Interview

Hey Fellow Bloggers & Readers -

I hope you all are having a great week, especially with Spring Break right around the corner! One of my interviews was with my father, who is Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 763. My parents, and family, have all worked for the union at some point in their lives. My father has a career that I aspire to, and he has proven time and time again that he is a leader every day that he steps into the office.

When interviewing my father I asked him directly how he is a leader in the public sector. He responded, “By representing about 4,500 people who work in the public sector and having to engage in conversations with their bosses who are at the lowest level, supervisors and some who are at the highest level, mayors”. I also asked him how he defines himself as a leader. His response was “I guess when you are elected by the members, they elected you as a leader. It’s not how I define myself. When you have to go out and represent folks to the best of your ability, and they have the confidence in you to do that, and you check back with them regularly saying this is the road we are going down, these are the proposals we have on the table as we are bargaining a new contract, am I hearing you right? Is this the direction you want to go? And they tell you yes, and we go back and get that deal and bring it back to them and get it ratified. They pass it. That tells you you’re a leader”

Attempting to stump him, my next question was “As a leader, how do you become a better leader?” He responded, “I believe the best way to become a better leader is to study history, pay attention to the people who you work for, and if you do the best job you can of listening and the least job of talking, you’re going to get the feedback you want”. Being a leader comes with a load of responsibilities. I later asked, “When you got your job, did you know you would have the responsibilities that you do?” My dad replied, “The job has more responsibility than I was aware of and I had a pretty good idea of what the job entailed. But it was more responsibility even than that”.  “What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?” I asked. “I think being a good listener. Being a good listener, being a good communicator. Being a good communicator starts with listening” my father states, “always try do to the right thing for the majority of the group you’re leading. Because as a leader, no matter what, you’re not going to please everyone all the time. You have to do the right thing. Not the thing that pleases a person.”

Until next time!

Renee

(Blog 10 Interview)

Oscars

Hey Fellow Bloggers & Readers -

As many of you know, the Oscars were announced this past weekend and in the film world the Oscars are equivalent to the Super Bowl. As many of you know, I am a film minor. And while I love watching them, I am not one of those die hard, go all out, crazy type people. My friends, however, are those people. They create their ballots and ballot each other in the hopes of getting the most guesses right! My friend Jessica had planned for a while to come over to my house to watch them because she does not have basic cable. With her birthday coming up in a few weeks, I decided to also make it a surprise birthday party and really have a good time with it!

Jessica was so surprised when she got to my apartment. She knew that I knew how much the Oscars really meant to her. When watching the Oscars, Jessica announced every winner for her snapchat followers just in case they weren't watching! Her snapchat story was over 5 minutes long! It was ridiculous, but so funny to watch at the same time!

Lady Gaga's "Sound of Music" tribute was literally the most amazing thing! I mean..who knew she could look so...normal!? It was such a good look for her that I totally think it will in a way help revive her career and bring her back to life! Jessica and I agree that Birdman definitely deserved the Oscar for Best Picture!

Until next time!

Renee

(Blog 9 Free Write)

Senior Pictures

Hello Fellow Bloggers & Readers -

Just the other day my roommate and I completed our senior pictures that will be used for our graduation announcements! It is crazy to think that in roughly 77 days I will be graduating from ASU! My countdown to graduation through my iPhone app is the first thing I look at when I wake up! And it truly is this experience that time has shown me that time truly does go faster than you think.

When I viewed some of the recent senior pictures I took, I was really able to reflect on how far I have come and how proud I am of myself. Graduating a year early is a big accomplishment for me and is something I did work really hard to be able to do! Not only that, but I am a first generation college student and my family continually expresses how proud they are of what I am achieving. I have recently thought about pursuing grad school and I am super excited about the possibilities wherever my future takes me!

My favorite part of senior pictures was getting to express my creativity. I love artistic moments and really wanted to use these as chance to let that shine through. My roommate and I decided to get giant  "2015" balloons as well as use glitter to create special nighttime moments. I also created a "grad" banner that I loved using during the pictures! It was really fun just to create special memories with my roommate that her and I can always look back on and remember how great of a year we've had!

Here are a brief preview of some of the pictures our photographer sent us...we are still waiting to see the rest! Check out Eunice Beck Photography if you get a chance!

Enjoy your day!

- Renee

(Blog 8 Free Write)

Career Services #1

Hello Bloggers & Readers -

Today I attended the career service event "How to Write a Winning Resume and Cover Letter" at the Tempe Campus. I chose to attend this event as I am getting closer to completing undergraduate school and am looking to apply to more professional careers following graduation. I think it was important for me to attend this event because I have been established at a job throughout much of my college career and have not updated my resume for a long period of time.

One of the things I really took out of today was that it is really important to highlight your qualifications in both your resume and cover letter. In your resume, you are able to list your qualifications but your cover letter really allows you to go in depth about why you are qualified for a certain position. Your cover letter should be engaging and stand out from others. Employers want to know why they should choose you to be their employee! A cover letter is the first chance an employer sees at how passionate you are about the position you are interested in.

Overall, I thought this career event was very informative and engaging. While I have learned a lot about resumes and cover letters in past events,  I always think it is helpful to see if there are new tips and tricks when it comes to creating unique and memorable cover letters and resumes. I am looking forward to the next career service event I attend. I am hoping I can attend an event that involves learning new interview skills.

Renee

(Blog 7 Career Services Write-Up)

Arizona Sunshine & Positive Vibes

Hello Again Fellow Bloggers & Readers -

I am ABSOLUTELY loving this Arizona sunshine right now! Especially being from Seattle, it feels so amazing to wake up to nice weather every day and just automatically have positive vibes! My family will be visiting from Seattle for my Spring Break and I can hardly wait for them to get here! They love Arizona just as much as I do and my dad is always thankful our "Arizona mornings", which consists of no clouds in the sky when waking up!

I have come to conclusion that when it comes to studying and completing my homework, I am 100% more engaged when I am working on my homework outside! My friend, who is an Arizona native, is utterly confused how I can stand the hot weather and enjoy sitting in it while I am working on my assignments. I without a doubt, feel less distracted outside regardless of the noise or what is around me. When trying to complete homework in my room, I find myself staring at the ceiling or just trying to eagerly clean my environment (my somewhat messy room) and then becoming tired from all the cleaning to prepare myself an environment I can "study" in.

As a current senior, I have definitely encountered some of that "senioritis" that everyone speaks about. What are some of your own study tips? Do you feel more encouraged when working in an outdoor setting?

Have a great sunny day, and get out and enjoy the weather! :)

Renee

(Blog 6 Free Write)

A Typical Day At My Internship

Hello fellow Bloggers & Readers -

My internship at Local 763 of The Teamsters was not a typical office job of sitting at your desk on your computer. Every day I was there presented new challenges, new circumstances and new experiences.  For my internship I generally arrive at the Teamsters building in Tukwila anywhere between  7 and 8 a.m. After greeting the office staff, I sit with Anthony Murietta (President of Local 763) and review email messages from the previous day. After reviewing emails, we typically discuss the days events and if there are any meetings or negotiations that we need to attend to plan out our day.

Much of my time with Local 763 was spent reviewing contracts and doing data analysis. When conducting data analysis, I felt like I was really connecting what I was learning at that moment, to classes that I have taken throughout my ASU career. I learned more about specifically interpreting data analysis through real-life situations and also learning how to present that data to a group of people.

A lot of my time at my internship was also spent observing meetings and organizing union members. This was a great aspect of the internship because it really allowed me to see how certain meetings are structured and presented and why it is best to go about things in certain ways. From this, I was able to interpret more about the process of negotiations and see first-hand at how long the process of negotiating a contract can take.

Renee Sullivan

(Blog 5 Typical Day)

Seahawks headed to Super Bowl XLIX

Good Afternoon Fellow Bloggers & Readers -

I AM BEYOND EXCITED! My team, the Seattle Seahawks are headed to Super Bowl XLIX which is to be played right here in Arizona! If anyone was watching the Seahawks vs. Packers playoff game, then you know just how CRAZY it truly was! If I have to be honest with you, I did not think the Seahawks were going to pull out a win. I even found myself at half-time getting a little bit upset at the way an outcome was appearing to be.

As a team, the Seattle Seahawks are truly incredible and every time I watch them I am amazed at how  passionate of a team they are and how they strive together to reach goals. Russell Wilson, quarterback for the Seahawks is a standout guy and for those who even don't enjoy watching football, he is someone that is easily admirable. Wilson thanks God and knows the playoff win was improbable, but shows that with determination and belief, and a lot of not giving up, you can achieve success even when you least expect it. To me, Russell Wilson is a leader, to those on and off the field. Especially for an NFL player, he remains humble and respectable. Watch his speech in the link below and see for yourself!

Always remember to be a leader to those around you...you never know who is looking up to you! God is good!

Renee

Watch Russell Wilson's post game speech here!

Watch the game highlights here!

(Blog 4 Freewrite)