mr. innovative

Hello Everyone.
How have you all been ?
(I mean it.
Please answer the aforementioned question.)
If you still refuse the answer the question, fine.
But I'll just go on and tell you how I've been.
I feel great !

So in a week,
I've managed to turn down a "wonderful business opportunity",
do some reading,
volunteer for a bit,
have fun,

polish my piano skills,
visit a beach (enjoy the pictures of them scattered throughout this blog post) ,
and BLOG !
The last part is really something.
I mean, how many of us actually end up blogging
when we tell ourselves to blog ?
But it's only a matter of time,
before uni starts,
and assignments team up with the dormant procrastinating gene in me.
But still,
I shall make it a habit to keep blogging bits and pieces.

Let's talk about this "wonderful business opportunity" first.
By "wonderful business opportunity",
I mean getting into the direct sales industry.
An easier way to put it is,
a job that requires you to constantly bug your friends/family to buy products from you.
Said products are probably cosmetic/health-related.
Some of you may have some experience with this.
Personally,

I don't really like it.
Scratch that.
I hate it.
Its terrible being asked by a friend to buy their products,
when you don't want to.
But you can't say "no".
After all,
they're your friends.
#ThatFeeling

And I don't see myself as much of a salesperson.
I have terrible communication skills,

even if I do say so myself.

And even worse persuasion skills.
At first, I was excited at the notion of having a "business of my own".
But the more I was told about it,
the more I thought it was a direct sales kinda job.
My brain went no-no.
Unfortunately,
I'm not sure how to ACTUALLY say "no".
I'd been invited to a presentation of the job with a friend of mine.
I was sure I was going to force myself to say "no".

I texted my "employer", whom I met at uni.
I asked what the name of the company was.
But she did not reply.
Hahaha. What a great way to not raise suspicion…
But, being the awesome stalker I am.
I found the name of the company.
Google-d tons,
and told myself it DEFINITELY doesn't appeal to me.

NO was definitely my answer.
But what about my friend ?
I didn't wanna drag my friend into this.
So I told her what I'd found online.
And fortunately,
we both played it smart.
We both (kindly) declined.
Since we both lacked "the proper communication and business skills".
So,
to Ms Social Worker,
thanks a bunch for staying with me through the whole presentation.
And thanks for making (hopefully) the right choice of not getting involved.
Also,
thanks Mr Dang,
for tagging along.
Your "moral encouragement" did "wonders".

After we declined and left the cafe,
a wave of relief just swept us all off our feet.
Needless to say,
we went and celebrated….

And while we're on the topic of jobs,
I've managed to land myself in some volunteering positions.
One of it is at my Uni.
I'll be working on a project that involves…
*drumroll please*
SOILS.
That wonders.
It's a citizen science program called MicroBlitz.
Normal citizens will submit soil samples of a certain location in WA.
I will process them,
(Definition of "process" still unknown)
And they will be analysed in a DNA-sequencing Lab
to study the types of microorganisms that exist in that soil.
Fascinating, huh ?
My "processing workshop" is next week,
and I am eager to begin !

Another job I volunteered for is with ANOTHER citizen science program,
called ClimateWatch.
Again,
normal citizens will submit sightings of certain animal/plant species,
detailing their behaviour.
What we do is,
we take all those sightings and
study the trend of its behaviours.
To see whether the timing of its behaviour is affected by climate change.
First-year Biology students work with ClimateWatch.
We are given a dataset to analyse,
and we'd write up a scientific report about it.
My group chose to NOT write about the animal/plant we were given,
but the reliability of those sightings.
(And after looking through 500+ sightings single-handedly,
I am very crossed with how SOME people can't even submit a proper sighting)
So now,
I am simply reprising that role of checking sightings,
for reliability.
Only this time,
I am working directly with the organisation.
And my reliability analysis WILL be taken into account
when updating the database.

And so there you have it,
a bit about my career right now.
Total monthly income: Still $0
But I hope I'll enjoy volunteering now.
I love volunteering in a scientific environment.
So I guess I can end this by saying:
"And I don't know how it gets better than this…"
Give yourself a pat in the back if you get the reference.
Looks like my second semester is/might/maybe
going to be a good one !


Listening to Last Night - The Vamps

Head first, Fearless.

TK