Successful Interviews

These past couple of weeks, guest speakers were invited to prepare us for real life interviews. They taught us how to dress appropriately, the most common questions asked during an interview, what to expect, the appropriate way to sit, and much more. This week however, many more guest speakers were invited, not to particularly teach us about interviews, but to interview us as we would for an actual job. The guest speakers were given a list of what we thought were the most common questions asked by interviewers and used that as guidance. Luckily, the class was able to prepare themselves with more than enough time. Thanks to this, most of us felt more confident about ourselves. However on my side, I was still scared that I was going to mess up or not be well prepared enough to answer a question and get stuck. All the students were given instructions to dress as we were going into a real interview , bring resumes, and of course, be prepared!
In my opinion, all of the Price Scholars that attended class that day gave it their all, looked great, and did an outstanding job. There was no one that didn't seem prepared or like they were nervous. Very casual. No pressure seemed to devour anyone, smiles were visible in everyones face, everything was great. Then it came down for the interviews to begin. Oh lord!
Personally, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be. I shook my interviewers hand firmly and made direct eye contact, I made sure I maintained that direct eye contact throughout the entire time, no fidgeting whatsoever, and I was well prepared for the questions. The only question I believe I  wasn't prepared for was: "Why should I hire you?" This question was totally unexpected! Inside me I panicked but made sure not to show it. There was no way I could get out of it! One thing I learned from previous classes were things you can say to give you a bit more time. For example: "I have never thought about that before", "That's a very good question", or "I'm so glad you asked that question." So that is what I did. That way it at least helped me think a bit more of the best way to answer the question and making more sense.
Overall, I am glad that we did this activity because there are a lot of people who haven't gone to a REAL interview. They don't know the pressure that overcomes people at times, or what to expect. And with this, I feel that it helped students grow and learn that this is simple and that the more you practice, the better you will get, the less stressed out you will be which will make the person much more confident. And at the end, there will be better results.
It was unbelievable to hear that there were students not attending class simply because "they were tired" or because it was "dumb" to do this. They thought there was no point. Well they are wrong! I know for a fact there isn't one single person that attended class that thought this was pointless. Those peoples actions seem unfair. Especially to me due to the fact that a week before class, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy. How do they think I felt? Like it was nothing and like I wasn't in pain nor tired?! Well they should guess again because I do everything for my baby which means stay up late to either do homework or to take care of him. It isn't easy. I hardly sleep and you don't see me missing class nor not turning in my assignments. So these people had no real excuse to not attend class. It isn't fair for me, it isn't fair to the other students, nor to the instructors, and it especially wasn't fair to the guest speakers. These students that missed class simply do not know of a great opportunity that they missed.
However, overall the interviews were a great success! Thank you so much for this great opportunity Leslie and Sandy, my instructors, for this great chance to learn more and grow from it.

Customer Service

Good customer service is essential to getting a job and keeping it too. But what is considered to be good customer service? And what is considered as bad customer service? According to the sources online, it is defined as "the provision of service to customers before, during, and after a purchase." Customer Service is also meeting the customers expectations, making them feel important and have a good experience, you must know the product you either represent and/or trying to sale, anticipating a customers needs, and last but not least, demonstrating good communication skills. 
Communicating may not only come verbally, but through body language as well. One must always show positive body language in order to show interest in the customer and make them feel both comfortable and welcome. Positive body language consists of smiling  and making direct eye contact, to show that we are listening to what they have to say.
On the other hand, bad customer service is the opposite of all of this. Ignoring the customer, giving attitude, rudeness, not knowing the product nor what you are talking about, making them feel uncomfortable and unsure are ways to give bad customer service.  
One thing to think about and have noticed is that when we do receive a great service, we rarely bother to share it with friends and family. However, when we get a bad service at a certain place, we end up talking about it to others and trying to convince them to not go there again. I am very certain that every single person, at one time, has received both good and bad customer service. 

My experience of good customer service is at a store inside the mall, Charlotte Russe. The employees are always on top of things. Having people always available at the cashier, never having people wait for a long time, employees asking customers if they need any assistance or if they are finding everything alright, resolving peoples complaints and handling them in a well manner, patience, smiling and making the customers feel welcome. They also have employees working the front end of the store to greet the customers as they come in which is an excellent way to attract people. One time that I was in there, I was looking for a particular style of shirt that I had seen on the website. As I asked for assistance, the lady seemed happy to help me, listened to what I had to say and asked other employees for further assistance when she was unsure. Once finding the shirt, she showed me to the fitting rooms and even offered to get a different size for me that way i didn't have to go over and do it myself. At the end, employees working at the cash register were very friendly. They asked if we found everything we were looking for and then gave us a parting comment after leaving. This was an experience I would like to get in the future.
My example of bad customer service was the worst! It happened to be at the Walmart located in National City. I was looking for a SD Card for my camera in the electronics department. Unfortunately, there was only 1 person working there at the time with a million people trying to buy something. Once I found the appropriate SD Card, I went over to the customer service desk to ask for assistance in opening the case. The employee told me that he will be with me to help in just a few minutes. I didn't think that a few minutes meant 15-20 minutes of waiting. I grew desperate, especially after seeing others being helped even when I had arrived there before them. It was unfair. I saw another employee walk by and so I immediately took action. I asked for his help and his reply was simply of, "He will help you as soon as he can." pointing to the guy I had asked in the first place. 
I felt so mad at the end and like I never wanted to return to that Walmart. Once he finally realized that I had been waiting for him for a long time, he turned his attention to me. He pretended as if nothing was wrong. He didn't bother to apologize nor to even look at me! This was super inappropriate and disrespectful. Without saying anything of it, I paid for what I had came for and left without looking back. 
Ever since then, I have not returned to that Walmart, especially to that particular department. 

My Main Three Goals

 College is no joke. It's about a lot of dedication, time management, and commitment. The transition from high school to college, I thought at first, was not going to be a great difference. However, it is. Teachers here, mainly may care somewhat whether you come to class, if the assignments are being turned in, or if you pass the class in fact. Most of the students, I can say think this is cool and even take advantage. My main goal, is to not get carried away and care about my classes, care about turning in all of my assignments on time, being punctual to class and to dedicate time into studying and homework. Another of my goals is to make time for everything. In other words, TIME MANAGEMENT ! I currently work, am a full-time student at San Diego City College and an expected mother. All of this isn't easy for me to be honest. I, just like others, struggle. Last but not least, my last goal is to STOP BEING A PROCRASTINATOR ! I can not hardly tell you how much this problem has put me through a lot of stress and pressure. I am sure to say that my work would be presented in a better perspective if it wasn't for this weakness. Like I had stated at the beginning, college is a whole different deal. Professors will not accept late assignments, they do not care of whatever excuse you may have. They will only care if the assignment was turned in on time. I know for a fact my goals will not be easy to meet due to the fact that I am used to the complete opposite . However, I will do whatever I can to change all that even if it takes time. I know that these weaknesses will get in the way and later become a great obstacle in my education. This is not a risk I am willing to take because I am very committed to further my education at whatever cost.  

Financial Spending

One of my assignments was to keep track of my financial spending on two weekdays and one day of the weekend. I was impressed and shocked at how much money I had used up. For my first day, I decided to keep track of my spending on Monday, August 20, 2012. This is the day I bought my very first set of college books from the bookstore. Luckily, The EOPS office had given students a gift card of $200. Little did I know, I would end up spending much more than this quantity. Buying only a total  of 4 books, it cost me $353.96. How was I suppose to pay for the rest was the question that ran through my mind? Where would I get the rest of the money? Thanks to the checker, she asked me if I wanted to pay the rest with my Pell Grant Money. I was immediately happy because I hadn't thought about that at all. Now all my books were paid and I still had a current balance at the bookstore of approximately $75. No more struggling at the bookstore for me.

Losinq A Mother's Love

 "Your life is worth talkinq & thinkinq about", this is what my professor had said to me in class today.

He had showed us an imaqe about the topic "homelessness".

What do you think when you hear the word 'homeless' ?

Bums ? Bad clothinq ? Rotten teeth ? Smelly ? People on the streets ?

Well let me tell you that there are different types of beinq homeless.  For example there are those that do live in the streets and beq for money in order to survive and the type where they have a place to live, a bed to sleep in, and food to consume but no support from their parents.

I am that girl that is homeless.

In my situation, one day my parents simply decided to kick me out of the house. They were just tired of all my "bullshit". It was easy for them to just say, "I don't want you here anymore." However, they never thouqht about me, they didn't care about where I would spend the niqht, if I had anythinq to eat, etc. It was a very difficult transition in my life I have to admit. At that moment, I never knew anythinq about being homeless or services that helped with this specific situation. But, with the assistance of CPS, they helped me look and discover places I had never known about before and with that, I found Toussaint Academy.

Toussaint is a qroup home for children from the aqes of 14-18 years old in which have no place to qo. It is a free-of-charqe place and provides the residents with food, clothinq, basic needs, shelter and support.

This place has truly chanqed my life around. I have been motivated to do better in both school & life. Making wise decisions is not a problem anymore, settinq my mind to somethinq & not being afraid to qo for it is what I do.

Now, I am qlad to say that I have become a qreat role model to not only to my little sisters and the residents at my qroup home, but to my classmates as well as to the community.

Yes life was rouqh but everyone has to learn how to overcome hardships, focus on yourself and education above all else.

My relationship with both my parents is still building up and it is makinq proqression little by little.

So do you think you have a hard life just because your parents are strict? Let me tell you it's nothing compared to my life.

The Writing Process

Why is writing important?
Writing isn't just putting ideas or thoughts down on paper. It's not just to turn in assignments and pass a class.
It IS who you are... it is a way of expressing oneself and to let people see your personality.
Many people when asked write a reflexion paper or  an essay, all they think about is having an interesting first sentence and a thesis. But, this isn't all there is to it.
There has to be many thinking involved and brainstorming in order to create ideas, an interesting hook that attracts the reader, a thesis statement and 3 ideas that support that main idea. Last but not least, the conclusion is at the end to summarize everything that was said in the paragraphs above. Here is where you restate your thesis statement in different words and briefly state your opinion.

Responsibility .

 During pre-teen years, we are being guided through life and beginning to learn who we are, our interests, and basically learn to live day by day. At this moment, we don't realize the responsibilities that we will have to take on once becoming an adult. We, as children now, must learn to deal with pressure in order to learn the real meaning of responsibility. 

Responsibility is knowing that something is wrong and choosing not to do it no matter how badly you yearn to or how big the pressure is. 

We learn to be responsible as we grow by making wise choices and leaving behind bad influences. We learn to be responsible by learning from our mistakes. But the real question is, who teaches human beings to become responsible ?

Responsibility, in my opinion, is self-taught. Parents don't really teach you. Teachers, tutors, friends, counselors, nor police teach you. Every single individual learns for themselves. 

Childhood

My Childhood 

my childhood was the time when i was innocent
when the world seemed to be fair
when my universe was around my toys

my childhood was the time when i lived in dreams
when everyone was selfless
when everyone appeared to be a friend

my childhood was the time when my life was full of colours
when sorrows never knocked my door
when smile was gift presented to everyone

my childhood was the time when love was pure
when there were no obligations
when tenderness prevailed

my childhood was the time which is long gone
tears flow from my eyes when i go back in my childhood
my childhood will never come back but
the child in me will never go

-jahanvi .

Childhood memories are mainly forgotten. However, we all know that even if we could remember them, it would be the best recollections ever.  Everything was like a dream. You always you got what you wanted by just simply crying for hours. You ate all the time and played none stop also. Parents would dress you up with cute little clothes and tied your hair up with colorful ribbons that matched your outfit.

No bills to pay, no financial problems. What else can you ask for ?

Time passes by so fast. One has to enjoy life as it is before it is too late.

Lesson Learned

Procrastination. If a person is usually a procrastinator, the sooner they get out of "this bubble", the better. College is all about time management and dedicating time to your work. Not putting everything to the last minute. 

Throughout my entire life, I have always set things to the last moment. In comparison to school, I knew that would have the chance to turn in my assignments late and get partial credit. But hey, at least I didn't get an 'F' on the classwork/ homework. Right ?

However, in the real world, in the college world, this such thing doesn't exist. The professors will not accept ANY late assignments at all. Both professors and staff expect us students to act like a grown ups, to take responsibility for actions and work. In college, you will be treated as an adult. 

It is time to transition from a kid to a grown up.

But are you ready ? What will it take for you to be ready for life && college ?
In my point of view, I am not ready. But I an striving for a better education and life. I know perfectly what I want and I will do anything I can, no matter how hard or impossible it may seem, in order to achieve that goal or dream. it won't be easy but I am a fighter.

The Summer Program

 City Colleges' mission is to provide education to those that want to strive for a better education && to help people get further in life. This year, City College has provided a summer program for those that want that extra help, to help the incoming first years a little experience to what "real college" will be like. In my opinion, this Summer Readiness Program has definately helped me improve my study skills, as well as in preparing me for the Fall semester. I am currently enrolled in two English classes && a Personal Growth class. It is an 8-week program in which students attend Mon.-Thurs. from 8:45 am-2:45 pm.  

I have to admitt that I was scared at first because it was going to be a different environment for me and because of the fact that I have no experience whatsoever with college. I didn't know what to expect.

Many people had been trying to persuade me not to go; telling that it was just a waste of time. However, that desicion wasn't there's to make. I had decide to attend the program because I strongly felt that it would give me a great advantage as a first year student.
So far, the program has helped me learn a lot && I feel as if I am an actual college student already.

I strongly recommend you to look into this program if you are a first-year student coming into San Diego City College.