along with me.

(The place where this started, when I wrote that sentence, is not where it ended up. I want to reread this, connect all the little dots I’m missing or refusing to, and get that excited again.)

Cons of studying music therapy:

have to contend with potentially ableist professors and readings

with certainty, have to contend with some ableist professional relationships

the culture around studying music therapy (at least in my school, which was very “we’ll know if you’re one of us,” and there were other things too) is what burned me out so hard last time

I don’t want to be a classical music performer, and I have to study classical music performance

Pros of studying music therapy:

get to be a music therapist. The fact that this makes me as absolutely giddy as it does is conclusive proof imo that this is actually what I want to do, but wait, if that’s not proof enough that I love and feed off of music therapy as a passion, there’s more:

get the credibility to run a music therapy student podcast. I would be SO EXCITED about this guys, you cannot believe, I started sitting here and planning it out and then went “wait. shit. I have ZERO credibility.” (that’s why this post is happening.) and if I do the podcast NOW, the inevitable question of my involvement with music therapy will come up, and then the inevitable question of why I left after a semester, and I’m not prepared to answer that publicly yet. but listen. discussions with various disability advocates, or just friends, or professors, about recent papers published. interviews with local music therapists. interviews with musicians, too, and psychologists, and social workers, child development professionals, people who manage NICUs, and so on and so on. but I’m REALLY excited about 1) interviews with music therapists and 2) chances to broadcast, to the music therapy community at large, my take on current research.

I will have accommodations and a diagnosis on file. saying “I know I have some trouble with communication, and won’t know it’s an assignment unless you tell me ‘this is an assignment, and this is the due date,’ and that’s why I don’t have the thing you expected me to have this week” should really be enough, but I’ve learned from experience that if you say “I’m diagnosed with autism and-” people will IMMEDIATELY go “oh, so you need-” and repeat back what I just said.

The big, looming spectre over all of this:

things I can’t publish on Tumblr. There’s a possibility I will tangle very scarily with the administration of the school I studied at. There’s a possibility that doing this will impact my future career, at other schools.

So the pros win, genuinely, because I think all of the cons can be solved. The answer to the first two is “I love advocating for myself and others, and will be damn loud about it” and “I will have accommodations and a diagnosis on file.”

The answer to the third is I will just have to pull through and make it my own education and my own take on everything anyway and that’ll be enough, and because I will have accommodations and I will be good at what I do, I will have the grades to get through and the quality of work for a letter of rec and that is all that matters,

The answer to the fourth is that I’m growing more disciplined in classical practice, and this summer is my test run for that. It’s proving doable and rewarding. I love how my bass sounds on Bach chorales.

THE PLAN, then, and this is the part that’s just really good:

Finish my AA in music. I’m going into my second semester of that, and will, after it, have two more before I have a degree in music (with a focus on classical performance) and will transfer.

One major, major complaint was “in the meantime people are still being deported and homeless and suicidal and every other fucking thing I care about and I’m really going to be, with all that going on, with the time I could spend dedicated to fixing these problems, with the knowledge I could have been a social worker by next year if I started down that path already - I’m going to turn away from at least some opportunities to volunteer and to take to the streets to be a musician?”

So when I turn 21, I’m going to become a CASA volunteer.

This requires me to be really, really reliable and take a child’s life and future into my hands. The fortunate thing is that I know for a fact I can do this. I am putting in pointed and concerted effort to become a reliable person. It is hard work, and I am going to be able to keep doing it.

I have a job offer, part-time, for the preschool social-emotional-development-through-music program with which I’m currently interning.

Everything, literally everything, takes a backseat to:

the CASA job.

the college work - AA-central coursework first, and optionally ASL, because my mother is hard of hearing and losing her hearing progressively and it is that important.

the part-time job.

This is going to be fulfilling because protesting, other volunteerism, and political work is still going to be happening but in the backseat position it has been in, but the difference is that I will be doing a world of concrete good in my work and as a CASA volunteer. (The rest is what I’ve scrolled back up to add, because yeah, I cut this short.)

So then what? Then I study music therapy, which means I’ve moved away from home. What happens then?

The music therapy podcast. I organize it by myself, because I want to, though I frequently invite other students to collaborate on episodes.

Or I organize it with a friend, if I find a friend like Amy again. Not saying "Amy who” here for anonymity, but she has been my best friend for a long, long time.

Work. How am I working? Is music freelancing enough? Do I want to take a break before my transfer, and if so, how to I spend it meaningfully? Do I want to take a different route after all, study social work, spend TEN years doing that before I come back to music therapy? That could be good. I could love that. I would miss the music therapy podcast, and have to not think of social work as a transitional phase, to be committed to it, but there’s a balance between understanding that life can involve multiple careers and being committed to the current one.

It’s a job I would love, and a way I would love myself for the next ten years.

Every, every single thing I say is pointing me toward social work. It really, really is, and I could do it. The only thing I would regret is change. That’s - the feeling that I’m giving something up now, that I’ll never know what would have happened if I kept following the path I’m on.

Maybe I don’t need to know. Maybe I need not to, that’s why people change paths, ever, that’s why I’m not doing a million other paths that I’ll also never know because I’m not considering them. I just need to decide if the next ten years of music therapy are a loss.

The next fourteen years - four years for college. It’s a lot of college! I’m going to be doing that much anyway.

I’m.... not sure they are. I think that sticking to music therapy just because I’m here - that feels like a loss. I don’t think it gets me anything.

I think all roads lead to social work.

I think I could love the person I am as a social worker, be a good one, and I love kids, and I love human beings in general, I would be so, so happy, I swear to God.

It’s maybe the first time I’ve made a choice my mom will vehemently disagree with as the right one for me, in a way I will care about, and will feel as almost a strict mandate that it has to be another way, in my life.

I’m 20. That has to happen eventually.

I want to be a social worker. My throat is tight and my stomach is sick but it’s what I want to do, and those feelings are the anxiety I get and need to address eventually about being wrong about anything, about having been wrong and changing it, about the idea that I just need to act like I knew things already, all the time, or that I did, and I’m stupid for not doing them, and I’m conforming to expectations, and then I get sad about it instead of fixing it.

It’s an anxiety about having been wrong. I can’t twist this to assuage it.

So I just gotta not. And do it anyway.

Good thing I have therapy tomorrow.

There’s an unplanned digression from the plan. I’ve separated it out.

If I evaluate my position as a student once I turn 21, and I genuinely know I cannot commit the time to be a CASA volunteer responsibly, will my life still be fulfilling without it?

Yes. Working on it, but I think that the preschool program is that important.

Then again, I’m doing the preschool program right now (albeit unpaid), and right now is when I had the crisis of feeling like I’m not giving enough to the things that I actually care about, that I am shirking good I could and genuinely want to be doing, and would feel better for doing.

(I feel- trapped, genuinely, when I am choosing or feel like I am choosing not to help something that I should care, and do care, enough to help- like why have I trapped myself in this position, there are lots of people who care more about being musicians than about being activists and I am not one of them, so why am I pretending to be, why when I both genuinely, viscerally hate the feeling of not helping and also other people hurt for the lack of me helping, there’s no good coming from this choice for even me emotionally and I am making it only because- what, it might do good for someone else, it’s a narrative I want to fill? that’s the conflict, and I’m getting off track/backtracking us a lot, but I should have filled you in on that earlier)

To the less Madoka-literate of you, and only those who don’t mind spoilers: this is where I take a brief digression to talk about the Soul Gem and Grief Seed metaphor. Soul Gems give you your power, and allow you to do good in the world, but you are required to do some things that are arguably selfish - the good you are doing has to be motivated by healing yourself, in that way that Phoebe Buffay hates, and we learn (in watching my favorite character try to refuse this) that this does NOT negate a good deed, and no amount of martyrdom or pushing yourself aside makes the deed itself any better - to keep your Soul Gem cleansed.

If it goes for too long without being cleansed - if you try to do a lot of good, and refuse to take the rewards of it, or you expend too much energy doing the kind of good that comes without things that are rewarding for you - you turn into a Grief Seed. This is bad.

So that’s what I need to work out. Is this going to be good enough, if all I am doing is music and the part-time job.

When I am paid for the part-time job, I think it will feel better, and I will feel more comfortable making some of the grander, more permanent contributions to the curriculum that I’ve danced around for right now because I didn’t want to give away everything I want to do and then have my boss own it. She and I talked about rights today; I retain rights to activities and lesson plans that I create, even if she keeps using them when we part ways, and it won’t be interpreted as me stealing her program.

The PLAN, again.

My time is prioritized to school, teaching/work, and CASA.

I finish my AA in music performance.

I transfer to study music therapy.

I keep working part time, hopefully, while studying music therapy.

Fuck. That means I need to study at the college I left. I don’t know yet if that will be an option, once the thing I can’t publish here has gone down.

I should tell my boss I don’t know if I can make more than a one-and-a-half year commitment as a paid employee, because I might be leaving. Music therapy is an extremely uncommon major, and if I do not take it at exactly the school at which I took it, I will need to travel very far away.

Fuck.

Fuck indeed.

Okay. [Long, heavy sigh]. Okay.

I don’t want to get an undergraduate in music performance.

I don’t. I don’t it would burn me out that would be a thing that would turn me into a Grief Seed. I would hate it so much and I would feel useless and I do not enjoy putting myself on a stage for classical performance because I do not feel good about it, or like I am good enough at it, and I’m not interested in fixing that enough for another two years of school.

If I’m going to switch majors I need to do that now. I am not prepared to switch majors for a semester, change my mind, and come back to music. I don’t want to walk myself into a hole where it feels like the major I switch to is one I’m trapped to. I’ve done that to myself almost already.

If I switch majors, the likely candidates are:

Social Work.

Really social work’s the one. But, for argument’s sake:

Child Development.

Jazz. More on that below.

“More on that below:”

Or I could just stop. I could just stop, and study jazz, and work for the preschool program, and bring in money as a freelance musician for a while. I could just fucking stop and live for several years while doing this, and see if the finances are good enough that I can pour my soul into politics and activism and all the work I want to be doing. I’m okay with studying jazz without being in school. I’m good enough to be a freelance musician now, and with that and a part time job at the preschool I can sustain myself. Musician jobs, when you look in the right places, pay well. I would have time.

I don’t like that I know I’m ignoring something.

Thoughts right now, that aren’t as nice as they seemed when I started this post. I’ve worked some things out, so I refuse to say we’re back at square one. In fact, we’re not. I’m scrolling back up, editing, and making more lists.

#dear diary

1 note · View note

rosesnchocolate · 4 years

Text

I think what God has shown me through this job hunting process is to have patience. I feel like there were so many “right fits” for me and all the pain and aches of getting rejected has lead me to a position that was mine all along. It was difficult not knowing “when my time will come” and seeing so many of my friends and colleagues secure jobs while I was applying everywhere. It was even more frustrating because I *felt* like I did so much in college and it felt like it was for nothing. I know that is not true but STILL ):

When I first got my internship, at first they rejected me, a couple weeks later I received an email they only were able to give me a “volunteer internship position” which meant that it was an unpaid internship. I really wanted to intern with them but this time I was going to be graduated and I knew my parent’s would be so upset if I wasn’t looking for paid work. I already had three internships under my belt and they felt like that was good enough for me. A couple weeks later I was offered a paid internship with them AND with a host site that was not in it’s usual location. This host site would allow me to commute from home from my hometown versus having to move up to the usual location. Allowing me to save money and learn what it was like commuting. Due to COVID-19, my internship ended two months earlier than expected. With no internship and no work, I was able to dive into creative endeavors, I was able to enjoy and relax. Something I never afforded myself in college because of my ambitious nature LMAO. In June, I received an email asking if I was up to serving again as an intern, this time unpaid but for COVID-19 work. I happily accepted because it was WFH and I was eager to help in any way I could.

I got to learn a new program and intern with some of my closest friends I made in college. As I interned I also applied to jobs. I applied to at least 20+ jobs, made it to final rounds 2 times and rejected 8 times. But even then the jobs I was applying to it didn’t feel right. I second guessed if this was truly the path for me. i contemplated nursing. I questioned my worth. I felt qualified for so many of the jobs I was applying for. I had experience... why was I not being accepted? With every rejection, I mauled over every sentence I said at the interview, what was I doing wrong? With each interview I got better at questions, I prepared better and I watched and asked for more advice.

One day at my internship my supervisor and I were on a call, he was showing me a new assignment. He asked me if I needed a job and that they were hiring. Long story short my co-intern and I got extended an offer to work full-time for a 2-year contract. The best part is the pay is so much more than I expected as an entry-level starting off worker. I’m 100% sure that the other jobs I was applying for wouldn’t have paid me what I am getting now.

It just goes to show that God has perfect timing. With every rejection is a redirection in life and when you think *this* is the one or perfect opportunity, it isn’t. And no matter what, if it is MEANT FOR YOU!!! IT WILL BE FOR YOU!!

0 notes

fyeahwynonnaearp · 7 years

Text

What Just Happened?!?: Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers (S02E05)

So many things happened. So many things are happening. So many feelings were felt and so much screaming at the TV was done.

New Character(s)

Ewan (@unrealfehr): Volunteer firefighter by day and cult leader by night. Likes big shiny axes, red cloaks, bird masks, and working out.

Juan Carlo (@The_Real_ShaunJ): Re-introduction of the mysterious mechanic/watcher(?). Still uselessly helping and provides more questions than answers. Has a teleporter!Truck? because he drove in with it and disappeared with it.

The Order: A cult of volunteer firefighters whose motto is ‘Praesidium et Conservatio’. Under the (sometimes) guidance of Juan Carlo, they help protect the Ghost River Triangle.

Monster(s) of the Week

Miksun, or The Goo™: Have apparently infected a crap ton of people that The Order had to hunt down and kill. Put down by Peacemaker, but is it fully gone?

Final Thoughts (No Spoiler)

Game changer indeed.

Although The Goo™/Mikshun was the focus of the episode, so many little things happened that may ripple out and have huge repercussions in the future. It was such an intense episode and, as of now, I have watched it three times. Back to back. I am emotionally drained.

Honestly, before watching this show I take one or two or three shots of Fireball and after the show I chain-smoke like Doc Holliday and hug myself to contain all the feels.

Jump into the rabbit hole for some spoiler-filled rants, theories, and fun!

10 Things That Happened/I Learned

1. Ewan and The Order - ‘Praesidium et Conservatio’: We find out that the Purgatory Volunteer Fire Department (or VFD, which makes me giggle because Lemony Snicket) has an impressive battle axe collection, hunts down Goo-infected citizens, and likes nachos as an after-beheading snack. Based on Ewan and The Plate™, it seems that The Order used to have a relationship with the Earp heir. Now in possession of The Plate™ and open to partnering with Wynonna, we will probably see more of Ewan (or FitBit, as Melanie likes to call him). How The Order and The Squad™ will butt heads will be very interesting and I’m ready for The Squad™ to have help because IDK if people remember/realize, but The Ghost River Triangle is a huge freakin’ area.

2. Nicole, the kicked puppy. The first-half of this season have completely REKT the Officer. Goononna was especially in top-shelf form with the emotional beatdown. I expect Nicole and Wynonna to clash because Nicole is clearly the (mostly) by-the-book rookie and Wynonna is the free-spirit protocol-lel-what-protocol Black Badge Deputy. Perhaps Nicole never understood how or why Wynonna got to be in the super secret government agency and was maybe a bit jealous, but damn! Goononna definitely knew her weakness and insecurities and hit where it hurts the most. I’m excited to see how they move on from this and how they form a relationship outside of Waverly. (I’ve read somewhere that Nicole was constantly being mean and a bit of a bitch to Wynonna; I honestly will have to rewatch, but I don’t remember Nicole being an outright massive bitch to her.)

3. IN MEMORIAM: AGENT JEANIE LUCADO.Goocado, or goo-infected!Lucado: Head exploded. Tentatively dead because regeneration is a thing and where the hell did her body go?!?

4. Doc Holliday has a new car. It is red and has a cassette player and I wonder if he constantly avoids eye contact with Nicole while at the station because she knows he doesn’t have a driver’s license and definitely has an unpaid speeding ticket.

5. Purgatory Fair 1952. The plate is important enough that it was hunted down, wanted by BBD, and people were killed for it. It was definitely important to The Order. Not only does it bare their seal, but it might be connected to the broken seal because Ewan was talking about it to JC and it seems they are also responsible for maintaining it.

6. “I will shoot anybody for you”. Not only is Nicole whipped, but this line just cements the notion of the Officer being loyal to Waverly despite her position as a police officer. It might be nothing, or it could be the overarching struggle Nicole will face throughout the season and beyond. Being a good cop matters to her, and being involved with Waverly could mean ignoring things for The Squad, covering things up, and breaking protocol and maybe the law. And, I think we know how she feels about covering things up. I’m excited for this ride because this could be such a wonderful character development storyline and gives their relationship depth and substance many shows ignore. Because Nicole will never ask Waverly to be someone other than herself, but Nicole might have to change and compromise her morals for the woman she’s totally not-in-love with.

7. Hot Uniform for Officer Haught. Is Nicole being Lexa-levels of extra with her new uniform? Gone are the khakis and barely-buttoned long sleeves and the has-anyone-seen-me-this-season stetson. Enter the Black Widow-inspired, Alex Danvers-might-steal-this long-sleeved form-fitting zip-up top and is-this-gay-enough vest and no-really-is-this-too-gay boots and the I-am-a-gay baseball cap. I love it. I do. It would be equally horrifying and funny if the entire Purgatory Sheriff Department changed uniforms because Officer I’m-Too-Haught-For-This hates khakis, but I hope the department also forked over the cash for the super expensive extra-lightweight concealed body armor to wear under that tight-fitting top. Because Officer Haught did not ask for the most gay, hot, are-we-sure-this-is-not-a-sexy-cop-costume uniform just to be a bullet magnet.

8. MISSING: BLACK BADGE HQ. Honestly, I’m confused about the actual organization of the...well, organization. It is introduced as a joint task force between the US and Canada, even the badge shows both flags. Like, cool. But is Moody (AKA Orphan Black’s Art Bell), the Head of Black Badge or is he only in charge of the Purgatory/Ghost River Triangle branch or whichever branch is overseeing Purgatory? When Dolls, Lucado, or Jeremy mention HQ, do they mean the place where Dolls was broken out from? Because that means BBD HQ is near the Ghost River Triangle. So when Jeremy says Black Badge is gone, does that mean just the HQ/where Dolls was being held? Are there more BBD sites like in the comic books? Where are the other agents?

9. Waverly and her ‘dark corners’. Is Waverly an Earp? It’s the question that can be easily answered if only the Earp Sisters didn’t have major communication issues. In all honesty, all it takes is one over-due conversation and a saliva swab, then one DNA test later we get our answer. But, no. Waverly will probably never ask Wynonna “so, our mom was pregnant with me, right?” and Nicole probably won’t overstep and compare the Earp Sisters’ DNA behind Waverly’s back. I just want this issue to be resolved before Waverly crumbles under the pressure of meeting Wynonna’s expectations of what being an Earp entails. Because this season shows us that Wynonna does give being an Earp so much meaning and expects Waverly to act accordingly and this might cause issues between them and it might be hard to remember, but they just found steady footing with each other. If Wynonna keeps expecting certain things out of Waverly all in the name of being an Earp while Waverly is struggling with the idea if she even is an Earp, we might have the Earp Sis angst-fest we don’t really want but we might just actually love because it means they come out of it (hopefully) stronger together.

10. Baby Earp, the game changer. There’s a divide in the fandom: Pro-baby storyline and what-the-fuck-no!-pregnancy-storylines-ruin-everything. No matter what camp you reside in, you must admit and eventually realize that this baby-bump of a game changer is going to be the catalyst for several major character development.

Wynonna: No longer can she numb herself and drown her issues in whiskey. Even though she says her job is to protect her baby sister, we have to remember that she’s been MIA for three year prior and have been mostly absent from Waverly’s life. Yes, she was placed in a mental institution when she was 14 and has been in juvie at least once, but she also willingly spent time away from her sister and ran with the Banditos, a gang that was mentioned in season 1 and explored in the comics. Wynonna joined a gang which could have placed Waverly in danger. With a baby, Wynonna has to be responsible for another life and now has to actually think about the possible consequences of her actions.

Doc: The chance of Doc being the father is really high. Let’s assume that he did get his best friend’s great-great-I-actually-forgot-how-many-great-grand daughter pregnant. Because he’s been established as somewhat traditional, in the loosest sense of the word, he will want to meet the duties and obligation of being a father. That means he can’t really just take off anytime he wants. It means being open and having an honest line of communication with Wynonna, which can be hard for him and his Slytherin ways. While he does let Wynonna be Wynonna, I think that will change when he learns he’s a father. Also, he might start actively searching for a way to reverse the Stone Witch’s curse on him. Meaning, he might have to dig out Constance from the salt flats and OMG is she still out there or did someone dig her out?

Dolls: As much as I would love for DocWynDolls to be one happy polyamorous family raising Baby Earp, there is a good chance that Dolls might feel the need to take a step back and let Wynonna straighten out her priorities. He will be there for her, absolutely, but he might emotionally distance himself and choose to focus his attentions on BBD and figure out how The Squad will continue without a government agency backing them and how to proceed without the power of a badge and probably start figuring out what exactly he is.

Waverly: Protective acting-like-the-big-sister Waverly will be adorable and fluffy and amazing to watch. Waverly questioning her role and childhood and how she was treated will be heartbreaking and will make me leak from my eyes. I think Waverly will be worried about her place in Wynonna’s life now that there will be a baby. Waverly is so used to being pushed to the side that she probably won’t talk about her concerns and will just keep supporting and helping Wynonna. On the other hand, a baby Earp can just be the prompting for Wynonna to start reminiscing and talking about a Baby Waverly and the biological origins of Waverly will finally be settled.

Nicole: A part of me hopes she won’t get shut out and Waverly will start incorporating Nicole into her life and that Nicole will help Waverly with pregnant!Wynonna, but I can see her being shut out. Again. I can see Nicole figuring it out for herself (like always) and subtlety helping Wynonna by giving her food and giving her coffee, it’s caffeine-free of course, but Wynonna won’t know that. I really hope Nicole gets to be involved in some capacity because it will be just one more thing that would strengthen her relationship not only with Waverly, but with Wynonna as well.

Overall, I am happy this show is still true to itself. Some people have said that the show doesn’t treat its villains as actually villains and it all ends up being anti-climactic. To those people, I say to you, this show is not the episodic procedural of monster-of-the-week and one big bad a season kind of show. This is about the people that have to deal with those monsters and demons. This show is about their relationships with each other. It’s about how they grow as people and how they deal with their issues and personal demons. Sure, demons are killed. But unlike other shows, our heroine still questions her humanity and still have issues with the fact that she is destined to kill, whether they are demons or creatures or humans-turned-demons.

It is often overlooked and no one talks about it enough, but I think we need to remember that even though these revenants and demons are all trying to kill her, Wynonna Earp still tells them to “make your peace” and sure she sends them to hell, but she tries to make sure they get some semblance of peace in the afterlife.

#Wynonna Earp #what just happened

21 notes · View notes

aaalbstrjr · 7 years

Text

When God Told Me “No”

Around four months ago, I am praying to God everyday to give me an opportunity to work here in California while I’m doing my unpaid internship. I am so anxious with the first half month of my stay here when I found out that it will be illegal to work under a volunteer visa. The expenses are overwhelming and I don’t feel comfortable asking my mom to send me money as an allowance since a lot of pesos is only a few dollars. I spent most of my time looking for online jobs or anything (trust me, I even considered on donating my egg cells just to earn), that will pay and help me get through in my almost half a year stay in here.

I remember receiving around 3 opportunities to do under-the-table jobs. I was on the brink of accepting it if I didn’t know that it is wrong. I almost did though. Almost. I remember that night, I am trying to convince God that maybe it’s okay (I KNOW RIGHT HAHA), but I know that deep down, it’s not. Then at two evenings, I read these verses in the bible:

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD

Psalm 37: 3-4 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Those are the words that kept me from doing something that I know is wrong. I felt that God is calling me in a position to trust him completely and not freak out about the things that I can’t control. It is difficult to have a need and an opportunity (to disobey), then say no because you want to honor God.

Now, guess what? The organization that I’m doing my internship wants to absorb me as a full time employee after my graduation. A JOB HERE IN USA - that doesn’t just happen in the Philippines! Right after my supervisor offered me the job, I knew, that this is what God has been planning all along. If I went my own way and accepted the under-the-table jobs 4 months ago and the officials found it out, I would have been deported and banned in the USA. I saw firsthand how people easily gets distrusting about God’s intentions for them, but I realized that when God says no, it is always, always, for our betterment. I’m glad that it is God who decides which is better for us, because if it is dependent to us, we will always just settle. I realized, once again, that a fulfilling life is the one that is surrendered under the Lordship of Christ.

#Christian #Faith

1 note · View note

aligarbawaukesha · 4 years

Text

Career Change Resume: Examples and Tips from Experts

If you want to change careers, you’re going to need a great resume to show employers why they should take a chance on you.

You need to convince them that you’ll succeed in their role, even if you’ve done different work in the past.

And while you can do some of this convincing in the job interview, you aren’t going to get interviews if your resume or CV isn’t great, too, so it all starts here!

Don’t worry if this sounds intimidating – this article has everything you need to write an effective resume for career change…

I spoke to multiple professional resume writers, coaches, and other experts and put together this list of resume tips for career changers, as well as real-life examples of resumes that got interviews.

Here’s what you need to know…

Career Change Resume/CV Format

The best resume format for a career change is the chronological resume (also known as “reverse chronological resume”). With this format, your resume or CV lists your work experience in the order it happened, starting with your most recent or current position at the top.

This is what most hiring managers and recruiters are used to seeing and prefer to see, so it’s the best format to use when switching careers (or in any job search, for that matter).

So the first thing to do with your resume is to make sure you’re using this format. Put your most recent position at the top of your “Work Experience” section, and then go backward from there. You’ll see examples of this coming up – don’t worry.

The bottom line is: You aren’t going to hide something or “sneak” through the process by using a less-common (and more confusing) resume format like a functional resume.

This will just confuse and frustrate the hiring manager or recruiter.

So rather than trying to hide gaps in your experience, you should tailor your experience to be as relevant as possible for the job you’re applying to. That’s how to approach resume formatting as a career changer.

Career Change Resume Objective (And Why NOT To Include This)

You should not include a resume objective when changing careers (or on any resume, in fact). A resume objective is an out-dated section that should be replaced with a resume summary section – a brief intro summarizing your experience, skills, accomplishments, and anything else you’d like to share.

Coming up next, we’ll look at examples of how to write this “summary” section as a career changer.

Writing Your Resume Summary for Career Change

Rather than a resume objective, you should include a brief Summary section to show employers what you’ve accomplished and how you can help them in their role.

I asked multiple experts for tips and examples of how to write a resume summary for a career change, so here are some tips from coaches, resume writers, and other experts.

Career Change Resume Example: Switching Careers from Business Development at a Skilled Nursing Facility to Medical Device Sales

When writing a summary section for a career change, think about what you bring to the table that aligns with the role you seek, and what makes you less of a hiring risk for the hiring manager or interviewer.

In this example above, my client wanted to pivot from a business development role at a skilled nursing facility into medical device sales. In writing his summary, I:

Chose a headline that contained some keywords related to the role he currently held AND the role he was targeting.

Created a tagline that spoke to his success in Skilled Nursing using language that was industry-neutral.

Identified a few differentiators that would make him appealing to a hiring manager and help outweigh the fact that he was new to the role and industry.

In this case, the fact that he:

Knew lots of key players meant he could hit the ground running and build a sales funnel fast

Was multilingual but raised in the U.S. meant he could interface well with many cultures – important in the area where he lived, and in working with surgeons that are often from other countries.

Kept abreast of the industry and trends meant he was passionate about the industry and that he embraced continual learning.

Established trust by working to overcome obstacles in a creative fashion meant that he was a problem solver – a trait that would make him attractive to a hiring manager.

In other words, I worked to make him seem like a candidate that was a risk worth taking!

Contributed by: Virginia Franco – Executive Resume Writer at Virginia Franco Resumes

Career Change Resume Example: Changing Careers from Medical Device Sales to Advertising & Technology

When your changing careers, one of the biggest resume challenges is getting visibility on the transferable and relevant experience that you have.

Maybe you worked on a relevant project two jobs ago, maybe you took a course that’s buried in your education section, or maybe you’ve been working on a side hustle but are worried about leading with that vs. your current job.

Using resume objectives is a good way to combat this issue.

Resume objectives allow you to cherry-pick the most relevant work experience from your career, education, and side projects and feature it right at the top of your resume. This gives you the chance to lead with the most relevant transferable experience so you make sure it’s seen instead of getting lost in the mix.

This is the exact tactic I used when I was switching careers from medical device sales into advertising/tech.

My day job was in healthcare, it didn’t offer much in the way of traditional skills, but I had been spending nights and weekends learning digital marketing. I took courses, got certified, and even started doing a bit of freelancing. I wanted that to show at the top of my resume so I used an objective to highlight that ahead of my current role:

Contributed by: Austin Belcak – Founder at Cultivated Culture

Tip: Target Everything for the Role You Want

When writing a resume for a career change, it’s important to target your resume for the role that you want. I recommend finding a few job descriptions that interest you and scanning for key words and themes. Use the target job title or skill set in the header to frame the resume.

The Ladders did an eye tracking study (source: here) that found that recruiters and hiring managers only spend 7.4 seconds scanning a resume before deciding to pass or read more. The heat map showed that better performing resumes have keywords at the top to immediately draw the eye.

Attached is the top of a career changer sample resume. This hypothetical job seeker is wanting to transition from an account manager role to being an executive assistant. The resume plays up her transferable skills and includes a header that references the job that she wants.

As a former corporate recruiter, I am not a fan of functional resumes. Recruiters are taught to scan resumes chronologically. When you take the experience out of context or “order,” it often gives the recruiter the impression you are trying to hide or fudge experience.

Contributed by: Sarah Johnston – Former Recruiter, Executive Resume Writer, and Job Search Coach at BriefcaseCoach.com

Tip: Use Bullets to Stand Out

Consider writing your resume intro or summary in bullet format, as this makes it easier for people to quickly scan it.

The first couple of bullet points should emphasize the most important keywords from the job description. Get creative with how you integrate these terms into your summary. Such as, use phrases like “experience with” and “knowledge of” to indicate tasks that you have become familiar with inside or outside of your job.

Personal projects, volunteering, and education should all contribute to what you describe here. If the most prominent keywords in the job description are tasks and concepts that you are unfamiliar with, that is a sign that you need to build those skills on your own time. Here is a video on how to build these important skills without getting hired:

The next couple of bullet points should focus on the most relevant accomplishments to the role you are pursuing, which may not be from your most recent role.

This is where the magic of the summary section comes into play. Pull in early-career achievements, side projects, and unpaid work where you did tasks that are more closely aligned to your new career. For example, if you are a Psychology Lab Assistant, and you want to be a Building Manager, many of your lab tasks won’t translate.

But, five years ago you were the treasurer of your sorority (budgeting is a keyword), and you handled many contractors to ensure the house was renovated and maintained (knowledge of the trades is a keyword). While that experience may be buried due to it being 5 years ago and not a paid position, it can hop to the top of your career change resume as a highly relevant accomplishment in the summary.

The summary section is an opportunity for you to truly spell-it-out for the hiring manager where your transferable skills will be too well-matched to ignore!

Contributed by: Madeline Mann – Human Resources Leader & Career Coach, Creator of Self Made Millennial

Note: Bullets are also a great way to make your resume work history section stand out. This article explains how to do this with 19 examples.

Career Change Resume Work History Section: Samples and Tips

After a brief summary or intro paragraph, you’ll need a powerful employment history section to continue to impress the recruiter or hiring manager. Use the tips below to help you write yours.

Write Your Resume by Working Backward from the Job Description

The key to a successful career change resume is to work backward from the job posting. I encourage clients to literally pull language from the posting of the job they are targeting, then massage it until it truthfully reflects their experience. You really want to speak the language of the industry you are moving into.

In the example below, my client was targeting sales roles. However, she has several years of impressive experience from working in higher education that we wanted to include on her resume. So we repositioned her earlier experience as a “customer experience manager” role, pulling language directly from the job postings she was targeting.

Contributed by: Kyle Elliott – Career & Life Coach and Resume Writer at CaffeinatedKyle.com

Add Keywords to Get Past the ATS

When your goal is a career change, be sure that your resume contains the relevant keywords for the career you want. Without these keywords, your resume will not be found in a recruiter’s search of the applications and resumes stored in the applicant tracking system (ATS).

Analyze the job description and pay attention to the job’s requirements as well as the nice-to-have skills. Make a list of the skills and other job requirements you meet. Those terms are typically the terms that will be used most often when the employer is searching for qualified job candidates.

If you have acquired skills or experience outside of work, don’t be afraid to include them, too. These include skills you have acquired while volunteering or participating in other non-work activities, especially if those skills are required for this job (and, thus, important keywords).

One of the best places to start including keywords on your career change resume is your “Skills” section. The Skills section is a way to show employers that you have the skills relevant to the position that are included in the job description.

For example: Assume the job requires hard skills like QuickBooks or SQL, and you have experience with them or have certifications from training you have taken. Include the appropriate term in your Skills section, like “QuickBooks” or “QuickBooks Certified”.

Then, in the “Experience” section of your resume, include those skills in the descriptions of your past jobs (or volunteering) where you acquired and/or used those skills. This will show the employer when and where you demonstrated your skills, which they always want to see!

Repetition of keywords is usually a good thing when the repetition is natural, relevant, and appropriate. So, having these important terms in both the Skills and Experience sections of your resume will help your resume be found.

However, simply repeating keywords at the bottom of your resume is not smart or useful.

Contributed by: Susan P. Joyce – Publisher of Job-Hunt.org

Career Change Resume Templates

You should now have a general idea of how to format and write your resume or CV for a career change.

If you need a great starting point and don’t want to create your resume from scratch (or if your existing resume is outdated and doesn’t look great) then this job search resources page has multiple free resume templates that are great for changing careers.

After clicking the link above, scroll down to the section titled: “ATS-Compliant Resume Templates.” All of the templates on that page are free to use and download.

Recap: How to Write a Resume for Career Change

If you’re planning on switching careers, you should write your resume to make your experience seem as relevant as possible for the job you want next.

Always think of the employer’s perspective when deciding what to put on your resume and what to leave off.

Write your career change CV or resume based on the employer’s job description and you’ll be much more likely to win the interview.

That’s how to get a new job in a new field. Employers want candidates who can step into a role, learn the position quickly, and succeed. They want low risk. The more you can show them similarities between what you’ve done and what they need, the better!

To summarize: Your CV or resume for a career change will be most successful if you start with the employer’s needs in mind, work backward, and think carefully about how to position your own experiences – both professional and personal – to make yourself seem capable of stepping into their job and being a success!

The post Career Change Resume: Examples and Tips from Experts appeared first on Career Sidekick.

from Recent Articles: Job Search and Career Blog – Career Sidekick https://careersidekick.com/career-change-resume/ via IFTTT

#Recent Articles: Job Search and Career Blog – Career Sidekick

0 notes

kianastudies · 6 years

Photo

Internships are a tricky topic, and can be hard to navigate, especially if you’ve never done one before. While internships can be valuable and fun, they don’t make sense for everyone academically or financially, and they certainly aren’t necessary to be successful in the future. After finishing my first internship this summer, I thought it might be helpful to compile a list of tips for deciding if an internship is right for you, finding an internship, and making the most of one.

Is an internship right for me? Maybe! Internships can be a great way to explore a career you’re unsure about, get some experience in your field, or get your foot in the door of a company you’re interested in. However, there are tons of other options of things to do in the summer, like research, jobs unrelated to your major, or just relaxing! That being said, if you’re not sure if an internship is right or feasible for you, it never hurts to apply to them anyways. I was reluctant to take an unpaid internship because I knew I also needed to make money to pay tuition this semester, but a lot of unpaid internships will have flexible or low hours (because you are essentially a volunteer) that could make working on the side an option. Finding an internship

Use your school’s resources! Lots of schools will have a center or advisor specifically to help with students looking for job/career advice, and could help you find an awesome internship. If not, your advisor could also be a great place to start.

Check out the internet! There are tons of websites where companies can post internship openings (and other job openings!). Try: InternshipCrossing.com, Internship.com, or VolunteerMatch

You can also explore a little on your own, which is what I did. This is easier if you know the area that you’re interested in working in, and are somewhat familiar with the institutions there. For example, I’m a history major and knew I wanted to find a related internship, especially in a museum or library or something similar. I also knew I wanted to live at home, so I googled “museums near me” and checked out the websites of libraries and historical societies nearby to see if they had internships, and I ended up with a great entry-level internship at my local historical society!

Making the most of your internship

Make a good first impression! Dress professionally and show up on time everyday.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. You took the internship to learn, not because you’re already highly skilled at the job (if you are, that’s great too!). Your supervisors and coworkers should be happy to help you, and you will definitely benefit from their help.

Keep track of the things you do, especially new tasks and skills or major projects. I kept an ongoing list and added to it each time I did something I’d never done before. It might even be helpful to write a little description of the major projects you completed during your internship. This will be especially helpful when you go to update your resume, or are preparing for job interviews where they may ask you about your experience.

Ask your supervisor or boss for a recommendation letter! If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, at least keep their contact information on hand if you ever need to reach out to them for a reference or help with anything.

Along the same lines, give your supervisor/boss a thank-you card at the end of your internship! They will certainly appreciate it, and it will leave them with a positive memory of you as they go to write a recommendation letter or act as a reference for you later on down the road.

If anyone has any other tips, feel free to add them, and you can also ask me any questions about the process of finding, applying to, and succeeding at internships!

#mine #studyblr #history #studyblr community #internships #studying #resources #college student #college

0 notes

democratsunited-blog · 6 years

Text

A New Era for the Travis County Democratic Party: After years of infighting and a tumultuous election in March, the TCDP must now proceed as one - News

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=3644

A New Era for the Travis County Democratic Party: After years of infighting and a tumultuous election in March, the TCDP must now proceed as one - News

Illustration by Jason Stout / Thinkstock

Just after 11pm on the night of this year’s primary election, Dyana Limon-Mercado announced to a crowd of advisers and supporters gathered at the South Austin Third Base that local attorney Anne Wynne had just called to concede the race for chairperson of the Travis County Democratic Party.

“I’m in shock,” Limon-Mercado exclaimed, “so I really don’t have eloquent words prepared. I also wasn’t planning to give a speech either way, because I was just going to be like, ‘Fuck all this shit. I’m ready to go to bed.'”

In Wynne and Limon-Mercado, voters had a choice of ideals to address concerning what type of woman they wanted leading the party.

The race for the position, which is responsible for fundraising and ultimately getting Democrats elected into public offices throughout the county (and driving turnout for statewide races), had been particularly close. Early voting had her up by one percentage point. By the end of the night, she had increased that lead to two. The underdog planning to close the night by saying “fuck all this shit” ousted the onetime appointee of Ann Richards, who’d been recruited to run by some of the most influential members of the party.

Such support likely would have carried Wynne to victory in any other year. But the circumstances that led to this year’s election were rather unprecedented, and Limon-Mercado ran a campaign that would ultimately reel in a consequential string of endorsements from those beyond the typical kingmakers.

“Truthfully, I could not have done this without Our Revolution,” she told supporters, “without Young Democrats; without the Tejano Democrats; without my core group of volunteers. Without every single group of people who I think in this community have felt marginalized for a long time.”

Then she said what had been on the mind of all those groups: “Even though the Democratic Party was our party, we didn’t always have the voice and the representation we wanted. This campaign was won because of grassroots power, word of mouth.”

Dyana Limon-Mercado

An Unenviable Position

The two dissimilar candidates didn’t arrive at March 6 in a vacuum. The events that made their contest possible began to fall into place in September of 2015, when Jan Soifer resigned from the position to pursue a campaign for the 345th District Court. (She was elected the following year.) On the surface, Soifer was a successful party chair: In her two years, she amassed $1.1 million in donations, and helped shepherd in a vice chair position and several full-time staffer positions, so that the party – which generally shrunk during off-election years – could benefit from constant staffing.

But when she resigned she acknowledged the challenge she had just faced: “When I decided to run for this position, I knew that it was a challenging, unpaid position, but I never guessed just how much work it would be. … It certainly has demanded much more work than I expected – but it has been an honor to serve our party.”

Jan Soifer (Photo by Jana Birchum)

Soifer told me this summer that she doubts she would have been able to do the work she did had she been at a different point in her life. Her children were grown; she and her husband had a stable law practice. There were days when her party duties didn’t end until late at night and only then could she begin on her day job’s work.

And Soifer benefited from several moments that temporarily sparked the party during her brief tenure, including the Wendy Davis filibuster and a partnership with Battleground Texas. “There were exciting things happening, and it was a year when people were really motivated to help,” she said.

Shortly after Soifer announced her resignation, Vice Chair Vincent Harding beat out political operative Sylvia Camarillo in a special election. Though Camarillo vowed to challenge Harding again in the March primary, she eventually reneged, and Harding won a full term unopposed.

Harding wasn’t a typical choice for party chair. The employment and ethics attorney had spent most of his time within the party as secretary, a neutral position where he wasn’t championing favored candidates, and he relished the freedom that accompanied that status. He is also black – only the second black man to be TCDP chair – and at 28 was the youngest person to ever hold the position. “I know that I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he wrote in a statement announcing his ascension, “and I am committed to opening doors for those who will follow me.”

Trouble in Paradise

Those remarks marked the beginning of a tumultuous, three-year tenure marred by party infighting and discontent. Harding came into the role promising a reorientation of the party, and took seriously his job as an independent arbiter. But the ethics-above-politics mentality didn’t jibe with party stalwarts, and helped exacerbate the growing tensions.

It was with that reputation Harding waded into the first test of his brief term, in January of 2016, during the primary campaign for district attorney. At the time, the favorite to succeed Rosemary Lehmberg was longtime Assistant D.A. Gary Cobb – in fact, for a while, he hadn’t even drawn a challenger. But defense attorney Rick Reed eventually jumped into the race, and when he did so he alleged that Cobb’s candidate application had both violated a number of state election codes and included signatures from several members of the TCDP staff (Reed believed party members should not endorse candidates in a primary), and that Harding failed to “properly review” the application.

Vincent Harding (Photo by John Anderson)

Harding told Reed that the oversights wouldn’t push Cobb’s name off the ballot, and the situation eventually settled itself: The courts allowed Cobb’s candidacy, and he was later defeated by Margaret Moore. (Reed withdrew on election day.)

The 3rd Court of Appeals sided with Harding in Reed’s lawsuit, but it unearthed hard feelings that Cobb had been allowed to continue at all. Harding contends he was doing his best to navigate a difficult legal question on the fly and was concerned with keeping the seat in party hands.

“That was my honeymoon,” he remembered wryly. “Having someone run against you and then getting sued.”

Harding’s troubles would not end there. Party insiders grew bitter about his handling of the 2016 coordinated campaign, particularly the Fourth Street space he’d rented as its headquarters, which earned criticism both for its location and lack of air conditioning. Some grew demoralized at what they perceived to be a lack of organization at the management level. Those party insiders complained that Harding had stopped listening to their suggestions, and worried his staff wasn’t experienced enough to handle complex campaigns.

“We cannot let primary race differences divide us in November.” – U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett

Harding drew further scorn last June when he declined to endorse a call for Rep. Dawnna Dukes’ resignation from the state House. He justified his decision in a Statesman op-ed, citing an unwillingness to take action against “a duly elected state representative on the spot without community notice or input.” He also noted that the party had never asked a candidate to resign in such a manner, and hesitated to set that precedent with a representative like Dukes, a long-respected member of Central Texas’ African-American community. “Austin should rise to the occasion and show that diversity not only can unite a community but is the fuel to defeat bigotry,” he wrote. “Let’s move beyond internal disagreements and focus on serving the entire community.”

Today Harding acknowledges: “Some of the decisions I made people did not agree with.” But he believes he did his best to fulfill his campaign promises by raising ethical concerns when he saw them. And his tenure was not without its bright spots. Harding was successful in engaging with the party’s grassroots wing, made progress on immigration, workers’ rights, the battle with Uber and Lyft to maintain local rideshare regulations, and pushed the party to make bold statements on police brutality and oversight. He takes pride in the robust voter turnout in the 2016 general election, which topped 65% within the county.

Still, by the spring of 2017, Harding decided he wouldn’t run again. Though he’d raised about $1 million, the same amount as Soifer, he began to struggle with fundraising the longer he went into his tenure.

Harding had told his closest confidants, but hoped to keep the news private until he wrapped up a couple of community initiatives. But the news leaked. And all of a sudden, in September 2017, weeks before he was ready to announce his decision, Harding was getting calls from people across the county who knew his plans and had already conferred with Rick Cofer, rumored as the next consensus candidate. Harding announced his resignation via email on Sept. 28. The next day, Cofer launched his own campaign.

Sideshow Politics

Cofer immediately lined up an impressive array of supporters that included current and former City Council members, state elected officials, and a slew of Travis County bigwigs. He was a known quantity within the party, a veteran of UT’s University Democrats, and a former legislative staffer who’d worked as a prosecutor for both the county and district attorneys.

Cofer’s ascent to the party chair was hailed as an inevitability. And it may have worked out that way, had news not begun to swirl that Cofer had been accused of multiple incidents of chauvinistic behavior during his time at the county attorney’s office. Cofer withdrew his candidacy in late October, having been asked to leave by at least one ally within the Travis delegation: state Sen. Kirk Watson, a onetime party chair himself. “I certainly told him [to step aside],” Watson told me. “I felt like, based on what I was hearing, that he would not be able unite the party under the circumstances. And I didn’t like what I was hearing.”

Rick Cofer (Photo by Jana Birchum)

Cofer announced his withdrawal in a statement that did not acknowledge any rumors, but instead appeared to attribute the decision to the fact that there were “several strong female candidates waiting on the sidelines.

“The very best thing I can do for our party is to step aside for incredible women leaders,” he continued.

Party Secretary Bianca Garcia and former Central Health Board Member Rosie Mendoza were two of the names quickly considered. But neither came forward to run. Instead, Precinct 428 Chair Mike Lewis announced he would step in. The Bernie Sanders supporter painted himself as an outsider and reformed Libertarian who had devoted himself to progressive politics in the wake of Trump’s election, and sought to energize others within the county in that same vein.

But Lewis’ campaign was even briefer than Cofer’s; a website eventually tied to local political players at GNI Strategies revealed embarrassing Facebook posts Lewis had made in the past, when he was perhaps more Libertarian than progressive. Even more alarming was a crude post he’d made about the rape allegations brought upon Bill Cosby. He apologized for those remarks, and said his journey from conservative to progressive had been long and arduous.

But the damage had been done, and he announced he’d ditch the race just as the party elites were beginning to draft Wynne. In December, Lewis filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission alleging that GNI’s Jovita Pardo used an unregistered political committee to attack his candidacy on behalf of Wynne. Pardo later said her actions fell within state guidelines, and Wynne denied knowledge of the PAC.

Two Formidable Candidates

The prospect of Wynne’s candidacy was growing more popular among TCDP insiders, however, and Watson, who still plays an active role in local circles from his perch up at the Lege, began fielding calls from local Democrats who sought some form of stability. In Wynne, who state Rep. Celia Israel considers a “political mom,” they had their rock.

But Watson et al. didn’t know at the time that Limon-Mercado had been considering a run of her own, thanks to the prodding of a number of the party’s periphery players, including her boss at Planned Parenthood Votes, Yvonne Gutierrez, and Precinct 46 Chair Daniel Segura-Kelly. Limon-Mercado, the deputy executive director for Planned Parenthood Votes, with no close affiliation to party insiders, said she watched the field unfold with skepticism.

Mike Lewis

“Just the optics of it looked strange, right?” she recalled to me this spring. “We sort of had this chosen person who stepped down for not really clear reasons, and they said it should be a woman of color. But then somebody like Mike Lewis steps up, and then people have questions about Mike Lewis’ sort-of-Democratic credentials.

“And I think there were a lot of people, myself included, looking around like, ‘Surely someone’s going to fix this. Surely somebody’s going to do something about this.’ We have got to be able to do better in Travis County in 2018, just after the year we’ve had as Democrats. Coming off of the Trump election, the year of Resistance, everything we’ve been building toward, the real meaningful conversations I’ve felt like we’ve had in the Democratic Party. And this is what we get? These two candidates?”

A Bold Vision

By the second week of November, Limon-Mercado and Wynne both announced their campaigns and had the field to themselves, and the party eventually ended up with what many had said they initially wanted: a chance for a woman to hold the role. And in the two candidates they had a choice of ideals to address concerning what type of woman they wanted leading the party.

In Wynne they had a longtime ally with deep connections to some of the party’s most enduring members, who promised to use her decades of political experience to bring back the type of blockbuster fundraising that the party had been missing for the past half-decade; in Limon-Mercado, a young, Latina outsider who promised to balance a party thirsty for that fundraising with attention shown toward the local communities desperately seeking organizational engagement. Sustaining members would grow through her outreach, she said, which meant the party wouldn’t have to struggle when elected officials tightened their budgets, as often occurred during Harding’s tenure.

Anne Wynne

Soifer told me she approached both women during the campaign to warn them of what they were getting into. And Limon-Mercado, who campaigned while pregnant and just had her second child last week, heard those warnings from many more people than just Soifer, but she told me she believes it’s important the job not be limited to attorneys with vast resources, which has been the case for as long as most can remember.

“As a working-class person in the community, also as a parent, as someone who’s involved in the grassroots – if this position is inaccessible to me because of the time commitment, how many other people are we leaving out of the conversation?” she asked. “How much other talent are we leaving at the door?

“Instead of talking about how demanding it is, and how people like me don’t have the time to be involved, why don’t we create a better system that allows us to be involved?”

94,491 people voted in the TCDP chair election in March: 45,864 for Wynne, 48,627 for Limon-Mercado. Neck and neck, the results made clear that the party was still divided.

Reconciliation?

But there are at least signs the Travis County Dems are making strides toward unity. Travis County Democrats have, at least publicly, begun to make overtures of reconciliation. Watson told me he’s enjoyed “getting to know the new chair,” and said he’s invited Limon-Mercado to participate in his traditional Twitter town hall at the state convention this next weekend in Fort Worth. “We are developing what I consider to be a really good working relationship.”

There are at least signs the Travis County Dems are making strides toward unity.

Watson isn’t the only one embracing the “stronger together” theme in the wake of a tough election. Party insiders still sour about the results have been nudged privately by more moderate voices to embrace Limon-Mercado and the change she represents. The state senator said he’s “encouraged by the number of ideas that she has, and the fact that she is as ready to hit the ground running and get it done.”

That support is also showing in the party’s fundraising efforts. U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett recently signed his name to an email recruiting new sustaining members, and in it he alludes to the need for unity.

“Following some hotly contested races this year, including the race for our County Chair, we need to come together to take on Trump and his Trumpettes,” he wrote. “After meeting with Dyana, our new Chair, to discuss her plans for what our local party can achieve, I have written my own check as a sustaining member.

“We cannot let primary race differences divide us in November. Contributing now can help ensure the Democratic wave does not dissolve into a ripple.”

Harding for District 1: Outgoing Party Chair Enters City Race

While Austin City Council races are nonpartisan, much of the same ideological jockeying occurs when it comes time to fill the dais. Leaders in District 1, which is currently represented by outgoing Council Member Ora Houston, who announced on Wednesday that she won’t seek re-election, spent much of the spring drafting outgoing Travis County Democratic Party Chair Vincent Harding to run. And on Wednesday, Harding announced that he plans to file for candidacy. He joins a crowded field of candidates, including Natasha Harper-Madison, Mariana Salazar, and Lewis Conway Jr.

“We are at a pivotal moment, 90 years from the 1928 plan, in the middle of a land development code rewrite,” Harding said last week when he revealed his plans to me. “At a time where we are consistently one of the Top 10 places to live, we are also one of the most economically and racially segregated cities in the country and … a third of our black and brown children are growing up in poverty.”

Harding declined to assess the district’s current leadership, instead focusing talks on economic advancement and transportation. He said he’d support the long-discussed Capital Metro Green Line and workforce solutions to bring “middle skill” jobs (those that don’t require a bachelor’s degree) to the area. Harding believes his experience at City Hall (he was a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment) and its inner workings will go a long way toward making those ideas a reality. “I believe I have the skill set to work with people on many different sides of the issue,” he said. “At the same time, while being a coalition builder, I also have the courage to stand up and do what’s right and take whatever heat.”

A version of this article appeared in print on June 15, 2018 with the headline: Party of Some

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.4"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Read full story here

#Democrats

0 notes

foursproutwealth-blog · 6 years

Text

Writing your financial autobiography

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/writing-your-financial-autobiography/

Writing your financial autobiography

I believe that each of us possesses a money blueprint, a mental map that defines our behaviors and attitudes toward money. Our basic blueprints come from our parents. They’re altered through our interactions with friends and co-workers. And, of course, our own experiences lead us to modify and add to our money blueprints.

A couple of months ago, I had lunch with my friend Michael. We talked a bit about my money blueprint, then we talked a bit about his. Because our backgrounds are similar, our money blueprints are similar.

“You know what would be interesting,” Michael suggested. “You should write your financial autobiography.”

“Nobody would want to read that,” I said, grimacing. Michel laughed.

“Well, they probably wouldn’t want to read it if you made it too long,” he said. “I don’t mean you should write a book about it. Just do a long blog post. Write your financial autobiography, then look to see how your past has affected your money blueprint.”

I liked the idea, but could’t understand how it would work in practice.

Then, last week, I read Alexander Chee’s 5000-word essay at Buzzfeed (yes, really — Buzzfeed) about how deeply money and pain are connected in his life. This is a financial autobiography. And this shows clearly how experience creates a money blueprint.

Alexander Chee’s Financial Autobiography

In 2000, Chee unexpectedly became the manager of his church’s outreach program for the homeless. To his surprise, he had no problem with the position. He managed its money effectively. Planning and budgeting were easy. This was vastly different to his financial life at home.

The calm with which I did this every week was not visible in the rest of my life. In the apartment I returned to after those volunteer shifts, my closet stacked full with boxes of files and receipts going back 15 years. Many were unpaid bills, missed payments, or collection notices. Letters from the IRS. A personal organizer I had hired a few years before had said, looking them over, “Oh, wow, you don’t need these,” then she laughed and told me to throw all the papers away. But I could not. When I eventually moved out in 2004, I moved with those boxes.

Chee gradually came to realize that while he was perfectly competent with his church’s money, something in his psychology was preventing him from behaving similarly with his own money. In his personal life, money and pain had become intertwined.

Chee’s father died young — at the age of 43. He also died relatively wealthy and without a will. The state of Maine divided his estate, part of which became a trust for the 15-year-old Chee. When he turned 18, he gained access to that account.

“The first thing I did with my money was part rebellion, part panegyric,” Chee writes. “My father had loved fast cars and expensive ones, both, and so I bought what I thought he’d want for me, a black Alfa Romeo.”

Aside from this one expensive indulgence, Chee tried to make good use of his money. He used it to obtain a college degree, to turn himself into a writer. His trust fund lasted nine years. “For those nine years, I felt both invulnerable and doomed, under the protection of a spell that I knew to be dwindling in power.”

Throughout this long essay, Chee offers a variety of anecdotes to illustrate how he developed his money blueprint. Like my parents, his mother and father never really gave him overt lessons in personal finance. Instead, Chee learned about money from the way his parents acted.

Both of my parents had worked hard for what they had — my father, with his older brother, had scavenged for food from abandoned army supply trucks in Seoul during the Korean War. My mother had cleaned hotel rooms during the summer for the money she used to buy the car she drove away from Maine. My father believed money was for spending, and my mother believed it should never be spent. Her clothes were handmade also — for much of her life, she made them herself. She was as stylish as my father, but by her own hand.

This article is filled with financial lessons on everthing from the importance of estate planning to the power of thrift. More than that, it’s packed with examples of why smart money management isn’t simply about math. For most of us, it’s a complex subject loaded with psychological and emotional issues. And when relationships are involved, those issues are accentuated.

To the extent I have survived myself thus far, it began…when I realized I treated money emotionally and decided to treat myself as I would anyone else I was taking care of. Ordinary thrift and self-forgiveness were the payday only I could provide, no matter my professional or financial circumstances, and this realization was the gift of that time, as close to a Unitarian grace as I think I’ll ever get.

Chee’s article is a true financial autobiography. After reading it, I think I know what my friend Michael was asking me to do.

Writing Your Financial Autobiography

Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I intend to set aside a few hours to write my own financial autobiography. I’ve shared bits and pieces of it over the years, but I’ve never tried to assemble these individual stories into a more coherent whole.

I suspect that many Get Rich Slowly readers could profit from writing their financial autobiographies, too.

When I do mine, I plan on free writing. I’ll do a massive stream of consciousness braindump. I’ve thought enough about this subject and my own history that this should yield an instructive story.

If you want to do this exercise but need some prompting to help you begin, consider exploring the following questions:

What are you earliest memories about money? When you were a child, what did you learn about money? Did your parents every give you money lessons? Or was the subject never discussed in your house? Did you get an allowance? If so, how much were you given and what were you allowed to do with it? What other experiences did you have with money when you were very young?

How did your relationship with money change during your teenage years? Were you expected to work when you were in high school? How was the subject of college handled? Was college an expectation in your family? If so, how was it going to be paid for? How did your perception of money change as you became more aware of the world and as you were exposed to friends with different financial backgrounds?

As you entered early adulthood and became more responsible for your own financial situation, how did your attitudes and behaviors change? Did they change? If you went to college, how did that experience affect your money blueprint? What did you learn as you entered the workforce, began to live on your own, and then entered into adult romantic relationships?

In more recent years, how have you handled money? Have your attitudes and habits changed since you were younger? How so? What is your current financial situation? How do you feel about that situation?

Where do you see yourself headed in the future? What changes would you like to make to your financial life? What goals would you like to accomplish? Are there parts of your money blueprint that seem faulty? How will you fix them?

If you want more help, the Faith and Money Network has a free thee-page PDF meant to help people prepare their own money autobiographies. (This guide comes from a religious perspective, but it’s still useful if like me you’re non-religious. Just ignore the churchy bits!)

The post Writing your financial autobiography appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

#Wealth

0 notes

courtneybella-blog1 · 7 years

Text

What does a degree mean?

I graduated in November 2016 and everything seemed quite positive and celebratory at the time but then reality kicked in because nobody wanted to hire a university graduate and work experience was essential. I remember going to the job centre every week and feeling helpless because I couldn’t get no interviews and the job centre advisors were pressurising and intimidating. They assumed being a uni grad would give you a high paid job into any office, media company or school.

I came across a film internship that following winter and after I completed it I was still unemployed for months. Most internships guarantee a paid role afterwards or another interview but nothing ever happened. I got some agencies offering me teaching assistant roles and then I would sign up to an agency and I would never hear anything back from them again. It felt like I was a ghost because I walked around unnoticed by everyone and I started to lose patience and my faith. I knew after a while they only used me in order to get commissioned and I felt like a puppet who was completely lost in the working world.

I remember reading emails being rejected from jobs and then finally being invited for interviews and not getting the roles which devastated me because I really did try my best in the interview with politeness, smiling, well dressed and I made my resume was update. I felt like my whole world was falling apart and I started to become lost and my happiness decreased which led to weight gain.

I remember I attended an interview for a midday assistant at a nursery part time and the interviewers barely looked at me and one of them said I was too young to work and they didn’t hire people with degrees.

Some of these educational institutions were looking for people with level 1 or level 2 qualifications. I thought to myself I’m not going back to college to study childcare because that would be a waste of time. I sat there feeling angry on the inside but on the outside I smiled. I studied for 3 years to then end up in debt and unemployed but I pray and begged God to help me.

The government need to realise a lot of young people are out of work because nobody is willing to take them on and train them. I’m disappointed at what is happening with uni grads in England it’s almost like having a degree is worthless. Whereas in other countries such as China, USA or Canada state it’s essential to have a degree to have a good paid job. I wish the system was focused on helping young intelligent people like myself and giving us a chance to strive and succeed in the working world. Everywhere I go I feel oppressed, claustrophobic and trapped and all I need to do is escape and breathe. I want to work overseas in the USA but I want to gain work experience here first but the working system in England isn’t helping me progress further because I cannot hold a paid job as yet. How long is the wait? Will I ever get employed? Is England going through an economic crisis?

Most jobs advertised online attract my eye but unfortunately the recruitment team aren’t attracted enough to my application form or my CV. I hear people always tell me to make sure your cover letter is brilliant but how do you write a brilliant cover letter for a company whose reading a lot of resumes and cover letters a day. I feel like right now too many doors are shutting in my face so imagine how many thousands of uni graduates who go through the same routine month after month. I know people with degrees and masters who graduated two or three years before me and still don’t have their dream job. Some work in retail, admin or reception roles or some stay at home which they hate because they would rather do something they’re really passionate about.

Now I think about my own job hunting process honestly it’s hard and difficult. Sometimes I feel like I don’t exist and then I began to feel frustrated during the whole situation. I know some uni classmates who are already employed whereas some of them aren’t even in employed like myself. I know a few which are doing either unpaid or paid internships which isn’t leading them anywhere. As it is slave labour work and they are being overworked and doing other people’s extra work. Honestly the employment system is a bit of a joke considering I receive student finance loan letters telling me how much I owe them but yet I scream at the letter because I’m still unemployed. Right now I cannot afford to pay for my own essentials such as clothes, food, travel let alone pay for student finance.

I truly believe this economy is corrupted and being unemployed is infectious. I remember having a trial day at a preparatory in north London and I stayed at the school for the whole day and I tried my best. The head teacher promised he will call me and some other potential candidates for a second interview face to face but it never happened. Instead the school still advertised for this teaching assistant job role through other agencies. I called my recruitment consultant to ask her for feedback or whatever happened about this so called job but I never heard anything back. Whilst I was at the prep school a candidate told me it was important for the agency to pay you to do trial days and at least pay you £60.

I needed to be noticed fast so I decided to volunteer at two local schools to gain more experience as teaching assistant and nursery assistant since I didn’t mind training as a primary school teacher. I would love to become a kindergarten teacher in America and raise my family there too. After working at the schools I felt like I was working for free and it was all for nothing so I decided to quit because I was not content within myself. I needed to feel secure and I needed a job fast after the summer term ended.

Meanwhile I was doing voluntary and applying for teaching assistant roles in schools and updating my CV it was crazy the more and more schools and agencies were turning me down. It was ironic because more agencies and schools were willing to interview me with less work experience months ago and then reject me forwards. This shows every company know exactly what they’re doing and who they will hire so they call people in to be interviewed for their own benefit.

These organisations need to interview a lot of people to prove to the government they have advertised the job well. Also these same companies sadly reject the unwanted candidates as they have already selected their potential candidates. The potential candidates the company hires might possibly walk out of the job a week or month later as it happens because some people realise a specific job isn’t for them.

As a young person trying to find my feet isn’t easy at all instead it’s hard and challenging. Nobody seems to understand you instead they keep asking you how is the job hunting? How are the interviews and have you considered another career path. My mind is constantly worrying about the next path in life and I feel helpless during this hardship of being unemployed and penniless. I ask myself why did I work so hard in school to then end up with all of these qualifications and no real job and no income.

I always remember adults including teachers and parents telling young people to stay in school and complete their education but nobody told us the reality of the possible struggles that would come along with it. Life is always going to be full of ups and downs because that is the way life is designed. Now being 22 and still employeed I feel I’m on the low how can I possibly elevate myself if I cannot even gain a simple job I may want to be a scriptwriter but I cannot be knocking on Hollywood’s door overnight.

I need to be able to build myself with basic working school whilst gaining more confidence, independence and determination before I push myself any further. If I could talk to any uni grad right now in the same position as me I would tell them start flying and create your own opportunity don’t wait for a door to open for you. Don’t let life pass you by because you don’t want the time to run out on you.

As people always say we only live once and we cannot relive again so don’t let the system drag you down instead defeat it with hard work, motivation and determination and carry God first place too. If you love writing write, you love teaching teach and if you love music become a musician but don’t let money or negative people including co-workers, family, friends or a bad relationship get in the way because the devil doesn’t like real success he likes failure instead. Remember to stay positive and to be thankful for life because nobody knows when they will be gone so don’t let any job get you down because once you’re in a good position everything will fall into place at the right time.

#degree #uni grad #unemployment #student loan #debt

0 notes