Many freshmen to seniors head off to warmer climates at this time of the year, frolicking in the salty waves and or liquor. I have always gone for a staycation to save on money. Not exactly the most adventurous choice I know, but I always manage to keep myself very busy anyway.

This vacation is all work for me. The end of my undergraduate career is swiftly moving towards me (yikes), so I am trying to prepare for living a life outside of a residence hall (double yikes). I have applied for graduate school but as I am not going to put all my eggs in to that lovely basket, just to be safe I will be job searching and being an awesome applicant I know I am.

As a Community Health student, I have a plethora of options as to jobs I can apply for, which is both great and overwhelming for some students. Another concern for us soon-to-be graduate, we do not have the experience for many positions available on the market. Oh and the whole part about the finding a job that will be sustainable and just a bit lucrative so we can pay off student loans/ provide some kind of health care is scary enough.

Before I go into more detail and provide some sweet linkage, I want to stop and remind myself and other students about to graduate to smile and breathe.

You are finishing/finished with your undergrad. Four/ five years of hard work and you put your heart into it. Good for you!

You are young and ready to take on the world. This doesn’t mean you can go without health insurance! Find yourself a plan if you aren’t going into grad school and/or make sure that you can stay on your parents’ or guardians’. Being young also means not getting your dream job right way equals the end of your world. You have so great, tough years ahead of you… stay strong!

The application process for entry level jobs is rigorous, ask any new graduates. You may go through 50 or 100+ interviews before you land one. Instead of wallowing about this outlook, take this information in stride. You have a lot of chances to perfect your pitch and learn from mistakes early on. And if you are in college or an alumni (yes even alums!), utilize your Career Center. You can have your resume reviewed, have practice interviews with counselors, and get connected to jobs.

You are not alone. Be a friend and keep updated on your fellow graduates, staying connected to a network of people who are in the same boat as you has many benefits.

• If a friend/colleague gets a job in your field (or any field), pick  their brain a bit. You may catch a great tip from them as to how they got their new job that you may not have otherwise thought of.
• Be a friend. This is a rough time for all and can be very stressful, so stay in touch with your fellow graduates. Shooting out a positive thought to a friend will make you feel better for helping out a friend and your colleague will have a bit more pep in their step.

Network, network, and oh yeah NETWORK. Have a great advisor? Stay in touch with them, let them know how you are doing. If they have you in mind then they are great resources for jobs and will be more willing to shell out recommendations. (Note: Give people a bit of a time if you need a recommendation) Get a LinkedIn account, clean up your Facebook and Twitter and make that social media work for you.

Blog/ article links

http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/: Great for job hunting, resume/interview help, networking tips, money management, etc.

http://www.gottamentor.com/viewRoadmap.aspx?r=411: How to bag yourself a job with social media outlets.

http://www.quintcareers.com/networking-dos-donts.html: Do’s and don’ts of networking

Any other suggestions? Comment if you have any other suggestion on how to nab a post-grad job.

Sweetest pooch.

Best Community Health Education booth.

Most missed.

Prettiest drink.

Best soup.

Best summer trip.

Best impromptu photo adventure.

]]> http://sunshineinhand.com/?feed=rss2&p=123 2 http://sunshineinhand.com/?p=113 http://sunshineinhand.com/?p=113#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:15:13 +0000 Gillian http://sunshineinhand.com/?p=113

I’ve disappeared from this little blog. I wish I had a good reason for it.

I sincerely love putting together posts and sending them out to the world but as I am a bit lost in the struggle graduating and maintaining floating along this life river. My short attention span is no help either!

So.

I am embarking on some habit and life changes. I am one difficult sugar cookie when I comes to change but big decisions are coming my way and as much as I would like to ignore them being proactive and positive would be best.

This blog will become my home base where I celebrate success (myself and others), contemplate choices, and provide useful information for areas I am addressing in my studies and life.

Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Thanks Abe!

Many to-dos this week.

Guess what you guys have some too. I’ve been doing some stumbling around (StumbleUpon is a serious addiction for me, but I am very much okay with this) and here’s some very nice things I’ve found.

HealthyStuff.org- An excellent shopping tool for those wanting to know what is in some of the products they purchase. The site acts as a database for over 5,000 different products, ranging from kiddo toys to cars.

www.naturopathyworks.com- Ever wanted to know what you crave when you are craving chocolate or soda? Within this week I’ve found that this site is extremely accurate! Test this chart out and let me know what you guys and gals think.

Growing Air- I love TED.com, so many interesting talks by the leading minds in the world! This particular one is regarding 3 common plants that have been shown to improve the indoor air quality. The conclusions of the study are amazing, at just over 4 minutes long do check this out. I have a sad little spider plant that I need to take better care of so I won’t be making additions to my plant family until I learn to take care of the one I have now.

Jaw dropping baked good- Just look at this. Looook.

1.2.

1. Gutter Gardens (via Appartment Re-Therapy)

2. Andrew Pearce

Feel free to comment!

Ah I do feel quite duped Sigg. If you are unaware of why I would be sadly shaking my head at my screen, it’s because the company that created a platform of providing customers with a different and more “eco-friendly” alternative to plastic reusable bottles, has been caught in a jam because BPA compounds have been found leaching in small amounts from their products.

Bisphenol A or BPA is an organic compound is commonly found in plastics because it is usually helping create said plastic. This compound is an endocrine disrupter, which means that it copycats your body’s hormones. The problem with these copycat hormones is that they create a disturbance in the endocrine system, which if you can recall from basic biology or anatomy is in charge of metabolism, growth, development, and puberty.  Endocrine disruptors can be found in many places such as pesticides, cleaners, and cosmetics.

Sigg was aware in 2006 of the plastic epoxy lining of its bottles were leaching “trace amounts” of BPA. While I am thankful for them creating an alternative by 2008, that does not account for not making the public aware of this. Hey you need to make a buck. Fortunately, they made the decision to disclose this information this month. Unfortunately, I am sure they are going to suffer for that serious lapse in judgment. Just check out this article from TreeHugger.com from 2008. In it the independent lab supposable concluded, “used SIGG bottles (2 years old) had no detectable BPA”. I’m so disappointed if the company altered that study.

Hey sunshine, over here in the orange tee, it’s only trace amounts what’s the big hoopla? The problem I find and countless other environmentalists and scientists is that it’s hard to know what trace endocrine disrupters could effect the body over time. So why not try and limit people’s and the environment’s exposure to would be various affects of these disruptors.

The consumers are certainly making their discontent heard. Check out the comments on these articles.

Really? SIGG bottles contain BPA (via Jenn Savedge’s blog on the Mother Nature Network)

Anger uncorked at bottle maker Sigg over BPA (via Boston.com)

Sigg Update: Did We Get it Right? (via Treehugger.com) This one was my favorite.

To apologize for this huge mistake Sigg claims that we will be working to be more transparent and will be replacing all bottles with the new eco friendly (BPA free) liners, so long as you provide the shipping. My opinion? Sigg will bounce back, but it’s going to take a long time to build back their consumers confidence. I’m willing to forgive but not everyone is me.

School thank you for arriving: a fresh start, new position, and my senior year. I have to say that it is extremely odd to be a senior when my original senior class graduated this past spring. When I walk around the campus I have this disorienting out of body experience because I keep looking for the usual suspects that have already headed out to the real world. However, good news is that I am not the only one who’s feeling the same way. A support group is in the makes.

I’m excited for my list of classes this semester and due to my internship taking up the rest of my spring semester this workload is going to be my last conventional semester.

Intro to Epidemiology: Lots of data, health disparities, and the like.

Communication Techniques in Health Promotion: This class was made for me. Tons of media, lots of projects… basically it’s a lab for health promotion. This is what I would like to do for a long long time.

Sustainable Development: Production, Work, and Values: It’s basically a seminar course discussing what I love most. There are such a variety of majors taking this class; I’m stoked for new views and ideas.

Service Learning in Comm. Health: I’ll know better when I head in tomorrow. From what I understand we will we working to implement a short health curriculum in different venues like schools, rehab locations, etc.

I have many plans mixed in with this semester. The one I recently completed was helping Joe clean his room. As in take every thing out of his room and scrub that bad boy down. We used some sweet eco friendly cleansers that have worked wonders on his mold and mildew problem (he lives in a basement so the airflow is not exactly the best). The product we used was Wash Safe Industry’s Mold & Mildew Wash. Result? Excellent. The walls were pretty deplorable near the floor, we slopped and sponged the trouble areas and within a few minutes the majority of those areas looked more like the wall and less like a black hole of gross. The highlight of my day came easy when my man explained how he called the company to find out how best to use their product. Ah this kid is so awesome!

Other events upcoming:

• Wedding in October, looking up sweet eco friendly wedding surprises in the near future.
• Running a half marathon (on about a month of training… I’m slightly tweaked)
• Purchase hiking boots and break those puppies in.
• CRUISE! I know it isn’t exactly the most green vacation choice but CRUISE!

I will leave you with this until I get back:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

- Renting a car.

D.C has the Metro, easy to navigate, and a bit less on emissions and the cash. However, we got it just in case my sister needed to get out of the ballet school. She has been tucked away at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, hard at work and surely in need of sustenance (junk food). We also needed to get to back and forth to Baltimore for the airport and to see our beloved Red Sox take on the Orioles. In the end it created too much stress for both driver and co-pilot with not knowing the area and putting our entire faith in a little GPS. Holistically speaking I would avoid the car to prevent the uncomfortable stress suffered. Although the vehicle was quite pretty, but as I am not car savvy I totally forget what it was!

+ Hotel.
The Liaison Capitol Hill, is the closest hotel to the U.S. Capitol. It also was undeniably chic and sophisticated, making Madre and I feel as if we were all fancy. Ha, I sound ridiculous but Madre and I could not deny getting a bounce in our step walking into the gorgeously designed lobby. Green points to us for forgoing getting our room cleaned. To be honest I don’t think we got dirty enough to need maid services, please we don’t do that at home! Like I said the hotel was super close (about 5 minute walk) to Capitol Hill and the Mall. Due to this proximity no taxis or Metro fees to worry about… nor the environmental impact of either forms of transportation. Our feet cried later that evening: flip flops are not a good idea even if sneakers make your outfit not so cute.

+/- Reusable water bottle.

Best decision to bring this along… except I didn’t. Totally forgot it. I avoided buying water bottles (two bought over four days) and one was an Ethos water bottle, which is supposedly helping the world’s children get assess to clean water. I’m not so sure I believe that it’s worth buying but I felt if I was breaking my water bottle free pact it might as well be helping someone. I tried to reuse or recycle the extra bottles of the Madre’s. She though I was ridiculous I was proud that I was able to stay low on the plastic.

—————————-

Now that all is said, I had a wonderful time. My favorite day was walking along the Mall being a complete tourist with Madre and my college bud Megan, looking on in uncomfortable compliance. Well not always. I am quite sweet all have you know, so many people put up with my shenanigans. The city was so clean and historical, and people were very friendly.

The friendliness came especially came from the slew of Red Sox fans in for the games in Baltimore. A trip to Fenway Park is difficult to grab a ticket to on a whim and pricey as far as the average ballpark. Many fans go all in and head down to Baltimore or D.C to catch a game or a series. It was fun to be walking into one of the Smithsonian and holding the door and having some familiar navy and red clad tourists zip through. Madre felt the need to announce our allegiance to the team with everyone in Red Sox gear, which was adorable.

Watching my sister dance was incredible too. I haven’t seen her take ballet class in a long time. Actually I’ve never seen her in class. She has progressed so much and I’m thankful that she had the opportunity to be taught at such a prestigious school and by world renown teachers.

I definitely want to visit again. Soon. Without my mother and with Megan instead. And no rental car.

D.C was amazing, like I wouldn’t mind living in the surrounding area amazing. I also decided if I was to ever come down again (which I am already in the process of planning) rental cars will be avoided at all costs. And for now that is what I will leave you with.

I will provide a fuller report on my brief vacation (with the Madre, as I affectionately refer to my mother) in the capital soon. I’ll leave you with a few photos I snapped!

1. Washington Monument 2. Congress 3. Botanical Garden w. Madre 4. Far too excited to find something that said Massachusetts

Onward.

I rarely travel far. Which is sad because traveling is so fun, at least when you first think about it. It can get rough with the lugging around of duffles, suitcases, etc… or getting lost finding that bed and breakfast on the edge of civilization. For me the actual traveling portions are usually my favorite part. I have always loved long car rides (my parents must have loved that about me) and listening to or singing out the tunes (Specifically, “What’s Up” by the 4 Non Blondes. It is an unspoken rule that this song must be belted.).

Tomorrow Madre and I will take flight to our nation’s capital. This is both our first trip to DC and to see my sister’s final performance at the Kirov Ballet intensive. We are both ready are raring to go except for one thing. I don’t have a playlist for the flight.

I didn’t think of it until the ladies over at the new blog, Absurd Adventurers posted their Ultimate Roadtrip Singalong Playlist (spot on but was missing a few of my personal favorites). “Ahh,” I moaned inwardly, “I can’t sing on the plane! Also I can’t dance, mmhmm what to do?” Well I can sing and dance but the Madre would surely appreciate me refraining from being obnoxious and or awkward.

With some serious consideration I have consulted my iTunes library and have complied a playlist that best suites an airport louging, mile high loving, and a slightly nervous traveler. This is more of a relaxing take to my usual road tripping songs because as much as I am excited to be flying in the air with the greatest of ease there will always be some nervousness.

The “Oh Sweet I’m Flying!” Playlist

Come Fly with Me, Michael Buble

Dreamworld, Rilo Kiley

A Beautiful Mess, Jason Mraz

Painting By Chagall, The Weepies

Fair, Remy Zero

Live High, Jason Mraz

Up on the Roof, The Drifters

Mushaboom, Feist

Dreams, The Cranberries

Us, Regina Spektor

Groovin’, Young Rascals

Wait, Alexi Murdoch

Loro, Pinback

La Vie En Rose, Louis Armstrong

Two Weeks, Grizzly Bear

Moondance, Van Morrison

Clark Gable, The Postal Service

Waking Life, Schuyler Fisk

Long Way Home, Supertramp

Hoppipolla, Sigur Ros

Check out these songs even if you aren’t flying anywhere soon. Quick notes…

- In DC and while traveling I will be following or attempting to follow some ecofriendly travel tips. I will report back next week how that goes.

- I will have pictures!

Have a lovely weekend!