Bend It Like Beckham

I'm in a rec soccer league and we had a game today. Our team is pretty good, but we are still in the lowest league because there were a lot of new players on the team and we didn’t know how everyone would play. We had been undefeated so far, so we can usually put up and play really well against the other teams we face.

However, the team we were playing today was so hot-headed. Right from the start I knew that they would be trouble. Half their team was made up of subs that they had recruited from a higher league, so they were really good players. I’m used to playing soccer as a pretty physical sport, but this team was not having it. One would think that because most of their team was very experienced players, they would be okay with our team being aggressive. However, every time we had any physical contact with them, they would start yelling at us and at the referee to call fouls on us.

Our team is made up of people from all over the world and one of best players is from Spain. During our game, he fouled a player from the other team and the other team went crazy. The goalie ran out and started to push and yell at our player. People from the stands and both teams started to rush the field. Our player’s dad is from Spain, so soccer is in his blood. He was so mad he ran down the stairs and started to heckle the team we were playing. Things got really heated but luckily it didn’t turn into a brawl. The referee kicked the player that tried to start a fight out and the game went on.

This taught me that it is important to remain level-headed in stressful situations. If my teammate had lost his temper, there would have been a fight. Luckily, he was smart and avoided a heated situation. So now, he knows that we have his back and we know not to stoop to lower standards. If a similar situation happens, we know what to do and can laugh it off now.Also, we are trying to recruit Beckham for our team so fingers crossed.

Lesson learned: don’t start a soccer fight with Spaniards because their father will come for you.

That Online Interviewing Life

Being interviewed online was definitely a different experience than being interviewed in person. Mastering online interviews is an important skill to master now because if you want a job far from where you are living now, you can not always make it to an in-person interview. I want to live anywhere other than Utah, so this skill is something to nail down now, so I can land a job somewhere else. When comparing it to an in-person interview, there were both better and worse parts to it because it was a different environment and experience.

There were benefits of doing an interview online. Because it is online, you can essentially do the interview anywhere you have internet access. So for me, I chose somewhere I felt at ease and at home. I conducted the interview from my apartment. It was so convenient and such a relaxed environment. For in-person interviews, that experience was more intimidating for me. Being able to be in a comfortable setting that I was used to was nice to be able to make my nerves at ease.

However, these positives came with their own drawbacks. The benefit of being at ease, making me feel less intimidated, also made it harder to stay formal and remain professional. Being in a more comfortable setting, such as my room, provided more relaxed setting for the interview but almost to a point of being too relaxed. In addition, although doing the interview from my apartment was convenient, it was hard because it is not a controlled environment. Right before the interview, my roommates started to doing their laundry, which is right across from my room, so it was very loud. People were coming and going, slamming the door, so there was a lot of noise distractions. Having proper eye contact is hard over webcam as well because it is easy to just look at the screen instead, but that can make it look like you are looking down. Finally, my volume was not the best, factoring in all the noises in the background, and I could not always hear the questions I was being asked. Technical difficulties arise from doing interviews online, which would not happen in a real life interview, so that can be an added stress to make sure everything works correctly. On the whole although there were benefits of having an online interview from the comfort of your home, there are many drawbacks as well.

Although being interviewed in person or online may contain the same questions and have the same end result, the different situations and circumstances may elicit different responses and actions from the interviewer and yourself. It just comes down to personal preferences on which type of interview is considered better, but as a person searching for a job, you must be able to navigate both types of interviews successfully.

Worst Fears Combined

This week we practiced doing interviews. I have a short list of my least favorite things and this activity combined a majority of those things all together: being put on the spot/being the center of attention, being interviewed, and being put in groups with people I do not know. If spiders or snakes would've been thrown into the mix, I would've been out of that room so fast. However, even though I was dreading this activity, it ended up being beneficial and actually a benefit to my future. Critiques that I needed to know so I can change for the better were made known to me during the process of interviewing. What I learned was from this activity was that it is a good thing to go outside of one's comfort zone. No growth or crazy stories happen from staying in your comfort zone and not taking any risks. When I think about my best nights, they usually involve doing something I normally wouldn't and taking a risk. So now the lessons I learned from this class activity can be applied to the rest of my life. I am going to go outside of my comfort zone more and take more chances. I'm excited to see what lies in store for me this summer now that I have this perspective. Oh the next day after class, I interviewed and was offered a job so I'm already seeing the benefits of this class.

The Grammar Police

This week we learned about how to correctly use grammar. Knowing the proper usage of grammar is a very strong asset to have in your repertoire. This applies directly to my future and will allow me to succeed in life. Using proper grammar can be the make or break for getting and keeping a job. If you have mistakes in your resume then your employer will not hire you. When you are going to email your boss, then you would want to use proper punctuation and grammar as well. There are a lot more situations than you would think where proper grammar is important. Mastering grammar now will serve as a foundation for your future. Being able to communicate properly will make you seem more educated and professional. People will take you more seriously and more opportunities will come your way. Knowing when to use commas and grammar properly will make your life better so the sooner you start mastering it, then the sooner your future will brighten.