Reflective Post

This semester absolutely flew by!  It seems like only a few days ago I was just settling into my classrooms and receiving my syllabus.  Ales 204 has taught me a lot of new things but contrary to other University classes the lectures revolve around the "big picture" of life.  This pertains to job interviews, professional communication and even information presentation and design.

I believe that this class is very effective because for some of us, this is our last year of University then it's time to embark on the dreaded job search.  Ales 204 makes that job search seem not so intimidating - in fact, we're already a few steps ahead of our hopeful peers.  Ales 204 students have created a professional Facebook page, perfected our resume's, and learned how to act professionally - not to mention the wealth of public speaking experience we gained in the labs.

On a personal note (aside from actually looking forward to a job interview) Ales 204 has helped me create a LMS software program with my peers.  This program was very successful and I look forward to the companies progression in the future!  I have also been introduced to several additional social networking sites from flickr (photos), Facebook (social networking), Wikipedia (information sharing), linkedin (professional relations), Delicious (websites), Twitter (social networking) - the latter I have been using almost criminally after being introduced.

I am very thankful that Ales 204 has prepped me not only for my bachelor's degree but for everything that comes after!  I was lucky enough to be able to present to the class - an experience that was both incredibly scary and fun at the same time and an experience I will remember for a long time to come.   Below is a screenshot of a few of the presentation slides that tell a little bit about myself and the course.

Finally below are the links to five fellow student blogs which I have commented on.

Annalise

Kelsey M

Julianna

Toni

Krystal

Pod Cast!

Hello again!  School is almost over for us, and even though it's getting closer to winter the weather is getting warmer - it was a whopping 7 degrees Celsius today.  In our last class lab this week we learned how to create a pod cast and used it to record an interview with two students.  Pod casts are a great way to share... well... virtually anything audible.  It could be your favorite song, favorite part of a TV show or in our case, a practice interview.

My partner was Krystal.  You can take a look at her blog and you are able to view our Interview Podcast.  We recorded the podcast on an easy to use website named Audioboo.

I encourage you to check it out and even try making your own podcast!

989 Records. (Website). (2011). We are social. [Thumbnail]. Retrieved from http://www.989records.com/

Linkedin

Have you heard of Linkedin?  It's okay, I didn't hear about it until today either. Basically it's an online networking site - yeah I know it seems like there are hundreds these days.  But here's the catch, linkedin is strictly for professionals.  That means there won't be any status updates about peoples pets, or silly weekend pictures posted.  If you're looking for that dream job - linkedin is a great place to start.  Cool huh?

In class at the University of Alberta we learned proper e-mail etiquette.  I used what I learned today as well as my new linked in profile to send my first business related e-mail!  I am hopeful for a summer job in a genetics research lab.  I found the professor and he had his research interests posted, surprisingly his research interests we very similar to my own!

Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent if you're looking for any ideas of where to start.

A bunch of my fellow classmates have also been practicing sending professional e-mails.  Here is a fellow students (Krystal) professional e-mail in google doc format.

Good luck!

Wikipedia Article!

This week has been crazy!  I hope you're having a great remembrance day weekend, I went on a skiing vacation and wrote a Wikipedia Article for mine!  What did you do?

Writing the Wikipedia article was definitely an experience.  I'm an avid user of Wikipedia - after all I am a college student!  I absolutely love working with kids - so I chose to finish the article stub on "Fire Prevention Division".  The Wikipedia user code was pretty easy to use.  I definitely feel tech savvy after embedding links from my article to other articles and visa-versa.  In the screenshot below you can see what the editing window looks like of wikipedia.  the words surrounded by double parentheses means it will code it to another article.  Cool huh?

One of my fellow students Kelsey completed a stub on Becel.  She is a nutrition student at the University of Alberta.  Included in her wiki article is a ton of great nutritional information about various products!  Great work Kelsey.

Powerpoint Product!

On October 6, 2011 in the ALES 204 class at the University of Alberta we had an excellent discussion on how to make effective powerpoint presentations.  In less than one month's time I found myself having to make dozens of powerpoints for one of my extra-curricular activities.  These presentations were to be viewed by thousands of people each year, I was definitely nervous.

After the initial planning and information gathering, I was able to "edit" all of the information I had included on the various slides using what I learned in class.  The result was a series of concise, informative and most importantly effective presentations.  By applying what I learned in class I am now confident with having such a large audience view the presentations.

Below I have included a few screenshots of the presentation!  It focus's on teaching first aid skills!

These presentations are for a school club which I am president for.  If you have a University Of Alberta student ID, feel free to join us!  Simply search us up on the Club Registrar under the name "Ambulance."  All the additional details can be found there or feel free to e-mail me directly at freeride_ing@hotmail.com for more information.

After viewing a fellow students (Jamaika Lukac) blog post on public speaking, it reminded me of what we learned in class - how hard public speaking actually can be, and all the little tricks to dealing with the fear.  My first time presenting the material is next week, I am definitely nervous and will use some of these tricks!

Professional Facebook Page

Social online media is definitely the future.  Everything is moving online and I mean EVERYTHING!  Half of my classes at university no longer have textbooks, we have E-books instead (which are online textbooks).  People no longer send invitations for a party, they create an event on Facebook.  Are we still supposed to apply with a hardcopy resume?  maybe yes, but wouldn't it be a neat idea to have an online page that tells the employer a little bit about yourself as well?  I think so.

Special ops firefighting jobs are definitely competitive.  I mean jumping out of a helicopter into a hundred foot fire?  How many people get to do that outside of their dreams.  I just created a professional Facebook profile page where prospective employers can get to know me a bit better.  It's kind of like an E-resume.  Cool huh?

With this Facebook page, employers can easily search me up, review my credentials and even view images I have posted.  Having an external online resource will definitely make you as an individual stand out in the crowd and increase chances of employment.  Check it out!

My Professional Facebook Page

Here is another one of my fellow classmates page - with a focus on the culinary arts.  Definitely not only a cool way to seek employment but they're fun to make as well!

Kelvin Wongs Professional page


Here is a cool shot of a helicopter returning to base camp.  It looks like dusk but it's actually in the middle of the afternoon!  The sun is blocked out by smoke!

The Telegraph. (News Documentation). (2011). California Fires Continue to Blaze. [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/3471304/California-fires-continue-to-rage.html?image=8

If anyone else is interested in special ops wildfire firefighting I encourage you to check out this link!  It has tons of additional information and requirements.  Enjoy!

British Columbia Wildfire

Welcome!

How are you?

My Name's Ian.

Did you ever dream to be an astronaut when you were young?  maybe a model?  Well ever since I was a little boy I always dreamed of becoming a firefighter.  I remember for four halloweens in a row I was the same thing!  I'm an adrenaline junkie, with some of my favorite activities being sky diving, white water rafting, and skiing.  I'm currently in forestry at the University of Alberta, 4th year.

Communication is absolutely essential in my future line of work.  Imagine for a second, your house, apartment, condo, whatever you call home.  Imagine the door, small tendrils of smoke are curling around the door base.  Your heart is beating like crazy as you crouch, mask up and get ready to barge in.  You're with your 5 best friends - they're on the same engine as you are.

BANG!

The door is smashed open and the sheer heat and smoke of the backdraft comes tearing out of the room right at you.  For a moment everything moves in slow motion, it's you, you're 5 best friends and the fire.  You have to work together now, hit the fire high, hit the fire low.  The fire has got to be put out and quick.  Time is of the essence now, lives are at risk.  Crisp and composed lines of communication are absolutely crucial to have.

Here's a cool shot me jumping!

What do you do for a past time?  I'd love to know leave me a comment!