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true colors test, personality, leadership
True Colors Personality Test
 True Colors Personality Test 800 800 SnehaSuri
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Ever wonder what kind of leader you are? The true colors test fills us in! Each color (4 in total) is assigned to a different kind of leadership style. Are you a green (analytical), blue (emotional), gold (organized) or orange (impulsive) leader? How do you prefer to tackle different tasks? What color are you and how well do you mix with other colors? Take the test and see for yourself how accurate your results are! See the links below.

Click here for the TEST

Click here for SCORING RESULTS

 

The Best Career Advice You Ever Got
 The Best Career Advice You Ever Got 275 183 MPatton
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The best career advice I ever received, I got from my best friend. I was just starting out freelancing and I thought I must be crazy for leaving a steady-paying but difficult job. Am I supposed to convince people to pay me to just write stuff all day? Apparently, yes.

“Just pretend you’re good at it. Eventually, you will be.” She made it so simple.  I’m not confident in my coding skills, but I can say with confidence that I’m willing to learn and have the equipment to do so. My first job rolled in and soon, I was surprised at how fast pretending to be good at my job meant I eventually became good at it.

Pretending you’re good at your job doesn’t mean lie on your resume – far from it. For me, it meant embracing the things I could learn from as much as it meant selling the skills I had. For example, an interviewer asks you this question:

What experience do you have with collaborative software?

Right, Answer: I have experience with Slack, but I’m interested in learning other platforms.

Wrong Answer: I only know of Slack but I don’t use it much.

See the difference?

More than just a poster, it's great career advice.

Great advice for any situation.

But so what, right? Now you’re confident but you’re still not an expert on collaborative software. You don’t need to be. Take time and back up your confidence. Look up tutorials for other software programs and platforms. Familiarize yourself with the basic who, what, how, why and you’ll have confidence going forward. I’ve noticed the more I go on, the less I’m pretending. It was really helpful advice.

United EVENTures CEO and President, Will Leggett’s best career advice is simple and straightforward: Figure out what you love to do in life and then figure out a way to get paid to do it. You will never work a day in your life that way.

Our Director of Program Development, Brian Rendine shares his best career advice: Do something that you love and you will never work a day in your life. I had an Irish Christian Brother in high school teach me Spanish for three straight years, Br. Sheridan, and he not only passed that good advice to me, but also was a living example of how when you love what you do, it’s not work.

Our redditors have also shared heir answers with us:

  • Document your wins and tell your boss about it OFTEN, not just during your annual performance review.
  • My best advice was work your butt off for something you’re passionate to achieve. Having done this I’ve accelerated quite quickly in my chosen career which is surprising for my age. I’ve only realized this was good advice 3 years later when it paid off.
  • Listen, don’t just hear. It is amazing what you will learn when your mouth is closed and ears are attentive.

So tell us in the comments, what’s the best career advice you ever got?

things to do, jersey, weekend, getaway, activities, camping, flea market, lambertville, new hope, princeton
Spotlight on the Sunlight: Jobs that get you Outdoors
 Spotlight on the Sunlight: Jobs that get you Outdoors 960 635 MPatton
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One of my first real jobs out of college had me sitting in a cubicle (yes, the dreaded cubicle) facing a wall that was painted a bright, cheerful yellow. The sunny yellow of the wall didn’t do much to mitigate the fact that I wasn’t  seeing actual sunlight.

If that weekend itch to get out into nature, go hiking, kayaking, or just hang out with friends around a bonfire starts to become a week-long sting, a career in the great outdoors may be calling you. A lot of outdoor careers are in the sciences or recreation but you don’t have to be field botanist or a survival expert to find a career that incorporates the outdoors and your interests.

Sports Instructors:

Ski and snowboard instructors usually work in the hospitality industry or for a sports complex or training center. Instructor roles tend to rely more on history and experience than educational background. Ski and snowboard instructors generally also assist with trail maintenance and ski patrol and instruct people at all levels of ability. IMG_0135Instructors will need a good skill level and a working knowledge of gear, environment, and terrain, as well as weather patterns.

Gardening:

Gardening, landscaping, and running a nursery or greenhouse can get the sun on your back and the dirt under your fingernails. If you’re interested in running your own small business, this could be the opportunity you’re looking for. Owning and operating a landscaping company or a nursery gives a people person with a natural sales talent the opportunity to work outside, be creative, and work with people.

Nature Guides:

If hiking, trekking, and camping is your thing look into being an outdoor or recreational guide. Outdoor guides may require certification in certain areas like white water rafting and wilderness first aid. Nature guides work in a myriad of businesses: hospitality, travel, scouting, summer camps and with corporate outing ventures, much like United Eventures, to get groups of people from all walks of life engaged in outdoor activities.

Photography:bonfire

Nature and art are closely entwined. Nature and wildlife photography can take you outside in a variety of landscapes and environments. Photography can be a dynamic and adventurous complimentary career; it’s not uncommon for guides and sports instructors to use body cameras to capture film and stills of their stunts, guide trips, and treks for promotional purposes. If you’re more of a people person, wedding and family photography can give you the opportunity to see new and interesting locations while helping families create memories to last a lifetime.

Environmental Impact:

Working in the green industry can take you outside for a cause. Surveying, forestry, and Ranger positions can keep you poised to make an environmental impact. A career in forestry allows you to help manage and clear forests in a sustainable and restorative way and promotes conservation, restoration, and stewardship of public and private lands. Some jobs in forestry require a Bachelor’s Degree or two-year certification. Some ranger positions require a background in law enforcement while others are geared towards educating the public on things like wildlife, outdoor safety, and environmental impact.

Better than a sun lamp.

Better than a sun lamp.

Volunteer!

Not everybody can just ditch their day job and run off into the sunset after going all Office Space on the fax machine. Find a project or nonprofit agency that gets you outdoors and giving back. Volunteer for a team clean of your local park, or assist with trail maintenance on popular local hiking trails. If you’re interested in finding volunteer opportunities by you, check out VolunteerMatch or with your state or local parks and recreation department for what volunteer opportunities are available.

 

If the mountains are calling and that sunlamp on your desk isn’t doing you any favors, get out there. The world is waiting.

rio, olympics, opening ceremony, nbc, live, coverage
What to Expect from The Rio Opening Ceremonies: And Why They Won’t Be Covered Live
 What to Expect from The Rio Opening Ceremonies: And Why They Won’t Be Covered Live 960 640 Emilie
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I love the Olympics. Every time Olympic season rolls around I get excited about the new emerging athletes, my favorite returning athletes, and our best competitive teams. Although there has been a lot of concern about Rio as a host country, it does provide one benefit: the Rio time zone is only one hour ahead of Eastern Time. That means that we should be able to get loads of live coverage- right? Well, kind of.

Why the Opening Ceremonies Won’t Be Shown Live

NBC is marketing their Olympic coverage as “The Most Live Olympics Ever.” What does this mean? As Awful Announcing and Philly.com explain, it means that not all coverage is live, but that there is more live coverage than ever before. Specifically, there is over 6,000 hours worth: some of it available on your TV, and some is available through NBC’s app. The one thing that isn’t live? The Opening Ceremonies.

As you may know, the past two Olympic Opening Ceremonies (London and Sochi) have not been covered live. The last ceremonies we watched live were in 2010 for the Vancouver Olympics. The ceremonies this Friday will be shown on NBC at 8 PM Eastern Time, but would be shown at 7 PM if they were covered live. 7 PM certainly does not seem like a bad time to show the ceremonies, so why are we waiting until 8 PM to actually broadcast them?

NBC is offering three primary reasons for delaying the opening ceremonies:

  1. More people can watch the ceremonies if they are broadcasted during prime time.
  2. Most people like the added commentary and storylines that NBC can edit in if the ceremonies are shown at a delayed time.
  3. NBC has a responsibility to their shareholders to include commercials in the broadcast. If shown live, commercials could not be added without cutting out parts of the ceremonies.

While some understand the viewpoints of NBC, others are still frustrated that NBC has the chance to edit our viewing experience. Perhaps the most frustrating thing for the latter group is that NBC is not providing any way to watch the coverage live- even on your laptops. NBC believes that it is their right to benefit their shareholders to the best of their abilities, especially considering the great cost it will take for them to cover the Olympics.

What to Expect at the Opening Ceremonies

So what should we expect during the ceremonies? According to Chicago Tribune, the ceremony will emphasize the originality of Brazil, going back to the country’s roots. Thousands of dancers will make an appearance, and some speculate that rollerbladers will be present (When The Rio Times called for volunteer auditions, it announced the Olympic organizing committee’s search for dancers, rollerbladers and singers).

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen (wife of Tom Brady) will be a part of the show, and The Daily Mail expects it to be the “Sexiest Opening Ceremonies Ever.” In exceptional Brazilian fashion, tributes will be made to the rainforest and Carnival. Despite a budget that’s only a fraction of London’s Opening Ceremonies, it’s sure to be a show impossible to miss.

 

This “Healing the Children” Volunteer will Give You a New Outlook on Life
 This “Healing the Children” Volunteer will Give You a New Outlook on Life 932 621 Emilie
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Healing the Children New Jersey is a local chapter of Healing the Children, an amazing volunteer organization which provides medical services to children in need, both internationally and domestically. HTCNJ provides these services in many ways- from sending medical prescriptions abroad, to sending entire medical teams to perform operations in countries like South Africa and Panama.

Other times, when international children have especially complex diagnoses, it becomes necessary to bring the child to the United States for extended medical care. This stay can last a few months, or it could even last over a year. During this time, children stay with incredibly generous volunteer host families, who devote their time towards helping children in need.

One such host family is the Alectoridises. Incredibly, this family has hosted children with HTCNJ for over 20 years. Recently, I was lucky enough to talk to Jackie Alectoridis to learn more about some of these amazing experiences that she has had over the past two decades.

What is the most memorable experience you have had with HTCNJ?

Honestly every experience is memorable.  It is hard to just pick one.  I have always felt as though each experience is unique and a miracle in it’s own way.  I have seen burn victims scarred from head to toe share how grateful they are for life!  I have witnessed children who are blind or missing a limb learn survival skills that most adults haven’t learned in a lifetime.  And all of them are happy…..just purely and sincerely happy.  They have all taught me so much about living and have each been a gift in their own way.  I could write a book about each of them.
Can you tell us about one of the children who has stayed with you over the years?
Again, it is difficult to choose one child or story but Lesly’s story is quite a miracle.  Lesly is from the Domincan Republic and comes from a very poor family.  Lesly, like many other family members on her mother’s side, including her mother, brother, aunts, uncles, and cousins was born with cataracts.  This genetic condition would easily have been corrected when Lesly was a baby if she was born in the United States.  But none of Lesly’s family members received corrective surgery and Lesly’s case was worse than any other case in the family.
Lesly was completely blind.  She arrived in the United States when she was 3 years old.  She spent the first day in my home scanning the environment with her hands.  She covered the entire house, touching everything and learning where everything was.  She smelled and licked many things, using her other senses to learn about her new environment.  For a three year old child she was quite independent and a tough cookie.
We were so excited for her first appointment with the eye doctor to see what the process would be to help get this child vision.  Unfortunately the doctor explained that because Lesly had gone without vision for almost 4 years that even if they removed the cataracts her brain may never learn vision.  They went ahead with the surgeries but they were not hopeful.  They performed 3 surgeries.  They removed the cataracts one eye at a time and one last surgery to correct the muscles that were causing her eyes to cross.  After each surgery we waited anxiously for a miracle.  We stood in front of her and waved our hands and held up fingers and prayed for some kind of reaction……but nothing. 
healing the children new jersey, healing the children, charity, medical services, volunteer
One day, several weeks after surgery, our friend’s daughter was playing with Lesly and stuck her toungue out at her.  Lesly mimicked her and stuck her tongue out also!  Just like that….Lesly started to see things.  She was recognizing her reflection in windows and looking at herself in the mirror exclaiming “It’s me!  It’s me!”  She was writing on everything.  Taking crayon and coloring on her own hands and proudly showing everyone the scribbles in the palm of her hand.  She would scribble on table surfaces and then stare closely at her creations for several minutes at a time.   On Halloween she admired her reflection in her witches costume and stared forever examining every piece of a candy in a big bowl.
By the time Lesly left us in her adorable glasses she could tell the difference between pink and purple.  Knowing that there was hope for her to read and write was a miracle.  After Lesly left her little brother Louie also came and received the same surgery and glasses and because he was younger his vision was even better!
Why do you volunteer for HTCNJ and what does HTCNJ mean to you?
Being a host parent is something that is part of me.  Every child that has stayed with me has become a part of my family.  When I think about how each child’s life is changed because of the work that Healing the Children does, I think about my own children and what that would mean to me…..and what it does mean to me because of how much I love each of these children.  One case at a time…..every one is worth it and changes the lives of many and hopefully changes the world for the best.
healing the children new jersey, healing the children, charity, medical services, volunteer
How to Help

People like Jackie have made it possible for the lives of children all around the world to be completely changed. To learn more about the services of HTCNJ, go check out their website. You can help HTCNJ by being a host family yourself, or contact HTCNJ about giving a presentation about the organization at your place of work! Of course, doctors, nurses and translators can also offer to volunteer their services. Or, you can choose to donate: every bit helps, and 90% of all donations go directly to programs and services! Help out this amazing organization today!

sunrise, solstice, morning, new jersey
Why You’re Going to Want to Watch the Sunrise this Week
 Why You’re Going to Want to Watch the Sunrise this Week 960 720 Emilie
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You might think a sunrise is the same any day of the year, but you would actually be mistaken. According to EarthSky, sunrises and sunsets are actually longer in duration close to the winter and summer solstice. That means that within the next 6 months, now is the only time to see such a long sunrise! Not to mention, Wednesday is perfect sunrise weather. The sunrise will occur at 5:25 AM in Oradell, NJ where we at United EVENTures are located, but times will change slightly depending on your location. The morning is supposed to be clear and sunny, and only 63 degrees, so you will feel comfy with a light sweatshirt and cup of coffee.

Thursday will also be a great morning for watching the sunrise. The sunrise will still be longer since we are close to the solstice, but the morning will be partially cloudy. Although it might sound counterintuitive, having some clouds in the sky actually adds more dimension to the sunrise, and will make it prettier to look at. This can especially hold true when a sunrise occurs right before a storm hits. Thursday morning will also be in the low 60s, but beware! It’s supposed to start raining right after sunrise, so you’ll want to get back inside quickly. The Thursday sunrise will also occur around 5:25 AM.

Additionally, starting Thursday morning you should keep your eye out for a daytime moon. This is because the moon will have entered its waning gibbous phase, in which the moon will not travel the same path as the sun during the day. The daytime moon will be seen throughout the end of June and throughout July, but once August 2nd hits it will disappear once again.