Cultural Event 5: A Good Day to Die Hard

     Several weeks ago, I attended a viewing of the popular movie, "A Good Day to Die Hard".  Although it was not my first choice of movies to attend, nothing else interested me much and I was in the mood for a good action movie.  I have not seen all of the "Die Hard" movies, but I have seen bits and pieces of some and I was sure I was in for a exciting, action-packed movie with great special effects and a cheesy story line.  Plus, I am a Bruce Willis fan and he is the star of the movies.

A Good Day to Die Hard

     Overall, the movie was filled with mostly action and a small amount of dialogue.  The movie is mainly set in Russia and at the empty Chernobyl plant.  The main character, John McClane has to team up with his son, who he has never really known, to save the world from the disastrous plot unfolding at Chernobyl.  As suspected, the movie was action-packed, but it was also heartwarming.  It was nice to see McClane work with and develop a relationship with the son he never knew.  By the end of the movie, the pair reconciled their differences and worked well together.  And, of course, in the end, the protagonists and heros won and saved the day.  Before I saw the movie, I did not give the story line enough credit.  Even though the movie mainly focused on the action, it was able to reveal a lot about the father-son relationship through action and other clues, instead of just dialogue.  It was easy to feel for the protagonists and cheer them on to their victory.

Capstone Cultural Event 2: Guys and Dolls

The "Guys and Dolls" set

     Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the musical "Guys and Dolls" at Penn Trafford High School in Pennsylvania.  While I was visiting with my family, two of my younger cousins asked me to attend a play that they had worked incredibly hard to put together.  They were members of the "tech team" and contributed to the behind the scenes aspect of the play, from set design, lighting, customer design, and all of the other miscellaneous things it takes to create a play.  I always enjoy watching musicals and I could not resist seeing the handiwork of my younger cousins, so it was with an eager and proud heart that I attended the play.  Because it was a high school play, I assumed it would be conservative and safe.  I had never heard of "Guys and Dolls" before, but I was basing my assumption off of all of the plays I watched at my own high school.  (However college is an entirely different story and the plays tend to be racy and provocative!)  Once students reach a college age, they are considered adults and can understand the more provocative type of play, whereas high schoolers are still teenagers.  Although this musical was not extremely provocative or over the top, it did not exactly follow my expectations of a high school play.

     The play was set in New York, filled with gamblers.  One of the main characters, Nathan, tries to win money to save his floating crap game by betting Sky that he cannot get Sarah, a church goer who works at the local mission, to travel to Havanna, Cuba with him.  After several tricks and a hint of luck, Sky convinces Sarah to go to Cuba with him.  While there, Sarah becomes very friendly with Sky and even acts jealous when he dances with another woman.  Feeling guilty, he reveals the bet to Sarah and takes her back to New York.  Once back in New York, Sarah's mission is about to shut down from lack of support.  So, Sky follows the gamblers and individually bets them all that if he wins, they have to go to the mission to repent their sins.  In the end, the mission is saved and two of the other main characters marry at the mission, now run by Sarah and Sky.

     Although the musical is somewhat cliche, I enjoyed watching it.  I felt myself routing for Sarah and her mission and the ending was happy and satisfying, yet predictable.  Ending any other way may have left me feeling unsatisfied.  The play was very enjoyable and I enjoyed being exposed to it.  The crew did a great job of bringing everything together.  Had I never went to visit my family this past weekend, I would have never heard about this musical.   

Capstone Cultural Event 4: Shepherd University Career Fair

     A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Shepherd University's Career Fair.  Since I am currently working part-time as a recruiter, an opportunity that should turn into a full-time position after I graduate this May, I was not too excited to attend the fair.  In fact, I was required to attend per my Business Communications class.  I have never attended a career fair before and did not know what to expect.  However, after reading over the list of employer attendees, several agencies intrigued me, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  When I look into my future, I always see myself working for one of these government agencies.  At the very least, I felt that I could do some networking at the career fair and obtain important information about the agencies and their job opportunities.

Career Fair

     When I arrived at the career fair, I was somewhat overwhelmed.  The area was filled with students and employers.  To be honest, I did not even know where to start.  I picked the closest aisle to walk down and begin glancing at all of the boards the employers displayed to understand more about each company.  As I walked through the first aisle, I tried to keep a smile on my face as I passed every single employer.  Because I was unsure of the proper way to approach an employer from which I wanted more information, I just kept walking.  Finally, I saw a display for a counseling center.  No other students were around and I was able to walk up to the poster board and begin a discussion with the woman representing the company.  She pleasantly gave me some more information about the company, but she seemed more nervous and confused than I did.  This experience gave me the confidence I needed to start talking to other employers; after all, they came to look for potential employees!  After walking around the entire fair, I was able to talk to the FBI and gain some excellent information about the kinds of positions for which I should be applying.  I was also able to connect with a HR manager from American Public University Systems.

Shepherd University

     Overall, I am glad that I was able to attend the Career Fair this year.  The Shepherd University Career Development Center spends a lot of time, money, and effort to put those types of beneficial events together for the students.  Hopefully more students will take advantage of these types of opportunities in the future.  Although I did not walk out of the Career Fair with my dream job, I was able to network with influential and important business people.  Furthermore, I gained experience communicating and interacting with HR professionals, hiring managers, and other company representatives.  I gained more confidence speaking with business people and obtained a look into the real, professional world.