Deep Breaths (10/5-10/11)

This week really emphasized how important it was for me to manage my time well and truly tested my ability to multitask. The greatest challenge was being able to ensure that I could complete all of the required tasks in the specified timeframe. Discovering the contacts of professionals in the field of aerospace engineering as well as taking the time to contact them was rather difficult, especially because aerospace engineers do not tend to have a public presence but a private one for business contacts (as I have observed through my intensive research). I have already managed to arrange two interviews fortunately, but as for how well they will go is to be observed. Our ISM teacher has stated that we should not procrastinate on developing our original work, however I have not started on it. When I do happen to have the time, such as this weekend, I definitely should not only begin working on my original work but create a plan delineating what components of the original work I should have finished by the end of each week leading up to the due date of the original work. This week we also had a business symposium where professionals conducted mock interviews for us students in ISM to prepare us for the future as well as foster connections between students and professionals. I feel that the business symposium definitely was one of the highlights of my ISM experience so far. I’d say I was fairly successful in my conduct during the interviews as I spoke fluidly and clearly, displayed my inherent charisma, and received a high degree of praise from the interviewers themselves. I picked up on quite a few pieces of advice from my interviewers, such as ensuring that I should be able to convey my ability to work with other individuals just through my communications with the interviewer, display my inherent knowledge of the position I am applying for, as well as allow my interviewers to bask in my optimism to highlight my confidence and compel the interviewer to select me out of other candidates. I still have a long way to go in terms of developing my communication skills, but if I can take a few minutes to simply look at the bigger picture, I am sure I will be able to achieve self-growth.