take a vacation

Now is that time of the year when a lot of students are applying for vacation work/internships. i know what it's like having been through it myself last year. To me, it was the "be all and end all" ...i just had to have one...so I know exactly how a lot of people feel.

I've been talking to Hoi about it and reading his posts, and I really empathise with what he had to go through. I've also been speaking to another friend of mine, Jacqueline with her vacation work interviews. It reinforces what I always thought, that its really hard to get a job these days, even more so with these big companies like PWC and Deloitte.

There is just so much competition these days and everyone just wants it bad. I mean speaking to guys that got it like 5 years ago, back then it wasn't a big deal.....it was like work experience....but then all of a sudden things went bananas and now everyone wants it.

HOw these companies select their graduates/vacationers/interns is quite complex and sophisticated. I orginally thought they just had interviews. ANd then you go along to a joint like PWC, and they have this whole day set aside called the "Conquest" and its like a series of activities such as role play, interviews, public speaking, group discussion, letter writing.

All i can say is , these internships are very hard to get. I'm just one of the fortunate ones that managed to scrape through. There are some people that really helped me out in this time, cause I after I got rejected what seemed like by every company in town, I just felt like sh#t. Your confidence starts to waver and you start to think "what is wrong with me". It did affect my self-esteem at the time. I even started to not believe in myself thinking I'm not cut out for this.

But people like Marjike (the UTS careers counsellor), Helen - Ashby's mum were there to turn to reassuring me that I was good enough. Other people like Nadine from Ernst and Young (my Young Acheievers adviser) really gave me a hand in fixing up my resume and assisting with my applicatoin. A big shout out must also go to a lot of the elder statesmen in the year above me - guys like Aadesh, Ranjan and Ernie who I always asking questions and helping me out. I think I did have a huge advantage as I had all these guys in my corner. Aadesh man, I owe you so much for re-doing my cover letter and my resume and just telling me to believe in myself.

As a result of all these people helping me out from the kindness of their own heart, and a sprinkle of self confidence and determination....I landed a job at a Big 4 accounting firm and i'm pretty set now for next year.

That's why I don't mind helping out people with their applicatoin. Because I know what people are going through and its a very stressful process. So Jacq, congrats with getting your internship at PWC. i knew you were good enough and are you needed was a bit of magic (I'm really felling that line by Dr Dre about fixing up someone's beats - Who's the doctor they told you to see )....btw you owe me lunch!!!!!!!!


The village

I saw this movie a few weeks ago, and I'll just review it in a nutshell. It's a pretty weird movie. It's promoted like a horror movie and it does come across as a thriller. But to me its more a story about life - a way of life that is totally different to modern society. And about believing in things because people tell you that is true. I have to say, it has one of the coolest twists that I have seen in a while....although the rest of the movie is kinda predicatble and i have to admit that i actually almost predicted the twist.....

THe story invovles an isolated community town, set in the early 1900's ...like a different era.....and there's this problem...no one can leave the community because there this fear of "beasts" that live in the surrounding woods. ......they never really see the beasts either....and i figured that has to be myth....there's no way that's rue......they are just saying that so everyone gets scared and doens't want to leave the town.....anyways , i won't go too far into it.....i give the movie 6/10 but because of the twist, i'll give it an extra 1.5 ....so 7.5 out of 10....

Breaking ankles

After spraining my ankle a few weeks ago, I finally felt it was good enough to go..i felt that itch again to play basketball....so i've been playing for the last three days at uni for about 3 hours a day. I think I've improved heaps as a player. I mean I asked Hoi what it took to be a better player and the answer was obvious: 'you got to play a lot more!'.....so i did! ..after playing heaps, my court awareness has really improved, especially knowing where to cut to open areas and particulary my passing. And I'm enjoying it a lot more now as well.

My mindset a while ago was totally different...i used to think everytime i stepped on the court that i just wanted to be not the worst player on the court....and usually i ended being that, even though i felt i was better than a lot of other guys i was playing against. all i wanted to do was to hold my own and not get embarrased. I feel that those days are past me...and I try to be the best player on the court and the best player that I can be....it's a different mentality.

The other day, I was playing against this tall guy, Angus. He must have been 6'2, so I was giving up a lot of height and he was pretty athletic too, and scoring every time he had the ball. I saw him on the court, and I said to myself, "i'm gonna take this guy on, I ain't gonna take one step back". So the first couple of possessions, I was guarding him down low in different ways ...fronting him, then switching to side defence with one arm out, then from the back....just to give him different looks. and he knew i was trying pretty hard to shut him down and he whispered to me "I'm gonna have fun with you". And so said to him " that's what you think!". I wasnt giving up an inch, challenging him on the perimeter, chasing him around the court.

When it was my turn on offense, I took two dribbles from the 3 point line.. banked in a shot from outside the key.....ala Tim Duncan style...then next posession I posted him up, faked right, then turned left and went up and under his outstreched arm. Plus the foul baby! And1!...Third poseession, I dribbled hard to my right and hit a fadeaway over this other defender...it felt good to hit three shots in a row...it was one of the best games that i had played in a while.

Later on, Angus gave me some props and said "I like you, cause your like like me, you fire up when there's a challenge". I have to say though, it's only been recently that my attidude to basektball has changed. Before I used to hate guarding someone that was better than me, taller than me and basically had more game than me. But now, I love the challenge. it tests your own ability. Because you can learn so much more from taking on someone that is good, and you can pick up these moves from them. I learnt a move how to set up on the block without the ball, intiate pshyical contact then spin, simply from this tall black English dude repeatedly doing it to me, to avoid me just banging him in the post. It's like some Jordan type move and I find it quite effective. You always gotta keep'em guessing!