Go! Canada! Go!

A few weeks ago, the town of Banff, here in Alberta, hosted a Block Party to celebrate, congratulate, and wish all the best to our Olympian's heading off to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. My girlfriend and I had the marvelous opportunity to partake in the event and enjoy a wonderful snow day in the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Our original plan was to just head out to the quiet mountain town to meet some friends and enjoy a nice weekend out, completely oblivious to there actually being an Olympic party in the first place. Word of mouth got around however and as we found out about the event and we decided to venture off early Saturday morning in a snowstorm to take in as much as we could.

We arrived early enough that it wasn't very busy in Banff at the time. But the organizers had already shut down Main Street, and the volunteers and staff buzzed around trying to finish up the preparations. This was a marvelous opportunity for us to take a beautiful snowy walk down the streets and visit all shops which were open. Stopping to grab a coffee first of course, the morning was full of sled dogs, candy shops, and gorgeous views. Just after noon, the event really started to pick up and more people arrived to brave the cold and fill the streets. It was like a beehive with all of the people moving about, and with so much energy in the air, you could barely feel the cold. Several hours later we had seen interviews with Canadian Olympians, enjoyed amazing performances from both the Arkells and the Sheep Dogs, and had our picture taken with a moose mascot. It was a wonderful day to lead into a great evening with incredible friends.

With the 2014 Sochi Olympics right around the corner, I want to wish the most amazing experience and success for all of our Canadian Olympians who are attending the games. I'll be watching and cheering them on. So should you! Go Canada Go!

On Communication

I want to talk about the importance of communication from my point of view and as a student. It is a topic and area which I have focused heavily on, looking to improve my ability to communicate coming back to school.

As this is a heavily talked about topic, it's more from my point of view. My view on how important and significant it is has been for me to have not only skills in communication, but to be ambitious in wanting to communicate. The communication topic is always something that comes up as course matter, and the more I talk to others about it, the ability to communicate in general is becoming ever more important. Especially in terms of continuing into the career aspect of life. I am constantly hearing that employer's are looking for employees who can effectively communicate.

As this is my second venture in post-secondary education, a lot has changed since the last time I sat in a classroom environment and actually thought about how I communicate. Some of my newest friends can attest to this fact, especially as I've developed the habit to be opinionated. I get feedback both positively and negatively in terms of being opinionated, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But it's not only about having an opinion though that I have found to be such an asset. I've developed and inquisitive mind and invested time in learning, and found that this has helped promote further education and understanding. Through asking questions and joining discussions, not only has it given me a new purpose and appreciation for being back in school, but it has allowed me to realize a real skill and strength in communication.

Now not everyone is so readily open to discussions and posing questions. It really does come down to people as individuals, and where their comfort levels are. The biggest point that I'm trying to make, is that as a mature student back in school again, I can't stress enough about how important it is to want to communicate. Read books, newspapers, ask questions and generally just get involved with what's going on around you. Reading another persons blog is even a great step. Even if you don't care particularly much about a topic, take the time out of your life to maybe learn something about a new topic, because it obviously interests someone. And taking that time to listen and partake in another persons experience is what communicating is all about, and it really shows.

Video Blog 1: Dream Career

This is my first video blog. It's been made in cooperation with my Marketing You class at SAIT Polytechnic. The aim of the course is personal development and how to market yourself as a potential employee when making a move into the career world. This video acts as the first assignment of many.

The video gives insight to what I would ultimately like to do, which works out more as a 30 year plan more than anything. Everything in between is what the focus should really been on. With the time restrictions and date requirements, I don't quite feel like it's as refined or polished as it could be. Feel free to look into it though as I would love to hear from others and what you might think of it. I'll be aiming for improvement on my next video blog hopefully coming in the next few weeks.

Going Back to School

Some deliberation and discussion has occurred since Bright Sprites' first blog post the other day. It has come to my attention that I haven't really given a purpose to these posts. Though that isn't entirely true as I did touch one some basics. I feel however as though the attitude was rather vague. So I'm going to get more specific.

Let's give some direction to this magic carpet ride. Returning to school as a mature student.

Not the first to do it, nor is it an original idea. But it's a story which many individuals like myself have stumbled upon, and telling mine might provide some insight and encouragement for others. And Bright Sprites can still act as a host and allow my to achieve multiple objectives.

Now the next issue is, where do I start with this topic? Let's look at how I maybe got here to start. I come from a wonderful family who's experienced a multitude of hardships. Every single one of us I love dearly. However cancer and divorce among my immediate and direct family played significant roles in shaping my personality through my teen years. Both myself and my sister were perfect candidates for becoming a problem children and developing incredibly poor habits. Somehow we made it through, but not without everything that had happened playing a strong role in effecting my motivation and decision making through high school. That is in terms of grades and academic performance. At least for me. My sister on the other hand did fine. But for me it meant I would barely graduate going into the adult world.

I went straight into the working world. I worked in a kitchen for some amount of time and learned an incredible amount about both work and life. Restaurant folk are crazy. If you have ever been one you can probably relate. Shortly there after I decided that that life definitely wasn't for me and decided to go to school to become a pilot. I spent 5 years upgrading my courses and chasing that dream. First achieving my private pilot license, I then enrolled in the Mount Royal College - Commercial Aviation program shortly thereafter. I can't even begin to describe the amount of pressure which I felt. It felt as though it was an overwhelming expectation to succeed from my friends and family. Whether or not that actually was the case or not, financial and family problems began to pop up at all the wrong times, and in the end resulted in me dropping from the program. Short of reaching my goal of being a Commercial Pilot.

I was working as a flight dispatcher at the time with the local flight school, where I had done my Private Pilot training. With all I had experienced and learned, I decided that I wasn't going to give up. Recuperating motivation and savings, I went back to finishing what I had started and by the end of the 2011 summer, I was fully licensed as a Commercial Pilot with all of the additional ratings I had set out to achieve. However this was not without developing some concern of what I was going to do in the real world now that I had achieved what I had set out to do. I didn't want to be a pilot anymore, there was something more that I felt I was missing.

Job chasing and word of mouth led me to my next adventure. Oil and Gas. What Alberta boy doesn't someday end up in the military or working in oil and gas at some point really? This job is where I learned the most. Developing a strong respect for responsibilities, and honing in on strengthening my work ethic, I achieved and succeeded in my new found job. But it was still just a job to me.

It's all been a whirlwind of events really.

And that is how I find myself back in post secondary learning today. I wanted to find the next piece of my puzzle. One sleepless night turned in to me enrolling back in school and focusing on business. I wont lie, I still don't really know what I want to do. But I've got a pretty good idea of where I want to go. With all of that being said, I can look forward to sharing my experiences of being back. I will aim to share with you inspiration with how not knowing what to do, isn't all that bad. Should be a fun adventure.

Where It All Starts

Let me start by introducing myself. Hi! My name is Aaron, first and foremost I am a mature student. Maybe. Some people that I know might disagree. I am currently enrolled in a Business Administration and Marketing program at SAIT Polytechnic Institution in Calgary Alberta, Canada. Yup I'm Canadian! Coming from a background of various industries, I've had experience in food services, oil and gas, auto racing, sales, and aviation. In fact at one point I had a current Commercial Pilot License. Going back to school again is my attempt at adding that next puzzle piece of my life and career. Previously I've even taken a stab at this blogging thing before, but to no avail. So here we go again, only with much greater of intentions of success this time around.

There are hidden implications to this blog as well, as I intend on using this as a battleground to express my opinions and ideas on various things and elaborate on experience, Bright Sprites will facilitate and host a series of components for one of my courses. But not only use it as a reason to host school assignments, I plan on using as many resources attributing to social media as possible to assist in the ultimate goal of marketing myself. Oh how cliche' one might say! Despite that fact, I'm going to be making the attempt regardless. If the resources are there, why not use them I say. And I encourage your feedback most of all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Ultimately I want to provide something which some people can relate to and find beneficial.

Accompanying this blog, I'm also on twitter! And instagram, youtube and all of that other social media goodness. You can find me @aaronkadatz I will also link other accounts when applicable.

I drink beer, I race cars, I've flown planes, I'm a gamer, I enjoy and play music, and overall take in as much of life as I possibly can. Taking into consideration all of these factors, I will share as much as I feel is necessary. So take from it as much as you can and relate, debate and communicate!

By the end of this week stay tuned for my first video-blog going over my Dream Career!