Dinner at Cho-Won Garden with the Korean Students Association

Last Thursday I got invited by a newly friend of mine to have dinner at a Korean restaurant with the Korean Student Association (KSA). I worked on that day and I was tired so I was leaning toward not showing. I put the restaurant’s location on my GPS and I found out that it was five minuets away from my house. Shocking!, since I never seen the place before (it is located on Independence and Sardis area).

I arrived at the place and I found that everyone was waiting to be seated. The majority of the members were Asian but there were many who were interested in the culture. I knew beforehand that it will be awkward for me to meet the +20 people in the club but it was a part of the experience and I enjoy forcing myself into those situations.

We got seated on a long table that the club president has reserved. We took turns in introducing ourselves and 1 fact about yourself (I said my name and that I am happy to be there, cheesy) I got to talk to people around me and I asked for suggestions on what to order. Lots of the socializing was about school and Korean culture in general.

I ordered a beef BBQ (I don't remember the name) Bulbogi and I had to learn how to eat using chopsticks. The food was very good and filling. I had to force myself to finish it so that is always good. There were a lot of traditions that I followed and it really made me feel more sucked into the experience.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. I am glad I pushed myself out of the way to attend this dinner (and it helps that the restaurant is five minutes away from my house). I wish I looked more into the menu and tried something more native over being safe.

If you are going to try Korean food then I highly suggest going with a Korean person or someone who knows the culture.

This blog is now making me hungry again... I want more Korean food now.

Shadowing Job Interviews and Advising.

On Tuesday (9/20/2011) I had the opportunity to sit with Dr. Gross and shadow two interviews and an advising session. It was well worth my time as I was just sitting in the computer lab with nothing to do specially giving the fact that I had an upcoming interview with Cardinal Solutions on the same week.

The advising was for a student who joined the school and was interested in joining an internship program. She was not qualified as she did not have the credit for it. So instead Dr. Gross talked to her about the 2 year program since she was interested in grad school anyway. The main lesson to learn from this is to go out and ask. The worst that we can hear is a "No". In this case, It turned out for the best and the student got her course plan set up for what she is trying to major in (being prepared before a meeting is a huge plus and it looks respectful).

The two interviews following were interesting as I have never been in the seats of an interviewer before. I have always seen the behavior questions as useless as the questions they are asking can be really vague and it is hard to answer a questions without knowing what the questioning person is trying to get. After witnessing the interview, It seems as if they are more about how the person answers the question over what the "correct" answer should be.

The last interviewed student was a friend of mine and I personally think that he have done a great job in asking a post-interview questions and express a personal interest in the position. The points that he brought up (Tutor diversity and how it could help the students) which, while obvious, showed both experience and understanding of the work to be done.

Interviews are tricky as it depends on who is on the other side of the table. I was interviewed by Dr. Gross himself and I was shocked when he asked me the behavioral questions. I remember that I was stumped enough to the point where I actually asked him to skip a question (which I don't think is a great idea now since the answer is not what the interviewer is asking, but how you would behave when answering these questions.). I am expecting a lot of interviews in the future so the more experience the better.

Finally I would like to add that I was interviewed by Cardinal Solutions last Thursday. I had my ups and downs. I did a bad job preparing for the interview and I showed up late (I know .. I am still regretting it right now and will be ashamed of it for the rest of my life. We all make mistakes). What I did good was I learned a lot about the company and the interviewers before Thursday.

Overall, The interview went very well (except, you know, the part where I came in LATE!). I enjoyed meeting the people. I love the company already and I see it as a great fit for me in every way.

It seems like I have a lot of interviews to face. I will keep what I learned in mind when I go for my next interview.

ACM-W Board Game Social w/ Evie Speaking (9/16/2011)

The Event was a social event to both play board games and socialize. We had a guest speaker Evie who created the social game Snagem. I came in late so I was not able to hear the talk about the game and the research Evie done with the game.
What went well about the event was the fun that the people were having. Students broke into groups and played board games. I was able to catch up with 2 of my busy friends so I spent my time talking to them since I don't get a lot of opportunity to talk to them anymore (beside online by Facebook or IM). I still had time to playu apple to Apple
What did not go well was the committees meetings. I think that it is easier to have people dedicated to a role over a whole committing as no one would take responsibility.
What I would do next time is to try to find other interests to do beside games. I love board games but I rather talk to others about different topics. I know that other students want to socialize and discuss other career or academic goals so that would be more fun and productive.

UNC-Charlotte Starcraft 2 Team

So after a week of talking to my other friends, we officially started a UNCC team to compete in the collegiate star league.

First, Some explanations
Starcraft 2 is a real time strategy video game where the player starts with a base and try to collect resources and build armies to defeat the opposition. The game gained a lot of popularity for it's balance and the level of strategy and skill needed to win. To me it is like a modern game of chess where players don't have to wait to take turns.
collegiate star league (CSL) is a fan run tournament that colleges around the nation (and Canada) participate to play against each other. This year, over 100 200 colleges have signed up.

Now back to the UNCC team
As far is how we met, I wanted to start a team last year but we didn't have enough people (only 1 person online wanted to play). I decided to check again this year and I found a couple of people have already signed up to the team (around 5). I contacted everyone and we decided to meet to know each other.

Last Monday (Labor day), over 11 people showed up and we had a hilarious conversation about what we want to do for the team. We decided that we should hurry and sign up for the CSL and work on other legislation (sign up as a club/sport and all the other paperwork) later.

Overall, this has been a very positive experience. I love meeting people with the same interest as me. I just hope that we were able to use the campus connection to play together in person as it is not helpful to just go on our ways and play from home.

The team will have a strong presence this year and will only grow in the upcoming years.