Tag: experience

I Jumped Off a Plane, Willingly!

Categories A Tourist In My Hometown, San Francisco Bay Area

Under the sun but above the clouds. Floating with the wind until your feet touches the softest patch of grass. The entire experience of it all, from beginning to end is absolutely surreal even as I write this rant.

Who hasn’t put skydiving on their bucket list? Who hasn’t thought about it a few times but never really motivated? That was me. I’ve always wanted to go but never really motivated until my brother’s birthday came up. He wanted to do something wild and skydiving was one thing my siblings and I said, “let’s do it!”

Lots of anticipation, excitement, fear, and anxiety builds up between the three of us until we got on that plane. I can’t imagine going up 13,000 feet without those two with me, let alone jumping before me. Totally not jumped in the order we planned, I’m a good big sister, I swear. But before processing my brother’s over the shoulder look or my sister’s scream, I looked down -yikes!- and willingly jumped off the plane!

A few seconds of disorientation before I’m synced, remembering the instructions told to us just a few minutes ago. Part of which is spreading your arms when you get tapped since you’ve got to hold the harness for the jump. I catch Brad, my flying camera dude, in my sights. With fists in the air, I scream, “Oh my God!”

The hardest part for me was the parachute pull, it’s a backwards jolt that caught me by surprise. Think of it as a hard break while driving 120 miles per hour. Again, it takes me a few seconds before I’m synced and I’m literally just floating. My tandem dude, Toshi, makes sure I’m good and comfortable before maneuvering the parachute to allow me a 360 degree view of my surroundings.

The Bay Area can fit in my hands. Mount Diablo, the highest mountain in California, is just a mole. The entire world below is so small, but oh so beautiful. Our planet is beautiful, peeps. In that moment, there was a sense of peace all over me. By the grace of God, I breathed in the cool air breeze, I couldn’t close my eyes, I spread my arms as if they were wings and had to be conscious enough not to kick poor Toshi. Ha!

Before I knew it, we were slowly descending towards our landing point. My short self finally got to shout, “look out below!” as we landed on a soft patch of grass. Brad came up to me to capture my thoughts. “That was fucking awesome!” was my first response. Did I just fly? Did I just land? Wasn’t I just on a plane? Oh my God, I jumped off a plane!

Before you go on your first skydiving adventure, please do your research. Note that you will be signing waivers because you are taking a risk when you go skydiving. My experience may not have been what I expected, may not have been perfect but at the end of the day, when you go with a good crew, your experience is all the more better. We went with Bay Area Skydiving in Byron, California. Per our research, they’ve been flying for over 25 years so it made sense to go with them for our first jump. While there is room for improvement, the team deserves props because they actually enjoy what they do and share in that excitement of flying with us rookies.

I’ve officially crossed “Skydiving” off my bucket list!! Have you? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below or via Twitter.

Foodie Farewell – a Snapchat Story

Categories I'm Always Hungry, My Expat Life, Snapchat

Flashback to two weeks ago when Kamal and myself (aka foodie royalty) got a magnificent send off! Can’t thank the team at Nisantasi Baskose and my foodie friends enough for this lovely, unforgettable afternoon.

Happy Eating peeps!

"Overqualified," the Ugly Myth

Categories Rants of Life1 Comment on "Overqualified," the Ugly Myth

Lately, I’ve been approached by several well-educated and experienced professionals who are having trouble landing a job. Many of them have started taking out their education and some of their experiences off their resume (tsk tsk) in the hopes of landing that desired job. Why? Due to the reason they keep hearing from these employers, they are “overqualified.”

I personally believe that the term “overqualified” is an ugly myth. I believe this myth was started by the employer’s hiring manager who couldn’t simply speak the truth to their candidates.

An employer tells you, “sorry but you are overqualified for this position”, when in reality s/he meant to say, “you are not what we are looking for.” Plain and simple. There are several reasons why an employer will use that overqualified line. However, that line can cause you, the job seeker, a hit in your confidence. After getting that line, you are walking out thinking you are overqualified for a job you are qualified for. You start searching for jobs with either less or more requirements and you can easily end up in a job that doesn’t satisfy you.

As a job seeker, you need to know what you are applying for and if in fact you qualify for that position. Only you can determine whether or not you qualify based on your evaluation of the company culture and what you can offer to them.

It used to be believed that when an employer stated that a candidate was overqualified, they were referring to their age. According to a post by Starflight Corporation, it’s not necessarily about age but a lot about how the employer’s hiring manager who may feel threatened by the candidate being more skilled than them or in making a “bad hire” decision. Hiring managers can be reprimanded for costing the company money with “bad hires.”

Here’s a scenario to consider: At an interview that is going well, the employer asks, “don’t you think you are overqualified for this position?” How do you answer a question about being qualified? You simply showcase to them how you can take on several roles with your many talents. This appeals to the employer that you are worth the investment as in the long run, you’ll be saving them a lot of money. I think this question is great because they want to know what you determined from your evaluation of the company and what you can offer them.

However, if they give you this line as the reason behind why you weren’t hired, ask them for constructive feedback and/or simply end the conversation on a positive note. Believe me, you do not want to be disappointed, if anything be happy. If an employer can’t give you honest feedback and be honest with you in your face, then it’s not a place you want to work at in the first place.

As you go out there, stay confident and do not let that ugly myth near your confidence!