You’re never done editing. Creating a magazine has been very challenging, there is a lot of work to get done and always room for improvement either in the articles, pictures, layout everything. Since its are first time in this circumstance and we are still learning how the whole business, company world works it has been hard for us sticking to deadlines has been challenging. Pushing these deadlines has caused many problems because we’ve had to push our schedule back causing a lot of tension within the cohort. We are currently on crunch time, the articles have to be done, the pictures need to be edited, and we need to publish this magazine. Not only do we need to work on our time management, but also on controlling stress tension can create. It is important to maintain a good culture within the cohort otherwise soon we will all collide with each other resulting with a non successful magazine. Editing pictures has been a very tedious job, although the concept might seem simple or not at all rigorous trust me it is. Yesterday I spent 5 hours working on 4 pictures, I can’t believe i thought I was going to be able to get all of the pictures finished in a day. The failures, struggles and tension have all taught me how important is to plan ahead and be determined even when things get tough. We started out strong, we all were very into the project and were determined to obtain the best quality restaurant magazine we could create besides we all worked in sectors that we found interesting or enjoyed so that brought the excitement up. But then we were faced with reality and realised it wasn't as we thought or planned we did fall several times but with the help of our teacher we were able to acknowledge mistakes and get back in track. But now once we are done with the most challenging part I believe we have worked through it pretty well, I noticed that the fact that this magazine is OUR project, our baby it has made us put the best of us in what we do, us staying up till two in the morning editing articles, photos and working on the layout has only proven how much we care about this project turning out to be a success and how determined we are to get to reach our deadlines. Looking back at when we started I feel we have all grown as learners, we can all taken something always from this project, although we are not done yet and can say it was a success the whole process we have gone through until now has taught so many things to many of us. For instance, some of us have learned to seek for help, we thought that by staying silent and trying to work it out by yourself we would get things done but after getting to due date and realise you can't get it done alone has taught us to ask for help from other members to be able to reach deadline. Like it happened to one in the marketing team they thought they could create all of the ads by themselves and when they realise they couldn't they seeked for help from the us the photography group. As well as this experience we have all been through these a lot and realising that we can depend on each other to get things done it has helped to improve the culture but also the communication between members in the cohort. At the end seeing all of the learning experience we have had and how well we have worked together not only in this project but during the whole year i do believe that the magazine will be a total success. It is sad to see how at the end of this year some of us will remain with the same culture and move on to next year but how the rest are fading back into the IB program. This year is about to be over and I feel that as well as this project and the one last semester have taught me so many aspects about the real life that I believe no other program could have been able to give me that same learning experience.
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A few months ago during a meeting with our counselors, my classmates and I had to take a personality test to get to know ourselves better and according to that see what career would be best for us in the future. When I first heard this I had a mix of feelings, one was curiosity about what personality type would I be and whether that would good or bad and on the other hand I didn’t thought I was useful or necessary to know about yourself, after all you are what you are so why know something you can’t change. We took the test as scheduled, and as soon as I finished the result displayed o the screen of my laptop, it said: “ Your type of personality is ESFP”. I didn’t know what that meant, I had open a link and find out the definition. As I read through, I had a familiar feeling; the text read that I was an extrovert and sensing person that acts according to her feelings. The definition was spot on what I thought about myself, I played with the Idea for a little while and then I closed my laptop and completely forgot about it for a long while. But a few days ago, during one of my classes a friend brought the subject back to my head as she was making a point that based on your personality type is important to figure out what other personality types other people have so you can obtain best results when you interact with them. With this insight in mind, and although I didn’t really cared about what type of personality I had, I began to get very curious about how to determine a personality trait. I opened my laptop and started by doing more research about my personality type: “ESFP”. I read more detailed information about my personality and I came across this definition; “The ENFP personality is a true free spirit. They are often the life of the party, but unlike Explorers, they are less interested in the sheer excitement and pleasure of the moment than they are in enjoying the social and emotional connections they make with others”. After reading this I felt a little bit apprehensive, I felt I explained bluntly what I was and at the same time I tried to deny it. I continued to read on and again a second definition struck me: “They tend to see life as a big, complex puzzle where everything is connected – but unlike Analysts, who tend to see that puzzle as a series of systemic machinations, ENFPs see it through a prism of emotion, compassion and mysticism, and are always looking for a deeper meaning.” These statements left me reflecting about myself and about what I am about. I thought about seeing life as a big and complicated issue and at the same time the fact that I can also see it through emotions and show compassion. On the other hand, there are people who are able to display no emotions and are very accurate about their tasks: the machinators. On reflecting on this contrast, I concluded that your personality is neither good or bad, the important thing is what you male out of it. While reading more about the subject I also reflected on the fact that everyone has both strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to know what you are so you can focus on what is important, this is developing your strengths. What before was not a concern to me, know I made sense and I discovered I had never payed attention of actually worded it before. It is important to focus on your best traits, for example “ENFPs are fiercely independent, and much more than stability and security, they crave creativity and freedom.” By craving creativity and freedom, I can be a person that cant deal with restrictions or being told what to do, as it says in the website I cant work or be calm when am put in this situations, I crave for freedom and creativity because that is when I work best. I believe that being able to learn and reflect about myself has helped me to understand and accept who I am, but also it has helped me know what to do and how to act according to what works best for me. For instance, when I read about one of my weaknesses; “Poor Practical Skills – When it comes to conceiving ideas and starting projects, especially involving other people, ENFPs have exceptional talent. Unfortunately their skill with upkeep, administration, and follow-through on those projects struggles. Without more hands-on people to help push day-to-day things along, ENFPs' ideas are likely to remain just that – ideas.” This description is very important to me, because I am currently experiencing a lot of problems due to this behavior. At school I am struggling a lot because I seem not to be able to keep up with projects, ideas and administrative tasks. I learned that I can level this disadvantage by keeping a diary and a written schedule and that I also need to be aware that I should seek feedback from my teachers and supervisors so I can make corrections in time. On the strength side I have learned that I can be a good leader and moderator among people because I can connect with them easily and see their feelings. This is a powerful tool if you use it wisely and apply it to your work at school. At the end I realized it is very important to have a good understanding about yourself, there are things that you may like or not, there are things that may seem important or not, but in any case who you are will determine the way you move though life, so in order to be successful you have to learn how to develop your strengths and at the same time how to manage your weaknesses. I f you apply this concept to others it can also become an important tool to help you improve your interpersonal skills. You will always be surrounded by different people, by knowing how to deal with different personalities you can avoid frustrations or conflicts and have more productive relationships.
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