Remembering

"Never go through life saying 'I should have.' If you want to do something, you do it."

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow: Job Interviews

A little different from the original Shirelle's version I love, Amy Winehouse's verision is certianly notable as well!

I officially started my new job at Primary Children's Medical Center this morning! After a day sitting in the same place, I'm itching to get out and see what there is to see and do what there is to be done!

The last two weeks at Biomat were very difficult. While I've been absolutely ecstatic about the new job, it's hard to leave friends and a company that has treated me pretty well. They gave me a job when it seemed that no one else would. My experiences there were certainly beneficial and I feel a better person because of my work with plasmapheresis and plasma donors. I've never had to leave a job before. My contract has always expired, the season has ended, or there was an understanding that I'd be leaving for school again in the fall. Putting in two weeks notice and writing a letter of resignation was odd to say the least. s

While I have little experience leaving a job, I must admit that I have plenty of experience being rejected from job opportunities. My very favorite job to date was working as a Lab TA for the Anatomy department at BYU. The material was mastered and class aced, but my confidence was very low and I wound up applying four separate times (that's four separate semesters) before they accepted me. And you know what? I was good! I really was! I was good because I loved it. I was good because I had to fight to get there. I was good because no matter what I kept up the pep and passion for learning and did my darnedest to convey those things to my students. That's what made the job so awesome!

So, for every job interview I'm lucky enough to be invited into I arrive with the same determination and drive I carried into my anatomy teaching.

"I am the best! Just Let me show you! And if I'm not, I'll do everything in my power to become such!"

While managers tend to like my resume just fine, they are usually impressed most by my interview skills. Here are a few tips:

- Pray
- Scope out the interview place ahead of time so that you can arrive a few minutes early and keep your nerves in check.
- Pray
- Smile. A lot. A lot, a lot. It shows that you are friendly and comfortable. Remember, they are hiring someone they want to see every day. In a death match between Smiling Suzy and Debbie Downer, the smile will win every time because of popularity and crowd support. The poor downer dies alone and destitute in the street because she couldn't get a job since no one wanted to be around her. It's a sad tale. :(
- Pray
- Anticipate questions that may be asked and have a rough answer ready to be tweaked on spot for specific working.
- Pray
- Be concise. Keep responses short and sweet. I have a tendency to ramble (as if you can't tell) so I try really hard during an interview to say as few words as possible. It's ok to have empty air between questions. That's part of how they can determine your response to stress.
- Pray
- Always end on a high note. If they ask about your weaknesses, tell them truthfully but then mention a related strength. I'll say it again -- Always end on a high note.
- Pray

The most important thing for me, as an LDS girl trying to live in accordance with what the Lord wants for me, is to invite the Spirit in that interview too. It helps me to feel calm, comfortable and collected. That's why I "interview very well."

So, I'm off to bed at 8pm so I can get up at 3am and make it to work by 4:30am. Hopefully I'll still love my job tomorrow.

Wish me luck as I go off to steal blood from infants!

Ta-ta!

Let's Talk About "It"

Albrecht Durer, 1504

My youngest brother and sister recently attended a ward Youth Conference full of fun, sun, and warnings against intimacy. Not too long ago this same group was subjected to a fireside wherein hand holding was likened to a gateway drug to fornication. We've been hearing stories about increasingly more frequent admonitions to youth about avoiding intimacy entirely before marriage. Most of these stories include cringe-worthy analogies about chewed bubble gum or smelly sneakers.

This needs to stop.

It doesn't work.

It simply makes some afraid of all things tender and excites others to taste of the "forbidden fruits."

In college I was introduced to talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland given in a BYU devotional in 1988. It literally changed the way I thought about sex. It is my opinion that this talk should be pasted into every Young Men's and Young Women's manual around the world. It's tender, thoughtful, and just "right."

Of Souls Symbols and Sacraments

After a rash of weddings for close friends and the associated bridal showers and bachelorettes, it feels ever so much more important to talk about these things before the anticipated hour. Let us be educated, reach out, and tenderly educate those around us. Sex is more than just the gratification of a physical need. It is very special and should be approached with respect.

Not that I know anything. I'm just a Molly Mormon virginal old maid.

Here

This site is very interesting and provides a necessary sounding board for the discussion of sex amongst LDS men and women -- but mostly women.

It's about...time.

Patience.

A virtue that I am severely lacking naturally but have been trained to cultivate over the last few years.

With so many goals that are time sensitive -- meaning that they may be accomplished only at certain times of year in a specific sequence -- patience is of the utmost importance. Not only is it the practice of waiting for the right opportunity, but doing so in the right spirit. Waiting in agitation is a waste of energy. It also distracts from the main goal.

Right now I am in a situation where patience is quite important. As my MCAT test date looms ever closer, it is imperative that I give my brain, body, and nerves appropriate care and preparation. Becoming agitated because I can't seem to memorize the formula for that one physics principle is not going to help. Slowly working through the formula and then applying it to several different practice problems is a much better approach.

I feel the time crunch and want to find short cuts. There aren't any. Just patience. And time. And dedication.

Just breath.

This will pass.

Survival is a given.

Changes in the Wind

With so much going on you'd think I'd have quite a lot to say...

Alas, not yet. I'm going to keep this all close to the vest until there is a little more certainty in my world.

Coming soon: Erda Days!

What I Want to Say is Not What I Shall Say

Oh wow, it's been a while since I've last posted. That's probably because I've got too much to say and when I've got too much to say I usually just keep quiet and hoard all of the words for myself until they expire at which time they are brushed out the back door and forgotten as they scatter in the wind. 

Really though, I've been busy.

Between work, studying, church, and family life my grandmother passed away this month. We took a weekend to spend time with family up in Oregon and it was actually quite a positive experience. I found out some things about my grandma that have colored my memory of her in a more positive light. I'm very glad that I was able to attend the funeral and give her a decent farewell.

My left eye has been weeping for about two months now. It just brims over with excess tears and I find droplets of water coursing down my cheeks to rest on the corner of my lip or on my chin. There is no infection and after multiple episodes of using hot compresses and flushing out the eye I finally caved and went to see my doctor. I'm going in later this week to have an eyeball roto-rooter poked into my clogged tear duct. I'm kind of excited for this. I bet it will send water through to my nose! I'll be crying through my nose like a normal person again! Today at work, a donor noticed my constant eye blotting and very sincerely asked me how I was doing. She feared that I was sad or going through a hard time. It was just so nice to have someone care about me enough to make the comment, even though we don't know each other well at all. Way to be, plasma donor. You made me feel loved today. :)

I learned a new word.
pusillanimous
[pyoo-suh-lan-uh-muhs]
adjective
1. lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid.
2. proceeding from or indicating a cowardly spirit.

Pusillanimity is a serious problem. It leads to lower rates of dreams being achieved, destroys prospective dating ventures, and demoralizes to the point of diminished potential. Man up, ladies and gentlemen and help me in my fight against pusillanimous behavior! Together we can eradicate pusillanimous attitudes and replace them with the undaunted action of heroism.

Huzzah!

The Student

Open books and highlighters
Scattered around the scholar
Tell the sad tale far better
Of what was about to befall her

Awake before the sun
No sleep underneath the moon
She bravely stuffed her head
To take her test by noon

But long before exam time
And after countless study hours
She had to drop the pen
And give in to physical powers

Somewhere deep inside her brian
Knowledge began to seep
A dam had burst, all was lost
The student began to weep

"My head is about to explode!"
The valient student cried,
She crammed and fought to learn
But eventually, she died

Let this be a lesson,
Young students, gather 'round
There is so much more to life
Than to be too tightly wound

So when a test date looms,
And you begin to feel the need
To study all night and day,
Please, don't over-do the deed.


Wish me luck, I've officially begun to study again.