Resumes and Cover Letters

I've never actually applied for a job before, so I have extremely limited experience with writing resumes and cover letters. Thankfully my tutors, especially my essay tutor was able to give me very helpful tips and guidelines that really helped me when I had to write these two things. For the health internship, I'm required to write a resume and cover letter, and this being the first of both that I've ever done I'm not sure how confident I am with them. I'm still pretty young and regarding my work life, I'm quite limited. There are a lot of fields where I need to develop more skills, but as of now I think I'm okay. I think that my cover letter really shows what kind of person I am as well as how I think. I've been told that when writing these two things, you have to choose your words carefully and write out the qualities you believe will be beneficial to the job you are applying for. The thing is, when doing this, people tend to exaggerate or give themselves skills that they cannot live up to. When I wrote my essay and cover letter I kept it as realistic as possible. I'm human and I make mistakes; I don't want to appear as some flawless prodigy who will be perfect at everything I do. I strongly believe that honesty is best, so rather than writing a long list of skills that would make me appear as someone who is over the top, in the end, I only want to portray who I am and not who I wish I was or am still trying to be. I can only state the things I can guarantee of myself, and be open to developign more skills when I do. The cover letter was more of a struggle for me to write, probably because it's more personal and really took me 2 hours but in the end I feel good about it. I'm thankful to everyone who read my resume and cove rletter over and gave me feed back, because every little comment helps me. I hope that in the future writing these won't feel so intimidating, but the challenge of it was quite entertaining.

Expiration Dates

This is some research I compiled to assist my church with our food hamper service. We had a little issue regarding distributing food past it's expiration date so I was asked to conduct some research based on general safety of various foods that are past their expiration date.

Expiration Dates on Various Foods

General:
· Do not risk feeding children, pregnant women, people with low immunity food that is past expiration date.
· If stamp says “Use by” then do not use after the date
· “Best before” does not mean it will become harmful soon after the date
· When mould is noticeable before best before date, it is dangerous (possibility of bacteria already present and multiplying)
· After expiration date, food will not carry as much nutritional value but can still be edible
· Sense of smell plays important role in identifying edibility
Bread:
· Expiry date indicates when bread will stay fresh until.
· Is non edible when too stale or significant amounts of mould is formed
· freezing bread lengthens duration of edibility NOT refrigerating
· Mould on bread is not hazardous; can just be cut off
· Last 2-7 days after purchase.
Cream cheese:
· Has short storage life
· Ideally consumed before best before date
· Sniff test to check if still good
· Freezing changes texture
· When mould appears, it affects entire cheese
· Taste changes when mould spreads
· Small amounts of mould can be trimmed off
· If unopened and kept in fridge, can last a few months
· Cook/freeze by 1 or 2 weeks if unopened
· Should be eaten 3-4 days after opening or will be vulnerable to carry listeria
Crackers:
· Are still edible but will taste stale
Canadian Food Inspection Agency states: Food should not be eaten if the expiration date has passed. They should be discarded. This is quite skeptical because expiry dates are only a guideline and have a wide margin of when food should be tossed out.

Charts shown in this site are quite helpful:
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Nutrition-Health-Food-Labeling-646/food-expiration-dates.aspx
Bibliography:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/tipcon/date.shtml
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061002_959305.htm
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/37475
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/45367
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090708113144AAWvoWC

Dietary Internship

I've decided to apply for an internship in the health department that's only available to grade 11 students and will accept only 100 people. It sounded like an amazing opportunity to get familiar with the field of studies I want to go into in the future, and so I want to take every opportunity to enhance my understanding of it. I don't know how I'll feel if I don't get accepted, besides I have to hand in a resume, cover letter, and a whole lot of other things. I never applied for a job before and even an interview is going to scare me to death but I know I'll have to do this eventually, so i might as well at least try not. I'll never know what will happen if I never try so I'm opening up myself for opportunities such as this. I've been working on my resume for weeks now with my essay tutor helping me and guiding me, and I haven't even began my cover letter. All of this feels so overwhelming but I believe it will be worth it in the end. I also think that if I do get accepted, this would be a completely new and interesting experience for me. I want to know what it would be like to really work hands on in the health field. I know I'd make mistakes, but I will learn from them so that when I'm actually getting a job in university I won't make those amateur mistakes. I want to start now when there's less to lose, and this is one big step towards achieving my goal. I'm scared and nervous to the point where I don't even know what to do next but I hope this will all work out in the end somehow. It's better to feel lost now than in five years when I'm applying for a legit job. While working on my resume I discovered that there's still a lot more to figure out about myself. 2010 was a year where I depicted all my flaws and things I had to improve about myself but what about my good qualities? I guess this year will be when I discover them.

Gr 11 Sem 1 + Study Tips

Today, I completed my last final exam which was for Biology 20! I feel really confident about this one and I checked it over thoroughly catching my mistakes so I'm really anticipating a good mark. My 18 pages of studying didn't go to waste!! I'm so happy. One semester of extreme hard work is paying off, so I'm hoping for the best in semester 2 as well. Social Studies and Math is next; definitely not my strong points but i'll try my best. I have to say I already miss my science classes. If only I can feel this confident next year for my diplomas? I'll be working hard for sure! I feel really accomplished because I actually pulled through this whole semester with a mindset that I would put school as a priority and really work hard and be determined. It takes a lot to set that goal to begin with, and even more effort to not stray from that. I hope all my friends can feel just as confident with their final exams and upcoming ones! As for me, for now, I'm free to enjoy exam break finally! Let's hope my average turns out good. i'm not so confident in English but it already passed so I hope it doesn't drop my marks too badly. I'm excited for my report card! (I always am) I can finally stop to take a breather. I'm relieved.

Studying Tips:
I know it takes a long time to figure out a studying style that works for yourself, and if you haven't found one yet then maybe my studying habits can help you. Everyone has their own way of studying, so maybe some of my studying strategies will work for you guys.
1) Re-writing crucial notes and pieces of information even if you're sure that you'll remember it, re-write it just in case! While you're writing about it, your brain is also processing it. I prefer writing things out by hand because I don't memorize as well if I type.
2) Whenever you're having your own free time to think such as on the bus to school, repeat the things you learned the day before or stuff you need yo remember for an upcoming test in your head. Reteach the criteria to yourself in your head to ensure that you understand it. To fully understand something, you have to be able to teach it.
3) Actually do all the review questions that the teacher assigns even though it won't be for marks or homework checks. This ensures and tests your understanding of a lesson because even if you think you understand something, you might not. Why take the chance? Just do it. This also allows for further understanding, by using other sources such as your textbook you can be absorbing other information that the teacher never mentions.
4) I'm not sure if this is easy, common sense, or necessary, but when shown a diagram or labelled illustration/photograph, I like to memorize it's appearance as well as labels. On tests, you're often given labelling questions especially in biology so it doesn't hurt to memorize this. Plus, pictures will often be re-used.
5) Your friends will find this extremely annoying (I know mine did and still do), but when given the chance in conversations, bring out some of your knowledge that you gained from a class and teach a friend or relative. For example, while learning about the respiratory system I diagnosed my best friend with Chronic Bronchitis. I addressed this to her and she remembered her doctor telling her that she had it, and I told her the technicalities of this respiratory disorder. People will call you a nerd for this but does it matter? It feels nice to feel smart. Also, bringing school knowledge to situations outside of the school atmosphere enhances memory. Have you noticed that you remember what your friends gossip about more than what your teacher tells you? You also remember what you tell your friends. If you tell your friends about school, then you'll be more likely to remember!
6) Do not procrastinate. I may be a hypocrite at times but my procrastination never goes to last minute. When you cram your brain has less time to process information, and the things you remember due to cramming will leave you right after the test. Yes, I used to be a crammer. If you study days before a test, the information stays with you.

Those are all the tips I can think of right now, but if I come up with more I'll list them out.

Study, study, study!

Yes, studying has somewhat become my life now. It's a little tragic, but this is the amount of effort I'm putting in. I know making grade 11 look good will affect my chances in grade 12, even just a little, so it never hurts to start early. Of course, studying is boring, but I don't really mind anymore. I've heard so many scary stories about how frustrating or intimidating university is, and I'll never know for myself until I get there but I can at least prepare myself. I'm not much of a procrastinator anymore, and I'm really relieved for that.

Here's a little peek as to what my studying lair looks like. Unfortunately, I don't have a desk. Yes, that's so horrible for my back.

Have to have some brain food. I was studying the excretory system! (That's not awkward at all..)

Final exams for semester one of Grade 11 are pretty much here, so there's no more time to slack off. Let's see how well I do!

Introduction

As if now, January 4, 2011, I'm in grade 11 with a burning determination to fulfill my dream as either a Dietician or a Psychologist. This blog is new, and as a lot of my relatives or close friends would know, I've been aiming hard for this goal for over a year now but here I'll keep my steps towards my goals updated. Originally, I was aiming to enter the University of Alberta after graduating grade 12 into the faculty of food and nutrition, and then switching second year into the nutrition major to fulfill my goal to be a dietician. Just recently, I've decided that nutrition is not my only interest in life, and that I want to pursue psychology as well. People have suggested that I should aim for a double major of nutrition and psychology, and as of now, that's what my goal is. I know it seems really early, with me being in only grade 11, but time passes quickly and before I know it, I'll be applying for university with high hopes of getting accepted. Of course I'm scared and confused, and I don't know everything I need to as of now. What I do know for sure is that I cannot choose what I'm more interested in; nutrition or psychology, and that there is no doubt that University of Alberta is where I'd like to be in one and a half years. I'm really thankful for all the support that I'm receiving from my family, after having my previous (less realistic) dreams rejected, and as well as constant support from my close friends who will always give me the guidance and encouragement that I need to feel confident in what I want to do with my life.

Choosing a career to pursue was difficult for me and before settling with nutrition and psychology, I considered a variety of occupations such as an elementary school teacher, a dentist, a lawyer, a professional video editor or director, and much, much more. I really have to thank my Language Arts tutor who had been supporting me from the very beginning (since I was in preschool!), and it's thanks to her that I became opened to the idea of incorporating nutrition into my future. My mom played a huge part in forcing me to come up with a career that I could pursue and be passionate about, so having been able to know what I want to go into when I graduate so early in my life would be mostly thanks to her. When I think of the ideal career, I see it as a job that one can wake up to everyday with a smile on their face, knowing that everything they do will be able to help someone else in whatever aspect of their life, because the feeling of helping and giving is unmatchable. A career should not be something that you dread, because it would not be something you're passionate about or want to spend the rest of your life doing. Money, I realized, plays a major role in people's decisions on their careers but I've been told many times that when you pursue something you know you can be passionate about and enjoy, money will follow. By choosing these career paths, I'm not aiming for a high salary, or to become rich. I know that by pursuing nutrition and psychology, I would be able to help others. I want to be able to share my knowledge for the benefit of other people, not only the ones close to me, and so I pray with all my heart that I can be successful in this.

Dreaming isn't enough to reach your goals, because wanting it without doing anything to get it is useless. Grade 11 was a real eye opener to me, because I've decided to really take into consideration what my priorities are and take academics more seriously than I ever had thus far. I proved to myself that I could achieve greater than my expectations if I tried harder and put all my focus and determination into pursuing it. I can say truthfully that I do take my future extremely seriously. I want to show everyone that I'm not hoping for my future to come to me without trying, and so I'm willing to take any opportunities I can to fulfill this wish. This wish of mine, to become successful in nutrition and psychology, is not an empty wish and I will prove it with my actions. I will use this blog to update the steps I take from now until my goal is reached, so if you're interested, please press follow!

Thank you for reading this lengthy introduction, and I want everyone to know that I'm grateful towards everyone who believes in me. It's alright if I'm looked down on right now because I am still young, but age does not put limitations on one's capability of reaching success.

-Esther L.