Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts

The Time I Lost My Voice Before a Job Interview

20 May 2021

 

What I’ve Been Doing Lately

For the past few months, I submitted dozens of applications for job positions that best fitted my interest and areas of specialisation. I’m leaning towards the roles of an English language educator and stretching my job scope as far as a content writer. And until just recently, I received interview requests and assessments as part of the initial screening process. 

These were the moments I had been waiting for in a long time since the start of the year. I said yes to about any interviews I received because at this point of time, and the number of resumes, CVs and cover letters I painstakingly prepared, and looking at the development of the pandemic to our economy, I wasn’t about to be too picky with the opportunities that come my way. As much as I pushed it out of my head, I can also feel the subtle ticking of the clock as each day passes by and I’ve yet to find a stable job to support myself.

Of course, I’m fortunate enough that I’m living with my family who can still support me and that my freelance proofreading business (The Owls: Proofreading & Translation) is enough to temporarily sustain my personal finances. However, having said that, I make it my goal to be financially independent with a job that I can develop my skills and knowledge to another level. To put it simply, I want money (lol) and I want to be as busy as I can on a day-to-day basis. Soon, if possible.

The Story

So my story goes on like this. I had an interview this week and I spent the weekend before that to prepare slides for mock teaching, read as many online articles as I could to get the gears in my brain to work again and be familiarised with a writing style that I liked and impress the panels. I really wanted to make a lasting good impression on my interviewers and basically, show off everything that I got.

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Two days prior to my interview, I miraculously made my mind up to get back to exercising again. I haven’t done anything physically active since Raya (heck, perhaps even before Ramadan). I did some light exercises in the small confines of my room. This will probably sound… dumb  if I were to lightly describe it, because as I was beginning to speed up my exercise routine, my mouth became dry (this is normal right) and I tried to swallow saliva down my throat to get it to become normal. Unfortunately, it went down the wrong pipe and I was coughing like a madwoman to get the liquid out of my lungs(?).

Sigh, this isn’t looking pretty. But anyway…

I don’t think potentially dying from swallowing saliva down to my lungs was what caused the damage. In fact, I think it was the way that I violently coughed it out that did it. By the time that I stopped coughing (hopefully, my neighbours didn’t think I was actually dying), the damage was done and I felt my voice box or whatever they call it swollen. I didn’t think much of it and drank water to calm myself down. Later that evening, I had some light coughs here and there and around midnight on a voice chat with my friends, I knew for sure that my voice was slowly diminishing.

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My mum advised me the next day to constantly gargle on warm salt water and drink lots of madu kelulut (honey from stingless bees) that I concocted into tea. The home remedies helped a lot although I still sounded like a truck less than 24 hours before the job interview.

And My Interview Went...

Fine, I suppose? Not talking as much the day before helped and my voice sounded a lot better on the day I had my online interview. It was still rusty but it could have been worse. I was beyond relieved that at the very least the panel could still understand me. I wasn’t coughing anymore either so that was one less thing to worry about.

Once I left the chat window, I drank more warm water and napped. I still had a slight fever from the exercise-choked-on-water ordeal. Safe to say, I will avoid going through that again. Especially just days before an important event. NEVER AGAIN.

10 Advice We Wish We Told Our Younger Self

21 April 2021


I'm currently in my mid twenty's, living what's supposed to be the best point of my life, that is, without the global pandemic glaring in the background. I definitely did not anticipate that in 2020 and the series of events that followed.

When I was much younger, I used to think that by the time I hit my twenty's, I would have most things in life figured out. Spoiler alert, I still don't. But having said that, I do acknowledge that I've grown up a lot over the years thanks to the many hit and miss things that I learned along the way.

Still, if there was a way that I could have some things turned out differently in the past and present, I would. It might not change myself or what is to happen entirely, but I could at least be more prepared.

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Here is a string of advice from myself and friends we wished our younger selves had years ago.











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This post isn't entirely about past regrets nor is it supposed to be. We've grown past those moments and moving on. 

I've told this to a good friend, these advice isn't for us really but to those who find themselves in our shoes like where we used to be but didn't have someone to chip in advice they didn't know they needed.

I hope you like today's post. I'd like to thank all the contributors of this post for sharing your precious advice. I learned so much while curating this post. I hope I can do similar post projects like this soon!

What about you? What advice you wish you had or would like to let someone else know?
 

How We Compost Our Kitchen Waste Every Day

14 February 2021


Our Home Garden Tour

4 February 2021


Decorating My Plain Rooms with Photowall Wallpaper

20 January 2021


Roundup of My Life in 2020

10 January 2021


Coming to Terms with Myself

16 December 2020


5 Things I Want to Be Better At

5 November 2020

Inspired by Anastasia's original blog post here.

What's in My Bag?

21 September 2020

10 Things that Make Me Happy at Home

19 September 2020


๐Ÿ‘„ My Skincare Routine

9 September 2020

 

❤️ Love Poems For Her

4 September 2020

 

Nearing the End of My Master's Degree

1 July 2020


๐ŸฑBeing Mom to Leo

21 April 2020


Can We Forgive and Forget?

2 April 2020


๐Ÿ“ง 6 Tips to Spring Cleaning Your Email Inbox

27 March 2020


๐Ÿ“บ [YouTube Edition] The Good and Bad Habits

26 March 2020


๐Ÿ  What I've Been Doing During Covid-19 Restriction Order

20 March 2020


๐Ÿค— My Favourite Things in March 2020

14 March 2020


Hello everyone! How are we surviving? No, I'm seriously asking since I've been hit with the hoo-ha about the coronavirus pandemic left and right on Twitter. I can't even remember the day when Twitter isn't all about the virus anymore but then again, that just shows how much things have changed since then. With that being said, I'm doing rather well myself here with just one class each week which basically minimises the need for me to get out of the house. Just to put a disclaimer out there, I very much welcome this whole staying at home thing because it equally lowers the chance for me to be out in the world and... socialise. NOT that interacting with my fellow human friends is a bad thing, but as an introvert, I have to admit, I love spending some "Me Time" in the comfort of my own home.

Oh, and I'm broke so I think that sums up my entire situation at the moment. Travelling around KL will leave an irreversible dent on my wallet. I'm only left with one economic-friendly option - staying at home until my scholarship is credited to me for this semester. I'm still waiting for that amazing day to happen since I'm currently at Week 4 heading to Week 5. I mean... that's almost half of my entire semester already. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. Sigh... 

Other than that, I'm sort of coping with my final research project that's due in A COUPLE OF WEEKS MORE (*insert heavy panicky breathing here*) but you know, overall, I'm surviving. I had to change my topic earlier in the semester because of the lack of time in my hands, and to be honest, I think my current topic is a lot more interesting. I'll be sure to share with you what it is when it's all done and dusted later on!

But anyway, let's get back to today's topic - my favourite stuff in March! Of course, we're barely half way through the month but I do have some interesting things to share already. 

Tote Bag
I've never been like that girl/dude who went about my day with a tote bag to carry my things. Previously, I found them a little risky to use because of insecurity reasons. The opening of most tote bags that don't come with zips is usually very exposed and open. As a woman, I don't feel very safe to carry my things in there in public. BUT I grew to love these simple yet cute bags because one, they give me this aesthetic-ish kind of feel, and two, do you know how much stuff you can bring in these things?! Loads! For their simplicity, they can fit as many things as you want to carry. I don't put my personal items in there like my purse or phone but tote bags, in my opinion at least, is super great for grocery shopping or holding books and stationary for class.

WPS
Not too long ago, I received a new laptop to replace my old one which had served me well for the last 5+ years. I had to reinstall all the programs and software back to the new laptop. I downloaded WPS because I just wanted to try it out (plus it's free, sis is broke so please understand) and what do you know? It's UH-MAZINGGGG. You can customise the theme of your WPS window and mine is in freaking PINK. WITH CATS. What really got to me is that the button for a new tab is in a shape of a cutie cat paw! But on to some more seriously good aspect about WPS as I later found out, is that you can open all its other programs like powerpoint, word, etc in ONE window but in different tabs. There are even ready-made templates of documents like slides, reports, resumes, etc. 

More ASMR videos
I know, I know, I've mentioned this before in a previous post but I can't help it! ASMR videos are revolutionary. At least for me when I'm doing work and needing some soothing background sounds/music. It's like getting a nice brain massage... for free.
Some of my current favourites include videos from Miracle Forest and Made in France ASMR. I LOVE ASMR sounds of soft rain, fire crackling in the fireplace, crinkling leaves and paper. Just thinking about them got me snoozing off because that's just how much my brain appreciates getting a "massage" now and then. 


New Sets of Cutie Clothes
Ever since my birthday last month, my wardrobe has had a rush of change with new clothes coming in to spice up my daily outfits. I don't normally shop for clothes so you can still catch me wearing what I had on 5-6 years ago if you're lucky. It's the same for my shoes too. I only got two pairs with me - my everyday Sketchers and black flats. However, these days I'm altering my clothes between my peachie-coloured velvety blouse (a birthday gift) and new baju kurung. I swear, I grab at any chance just to dress up on a normal basis.
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And that wraps up my post for today. For some reason, I felt it was very brief but it's something right?  I've included some of my own illustrations to add my own personal touch to this post. But I SWEAR, I can draw so much better if I had my drawing tablet with me. I might make it a thing for my future blog posts if they turn out to look okay. Until next time, enjoyyyyy!

๐ŸŽญ Testing How Well I Can Write Fiction

12 February 2020


I've gone rusty, that's for sure.

The thing about writing fiction, at least in my opinion, is that it becomes easier if you have tons of reading experience before you begin. When it comes to my journey in reading, it's not that great particularly if we're talking about all the unread physical books that have accumulated on my shelves over the years. Other than writing the occasional poem from time to time (maybe I'll save more stuff about this for another post), I haven't done anything else outside of the usual routine.

AND SO...

A couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself "Why not I create a little challenge... just for fun and write short fiction narratives to see how well I can write?" I found two amazing writing prompt generator websites called "Random First Line Generator" and "Story Shack" (I discovered that the latter was my favourite!) and wrote whatever prompts that came up.

It was FUN. Seriously. Although I wasn't confident enough to whip up a full story with the plots and everything, I managed to write a couple of decent scenes. Check out a few here!


To his horror, he realised he’d been this way before
- a helpless boy whose fear consumed so much of his soul that he sat motionless for death to come and get him. The same white cold feeling was creeping up from his legs to the very fine hairs of his neck brought more painful memories he buried so deep in his brain he almost felt his vision blurred by them.

Tom knew that this time around, nobody could spare a hand to help him. He could hear the clashes of swords on rotten flesh not far from where he stood and shots of bullets cutting through the air. If he didn’t act right now, the dark shadows that consumed his own would strike him and leave nothing but his bones behind. [END]



"I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I'm going to marry her."


He stared hard into my eyes, trying not linger to the sight of my fist that was held up ready to aim for his cheek. For a minute, I thought his own were flinching in fear as my eyes bore angrily into his own.

What an idiot, I thought.

I sighed a little before lowering my fist that was hovering above my head. The other hand that was clutching at his collar pushed him away before I turned my back towards him.

“I kind of knew that either you or Lydia was going to break the news to me, sooner or later. But to be honest, even though I knew about the both of you coddling together behind my back, it’s funny how it still feels like a slap to my face right now,” I muttered, putting extra emphasis on each word.

“Anna, if I could turn back time, I wouldn’t go to her, I swear. But you have to understand, she’s having a baby now. My baby. She needs me,” he said softly.

I slowly turned my face to him, gave him one last slow scrutinising look at the view of the man I spent 3 years of my life with and contemplated how the hell did I not see this coming. Things were going downhill in our relationship these last few months and not once did I bother to probe to figure out what the problem was.

Breaking the trance, I threw my gaze towards my backpack that was thrown to the far end of the room and marched towards it. I zipped it up and kept one strap over my shoulder before addressing him again, “Leave me alone. Have a life with her, get more babies if you dare to or can even afford to. I don’t care. Whatever we had, I’m throwing it away so you have one less problem to worry about. I won’t grovel to get you back. I deserve much better.” [END]


"I don't often get the chance to talk to someone like you."


“I know which is why you should treat me more often. It’s not every day a girl like me would spend 2 hours of her precious time to console you on your failing relationships, Aiden,” I scoffed as I casually brushed some imaginary dusts from my boots.

He chuckled a little and we continued to sit cross-legged, watching the city gradually coming to life in the early morning light. The slow rumblings of cars and taxis far below the rooftop we were hiding on filled the comfortable silence.

“I don’t suppose you have any more useful advices to share about what I should do in a situation like this, do you?” he asked.

“I’ve shared plenty, my dear grieving friend, but you and I both know how that turned out. You never bothered to listen. But I’m telling you now, you got to let her go. She’s not coming back, you know that,”I replied nonchalantly but I offered a small smile just to cushion the blow that my best friend had got dumped the night before. And not in the best way either.

He didn’t offer any responses for a minute or two. I must have pushed it too far. Oh God, Lea, you couldn’t be a little nicer to him in moments like this when he needs you to shut your mouth and act civil.

“You’re right, as always.”

“Aiden, I - ”

There was a small sniffle from beside me. “Dammit,” He said hoarsely, rubbing the back of his sleeves to his face, “She really got me this time, hasn’t she? I didn’t think I’d be in so deep with her but I love her. And now… I don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to be doing?”

Before I could hold myself back, I felt my hands gripping his own and stopping his motion. Through all the years that I knew him, I’ve never seen him break apart before my eyes like this. And for an even bizarre reason that I can’t explain, it was hurting me to let him be this way.

“Aiden,” I said in a stern tone, “You loved her, the world knew that and so did I. I was happy for you but I’m sure you figured out that she never felt the same way about you. The Alice you knew wasn’t the same girl you fell for. She changed, Aiden, and she threw the life she had with you for some loser. Don’t cry for her more than you already have.”

“I know, Lea but it really hurts. Why didn’t anybody tell me that it would hurt?” He laughed dryly yet his eyes still held too much emotions that I had to look away. This time, my usual smart mouth didn’t have the answers he was looking for. [END]

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Which one do you think is your favourite? And most IMPORTANTLY, what do you do you make of my short stories? ๐Ÿ˜‰Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comment section!