In-Depth 2022 Post 6

By Julianne Moseley

Over the past five months, I have learned a lot about ski racing. I have gained more knowledge about ski racing and have better form than I used to. I now know all about angles, turns, carving, mindset, speed, drills, and more! This gives me a lot to choose from to demonstrate my learning on In-Depth night. For my presentation, I will be standing on stage for ninety seconds, explaining my understanding and progress on carving. Carving was one of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome throughout these five months. I learned early on that carving was important for gaining speed, and carving was the main change in form for ski racing. When carving, ski edges are dug into the snow to make sharp turns. If skis are sliding on the snow, they slow you down with each turn. But with carving, the speed is increased. 

While I present, I will project a video behind me of one of my best carving attempts. This way, the audience can listen to me speak, but also get a visual representation. While the video plays, I will explain the progress I have made in my carving. I started out thinking ski racing was just about going as fast as you could and making yourself as small as possible to increase speed. I now know that there is a lot more that contributes to good ski racing. During my first attempt racing down the GMC Race Centre during this project, all I was thinking was don’t slow down, and my skis were sliding on the snow at every turn. Now when I ski down the Race Centre, I think about having the right mindset, and carving around each flag to gain speed. As I have practiced carving more, my angle has continued to improve. The more I practice, the smaller angle I can see between the ground and my legs. When I look at photos of the angles of professionals carving, they almost look as if they are sitting on the ground. My angle is not anywhere close to the ground, but I can still see the improvement from the first video to the last video and I will continue to work on it. These are some of the things I will incorporate into my speech for In-Depth night. 

I am unsure as to which carving video I will use, but I will go through the videos I have and choose the video that best demonstrates my progress in carving. I have already started putting together my presentation and am excited to present on stage! I have learned so much during the past five months. I want to thank my mentor, my uncle Mike, for helping me through this process and guiding me along the way. I have learned a lot from him. I also have my mom to thank for taking all the videos for me. Overall, I can’t wait to show everyone what I have learned. My main presentation will be about my progress in carving, but I have also learned so much more about ski racing such as mindset, muscle groups, and nutrition. I am excited to represent a small piece of my learning during my stage performance! 

In-Depth 2022 Post 5

By Julianne Moseley

My mentor has given me several learning opportunities over the course of this project. He has forwarded me many sources and useful websites to read about carving, alpine skiing, and a website that gives me several drills. He has taught me a lot about carving, and this learning opportunity has opened me up to be more confident with my speed. Over the past few times I have skied, both I, and my mom have noticed that I seem to be skiing a lot faster and getting more comfortable with these higher speeds. I think my new knowledge on carving, has led to new learning and I am beginning to experiment with speed more often. By him teaching me about carving, and ski racing in general, he has opened me up to new learning. 

Over the past few weeks, I have gotten the chance to ski three times. During the first time, we had great weather conditions and I took several videos. In my last post, I made a goal for myself to maximize the amount of time I practice when I am on the hill. So, I made sure to do this. I took many carving videos, videos of me lifting my inside foot (drill), and videos of me keeping my chest inside the pole gates I created for myself (drill).  I maxed out the time I had on the hill by practicing many times throughout the day. On the second day, the weather conditions were not very good. It had not snowed in Whistler for a week, there were clouds, it was cold, conditions were extremely icy, and visibility was not the greatest in certain areas. I noticed that the icy conditions affected my ability to carve. Usually, I can use my edges to dig into the snow and turn. But icy hills kept me from digging my edges into the snow and instead, I kept slipping. I found it very difficult to practice carving in these conditions. At one point, my ski flew over a large ice chunk, and I almost fell. Another time, I relied on my edges too much and instead of digging into the ice, my skis just slipped, and I fell over. It turns out that icy conditions make ski racing much harder. This is not something I had thought about before. It has opened me up to new questions. I asked my mentor many questions about how to race in these icy conditions. Is there a slight change in form, a different type of ski, freshly sharpened edges, or do you just have to deal with it as best you can? This is another example of how he provided me with learning opportunities that opened me up to new questions and learning. After asking him, he explained to me that it is very important to get freshly sharpened edges, and in these conditions, I should focus extra hard on really digging my edges into the ice as I turn. Leaning forward in my ski boots will also help with this. The third time I went skiing, I didn’t practice any of my drills, because I strictly wanted to focus on carving. I have been working on it for weeks, and my mentor says he can see my improvement. But I still have a ways to go. I think it will take me years to perfect my carving, but I want to get this skill under my belt as soon as possible so I can start to focus on some of the smaller things I wanted to learn about ski racing. My mom took many carving videos for me, and I can see the improvement too. I really tried to focus on leaning as much as possible to get my angle closer to those of professionals. 

I am still working on improving my carving skills to become faster and have better form. I have been looking at photos to compare the angle I am skiing at, to the angle of the professionals in the photos. The angle the professionals have almost makes it look like they are sitting down! This has shown me that I have a ways to go. I still need to get more comfortable with committing and trusting my edges to hold me. A video I watched online explains how I should trust myself to topple into my turns and for my skis to catch me every time I finish my curve. 

Professional carving angle:

Compared to a video of my carving: 70d54ba8-14b8-4d83-87da-3472c8090450

One helpful learning opportunity that has both helped me to reinforce new learning, and accelerate my learning, is the internet. I have used the internet to look at several carving videos, websites, and other resources. The internet has helped me accelerate my learning with carving videos. I have watched a few carving videos that I believe have helped me grasp the concept faster. When I am practicing, I think about what one of the videos told me. It told me to topple on each turn and catch myself with my edges at the end of the turn. It stated that in order to do this, I need to trust my edges more, and get more comfortable with letting my skis catch me at the bottom of each turn. Another learning opportunity that has accelerated my learning is the GMC Race Centre. It has helped me to practice in a real racing situation, and this puts me in the mindset I need to improve my time. I have also been able to use the internet to reinforce new learning. One of the drills he gave me included putting my upper body in between two pole gates I create for myself. The purpose of this is to have separation between my upper and lower body. But I was unsure why separation was necessary, so I researched on the internet. Ski Technique 101 says that body separation is necessary to be able to balance on your edges more effectively and create larger edge angles. The internet has helped me to learn more about what my mentor explained to me; therefore, it has reinforced new learning. 

Below is the video of the drill involving body separation:

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When my uncle and I get together and discuss my project, we often talk about carving, as this is my most dominant task at the moment. Last time I talked to him, I was able to see him in person, so he did a visual representation of what I should do when carving. When I am on my edges, my legs are going to be at an angle, so he says I need to counter that weight to prevent falling over. While the lower body is creating a carving angle, the upper body is leaning back towards the skis, almost in a letter C shape, as he showed me. After he told me this, I thought about body separation again, and how it is transferred into ski racing. 

One thing that is going well in our mentoring relationship, is that we are talking to one another more frequently. I recently talked to him, and I will be seeing him again next week, so I will be able to talk to him again about my progress and feedback. I think if I can talk to him more often, I will be able to improve at a faster rate, and our relationship as a mentor and mentee will continue to grow. Though I think our mentor and mentee relationship will grow stronger, my mentor is my uncle, so we already have a solid relationship. Because of this, I don’t know if I have learned anything new about him. Although, during our last meeting, I noticed how he showed me a visual representation. This shows me that he is a visual learner, or that he likes to represent or teach in visual ways. Or, he has learned that I am a visual learner, and is trying to meet my learning preferences. I can’t be certain, but I can guess that he likes learning and teaching with visual representations. 

In-Depth 2022 Post 4

By Julianne 

My mentor and I have a great relationship. We are both very comfortable talking with each other and continue to make progress throughout this project. But one challenge we have been dealing with is organizing in-person meetings. This has been a challenge because we both have different schedules. My mentor has a family and work, while I have extra curriculars and school, so the best we can do for meeting is often make a phone call. The phone call works ok, but a face-to-face conversation would be the best way to communicate as my project is action based. It is also difficult for us to match our schedules for practicing. I have not had the chance to practice ski racing with my mentor. He usually skis on Sundays with his family, but my family can only ski on Saturdays. Instead of skiing in person together, I send him videos of myself practicing various drills and practicing my carving. He also sent a few videos to me to show the proper form for certain drills. Watching him show me through video rather than in person was helpful. I have also watched videos online because I find it easier to learn by watching instead of just listening. Though we have a challenge, we have found a way to deal with it. Phone calls and sending videos are not my preferred method of communication, but they are what work the best for us. 

 

We have been challenged with not being able to practice in person on the hill, but our video system has been working well. It is not the same as being in person, but it is still effective. My mentor can see my progress as if he was there, and then he simply texts me his feedback instead of verbally telling me in the moment on the hill. When he sends me videos, I can watch them repeatedly, which I would not have the ability to do if he was showing me in person. This is one of the benefits to the video system. I can repeatedly look at the feedback I am given and the videos I am shown instead of having to rely on my brain to remember until I get home. So, though we have come across an obstacle, we have overcome it well. 

 

Something that could be working better, is getting on the hill to practice more often. I have a limited number of days on my pass, so I can’t ski more days than is permitted. But I can work on maximizing the time I have on the hill each day. To do this, I should maximize the amount of time I practice on a given ski day. Instead of only taking approximately three runs (the runs are long in Whistler) to work on drills and form, I should focus on taking more runs throughout my day to focus on these things. I need more repetition to improve my form and I can do this by spending even more time on my ski days practicing. 

 

I have not made a ton of progress since my last blog post because I have been away for two weeks. But I am skiing this coming Saturday (April 2nd) and I plan on spending lots of time on my carving, drills, and improving my time. I was looking online about the mindset a ski racer must have. I will ask my mentor to add to my knowledge, but one article talks about three different mindsets. They are aggressive, calm, and clear. The article says that the mindset you choose depends on how you are feeling or the type of person you are. The aggressive mindset is about having grit, determination, and no fear. It is about just going for it. A calm mindset is about taking deep breaths and calming yourself down. It often helps racers who get nervous to put any doubt out of their minds. A clear mindset is about clearing your mind of anything outside of skiing. This mindset gets rid of any distractions. I think the mindset that would work best for me is having an aggressive mindset. It is usually the mindset I use for other sports, such as soccer. This mindset works for me, and I am most used to the aggressive mindset. I will try to focus on having an aggressive mindset this Saturday when I am timing myself down the GMC Race Centre. Overall, I have a lot to think about and focus on for this Saturday. I will take many videos and practice many times throughout the day. I’m excited to report back with my progress in the future! 

Below is the link that contains the three mindsets I talked about in the above paragraph:

Mindset as an essential piece of the fast skiing puzzle

As well, here is an example of a video my mom took of me on the hill for my mentor to see. I was practicing one of the drills he had suggested.

In-Depth 2022 Post 3

By Julianne Moseley

During my mentor sessions so far, things have gone quite well. I have received a lot of feedback each time and both my mentor and I are communicating well. I say this because we are both on the same page and check in with one another occasionally to make sure we are on track. This is how we maintain a connection with one another. If it has been a while since we have talked, one of us reaches out to the other to keep the project moving. During each session, I ask him questions, tell him about my progress, my major focuses at the moment, and ask for feedback on the videos I have shown him so far. This is our routine every time we have a discussion, and it is good to have a routine to stay on track. Something else that has been going well is we both are taking a leadership role during the conversation. To explain, I mean that not only one person is contributing to the conversation while the other listens. We both have our points and listen to each other, making our meetings balanced. 

One of the largest logical communication challenges we have faced so far is meeting in person. I do not get to see my uncle every two weeks, so often our meetings are over the phone. To add, we both have different schedules, so it is hard to find a day that works for both of us to ski. His sons play hockey on Saturdays, so his family skis on Sundays. But my family has soccer on Sundays, so we ski on Saturdays. Therefore, we have produced a new system. Instead of being on the hill on the same day (which would be the most beneficial, but there is not much I can really do to change that), I send him videos of my progress. Occasionally, he will send videos of himself, so I can see his form and the way he does certain drills. This way he can see my form during drills and racing, and I can see his form to help improve mine. After sending him the videos, I receive feedback from him. Over spring break, I am going on vacation with my uncle (my mentor), so during this time, I will get a lot of time to ask him questions and meet in person with him. We will not be able to ski during this time, but we will be able to exchange information. I think meeting in person is more beneficial, so hopefully I will get to talk to him about my progress and gain a lot of feedback over spring break. 

If I could improve the quality of the interactions I have with my mentor, I would try to plan for a video call instead of a phone call. In a video call, at least we can see one another, which is a step up from a phone call. This would make our meetings closer to an in-person meeting. I would also get my mentor to show me the angle my skis should be at on turns by moving his legs (how far I must lean onto my edges), so I can try to get to that angle. I am trying to carve and am making progress, but I do not think I have completely gotten it yet. I think I need to lean into my edges even more. The third thing I would change is I would try to plan meetings more in advance than I plan them now. I usually ask my mentor if we can have a meeting one or two days before we end up having the meeting. But it would be nice if I asked him when he was free about a week in advance to make sure there will be a time that we are both free to chat. 

So far, I have made substantial progress. I have researched and looked at large muscle groups used in ski racing. A lot of the large muscle groups are in the legs, which I expected. Some major muscle groups involved in downhill ski racing are the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and muscles in the feet. This is good because I play soccer, so most of my strength comes from my legs. In the first blog post, I mentioned that I was able to make it down the GMC Race Centre in 24.8 seconds. After running through the track again this week, with carving as my focus, I am now down to 23.51 seconds. As I went down the hill through the track, I focused on carving my skis instead of sliding them across the snow. I think focusing on this helped me to get a better time.

In this video, I am in the white jacket, practicing my carving down the slope. I think the angles of my legs are getting sharper, improving my form. Carving has been my main focus for the past few weeks, and at the beginning of this project the first time I went through the GMC Race Centre, all I was thinking about was going fast. Having a focus as I went down the track helped me, and I was able to improve my time by over a second. I am making progress with carving. I have not yet nailed it, but my form is getting better. My mentor told me that I need to have a wider stance to get onto my edges for carving, so this is what I tried this week. It helped a lot because this week I noticed a different feeling of being on my edges. When I practiced, I also thought about the Olympics, because I watched quite a bit of skiing and tried to notice how they carved on their edges. I know my form is nowhere near the form that the Olympians have, but I tried to mimic their form to improve mine. I think the Olympics have helped to contribute to my carving progress. I am happy with my progress and will continue to lean even more on my turns and improve my time. I have erased one second from my original time so far in this project and have two more to go to reach my goal. 

In-Depth 2022 Post #2

By Julianne Moseley

My mentor, Mike Giannelli, started skiing in Whistler at a very young age. He did the ski school program there for a very long time. After this, he joined the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, moving from learning ski technique and control, to diving deeper into how to race well. He gained more experience in racing in this program and loved the sport. From there, at an older age, Mike made the BC Ski Team, and later on, qualified for the Canadian Ski Team. He said it was incredible, because he went from racing people around him, to racing those around the country, to racing many people all around the world. It was a great experience for him because he was able to travel all over the world for various competitions. He became very independent at a very young age because of this.

Mike Giannelli says that often, his experiences were determined by the people around him. If he had a supportive coach and good team members, he had a lot of fun, which happened for most of his skiing career. I agree that it is important to have a good group a people around you to enjoy what you are doing, and I think this ties into mentoring strategies. I think he has learned many of his mentoring strategies from his coaches throughout the years.

The knowledge he has shared with me, has helped me to see some of the strategies he uses to guide me through my struggles. One thing I notice, is he is very positive, and continues to tell me that I am working hard and making progress. But while doing so, he is not afraid to tell me what I need to work on. I like this style because he isn’t breaking me down with harsh feedback, but he is still helping me progress without damaging my confidence. If I ever become a mentor for someone else or give someone a piece of feedback, I hope to bring this style of teaching into my feedback. My uncle is also great at telling me verbally as well as showing me visual representations. He has given me tips and drills verbally but has also taken videos of himself doing these drills to show me what they are supposed to look like. This is also a great facilitation strategy as it works well for anyone who is a visual learner.

From my mentor, I have gained a bunch of knowledge on different aspects of skiing. So far, most of the knowledge I have gained from him has to do with technique. We have talked about keeping my top half separate from the bottom half of my body in terms of turning. What I mean by this is my legs should be doing the turning while my hips and chest should always face down the hill. I recently practiced this drill on the hill, and it is way harder than I expected it to be. A large struggle of mine that he has been trying to help me through, is learning how to carve my skis. I have watched videos and tried drills to fix my skiing technique. But it’s hard to change my form after skiing for 12 years. Carving involves using the edges of the ski to turn, so I really must lean into my turns more to get onto my edges. Carving will help my go faster than sliding my skis on the snow, which is how I turn now. I recently called my mentor

regarding this issue. Last time I went skiing, I sent him a video of my carving. During the call, he explained to me that my legs were too close together in the video and I need a wider stance to be able to lean on my edges more easily. He also told me that it might be easier to start on a very gentle slope that is less steep. To carve, I need to roll my ankles and knees, moving from edge to edge with each turn. I will continue to work on carving when I am on the hill. Hopefully, I can overcome this obstacle within a few weeks of practice.

My main goal at this point in the project, is to get used to carving so I can continue on with other aspects of skiing. I can’t wait to dive deeper into the mechanics of ski racing and follow my progress as I go!

Below is a video of me trying to carve:

Downhill Ski Racing

By Julianne Moseley

Ripping down the powdered slopes with the wind whistling through my ears is a wonderful feeling. Skiing is what I look forward to the most when winter comes along. For my in-depth project 2022, I have chosen to take on downhill ski racing. I want to focus on this skill because I love skiing with my family, and we are up practicing almost every Saturday we can during the winter. But we always only go for fun, and we don’t usually focus on technique or speed. Therefore, I have no knowledge of ski racing and the mechanics, technique, and mindset of a ski racer. I became interested in learning about ski racing for these reasons. Over the course of this project, I plan on exploring both the mental and physical aspects of downhill ski racing. Some of which might include the preparation (muscle build-up, nutrition, etc.), mechanics (angles, turn tightness, technique, aerodynamics, physiology, etc.), and the mindset or mental preparation that goes into ski racing. Through the next five months, I will continue to work through these different skills and put them into practice on the hill when I am skiing with my family. I will be able to test and demonstrate my learning through the GMC Race Centre on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, with my goal being to improve my time by at least three seconds from now, to the end of this project. 

My mentor, my uncle, Mike Giannelli, was previously a world cup ski racer. He competed in both the Giant Slalom (GS) and Downhill ski racing events. At one point in his career, he was 23rd in the world. So far, I have made great progress in this project with his help. I recently went skiing and was able to get a time going down the GMC Race Centre, giving myself a baseline or starting point to improve on. My uncle Mike and I talked on the phone beforehand, and he was able to give me a few tips to start out with, as well as a drill to improve my form on the hill. This drill involved lifting the inside ski when turning to strengthen the outside leg. He told me to send videos of myself trying out the drill while skiing, and he would send videos of himself to compare. I sent him my progress, and after he sent me the video of him doing the drill, I have realized I need to take wider turns to hold my inside ski up for longer, and I will try this next time I am on the hill. I will continue to work on the drill and tips he has given me next time I go skiing.

In addition to the drill, he provided me with a few tips to advance my form. I have been taught to keep my hips and upper body facing down the hill while my legs do the work on the turning. I have also been told to try carving my ski edges when turning, instead of sliding my skis in parallel. I learned that a big difference between ski racing and regular skiing is that turns in ski racing help to speed you up, not slow you down. Carving is what is going to speed me up when I am turning. I am finding it very difficult to figure out, because I have been skiing the same way my whole life, and carving involves really committing and leaning into turns. I will continue to work on carving my skis, which I predict will improve my time quite a bit. My uncle Mike has sent me many resources already. The resources he has shared include ski racing in BC, parallel skiing turns versus carving turns, and a variety of drills for me to practice on the hill to help me improve certain mechanics in my form. 

A large obstacle I have had to overcome was trying to plan out how I would continue my project into late April and May as skiing season will be over by then. I decided I would focus on the physical technique of ski racing for the next few months as this will take the longest and involve the mountain. I will leave more of the nutrition, knowledge on muscles involved in ski racing, and exercises that help to build up certain muscles, for late April and May, as these aspects do not heavily rely on the mountain to learn and achieve. I also found an indoor skiing simulator. In the simulator, I would be attached to skis attached to a belt that moves side to side to resemble turning, as if I was skiing through the flagpoles down a racecourse. I could try this out once sometime in May to help with my angles and turns. 

I am extremely excited to go deeper into this project. I have a starting point, and a few drills and tips to keep in mind for the next few weeks that will help me get to the next level. I am thrilled to take on this project and can’t wait to see my progress along the way! 

Hope you enjoy my Talon Talk on the following research question!

“How do pollutants in the ocean affect the brightness of bioluminescent
dinoflagellates living in these environments?”

Talon Talk

Feel free to leave a comment below!

John Maxwell

By Julianne

Law nine under ‘The Principles 360° Leaders Practice to Lead Up’ states that a leader should “Be better tomorrow than you are today” (Maxwell, 2006). This rule of leadership explains how you should always be aiming to improve yourself, or you will never reach the next level of leadership. Leaders will never become better leaders if they are not focused on improving, growing, and expanding their variety of skills as leaders every single day. I picked this law because growth is important in all aspects of leadership. If you are unable to improve, you will never make progress. To be a leader is to develop yourself and learn people skills. Developing into a better leader therefore further develops your skills as a person. This rule can relate to TALONS because the program has continued to push me educationally. This year, I have learned at a faster pace than I ever have before, and I will continue to reach my full potential. This program has put me out of my comfort zone, helping me to better myself. This rule will help me improve my leadership skills when I am planning TALONS trips. Now, when I am planning, I will think about coming out of my comfort zone a little bit more, so I am better today than I was yesterday. I will try new tasks and jobs so I can gain more knowledge on the process of trip planning. But not just planning in TALONS. This rule can be applied to almost anything. An example of mine would be sports. In soccer, my main goal is to progress as efficiently as possible. No improvement means no goals have been reached. Therefore, growth is essential. 

“Lighten your Leader’s load.” (Maxwell, 2006). This rule explains how a good leader should be willing to do extra jobs that help your leader. If you are finished with your given jobs, this rule simply explains how you should help your leader with their jobs, taking stress off their shoulders. I picked this statement by John Maxwell because I think leaders really appreciate it when someone goes out of their way to help relieve stress from their list of things to do. Many CEOs and other jobs near the top of the spectrum have a lot on their plate, and a small act of kindness like this can really help someone out and can even take you to the next level of leadership. This rule can relate to TALONS, because often students in the TALONS program are very busy and occupied. There is always something to accomplish. Helping another student or teacher in the program can help them feel more relaxed and supported. An example or metaphor for this rule would be if someone was carrying two heavy bags. A person with no bags or lightweight bags went over to help the person by carrying one of them. This is ‘lightening the load’ because now they are both sharing some of the heavy weight, making it more equal. When I have finished tasks I need to complete for myself, I can now think about helping someone else with their jobs, so we are able to share the load. This will improve my leadership skills in the future as people will know they can rely on me, and they are always welcome to ask for a little bit of help. 

“Be a friend.” (Maxwell, 2006). John Maxwell gives this advice under ‘The Principles 360° Leaders Practice to Lead Across.’ This advice is very self-explanatory but points out that it is important to be kind and be yourself (with personality) around your coworkers and leaders. Even if you are in a professional environment, it is still important to stay true to your own personality. The reason I have picked this rule over others is because often in professional environments, people will stay serious, which is important. But it is also important to form strong relationships with your peers in order to succeed, and this means being a friendly person who is true to who they are. Being a friend means checking in on how others are doing and asking them if there is anything you can do to help them. If there are divisions in an organization, it’s hard to accomplish goals. For an organization to be productive, everyone needs to be on the same page, therefore everyone needs to be a friend to everyone else. When planning TALONS trips, it is important that you are kind and friendly towards your peers even if there is a disagreement. While completing a task or reaching common ground, it is important to stay humane and friendly, or trip planning will not be a fun experience. My leadership skills will improve from this lesson because it will help me to remember to loosen up and use the trip planning time to learn about others around me while being productive. 

John Maxwell’s lessons will continue to teach me how to further develop my leadership skills in the future. These lessons will be especially useful for TALONS planning, and trips. 

If you want to learn more watch this video about diversity in an organization by John Maxwell. 

Learning Centre: Christine Sinclair

By Julianne.

Welcome to my Learning Centre about Christine Sinclair! Christine is a professional soccer player that stands up for women’s rights in sport.

To work the platform below, press the ⏩ to move to the next area and the ⏪ to go to the previous area. There is also a play/pause button in the center bottom of your screen. Press play to seamlessly walk through the museum or use the pause button to spend more time on any given section. On the left side of your screen, there is an enlarge button for a full screen. Follow the instructions at the bottom of your screen and enjoy!

Want to learn more? Check out these Websites!

The Evolution of Christine Sinclair

Canada captain Christine Sinclair looks to help young girls impacted by pandemic

Christine Sinclair holds the record for most goals scored on an international stage!

Christine Sinclair raises money to fight Multiple Sclerosis

Thanks for Listening!

Practice Interview Reflection

By Julianne.

While practicing interviews in class, I think I have improved my interviewing skills and this practice will prepare me for interviewing an adult about my chosen eminent person. Some things I have been told I did well, were being confident, calm, comfortable, and having good body language. I had great posture during the interview and faced my interviewee directly. I also supported my interviewee after they were having trouble elaborating on certain topics. I was open to skipping questions and asked follow-up questions to continue the flow of the conversation. These follow-up questions helped bring answers to the interviewee’s mind and they were able to give me more information. In the beginning, the flow was shaky, and there were pauses in between questions as well as unrelated questions one after another. I have been told that the conversational flow got better as the interview went on and by the end, it was going smoothly as I had progressed. 

I have learned many different strategies to help improve my interviewing skills based on the feedback I have received from my classmates. Something I would work on is speaking louder as I was wearing a mask. As the real interview will be virtual, I will not be wearing a mask. I think wearing a mask while practicing was actually a benefit as the practice will continue to help me speak louder when it comes to the real interview. Speaking up will allow the interviewee to be aware I am comfortable and confident when addressing them with questions. I have also been told to work on my eye contact to show them I am focused on their answers and there are no distractions. I contact is hard social skill, but an important one. Eye contact can contribute to body language which lets people know that you are interested in their topic, or not interested. When practicing, I do not think I was uninterested in the topic, but just nervous as I was being evaluated while interviewing. Regardless, I need to improve my eye contact. 

To summarize, I am happy with my practice interview, but would like to improve on little things for my real interview with an adult to show them that I am interested and focused on what they are saying. I would also like to run the interview in a smooth flow and make it as professional as possible.