#developing new skills

[mynameisakissi]

[reallukeburrows]

If you’re not putting your skillsets to the test or developing new ones, then what are you doing…?

Developing the right skillsets are curial in all walks of life.-It doesn’t if you want to build something around your passions or are happy working a job.

People wonder and complain about being on £6, £7 or £8 per hour at their jobs and then go home and watch TV doing nothing to develop new skillsets.

It ludicrous, yet understandable because it comes down to conditioning...

If you want something different, do something different.

It’s as simple as that.

You increase your personal value by developing new skill sets and putting them to the test.

In today’s episode of #RealTalk I talk about how to develop new skill sets in both the job environment and when you’re building something of your own.

[oliverdemontfalcon]

The Four Seasons Old Folks Home

Had my first experience at the Colinton Old folks home (Four Seasons). Met some lovely people their. A lady who went to live in the USA during WW1, Jean, who is 103, and was a prisoner of war in Indonesia and Jess who was very talkative and showed me the ropes. Leah was very supportive (a carer). I recited them a Scots poem that I had previously recited in assembly this morning, they found it rather amusing. Age is only a number!

[oliverdemontfalcon]

Theatre Labs

Today I handed in the forms to officially commence 'Theatre Labs', a weekly hour long activity I have proposed (supervised by Mr. Serrels) that enables pupils of the school to come together and devise experimental theatre, defying convention and exploring issues, such as mental health, sex, school, politics, growing up and all sorts of other areas that affect us.

I feel this allows me to build teamwork skills and my organisational capacity, and enriches the community buy providing a vehicle to build confidence, encourage people to step up into leadership roles and express themselves in a productive format. More on this later!

[creativity-action-service-s-blog]

Stage managing

I was stage manager for two fall productions (Zink in grade eleven and Aesop, Come Back! in grade twelve), as well as one spring production (Blah Blah Blah in grade eleven). I had initially been interested in stage managing because I wanted to be a part of the fine arts department and enhance my skills in that area – however, because I lacked experience in the areas of music, theatre, and the visual arts, I was slightly apprehensive to do so. Eventually, I settled for an intermediate – technical work for the drama productions at school. My main objective was to add to my understanding of the arts, because although I had not been intimately involved with them, I wanted to develop connections to those areas to hopefully provide myself with a more holistic educational experience during high school.

In addition to accomplishing those goals (I now have a greater appreciation for the dramatic arts and hope to continue technical theatre work in the future), I developed a greater understanding of what it meant to work as a team to create a work of art. The cohesion that I experienced with everyone involved in the production had an immense effect on me, and now I am able to think about the amount of work that has gone into a particular work of art in addition to appreciating its beauty.

[creativity-action-service-s-blog]

Relay for Life

The Relay for Life is an annual event run by the Canadian Cancer Society (for which I have volunteered in the past). I had volunteered for the event in the past, but I was never a participant. In my grade 12 year, I decided to form a team of all of the full IB students (and some partial IB students) at our school. Because I formed the team, I was team captain. This gave me a lot more responsibility than I was used to – not only did I have to fundraise, along with the rest of my team members, I was also responsible for administrating our team page and giving resources for donation collection to the other members of my team. I was also responsible for getting waivers signed by my teammates (and their parents, if applicable). At first, it seemed like it was too much for me to handle – however, I realized that an important part of being a team was sharing responsibility. I therefore learned to delegate tasks to other team members. This made the load easier on me.

I believe that that was the most important part of my experience with the Relay for Life – I learned that being in a leadership role does not necessarily mean taking on all of the responsibility. It was necessary for me to delegate tasks to others – for instance, letting one person be in charge of getting T-shirts for tie dying and putting other people in charge of obtaining and setting up the tents. I believe it was necessary for me to have learned this because, otherwise, I probably would not have been able to be an effective leader.

[creativity-action-service-s-blog]

Service at the Canadian Cancer Society

Volunteering with the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) was my first real experience doing any sort of volunteer work. It was, in fact, my first experience doing “work”; I had established a set schedule with the volunteer coordinator there and did service at the local branch of CCS for approximately five hours a day for five days of the week.

Prior to beginning this volunteer experience, I had no idea about the nature of service – I had believed it to be a responsibility, and viewed it as somewhat of an obligation instead of something that could bring me enjoyment. Hence, I viewed the opportunity with trepidation.

Nevertheless, I chose to be involved in my community in order to hopefully establish connections with people involved with community service so that they would be able to help me develop an even more important role in my community. Obviously, there was also the appeal of donating my time to help people who were in need of it.  

Being part of the Lethbridge CCS group taught me that volunteering my time is truly an enriching experience – far from the chore I had viewed it as earlier. I engaged in several kinds of activities that involved physical labour and creativity, although my main task was to perform clerical work such as contacting potential donors and answering phones. I developed these skills, and I believe that they will assist me in the future.

Committing such a large amount of my time showed me that it is important to make a continuous effort to improve the community in which one finds itself. Being part of such a large organization additionally showed me the value of cooperation and the vital importance of organization in a national not-for-profit organization. Through this, I was able to determine effective methods of communication (which I could then employ in my later experiences with volunteerism, in the National Honour Society, in which I had an administrative role).

During my time at the Canadian Cancer Society, there was a brief period during which the organization was accused of keeping more of the profit than was advertised and using it to pay its employees. Seeing this allowed me to reflect on the ethical implications of running a large-scale, not-for-profit organization. It is important to allot most of the funds to research; however, it is also prudent to pay the employees who contribute to the functioning of the organization. I learned through my experience at CCS that it is vital to be transparent with expenses to avoid situations like the one that occurred.

[cccasjournal-blog]

IB TRIP- June 2011 (putting it all in the one place)

This is my post from my old diary which I used before I had this tumblr account. 

IB TRIP - June 2011 To begin our bonding as a group of IB students as we would be working together very closely for the next two years we went away on trip for a few days up north to have a fun weekend of group activities. White Water Rafting We went white water rafting; and I was terrified before I went in. I am not a very strong swimmer and am slightly scared of the water and especially fish. So going white water rafting was my first BIG challenge of IB. Getting in the boat, and setting off was probably the hardest bit, and once I got going, being around my peers made it enjoyable. I felt that I made friendships through my fear, and that I was helped out alot by the fact everyone was so supportive. I even got a chance to sit on the very front of the boat as we went down one set of rapids. I feel that through this experience I really grew, and became more confident in myself to make new friends with people I didnt really know, and enjoy what I thought Was going to be a terrifying experience.   Cookie Competition Another thing I thouroghly enjoyed on the trip was the cookie competition. I learnt a new skill in being able to cook, especially baking has never ever ever been something I could do, but with the help of my friend James we managed to win an award for the texture of our cookies. I personally feel that our cookies were the best, and we should won the award for overall looks and tastiness. I really enjoyed this trip, and Im glad I went, as it helped me to bond with fellow IB students that I would be working with over the next couple of years.