#personal evaluation

Any advice? Tips? Rec's on what to include/exclude? Input from Bitch Nation? Googling isn't proving helpful, so I feel like I'm going in blind, and the coworkers I'd be willing to ask are in different roles so I can't really borrow from their old ones.

We got you, baby!

Consider your self-evaluation for your performance review as your time to brag, guilt-free. Pretend to be your own hype man! Talk about how fucking awesome you are, all the shit you've accomplished! Even if what you've accomplished is "mastered X skill" and "completed Y project." You want to show that you have done the job, and if you can, that you've done it WELL.

If it's easier, put that shit in bullet lists under the categories of "skills mastered," "projects completed," "productivity increased," "revenue increased," stuff like that.

Oh, and end the meeting by asking for a fuckin raise. You deserve it.

Hope that helps, kitten. We're rooting for you!

My Secret Weapon for Preparing for Awkward Boss Confrontations 

I often think back to when I was first telling my parents about him, shortly after we started speaking. “Sounds a bit too good to be true” was a frequently expressed sentiment - one that even echoed in my own head at the beginning. 

I have a great relationship with my mother, but over the last couple years I’ve realized how much of a natural pessimist she can be. It always came from a place of love, but she would say everything she could to rephrase what she was really thinking: “What does someone that successful see in you?” Okay so maybe that sounds pretty awful, but after some reflection I know exactly what she meant by it all. Originally I was hurt by the comments she would make, but it came from a place of concern - she didn’t want to see me get hurt. I guess it always resonated a little more deeply for me, because it dug into insecurities I had about my own success in life so far.

“So what do you do for work?” comes up a lot as I try and make new friends and connections in a new country. The easiest answer is that I can’t legally work yet until immigration things are processed. The real answer is that I have every intention of being a homemaker and a stay at home mother. Sometimes it’s easier to say that I didn’t go to any post-secondary school, because in my head it sounds better than admitting that I’ve dropped out of several programs when I never really found my “thing”. The hardest times are going to work events with my husband where I struggle to make conversation as topics way beyond my comprehension come up. I keep half-expecting someone to turn to my husband and ask him “so did you become aware that your wife doesn’t know calculus before, or after you got married?” 

But you know what? That’s totally my hill to get over. I’ve never actually gotten that impression from anyone except my mother and my own self-consciousness. You know what I am really good at? Cooking, baking, and being a wife to my husband in the ways that work best for our relationship. My husband eases my fears and insecurities damn near constantly, and he’s never made me feel lesser for all the paranoia I have. He didn’t want to marry a female version of himself. He wants me, and all the things that I can uniquely bring to our dynamic. 

My blog has been going through a bit of an identity crisis over the last few months. I’m taking steps to foster my pride over the things I know I can do really well, and a lot of that translates to traditional femininity and house-wifery. Instead of trying to shove myself into the box of “career woman” I never fit in to begin with, I want to flourish in the skills and life that I love and can help provide for those I love. I really look forward to the return of more appreciation going towards women who decide to support their husbands and look after their children at home (no shame intended to working women, stay at home dads, double career households - but tell me honestly that society doesn’t look at women who stay home as women who have “given up” on their own lives instead of a calling in its own regard).

Personal Evaluation

At first when we discovered what the brief was, I found it really exciting that we were going to be doing something ‘hands on’ as opposed to digital. I felt that this was a nice break from all the digital work we have previously done, but still showed me that graphic design doesn’t necessarily all have to be done on a computer. The one part of this brief that I have probably found the most interesting, and helpful to me, is task 4 – ‘Area of Practice’. I have really enjoyed researching into this, as it has helped me discover what I am passionate about. It has led to me finding about different companies, and even contacting them and having a conversation about their approach to graphic design. I am so pleased that I now have a clear mind heading into second year about what discipline I would like to go into, and consequently my work can then be pivoted around this. Through this module I have also started to promote myself as a designer – through setting up a Behance account with some of the pieces of work I am proud of, and I am also starting to do some branding work for a client. I am finding this all really exciting, and it is helping me to enhance my skills and bulk up my portfolio.

 For the first task of redesigning a book I chose to do Frankenstein. Having previously read it numerous times, I had a clear vision of how I wanted the book to appear. I wanted to make the book look very tactile, and ‘put together’ to represent the physicality of the monster. Within the novel there is also a notebook of Frankenstein’s, which can also be used as a reference to the appearance of my book. As a twist on the novel, I chose to add a feminine touch to my book. This was achieved by turning the monster into a female, and having highlights of purple throughout my book. When it came to binding the book, I did not feel that any of the techniques I had learnt in workshops were appropriate. This is because they are all very neat and slick, and my book is the opposite. Instead, I chose to just simply tie the pages together using string.

 The environment was the theme for my second book, because it is something that I care about and I believe that everyone should play their part in protecting our world. I had quite a bit of fun while creating this book, because of the thought process that has gone into it. The positioning of the pages corresponds to the position of the continents on the globe, and each statistic on that page relates to the continent. Originally, I thought about doing this book digitally, as a way of enhancing my skills however after a discussion with my tutor she said to not think that I HAVE to do something digital, but to do what feels appropriate. After this I then decided to do the book physically, again making it tactile. I feel this is more appropriate now when reflecting on the situation, because I chose to have recycled materials incorporated into my book. This book did not take as long as to produce as I was expecting, therefore it meant that I could take my time and focus on the details.

 A particular feature of this module I have enjoyed has been the numerous lectures we have been given about the core principles within graphic design. I believe that these have helped me gain a well rounded understanding of the principles, that I can now apply within my work. Understandably those that are already aware of these principles may not have found this as interesting as me, however personally I found it extremely insightful. These lectures should definitely be included next year!

 If there is anything that I could change about my books, I would probably have liked to have taken advantage of the print room a bit more. It would have been nice to have produced a hand crafted book full of skills from the print room. Of course I have attended many a workshop over the year, so I have an understanding of the techniques, but I have not yet used them in my work. Hopefully in second year I will be able to produce some work using these techniques; such as screen printing. If not, perhaps in my free-time I can book some sessions and build up a portfolio of work.  

 Something I feel I have improved on this module is my decisiveness. I have been able to work on something and then decide myself when it is time to stop and move onto the next aspect. This is a skill that has developed since the last module. Also, throughout the year I have also learnt to talk confidently about my work. This module has defiantly proved that I can talk knowledgably about the work I have done – for example, in feedback sessions and in a more recent presentation session. Now, if someone asks me a question about my work I can confidently answer giving reasons, and justifying the choices I made.

 Overall, through first year I have gained many skills that I have not realised until this point. To name a few:

 ·      I now have a solid understanding of the Adobe software

·      I have learnt print and binding skills

·      I can talk confidently about my work

·      I have started to promote myself in a professional manner

·      I have begun to do freelance work for clients, using the branding skills I learnt in module 3

·      I also have a clear direction in which I want my work to go in for second year

*This post was originally written for a profession site where I am a contributor, but I do feel that the questions be beneficial for parents, students, or families as a whole to work through in evaluating the school year and preparing for another year. Simply take out the word teacher and substitute the word parent, kid, or family instead. (I am using higher level thinking this summer). I wish…