Will Aaron Hernandez play again?

Will the former New England Patriot play football in the NFL again?

My vote is sadly yes.  As you might know, Hernandez was arrested today at his home for the connection of. Murder of his friend.  From the evidence that have been made public, there is no way he is getting out of this.  

Another question is, if Ray Lewis can come back and win a Superbowl, what's stopping Hernandez?   

Apparently Kraft and the Patriots have a sense of morals by releasing him.  However it's still okay for them to cheat the league and such (asterisks please!).  I honestly think, given two years, he is coming back to play professional football for a team that is in need of a tough TE.  

What's amazing is that this guy is not even a year older than me and has that huge house an had a multimillion dollar contract and still decided to do something so stupid, he is going to loose it all.  Typical.

 Someone just rocked their own world!  

(Picture below is from NASA)

The Job Hunt: Strategy

Just this week, I have formally started my job hunt.

Scary, I know.

I am trying to be organized, but yet efficient about it.  I have done several things already to stay focused, stay determined, and stay ahead of the game.

First, I opened my iCalendar and scheduled time where I am focusing on my job search.  I selected from 9 to 11am each weekday for the morning session.  For the afternoon, I put down 12:30pm to 5:30pm.  This way, I get gilt reminders when I am off doing something else that I should be looking for a job.  I have done this before with my senior project back in college, where I needed to work on it independently, but regularly.

My Schedule; Its a full time job looking for one!

Second, I have been keeping a journal of the steps that I have taken during my job searching times.  I start each day with the date, and make a note of each job I applied for.  I make sure I put done, the title of the position, the company and geological place it would be, where I found the job (linkedin, monster, careerbuilder, etc.) and several tidbits of the job posting like the qualifications and keypoints of why I fit the position.  I am doing this all because its relatively quick to do and I can also use it for when I hear back from a company, but can't find the actual posting anymore.

I can also use this journal as a way to see that I am making progress.  I can see what I have done today and motivate myself that I need to do more.  It can also be used as a way to justify that you have been working on searching for jobs and not just playing games, in case someone asks (like your parents).

The last thing that I haven't quite done, but working towards is a way to develop my resume and become more competitive in the job market.  Every day after graduation, your degree's value is decreasing slightly.  So far, I am registering to take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE exam) in late October.  I am also currently in the research phase of looking for other ways to add value.  I am thinking of taking on a hobby of some kind.  I'm thinking of designing something practicing my mechanical knowledge or working through some problems using MatLab.

Let me know if any of you have any suggestions or advice.

Two Regrets of My Career!

For those who are still in high school or in college, you need to do two major things: Network and intern.

Linkedin.com is a great place to start your networking and search!

First, network around town all the time.  Become friends with your friends' parents.  You can learn a lot through this.  Ask about their career, how they started and what made it possible to be where they are now.

Second, find a meaningful internship.  It gives you credibility, adds depth to your resume, and can potentially get you a full time position after your education.  It might take some time to develop this, but again, network around and you can find opportunities.

All in all, stay in the game, be creative, and always push further.

Good luck.
 

Dangerous Jobs: Professional Hockey Player or Soldier

The Florida Panther's player Krys Barch was asked on his opinion about the NHL's efforts to reduce collisions and head injuries.  His response was pretty rough.

To paraphrase, he thinks it is okay for professional hockey players to deal with the dangers of the game, such as concusions.  He claims its a dangerous was to make a living, but it is a way to make a living.  Barch refers to the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and how they are not getting compensated as much as them and are risking it all.

Barch makes some good points.  These soldiers are risking a lot for our country and for the world's peace.  However, I do stand by the NHL's moves to make the game safer to play.  It is enjoyable to watch big hits, but watching guys getting paralyzed isn't really all that cool too.

In the NFL, there is a lot of pressure to do something about the head injuries coming from retired and not-so-retired players where the neglegence and profit made from the sacrifice of these players' bodies is getting rediculous.  Another arguement in this case, is that even children in elementary school are getting concusions through football.  Just recently, there was a study conducted that linked impacts of pop-warner aged kids to those in College games.  For a mind and body that is still growing and learning, these type of injuries are quite alarming.

Science and the billions of dollars that go to these games should help make it safer to enjoy and play at all levels.