My time on this module has been insightful. This year of 2020 I am taking my time to be more resourceful. I had to retake two modules over; work placement is one that I failed at. I failed this module once before because I didn’t take my time to understand it, life had got in the way and I was unable to prioritise my time.
This module helped me handle searching for jobs in a professional manner. I have an understanding for what people look for on a CV; how to stand out and most of all, if you want something in life you may have to start from the bottom to get to the top. Moreover, because of this module I know have two jobs that I did not expect to get into without my experience at my placement.
The experience and skills I gained from my placement has helped tremendously. I now work at Harris primary academy school teaching multi-sports from ages 5 to 11 and my second job is working at gyminfinty as a gymnast coach. I do not have a qualification as a gymnast coach but they so offer training to become a coach. Once I complete the training I will be able to have a class of my own to teach.
My overall thoughts on my module and placement are still hazy because I am still unsure about what I want to do once I gained my bachelor degree. I have gained two good jobs from my placement and I know it can be a safety net if my future job goes downhill but I am still having a hard time knowing whom I want be in the next 5 years. I hope I have this same module next year because it has helped in a certain aspect. I was struggling to find jobs that I wanted to help me find out what it is that I want in life. I now have a better platform to stand on in the sports industry.
From this module, I enjoyed the guest that came in and spoke our class about their accomplishments, how they got to where they are now in life and how they can help offer a placement to work with them or get in connect with people they know who can offer us a placement.
From my work placement, I enjoyed going through the challenges I once avoided because it taught me lesson I questioned myself on. It helped boost my confidence when leading a group, I was clear and concise when speaking and how to project my voice in an appropriate and opened way and many more. This placement is not my desired career path but a stage in my life I had to go through in order to get closer to knowing my future career path. With that being said, I still do not know where I will be in the next 5 years but I do know that I do not want to be a physiotherapist or a personal trainer.
I presented a power point with an elevated pitch which had to explain my journey so far such as my academic background, my hobbies and what work experience I had. I included my career aspirations and what I need to do to achieve my goals. I found it difficult to be reflective and to present these reflections to a large group.- I always found myself just going with the flow of life and never know what my day may consist of the next day.
The biggest challenge I had to face during my placement was planning a 20-minute workout in less the 24 hours and managing the time to switch to the next exercise. I was not prepared to take on this task as I was only allowed to shadow and observe. I was instructed to only plan the activity and say when to switch as he explained and demonstrated it to the group. The reason why it was a team effort, Isaac wanted me to focus on my time management and involving me on the placement to see how well I would do. I was nervous because my time management is not the greatest and I was also nervous if the workout was not intense enough.
If I was able to do anything differently for the module and placement, I would have looked for the role I assumed I wanted which was to shadow a physiotherapist. When I started the module, I had an advantage because I was on this module for the year of 2019 doing the same procedure. I thought because of that reason I decided not to start looking until mid January. I emailed a variety of hospitals to find a placement shadowing a physiotherapist but it was either a short time stay, 3-4 days to be specific or it was only offered to 16-18 year olds. As time moved on and I did not hear from anyone else, I chose to get in contact with my previous work placement to see if I can work under him again. I joined at the time he was doing the Challenge 28 (C28) again.
The module and placement benefitted me as a person, student and exerciser because without the experience I gained from it, I would have not progressed in a way I needed to be for my future career. This module help me understand how important it is to set goal, be clear when writing, answer questions at the simplest form and then expand to how and why. I am still uncertain of my future career but I am a step closer on who I am becoming as a person, and who I don’t want to be in life. As a person, I also now know if I do not know something, ask because it can lead to failure when not seeking out help when it is needed.
The placement has helped me get into two jobs that offers me a higher paid job role compared to working in a bar or supermarket and knowledge to what I may need in my future when it comes to communicating clearly, enhancing my strengths and weakness and a higher platform in the sports industry. Also as a person, I am now taking my time to be more of an active listen, I tend to stop myself thinking on how to argue my point back without hearing the entire story or interjecting when the person is still speaking. I focus my thoughts on the situation, then elevate it and respond in a considerate, sympathetic manner depending on the topic of discussion.