In-depth Post #6

Progress:

Our past couple of lessons covered how publicly traded companies amass funds and how to trade stocks. Publicly traded companies are companies whose ownership distributes through shares of stock. A company’s shares get traded over stock exchanges or in other such markets between small and large investors alike. Think about publicly traded companies as a large pie of ownership. The owners keep most of the pie but sell off wedges which hold a small portion of the company to investors. The company then receives the money that the investors paid for the stock and redirects it towards expanding the business, following new ventures, or promoting its products/services. From this ordeal, the investor makes profits when the price of their stock increases past the price they paid for it, and the stock prices of a company increase with company success.

The next topic of discussion is stock trading. Nowadays, much of the shares trade via online markets. The procedure to buy an online stock is simple. First, you need to establish a trade account with the stockbroker of your choice. These brokers are groups who buy and sell securities on a stock exchange for their clientele. Once you have an account, researching the stocks you want to buy should come next. Depending on the different macroeconomics at play and the supply & demand of a company, shares will range in success. Doing research is one way to minimize your chances of loss. Thirdly, select the number of shares you want to purchase and your stock order type. For my own research, I referred to NerdWallet for their spreadsheet on the different stock orders. Once you complete that step, you have successfully purchased your first online stock. Remember, never put money into the stock market that you are not willing to lose.

 

Learning Center:

My In-depth Project has revolved around the business world, and more specifically, stock trading. Over the past five months, I have been learning alongside my father/mentor about the different variables that can influence stock exchanges and prices. A few days ago, I planned to present my knowledge in a PowerPoint format in front of a small crowd at my table in the MPR. However, I realized only after the advice of Ms. Mulder that doing an online form of presentation defeated the purpose of doing the In-depth Night in person. My new plan is to heed the advice of Ms. Mulder once more and instead perform a business seminar at my station about how stock markets work and what their purpose is. My blog posts will be on my laptop while I present most of my learning through discussion and diagrams on a whiteboard.

With my business presentation, I am hoping to capture the elements of a professional business seminar at my Learning Center. On my part, I will need to perform with extreme confidence and proficiency if I will pull it off, as business forums need to be concise, accurate, and informative. My father and I will be continuing our lessons during the last few weeks before In-depth Night to prepare myself. We will be focusing on subjects that will reassure my knowledge about stock exchanges and trading.

 

Resources:

 

In-depth Post #5

Progress:

Recently, we have been covering the topics of the Canadian banking system and mortgages. Firstly, we need to learn the definition of banking to understand how banking systems work. I found this definition to be the most accurate. Banking is a financial process carried out by an institution that accepts deposits, lends money, and transfers funds. Our system in Canada has two types of banks, central banks and chartered banks. I already covered theFederal Reserve - Wikipedia importance of central banks in my last post, so I will summarize what they do and why they are essential. Central banks like the Federal Reserve System in America are banks that manage the money for one nation or a collective. They also act as the arm of the federal government by controlling inflation and setting the overnight lending rate of a country. This overnight lending rate is simply the interest rate large banks use to borrow and lend from one another in the overnight market. It is important to note that all commercial/chartered banks follow the overnight lending rate of the central bank on their interest rates.

Chartered or commercial banks are financial institutions that accept and safeguard finances from individuals and organizations. They also lend out money to the public through loans and mortgages. These banks function by holding deposits from individuals and paying a fee or the overnight lending rate to the depositor. From the customers’ deposits, chartered banks collect a specified amount called a reserve and lend out the balance to other customers who want to borrow. They then charge a higher rate for these individuals and profit from the difference in interest rates. 

Next, we have the subject of mortgages. By definition, a mortgage is a type of loan used to buy a home or other property. In mortgages, you as the customer need to pay some of what you owe to the bank through interest rates and principal. Sometimes called mortgage rates, these interest rates are typically low, around 1% to 4% of your total loan.Know Your Rights for Mortgages and Financing a Home | Dial-A-Law On the other hand, principal is a portion of the amount of money borrowed. It is determined by the down payment of the property subtracted from the final retail price of the same property. However, this sum of money gets paid across multiple years in a process called amortization. Depending on your reliance or reputation with the bank, they may charge you a smaller mortgage rate. If you cannot pay back the debt you owe, the bank also has a right to take the debt you owe from your asset. This is most commonly known as a lien. 

1. What kinds of learning opportunities does the mentor provide to expose you to new learning?

Since my In-depth project revolves around the world of business, I get exposed to financial topics meant for grade twelve students or adults. For instance, grade nine students do not learn about mortgages, but in my latest lesson, I covered all about what mortgages are and their purpose. My whole In-depth project has covered more about business than the average person knows. The entire reason I chose business and stock trading to be my In-depth topic was so I could add another skill to my platter that could give me an upper hand over the average person. 

2. What kinds of learning opportunities exist to reinforce new learning?

There are many ways to reinforce my new learning in this field. The best way that I could fortify everything I have learned is through my final In-depth project. So far, the information I studied and the subjects I researched have not stayed concretely in my mind. Sometimes, I will forget the definition of an interest rate or a mortgage simply because it has not been reinforced by some type of work or project. This leads back to why I believe the final project for In-depth will reassure all of my learning and set it in stone within my mind. Without the project, I am worried that all my studies will dissipate as time goes on. 

3. What kinds of opportunities exist that might accelerate learning?

Online, business materials like stock simulators and business games exist that could help my learning become more efficient. I know that the Wall Street Survivor stock simulator has been a great way to visualize the unpredictability of the stock market and how to purchase or sell stocks. Implementing these new business opportunities into my learning could greatly benefit my progress by helping my issues with the visualization of how everything plays into the stock market. From personal experience, I know that business videos have certainly been beneficial to me in the past. 

4. When you get together, what do you talk about?

Our discussions during each lesson are strictly business. We are father and son, but we still focus on being efficient and making progress when learning. Recently, we talked about the Canadian and International banking systems alongside mortgages and loans. I covered all of this information already in my progress checkup. Our meeting subjects are also inside of my Learning Contract. Typically, we stick directly to the planned subject, but sometimes we will discuss interesting events that influence the economy or intrigue me. In one of our latest lessons, we talked about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is affecting the global market and how we in BC are being affected. 

5. What is going particularly well in your mentoring relationship right now?

Our communication and efficiency continue to thrive as usual, but so do the quality of our lessons. I used to write as much information down about the subject without fully comprehending how all the parts tie in together. However, that has changed in the recent sessions since I have started to ask more questions that help me understand the way each item relates to one another. For instance, I did not realize how interest rates are a critical tool used by the government to control inflation, the economy, and consumer spending patterns until I asked my father if he could elaborate on the purpose of interest rates. Simple questions like this have led to the improvement of my lessons and continue to propel me through my learning.

6. What are you learning about one another?

We already know a lot about each other, yet we continue to discover more through our In-depth mentoring. I am learning about the knowledge my father has when it comes to business. I already knew that my dad gained a lot of experience from travelling the world solely on business ventures, but I did not comprehend the sheer quantity of information he learned during the past years. He has such a well of knowledge that I can ask him about a business topic like inflation, and he can generate an entire lesson right at the moment.
From my father’s perspective, I think he’s learning about how I learn effectively and what my learning habits are. Before, he’s never had the opportunity to see me grow and learn about new subjects. Now he’s been spending months teaching me about his expertise. This may seem far-fetched, but my father is basically seeing how I chose to learn and what I am interested in on an academic scale.  

Image Resources:

https://images.ctfassets.net/wzm83lc7g93q/3EmIZWdqqT6Lj5hb41W19s/efc8a637f8eddeeb0d9f2243752fd592/Mortgages_and_Financing_a_Home_Purchase_-_high.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Reserve_System.svg/1200px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Reserve_System.svg.png

In-depth Post #4

Progress:

Throughout the past few weeks, I have mostly learned about financial institutions and the different types of inflation. By definition, a financial institution is a business entity that offers services as intermediaries for different monetary transactions. The financial institutions that we covered were central banks, credit unions, and insurance companies.

Central banks are not just your average bank. They are financial institutions that control the production and distribution of money for a nation or a collective of nations. They also oversee any other banks and financial institutions. In Canada, we have the Bank of Canada as our central bank. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Bank of Canada serves many purposes that all benefit the welfare of Canada. Through their monetary policy alone, they control the economy’s fluctuations and inflation. However, central banks stand out from average banks because they have a legal monopoly status. This status allows them to issue banknotes and cash, while private commercial banks are only allowed to provide demand liabilities.

Secondly, credit unions are financial institutions owned, created and operated by their own members. They exist to provide better products and services to their members without seeking a profit. Credit unions function by having their members accumulate their money in the cooperative’s shares to provide demand deposit accounts, loans, and other financial services for one another. For instance, one member’s savings in the credit union would go towards a loan for another credit union member.

Insurance companies are financial institutions that focus on protecting the assets of the customers. They work by assuming the risk of damage or loss to the customer’s property, whether the asset is a car or house, and pay the amount needed to fix or replace it in exchange for regular fees. Car insurance is a notable example of how insurance companies work. When somebody gets into a car accident with insurance, the company that provided the insurance will cover the damages to the vehicle.

Inflation is categorized into two types, demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation. Supply and demand graphAs the name implies, demand-pull inflation is when the demand for goods and services exceeds the supply. This lack of resources causes the prices of products and services to increase. In most of these scenarios, the consumers have more money to spend than the amount needed to buy available products and services. However, the high prices eventually lead to increased supply and a balance forms between the demand & supply. The term for this divergence between supply and demand is called equilibrium.

Cost-push inflation happens when production costs increase. These costs can be anything from material expenses to wage increases. Commonly, cost-push inflation starts with something small like the increase in wages for an enterprise. However, as wages rise, others may want to be paid the same increased wage. With more money being spent on the labour and work needed to function, businesses raise prices to keep up. Once one company starts raising prices, others tend to do the same, and costs keep rising uncontrollably in every market. This process is also referred to as the “wage-price spiral” and can cause disruptions in the economy if left unchecked.

1. What has been your most difficult mentoring challenge so far? Why?

My In-depth topic of stock trading is not as simple as I once thought. Understanding how all the economic factors work together with the stock market is complex and challenging. The current challenge I face is keeping track of all the different parts of an economy and remembering how they correlate with each other. My father has been exceptional in explaining the different ways each business matter ties back to my original topic of stock trading, but I still struggle with putting it all together in my head. Before and after each mentorship session, I have been doing research and taking notes about the topics we discuss. I believe that it is only because of these notes that I have been able to remember the information from each lesson.

2. What is working well? Why?

My father and I continue to communicate well during all our mentorship lessons. I feel very comfortable talking with my father and discussing my questions with him. Since our communication is proficient, our efficiency during our mentorship lessons is also adept. At most, our sessions last around an hour each. The comfortability we experience with each other stems back to our relationship and familiarity with one another. I can only imagine how the In-depth project could have gone if I did not have my father as my mentor.

3. What could be working better? How can you make sure this happens?

As I mentioned before, picturing the stock market and how it works in my mind has been challenging. I have also been using a fake stock market account from school to see how trading and buying would work if I had a stock portfolio in real life. However, I still struggle to apply the knowledge I am learning in my lessons to grow the money in my account. So far, all the investments I have made in companies have been using my knowledge and research alone. To fix my portfolio and start growing my money effectively, I will ask for my father’s assistance. That way, I learn how to succeed in the stock market and gain more expertise in the economy.

Image Resources:

  • https://www.thoughtco.com/overview-of-the-demand-curve-1146962

In-depth Post #3

Progress:

My father and I covered many business topics in the last In-depth lesson. The first was the meaning of economics. By the definition of the Openstax business textbook, economics is the study of how a society uses scarce resources to produce and distribute goods and services. Define Microeconomics in Urdu/Hindi - YouTubeEconomics also monitors and studies how people make decisions that relate to the welfare of global and national economies. This study grouped into two categories, macroeconomics and microeconomics. The external factors in the economy and the environment in which businesses exist are considered macroeconomics. Anything that a company does not influence like politics, consumer behaviour, and inflation are all macroeconomics. Oppositely, microeconomics is the internal forces and individual parts of the economy. Some examples of microeconomic factors include income and consumer equilibrium. 

The next topic we discussed was what role The Bank of Canada serves in our economy and society. The purpose of the crown corporation is to promote the economy and maintain the financial welfare of Canada. They do this through a monetary policy, economic system, and currency management. Note that this small list is only a fraction of the Bank of Canada’s roles. Briefly summarizing each point, a monetary policy retains the value of money by making inflation low, predictable, and stable. The financial system provides central banking services, oversees critical financial market infrastructures, and helps to develop and implement new policies. Lastly, the Bank of Canada manages currency by issuing legal bank notes and ensuring the security of these notes to avoid counterfeit money.

1. What went particularly well during your mentoring sessions?

One particular aspect of our mentorship sessions that went particularly well was communication. I believe this is because my father and I are completely comfortable sharing ideas and thoughts. Our experience being around one another allows us to cover more business topics and dive deeper into the meaning of the business world and how it implicates the stock market. With our efficiency, we usually finish the main points of the mentorship session and have the time to research the items that intrigue me and investigate the subjects he thinks will eventually be beneficial. Not only does our familiarity with each other allow for more in-depth research, but it also makes me want to learn more. My father knows what I like and how I work and learn best. Thanks to this knowledge, his mentoring strategies are catered to suit my needs. As a result, our learning sessions were very engaging and gripping for me, encouraging my learning about the stock market and all of its factors. 

2. What learning challenges emerged?

  • What did you do to hold yourselves accountable for the learning?

My mentorship sessions have been fruitful in terms of the knowledge and information I learned. However, this success has not gone without its struggles. During the last few sessions, I grappled with the visualization of how political, economic, social, and technological factors influence companies and how the stock market changes resulting. Just looking at inflation’s impact on the stock market is confusing on its own. In Canada, the government controls the minimum wage employers pay for their products, which means employers raise costs for their products or services. When they do, it causes a ripple effect that increases the prices of other goods and service providers. This steady rise of prices or inflation spreads to almost every industry and market, including stocks. Inflation negatively influences the stock market by changing the share prices of companies. Now share prices equal the value of a company’s stock, which dips in value due to inflation. With this change in values, shareholders lose more money from their stocks which negatively impacts the profits generated by companies. If you look at inflation as an obstacle slowing the stream of the stock market, comprehension becomes easier. People and companies who rely on the constant flow of the stock market suffer and lose money because of inflation’s ability to strain the stock market.

Despite my previous confusion, I now understand how external factors influence companies and how changes in the stock market occur consequently. This understanding came from the accountability I placed upon myself to properly understand everything taught by my father. So, when I did not understand the earlier concepts, I did my research and asked questions to complete my comprehension. 

3. What three strategies could improve the quality of your mentoring interactions?

Firstly, our sessions are not planned for specific days of the week. My itinerary states to do a mentorship lesson each week that covers business topics relating to the stock market. Since I did not plan out specified dates and times to meet up for our sessions, I have pushed them back a couple of times to focus on other school work instead. Implementing a week-to-week schedule with dates for our mentoring meetups could help us make the most of our time and create a defined structure to hold me accountable. 

Secondly, using informational graphs to demonstrate the rise and downfalls of stocks could help me better understand how different factors can influence the stock market in different ways. For example, a chart showing inflation rates alongside share prices could have helped me understand the indirect relationship between these two business topics. 

Thirdly, studying business is not the most fun or gratifying subject to learn. Another strategy that I think could improve our mentorship interactions is doing projects that include business information but in an exciting way. Booklets and progression-based games that require business information to succeed are great examples of this strategy in use.

Image Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1xVNRneAXYw/maxresdefault.jpg 

In-depth Post #2 (2022)

 

How did your mentor gain their experience/expertise?
My mentor/father first gained his expertise from studying at various universities. As I mentioned previously, my father received his Master of Business Administration major in Finance and Bachelor of Commerce in International Business and Marketing from McGill University. After acquiring his degrees, my father kept gaining experience in various jobs where he managed shipments and finances for large companies like Sonoco and Noranda. With my father’s background experience in financing, he became the Campus President at The Art Institute of Vancouver for over six years. During his time at AI, he turned their negative $1.6 million EBIT into $30 million in revenue by 2008. Tom then worked in business roles for Northcentral University and Southpointe Academy until moving to a longer-lasting job at Fraser Health as the Board Director, Aboriginal Health Steering Committee Member, Chair of Finance Committee, Chair of CEO Review Committee, and Chair of Digital Health Committee. Tom’s main work related to finances was to govern and deliver improvements in service, quality, and efficiency for Fraser Health’s 1.9 million people and an annual budget of $3.6 billion with 29,000 employees.

What were those experiences like for your mentor?
With every experience, my father learned something new about his passions and the business world. During his time at AI, Tom learned that managing school assets and financials were not where his passions lay. Instead, he found working with people in their lives was more meaningful and fulfilling. At Fraser Health, my father worked as the Aboriginal Health Steering Committee Member. This job had him talk with First Nations Chiefs and people to improve healthcare for First Nations and include more Indigenous people in Fraser Health. Eventually, his passion to improve the quality of life for others led him to teach in the Vancouver area. Without going through each of these experiences, Tom may not have found his true passion for helping others and may not have ended up the same as he is today.

What wisdom have you gained from your mentor so far?
Learning business with my father has taught me a great deal about the complex entities working to keep our society afloat. Before, I thought money circulated from individuals, businesses, and companies without a clear starting point. However, I recently discovered that the federal government of each country dictates how much money will be introduced to their economy each year. Each session with my father has taught me something new about global and Canadian economics. I now realize that my knowledge still has many holes, and it will require serious dedication and time to fill each one.

What have you learned so far, in terms of facilitation strategies, that might contribute to your development as a mentor?
When spending time with my mentor, I have learned that engaging the student in the lesson is one of the most critical aspects of teaching. Over the few sessions we have already done, my father has always kept me engaged by asking questions related to the subject matter. In our most recent lesson, my father ensured that I understood the concept of time deposits and their relevance to the stock market by asking for my opinions. If I became a mentor, I would similarly engage my students because students are more likely to understand a subject it’s something they are interested in.

Report on any progress and sub-skills learned so far. Share photos, videos, and sound recordings where applicable.
So far, I have learned about money, factors that affect the stock market, and investment methods. Money is anything accepted as payment for goods and services. However, money should also be scarce, durable, portable, and divisible. If a country’s currency is not scarce enough, its value might decrease or cease entirely. When money cannot meet all of these criteria, the economy will fail and society will change altogether. Post Office Time Deposits and Interest Rate

Investing money in stocks can be seen as gambling because you might lose or gain money based on the company you invested in. Oppositely, there is another way of investing called time deposits that guarantee a full return of the investment. Time deposits are similar to short-term contracts. The deal has the investor leave their money in a bank for a specified period. In return, the bank pays them a percentage of their money or interest rate. For example, an investor places $1000 in a time deposit for one year. He will receive 1% (the interest rate) of his money back at the end of his contract. When he pulls out his money he gets $1010 after one year. Both ways of investment require putting in money to a financial institution. They also impact each other severely because if more people move towards time deposits, the stock market loses more investors and the other way around.

In-depth Post #1 [2022]

The In-depth Project:
From January to May, I will be working on a regular project from the TALONS Program, called the In-depth Project. The purpose of In-depth is to follow the topic of our choosing and learn everything about it. We also have a mentor who is knowledgeable in our chosen area and aids us along the way. When we finish In-depth, every student should have proficient knowledge of their skill. We will also be demonstrating the results of our learning in a final project at the end of May.

My Topic:
I have chosen stock trading as my topic for In-depth. However, during the next five months, I will also be covering financial items like equity financing, macroeconomics, and TFSAs. My goal is to comprehend the business world that intertwines with our society through the In-depth Project.

Why I chose Stock Trading:
The world around us revolves around currency, so I decided to have my In-depth topic help me understand the financial world. Instead of using the In-depth Project to follow a passion, I am using it to better prepare for the future. If I can master and understand commerce and business at this age, my chances of making beneficial financial decisions in the future will increase. I see this project as an opportunity to learn valuable tools for my future, and I intend to follow up with this opening.

My Mentor:
My father, Tom Kim, is my mentor and is a qualified business associate. He has a Master of Business Administration major in Finance, Bachelor of Commerce in International Business and Marketing, and was the Finance and Audit Committee Chair for Frazer Health. I have included a link to my father’s achievements and history here. Every weekend, my father and I will be doing business sessions about financial strategies, institutions, and anything related to the stock market. We will also use online resources like Yahoo Canada Finance Online and Intro to Business by Openstax.

John C. Maxwell: Blog Post

The John C. Maxwell blog post must include three main ideas that we found most important. The three I have chosen are the Leadership Loop, Become a go-to player, and Two ways to get ahead: People who rely on production.John C. Maxwell | Worthy Publishing

The leadership loop describes the pivotal aspects of being a 360° Leader. The concepts of the leadership loop are caring, learning, appreciating, contributing, verbalizing, leading, and succeeding. Each idea within the John C. Maxwell 360° book can be grouped into one of these main ideas. For the first concept, the book explains that a leader should take interest and care about the overall concerns of their followers, as people are less likely to follow a leader who does not care about their opinions. This point categorizes other smaller concepts like “be a friend” or “team-first.” When these ideas are combined, they summarize the book as the leadership loop. I chose the loop because of its easy memorability. I use it to remember the qualities that make a good leader and TALONS student without having to reread the book. Without the essential skills in the leadership loop, getting into the TALONS Program would be nearly impossible since everything we do is dependent on these qualities. If we did not have verbalization during the execution of an Adventure Trip, there would not be any clear communication between students, which would lead to people getting lost or injured. Outside of TALONS, this information can also develop my leadership skills on the soccer field. I can use the knowledge to help my team succeed by verbalizing strategies and encouraging my teammates when they make a good play.

Becoming a go-to player means more than contributing to the group; it means working well under pressure, taking arduous jobs, and following instructions. Go-to players will take the worst jobs to see the company or organization succeed. My dad demonstrated both the consequences and rewards of being a go-to individual when he took a hard job related to education. It made him work tireless hours, and each day was a struggle, but my dad pulled through. In the end, he was paid a lot of money for his work and became well known to the company owners. Every day, I try my best to become a go-to player, which is why I picked this concept for this assignment. I have seen firsthand how influential and crucial these people are to success. Without these individuals, jobs would not get completed in companies or programs like TALONS. Imagine a planning group of TALONS students that never wanted to take a more difficult task, like planning food deliveries for cultural events. The entire affair would suffer and fail consequently. Then again, the TALONS program is for students willing to do what it takes, not for the average person. I demonstrated being a go-to player by assigning myself more work in group projects, creating a reputation of dependability. With this recognition, people were willing to follow my bolder ideas, and in turn, I got to develop my other leadership skills.

John C. Maxwell’s idea about people who rely on production explains how individuals can advance in an organization by putting in the work. The people on the opposite scale take shortcuts and let others control them. Relying on production is the much better option of the two because it allows you to control where you stand in the company. Take Jeff Bezos for example. He started Amazon in his garage with only a few employees and grew it into one of the most successful companies in the world. He dedicated his life to the company, and now Amazon defines online shopping. This is important because it shows how hard work pays off in the end. There is no point in succeeding in a company if you sacrifice your personal beliefs in the process. I chose this concept because it tells us how to advance in a company without letting others influence our decisions. In the TALONS Program, we learn how to rely on production. That means we work hard and do what it takes to succeed in school. Basing decisions on logic, always putting in the effort, and striving for improvement are good aspects of a leader. I incorporate some of these values into my day-to-day life to advance my own leadership skills. By combining John’s list concepts and my own leadership experience, I create a new style of leading that is customized to my personality.

Maxwell, J. C. (2005). The 360-degree leader: Developing your influence from anywhere in the organization. Nelson.

Image: https://www.worthypublishing.com/contributor/john-c-maxwell/

Practice Interview Reflection

Overall, I had a solid interview, but there is room for improvement. From the feedback I received, I should have probed for more information for each question. This way, I would have received more personalized answers from the interviewee. For example, one of my questions was, “besides, Humanities/Socials and Science; what other classes are you taking?” To add to this, I should have also asked what courses the interviewee had for next semester. By posing more improvised questions like this, the information I recorded could have been more detailed.

The second thing I need to focus on is my eye contact. Just like physical communication, non-verbal communication is also critical during interviews to provide a sense of comfort and formality. By looking someone in the eyes, you show that you are engaged in their story and opinions. Based on the feedback given, I needed to show more eye contact whenever possible. This weakness is also something I struggle with outside of school. I can improve on this through constant practice and the utilization of small tips, like looking at someone’s eyebrows instead of their eyes. Not only is this skill necessary for academics, but it is also crucial in our daily lives.

The final critique states that I did not focus one-hundred percent of the time. Reflecting on the interview, I can see how this is plausible. As I mentioned previously, my social skills are not a strong suit of mine. I am introverted and shy compared to most people. To change this behavior, the best thing I can do is to practice socializing repeatedly. As someone practices remembering information for a test, they can also practice talking to people openly to improve their social skills. This technique is something I try to incorporate every day, with the hope that one day, I will overcome my social anxiety.

Moving on to the strengths of my interview, I have been doing well to listen, create connections, and demonstrate positivity. These qualities are fundamental for creating a healthy environment for both interviewer and the interviewee. These are also things I wish to convey during the interview with our eminent person. When I reflect upon the practice interview, I realize all the mistakes I made. Nonetheless, I believe that I did well in my first interview.