MacEwan residence/ Mental health first aid/ learn a trade

Feb. 11 MacEwan residence: I was at a job fair last month and I applied for a guest service assistant position here.  It’s a 4 month position and it’s kind of like working at a hotel.  I was reading the information and it says check guests in and out, handle cash, etc.

They called me yesterday.  He called me again this morning and he asked if I am a post-secondary student in the 2014 winter term.  I said no, and he asked if I am taking classes in the summer.  I said no.  

He then told me that I had to be a post-secondary student in the 2014 winter term to work there.  So I didn’t get an interview.  That’s fine.  I then looked at the back of the paper, and it says that one of the employment requirements was to be a student.  

Feb. 13 Market research: I went to this office job interview months ago.  I then applied to this market research position in there.  It’s where I call people to do surveys, but I can work at home.  Now they emailed me back.  I thought about it and I wasn’t really interested in it.

If I got a call from Call Centre #6 or Call Centre #4 to go to work there, I would.  I thought maybe because I’m not really feeling excited about this job interview.  

However, I was excited recently when I got an email back from this big company to fill out an application on their website.

Mental health first aid: Have you ever heard of this?  I was looking for a job and this was one of the requirements.  I found the website to pretty good.

There are lots of courses available all over Canada.  I see there are a lot of AB classes every month.  Check it out:

What is Mental Health First Aid Canada 

One in three Canadians will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life. The earlier a problem is detected and treated, the better the outcome. Mental Health First Aid Canada gives people the skills to provide that early help that is so important in recovery.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Just as physical first aid is administered to an injured person before medical treatment can be obtained, MHFA is given until appropriate treatment is found or until the crisis is resolved.

The MHFA Canada program aims to improve mental health literacy, and provide the skills and knowledge to help people better manage potential or developing mental health problems in themselves, a family member, a friend or a colleague.

The program does not teach people how to be therapists. It does teach people how to:

• Recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health problems.
• Provide initial help.
• Guide a person towards appropriate professional help.

MHFA shares the same overall purpose as traditional first aid – to save lives. It aims to:

• Preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others.
• Provide help to prevent the mental health problem from developing into a more serious state.
• Promote the recovery of good mental health.
• Provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health problem.

http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.ca/EN/about/Pages/default.aspx

Feb. 14 Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village: This was at the MacEwan job fair.  They were serving bread so I had some.  They’re hiring for May- Sept. where you can be in food services, retail, clerk, or admissions clerk.  I may have been there for some field trips.

It’s really far away, like East of Edmonton.

http://www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage/

Learn a trade: I was reading a Globe and Mail life essay called “How to learn a trade the hard way” by Aaron Williams on Jan. 28, 2014.   He talks about how he was a forest fire fighter for the BC Ministry of Forests.  He was making as much money as his friends, but less work and more fun at the job.

His friends were in trades and buying their lunch at 7-11.  Eventually, they started making $100,000 a year.  He says: “I was looking for the same types of jobs my friends had found after high school.  They were reaping the rewards for their time in the mud, and I was 18 again.

He went to college for political science and journalism, but knowing about John A. Macdonald didn’t stand out from the pile of resumes. 

He says university wasn’t a waste, but the economy is always building and fixing things.

My opinion: I hope young people read the article and think about going into a trade, if they’re interested in it.  I’m not interested in it and am not good at it.  Maybe people will learn what to study in university that is practical.

Feb. 15 Work on math: I found this article in the Globe and Mail on Nov. 6, 2013.  It’s called “For career success, study those quadratics” by Kathleen Madigan.

“Mr. James also found math imparted career gains to students who did not go onto college. ‘The more math one takes, the more one earns on average, and the more likely one is to have a job,’ he writes.”


“The benefit even shows up among high-school drop outs. The median wage for full-time workers aged 20-30 years who dropped out of high school after completing only Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, or less was $12.70 per hour. Dropouts with Geometry or Algebra II earned a significantly higher hourly pay of $14.36.”


http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/11/01/for-career-success-study-those-quadratics/

My opinion: Well if you are taking Pure Math 30 (grade level), then there is a high chance all the core classes you take are grade level.  Same goes with if you take one below grade level class, you are likely to take all the core classes below grade level.  People are different.  I am good in English and social studies and not good in math and science.

All I can say is, get a high school diploma.

Charity: I like charities where you buy something for yourself and the proceeds will go to the charity.  Go to the www.hungersite.com and click on a button, and food will be donated to a 3^rd world country.  Also there are a lot of products being sold there and proceeds will go to charity. 

Job search: A month or so ago, my dad told me to look into a department store.  There may be an office position there.  I did and there wasn’t any in Edmonton.  I then looked at a couple of other department stores that have corporate positions, but there aren’t any when I went to the website. 

Quote: I put this in my inspirational quotes collection: 

“Having fun is good for business: It is so important to like what you do.  It’s something to consider as you are growing in your career.  Liking your work makes you motivated, it makes you work harder and it can carry you when other things aren’t going well.  Enjoying my career has been part of what has made me successful and I try to create a positive environment so that everybody who I work with can feel that same sense of positivity.” – John Betts, owner of McDonald’s Canada since 2008.  The Globe and Mail article on Jan. 20, 2014



Feb. 17 Sears: Today is Family Day and I got a day off.  I went to the Sears at Bonnie Doon.  If I remember correctly, I haven’t been to Bonnie Doon at all last year.  The Sears was having everything on sale.  There were lots of signs of 40% off and up.  

I looked at women’s clothes, bags, jewelry, and shoes.  There were a lot of people at the store and the mall.  The store was filled with products and nicely organized.