Team Leader

My final assignment for this term involves carrying out a team project.

Research will need to be done, a report will need to be complied and ultimately a team leader will need to be appointed at the start to ensure the assessment criteria is met.

We have to deliver it within a few weeks and there is a lot of information that needs to be accomplished if we are to finish it on time.

I’m the type of person who likes to get in early, get something done and to finish before a deadline. So I requested that my team mates take a look at the final assignment, outlined my own thoughts of how we should approach it and requested their own feedback so we were all happy.

Except what I didn’t expect was one of my team mates to nominate me as team leader.

I’m not sure whether he actually believes in my ability or if he just doesn’t want the responsibility himself but I’m going to give it a shot.

I don’t think I’ll ace being a team leader and I’m sure I’ll forget something which I’ll throw out there later but it’s the experience I’m after so I can become better at project management. Wish me luck!

I heard the call and I answered

Since starting uni I’ve found inspiration in the oddest forms. From researching projects to report writing there is always something new that I am learning to do which in turn is opening new doors inside my mind. I look at the world through a different set of eyes and it’s wonderful.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before but I’m studying Engineering. Not exactly the kind of subject that you would expect a woman to be studying but neither is it unheard of in this day and age.

I haven’t established which field I’ll be specialising in but it’s a choice between Civil, Electrical or Mechanical. Each area sounds so appealing that I cannot possibly chose just one but I have plenty of time to mull it over whilst I complete my base Engineering classes. I’m sure one particular specialisation will stand out from the rest eventually.

I’ve been asked plenty of times why I chose Engineering and aside from the fact that I currently work in the field I mainly decided upon it because I enjoy learning it and I can imagine practising it in a qualified capacity. My own experience in the field has made the transition into uni a little easier but there are still times when I feel like I know nothing at all.

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. – Chinese Proverb

A few people I know don’t believe a university education is the way to go when first approaching an Engineering career. Most believe your better off trade qualified first and then to carry on study when your done with your apprenticeship.

I don’t know if I agree. I could think of a few people who would of benefited from a university background before learning a trade but ultimately I think it’s up to the individual how they seek their experience and whether its before or after some formal study is completely up to them.

To me uni is giving me some strong foundations to build my career on. Its giving me some of the tools that I will need to be a successful Engineering person and it’s showing me how to wield them.

However I wouldn’t of known Engineering was a good career choice for me if I hadn’t experienced some of it first hand.

Have you discovered your calling? If so what is it and how did you find it?

Coffee shop conversation

“Do you think the couple behind me is on a date?”

Mr X and I were at a local coffee shop enjoying a variety of sugary treats when my gaze became a little fixated on a man and woman sitting on a cozy couch behind me.

The woman was in her late forties, dressed in dark green skinny jeans, a creamy, woolen billowy coat and pair of suede boots with a small heel. She fiddled with her hair – which she wore down – as she spoke to her companion.

The man was also dressed nicely in blue denim jeans and a dark blue button up shirt. He too had long hair which he wore in a tidy ponytail but he still appeared a little rough around the edges.

“Well he’s wearing a wedding ring and so is she. Could they be married?”

I looked over my shoulder to see if I could answer this question by body language alone. Unfortunately it was difficult to tell what their relationship was without hearing their conversation too.

“Yeah, maybe. Look at how he is sitting though. He’s quite stiff and looks a little uncomfortable but he is quite attentive towards her.”

“Maybe they’re having an affair!”

We both broke into peels of laughter at this assumption. I liked how he not only caught onto the silliness of the conversation but that he also played along.

“Has he spoken at all since we’ve been here?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee whilst taking a peek over my shoulder for the hundredth time.

Mr X looked again and watched them whilst I watched his facial expressions.

“You know, I don’t think he has. He hasn’t stopped looking at her though. Very attentive.” he replied.

“Maybe he’s a serial killer!”

“Uh oh. Better remember that face in case it’s in the news tomorrow.”

Beauty and the Beast

“Ha ha!”

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh this article I just read on the Daily Mail. It’s titled ‘Why women hate me for being beautiful’.”

I shoved my iPhone underneath Mr X’s nose so he could read it for himself. A raised brow was his only response.

“It really does amuse me when a woman will write something like this one day only to be sobbing into their pillow the next because people decide to voice an opinion and it’s not what they want to hear. Talk about throwing yourself to the wolves with raw meat hanging around your neck and expecting them to not eat you alive.”

Nodding his head Mr X returned to his magazine.

“Whether a woman or man for that matter is physically beautiful or not is irrelevant to me because no matter how attractive you are or think you are on the outside it all means nothing if the “inside” is only filled with ugliness.”

 

Have you read this article? If so how do you feel about it?

 

Things I miss

Whilst everyone else around the world is enjoying their four-day weekend I’ve spent most of my time with my head in one textbook or another completing another assignment.

I don’t mind really. If I wasn’t doing study I’d only be spending my time watching movies or reading books or stuffing my face with chocolate.  All noteworthy tasks but where are they are going to get me right now besides fatter and less bored.

Truthfully though, I miss having time to just waste.

I miss just jumping in my car and going for a drive with no thought of a destination in mind.

I miss dropping in on friends randomly and hanging out.

I miss visiting the library and loading up on books to read for the next fortnight.

I miss taking photos of random stuff with my iPhone.

I miss eating ice-cream by the ocean and listening to the waves break against the shoreline.

I miss gardening and getting my hands dirty in the earth.

I know eventually I will get around to doing all the things that I miss right now, someday down the track most likely when I’m finished my studies and I have more time on my hands. By then I do suppose I will have made another list of things I miss due to finishing university but I suppose that will be okay too.

What things do you miss doing when you lack the time?

Assignments

There is just so much to learn, isn’t there?

I of course never realised any of this until I started my studies. There I was opening one door of understanding only to find several different sections branching off that needed exploring as well.

Unfortunately I’m easily distracted so sometimes I quite literally have to tell myself aloud to focus on what information I need, not just what I find interesting so I can finish my assignments and speaking of assignments, is it odd to enjoy doing them?

Because I’m liking the process – the research, understanding my subject and finally writing it all down into words that I make sense to me.

Does the novelty eventually wear off?

Something else, I’m not a note taking type of person and am better off just jumping straight into what I need to say. When I take notes I simply waste too much time doing so and then I’m left with less time to compile my notes into something understandable. Maybe I need to work on my note taking technique, or not.

I must admit that the one thing I am still struggling with is finding a balance between work, study and having a life outside of both. I’m good at my job but I’m slow as a student so that in turn is eating into my personal downtime. It’s been awhile since I’ve picked up a new book which wasn’t required university reading material.

I’m sure it will work itself out as I progress but in the meantime it is a little frustrating.

Time to work on the assignment again. Wish me well.

Side Note: I can’t post comments to any blogs that use blogger. The Captcha program won’t let me and I’m not sure if this is due to my computer or something else just yet and I simply haven’t had a chance to figure it out yet so I do apologise for lack of comments to anyone on blogger.

A week of learning

There is a sickly sweet smell wafting through the house tonight and it’s quite revolting. Its been caused by a single mouse and even though the body has been removed, the stench still remains.

How the hell does such a smell come from such a tiny little body? It’s beyond my comprehension I can tell you.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about dead mice. How have you all been?

I’ve had a busy week myself. Quite exhausting if I was to tell the truth.

The uni thing has been quite an eye opener and although I was prepared for the different learning environment what I wasn’t prepared for was doing work that I had no experience on.

My brain is still a little tender from it so instead of delving deeply into what I’ve been doing I think I’ll just revise here what I have learnt.

1. I can function on 5 hours of sleep if I really have to.

I spent many nights this week completing assignment related activities and sometimes it took my brain time to get going. I surprised myself how easy I found it to get out of bed in the morning after cramming the night before.

2. My brain needed to be reprogrammed.

In the beginning I would come home ready to write-up sections of my assignment only to find my mind was blank. However when I was at work I couldn’t stop the ideas from flowing and in between my job I was note taking. So I had to reprogram my brain and train it to be in work mode when I needed it and not when it thought it was due to my physical location at the time.

3. People do want to help me, all I need do is ask?

I was actually quite surprised how many people offered me advice on how to approach certain segments of my assignment. I found most of these insights helpful and especially so when it came from people who had the experience to back it up.

Of course not all of their advice was relevant but I appreciated that everyone had something to add when I asked for it.

 

Have you learnt anything important this week? If so, what is it?