Monday, January 17, 2011

I got an interview!!

So, recently, there was an ad for a long term sub at a school near where I live. I decided to try for it. I hadn't been getting any calls or anything from anywhere I applied to so my mom suggested I rewrite my cover letter and resume. We spent hours on it, so finally I just took the chance and sent it out with the changes.

Well, it must have been exactly what I needed because I heard back from the school that week and they scheduled an interview. I did it this afternoon.

I was so nervous. It was the first interview I had done before (for teaching anyway) so I had no idea what to expect. I spent hours reading an article about questions they typically ask and the article listed examples of what NOT to say and what TO say. So I was feeling pretty good about myself.

But of all those questions I spent so many hours formulating answers to....they only asked one of them at the interview. They didn't ask any others. I had no idea what to say. And I also forgot to come up with questions to ask. On the fly, I decided to ask about the mission statement. I couldn't find it anywhere. When I asked they said, "Oh...it's on the school district's website." I definitely didn't see it. So then I tried to redeem myself for sounding dumb and asked what kind of curriculum they use..they refused to tell me. So I tried to compliment the principal's tie....he was not amused.

So anyway, I don't feel that I really did very well. The interviewers seemed really unfriendly, they didn't even ask how I was doing when I introduced myself....and they made me feel really dumb when I asked questions. They didn't seem interested in my answers at all. My theory is that they already had someone in mind and were just doing this as a formality. I'm pretty sure I didn't get the job. We'll have to see when they send the letter in a few weeks.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy 2011

So I know it's been a looong time since I've written anything (the xmas season was kinda crazy!). Anyway just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2011!!

My new year started off great! After xmas, my family and I went to Albany, NY to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert. It was pretty much the most awesome show ever! It was the second time I'd seen them. Maybe it'll become a xmas tradition! Anyway, it was great! And during one part of the show, they played a song that was originally written when the band was called "Savatage"....so one person in the audience all of a sudden screamed at the top of his lungs, "SAVATAGE!!!" so my brother and I (and the other 15 people who knew Savatage) screamed in response. It was great. Then when the band members introduced themselves, they mentioned the band Savatage and asked who the Savatage fans were...so we all screamed again! It was great.

Anyway for those of you confused by that, here's a breif history lesson. In the 80's and 90's, there was a band called Savatage. Their vocalist was Jon Oliva (who was replaced by Zak Stevens when he had trouble with his voice). Like most bands, the instramentalists changed regularly, however, most notable instramentalists were: Chris Chaffery (who plays guitar now with TSO), Johnny Lee Middleton (who played bass with Savatage and TSO), Jeff Plate (Drummer for Savatage and TSO) and Al Pitrelli (another guitarist who played for a bunch of bands including Savatage and TSO). In 1995, Savatage released an album called "Dead Winter Dead" which was a story about two countries fighting in a war (Bosnia and Serbia). The album contained a xmas song on it (The Ukranian Bell Carol) that they recorded with their own little twist (it was a heavier version of the song with drums and electric guitars) and they called it "Christmas Eve in Sarajevo." Well, it turned out that people LOVED the song and it ocurred to them that they should do more of these songs. Hence, the beginning of Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 1996!! Savatage disbanded around 2001 or so. Most of the band members went on to work with TSO while the vocalists moved on to work on solo projects.

That being said....the beginning of 2011 started off rockin' out at another concert! For my xmas present, Mike bought me tickets to see a band that I like, Halestorm. They played in Philly in this cute little theatre called the Trocedero on New Years Eve. It was SO much fun!!! Three bands opened for them: A local philly band, a band from North Carolina, and a band called New Medicine (who is actually kind of famous). We were up on the balcony where we were drinking at the bar just about all night! At midnight, the lead singer, Lizzy Hale, stopped the band and we all did a countdown and a toast to 2011! Then, after the show, Mike and I stayed behind to meet the band members, get their autogarphs and get a picture with them! Lizzy Hale was so sweet! And she gave me a HUG!! It was the greatest thing ever!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!