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Ed Davies ‹ EF Academy Blog

<p>At the age of 16, I set myself some New Year’s Resolutions. In the space of a year, I was to get a six-pack, find myself a girlfriend and get into a proper fight. It has been a fair number of years since then, and I’m largely thankful that at least one of those things has never happened. I don’t even know what I thought I was going to achieve with a six-pack. We use New Year’s Resolutions to channel a sense of self-improvement and progression through the year, as we seek to improve our health (six-pack), try something new (girlfriend), or learn a skill (fighting). Putting my juvenile attempt at self-improvement aside, New Year’s Resolutions can play a large part in the way that people choose to live out their year, and the ways we go about completing them say a lot about us as people.</p>
<p>Now that it’s a few months into the year, is anyone keeping up with their resolutions? Here in the EF Academy office, it’s a pretty mixed bag. One individual, despite having set it as their only resolution, has now decided that they will finish building their flatpack furniture as soon as they reach a point when they get bored of eating dinner sitting on the floor. One of my colleagues has managed to read a book a week so far, although they admit that their early success may quickly turn to failure as soon as they fall behind.</p>
<p>It’s fairly clear that we struggle to design our New Year’s Resolutions without essentially setting ourselves up to fail almost immediately. While they allow us to define what we want to achieve, they also force us to accept what we cannot. Goal-setting is very important, and I will always encourage others to push themselves to try new things and grow as a person, but it is also important to remember why we set these goals, rather than completing them for the sake of the goal. Are you reading a book a week to see how many books you can read or to expand your literary horizons? You might find reading Les Misérables once will teach you more than reading 52 Twilight fanfictions.</p>
<p>So, what can you do? Set small, manageable, short-term goals that allow you to see regular results while also encouraging you to push yourself further. A year is both a long time and short time, so see what you can do but don’t set yourself a deadline for something that might take two or three years. Create positive goals, not negative ones. Life is far too short to ban yourself from carbs and chocolate but only eating them once a week might keep you alive a bit longer. Finally, don’t take it too seriously. Try something new and see how you get on. You might end up enjoying yourself.</p>

Life is far too short to ban yourself from carbs and chocolate but only eating them once a week might keep you alive a bit longer.

New Year, new me? - EF Academy Blog

New Year, new me? ‹ EF Academy Blog

New Year, new me?

New year me

<p><em>Zhanming Wang graduated from <a href="https://www.efacademy.org/new-york/">EF Academy New York</a> in 2018. We caught up recently to talk about his gap year, his current projects, and his time at high school.</em></p>
<h3>What have you been doing since you graduated?</h3>
<p>I took a gap year. It was a strategic decision for me because my situation was complicated and special. I was trying to start a company in high school called Knit’d. It’s a trading/social media app I was developing with my roommate Renato. We were investing a lot of time into it so I couldn’t really study for my SATs at that time and apply to college. I made the decision to take a gap year to try to learn machine learning for myself. I want to further this app with a strong backend that can analyze user data. That was part of the reason; I wanted to get the app ready as soon as possible.</p>
<h3>Were you entrepreneurial before you came to EF Academy?</h3>
<p>I think it really started in EF Academy. I was given the opportunity to start and organize my own events and I really enjoyed that process. My interest in managing all the little details carried over to my interest to start a company by myself or just a personal project. I don’t think I had that interest or the ability to do that before EF Academy.</p>
<h3>What were your favorite memories of EF Academy?</h3>
<p>I wanted to organize so many events and the staff always helped me with it. Emily Aquina was amazing for that. I wanted to organize a blood drive and I went to her and said what I wanted to do and she just said “How many people, how many buses and when?”. I organized three blood drives in the end. We got so many students signed up and we took them all to White Plains hospital. The hospital loved us and the students felt very satisfied about the whole process and what they could provide for the community.</p>
<p>I also organized a cancer walk for breast cancer. I found an event online and got in contact with them and brought a group to join a walkathon. Some others joined in volunteering for the event, handing out water and things like that. I was personally volunteering in White Plains Hospital as well because I wanted to be a doctor. After that volunteering I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be a doctor but it was still great to do.</p>
<h3>What’s next for you?</h3>
<p>I’m majoring in Math and Computer Science at UCSD. It fits perfectly into my plan to study machine learning because at its base it’s all math and algorithms. Self-studying machine learning in my gap year helped me a lot, as it equipped me with good basic skills for analyzing data. I’ll be actively seeking research and internship opportunities as soon as possible. My experience will put me one step ahead those students who have come straight from high school and will put me at an advantage. By getting into those labs and internships early, I will have one more year head start to develop relationships and start publishing work.</p>
<h3>Do you have any advice for current students?</h3>
<p>Get involved as much as possible. Try to join activities, either school-led or peer-led. If you have an idea, talk to the activities coordinator, they’ll make it happen. It’s a cool process and you can learn a lot from it. That’s a unique opportunity that EF Academy has: you can start your own activities. That’s it really, you shouldn’t just focus on academics because extra-curricular activities are one of the core elements of the US studying experience.</p>
<h3>What was your proudest achievement at EF Academy?</h3>
<p>I would say it’s the amount of friends I had, but also the amount of quality friends I had. I got to know a lot of friends at EF Academy. I was able to keep in contact with them after high school even though they are all over the world. One time I went to Korea and met up with a friend. I went to Vietnam, and had a friend. It’s a pretty strong connection. It’s not a huge amount of people but they’re really strong friendships and that’s something I appreciate and I am very proud of.</p>

Zhanming Wang graduated from EF Academy New York in 2018. We caught up to talk about his gap year, his current projects, and his time at high school.

Alumni Feature: Zhanming Wang - EF Academy Blog

Alumni Feature: Zhanming Wang ‹ EF Academy Blog

Alumni Feature: Zhanming Wang

Alumni feature zhanming wang

<p>We often associate the subject of staying power and the ability to push through against hardship with fitness, business, or relationships. Rarely do we consider the more leisurely parts of our lives and the ways we see examples of perseverance, success, and failure from the comfort of our sofas. In this month’s ‘I can’t believe they let me write about this’ article I am discussing the world of cinema and those film franchises that were able to reach perfection after many years of trying.</p>
<h3>Oh, an article about movies… groundbreaking</h3>
<p>I know that’s what you’re thinking, but I’d like to make it clear that we’re not considering the <em>Harry Potter</em> series, the <em>Marvel Cinematic Universe</em>, or even the <em>Paddington</em> movies here. These series were able to build on a brilliant concept and create complex characters in beautiful worlds. Besides, they were almost perfect from the start. These films improve in popularity, quality and revenue with every film they release (“<em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Stop Making Films</em>” excluded).</p>
<p>This article is not about those franchises. This article is about those franchises that started off as trashy, silly action movies and built themselves into the pinnacle of their genres. I am talking of course about the likes of the <em>Mission Impossible</em> and <em>Fast & Furious</em> movies. I am a passionate fan of ridiculous action movies and frankly, no one does it better than these giants of the game.</p>
<p>Starting in 1996 and 2001 respectively, both began their lives as little more than action flicks to satisfy an audience looking for fast thrills with as little story as possible. Both have also seen their popularity rise and fall across the years. With their somewhat formulaic approaches have caused audiences to lose faith at times.</p>
<p>But something kept people coming back each time, and the studios kept pushing through with bigger budgets, better directors and writers, and a core cast of well-known actors. What has resulted in recent years was<em> Mission Impossible: Fallout</em> and <em>Furious 7</em>. Despite being the 6th and 7th movies in their respective series, they were both nothing short of masterpieces of their genres. Punchy, fast-paced blockbusters with gorgeous action sequences, superb writing and faithful commitment to beloved characters, these movies showed fans and critics alike that the formula works, eventually.</p>
<h3>Still, I wouldn’t call them perfect movies…</h3>
<p>Fair point. But, if we consider their rivals within their genres, <em>Mission Impossible</em> has been up against <em>James Bond</em> from the start, with the likes of the <em>Kingsman</em> movies and <em>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</em> in recent years both providing some serious contenders in the world of slick spy movies. In the face of such competition, the makers of the <em>Mission Impossible</em> movies have had to address what it was that set them apart, and what it was that was drawing others away.</p>
<p>Two things come to mind that made <em>MI: Fallout</em> a near-perfect movie: choreography and scope. Every fight scene, action sequence, and helicopter chase was choreographed to the point when absolutely everything was accounted for and the audience never had to question where to look. This was coupled with huge sweeping vistas of London and Norway, something that only the significant budget provided by a large studio could cover.</p>
<p>Compared to <em>Mission Impossible</em>’s somewhat saturated market, <em>Fast & Furious</em> largely stands alone at the top of the ‘ridiculous heists in fast cars’ genre. That is unless you count the <em>Transformers</em> movies as competition, which no one does. What then was the driving force (pun intended) behind improving across the years? For the<em> Fast & Furious</em> franchise, it has been their significant core fanbase.</p>
<p>There’s no doubt that the movies are silly and over the top but a fanbase who is able to take that as a given and simply enjoy a fun series of movies for the cheesy romps that they are is rare in Hollywood nowadays.</p>
<p>With <em>Star Wars</em> and <em>Marvel/DC</em> fans often making the headlines for varying levels of awfulness and harassment against writers, directors, and actors for not making the exact movies that they wanted, it is very refreshing to see a large movie franchise with fans who love the movies no matter what. This level of positivity has driven the producers to constantly improve to continually please an eager fanbase, whilst still being accessible to newcomers.</p>
<h3>Yeah, but what’s your point?</h3>
<p>So, after all my rambling, what can we learn from these masterpieces of cinema? I’m sure it’s been very clear throughout because I haven’t gone off-topic at all but, in case you lost track, the answer is simple – <strong>focused persistence</strong>.</p>
<p>With <em>Mission Impossible</em> this was recognizing what set them apart in a market saturated with movies all trying to forge their own path. By finding what worked and throwing themselves into it, the filmmakers were able to define themselves as an entirely separate entity within the genre, and blast the competition out of the water.</p>
<p><em>Fast & Furious</em> took what they had and dedicated themselves to their fans in order to show others what it was that drew people to the franchise. They were able to stay true to their core values whilst building on the emotional connection between their fans and their characters to create a vivid world which at first may appear one-dimensional but has a great deal of depth and emotion built into it over years of movies.</p>
<p>These are good lessons to learn in life. We are constantly told to keep pushing through against adversity and be persistent in pursuit of our goals. But we must also grow as we push through, and change our formula when it doesn’t work. Stay true to our core values whilst recognizing what it is that sets us apart from others and use that to define what makes us special. Self-improvement is about assessing yourself honestly and coming to terms with what it is you can and can’t do, and what it is that you can build on to achieve perfection. Eventually.</p>

In this month’s article Ed is discussing the world of cinema and those film franchises that were able to make the perfect movie after many years of trying.

How to make the perfect movie (eventually) - EF Academy Blog

How to make the perfect movie (eventually) ‹ EF Academy Blog

How to make the perfect movie (eventually)

Make perfect movie eventually

<p>It’s important that I start this article by saying that I’m a bit odd. I like getting up early, I probably drink 3 coffees per week at most, and I find I can do just fine with 6 hours of sleep per night. Part of my life as the world’s strangest man is doing my best to make the most of my day. I often find myself stressing over the small details of my life, so I take steps to reduce the number of things to think about on an average day by creating a routine. There’s about a million articles out there telling us that <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323947">waking up early is the key to success</a>, and in the last couple of years I’ve been doing my best to work out how true that is. I’ve found the key is not necessarily when you wake up, but how you use your time.</p>
<h3>Why should I wake up early?</h3>
<p>Now, we’ve already established I’m kind of a weirdo, but if you want to add something to the list, I like to work out four times a week. I find it energizes me and, most importantly in this case, it gets me out of bed in the morning. On days that I go to the gym after work, I don’t get home until at least 8PM. By that time all I really want to do is eat dinner, watch TV and head to bed. On the other hand, when I work out in the morning I generally start work earlier, leave on time, and end up with nearly 5 hours in the evening that are entirely my own. I have more time to socialize, read, clean or whatever it is that takes my fancy on that day.</p>
<p>Even on days when I don’t work out, I still find myself waking up early and simply taking the time to have a chill morning. There’s no need to use pretentious phrases like ‘<a href="https://thriveglobal.com/stories/why-i-wake-up-early/">Mind Time</a>’, we all know that a lie-in is one of the best things there is. On those days I’m so relaxed by the time I get to work that I find all the stresses of the day are significantly reduced. You might even decide to call me a ‘Morning Person’ sometimes, but I find the secret to being jolly at 9AM is not speaking to anyone for 2 hours before that.</p>
<h3>What’s the alternative?</h3>
<p>Essentially the key making the most of your day. Everyone went crazy recently about <a href="https://www.boston.com/culture/celebs/2018/09/12/mark-wahlberg-gets-up-at-230-a-m-to-work-out">Mark Wahlberg waking up at 2:30AM to work out</a>, but almost every article fails to mention that he goes to bed at 7:30PM. He’s got young children so he just matches their bedtime. This way he can spend as much time as possible with his family whilst still getting plenty of sleep and allowing him to have a normal work day. I’m not saying his routine isn’t crazy, but he’s not exactly a robot.</p>
<p>As much as I would like to steer clear from the whole ‘time is a construct do what you like’ realm of thought, the reason celebrities like Mark Walhberg can live the way they do is because their world just works differently to most of us. Most of us have normal 9-6 working hours, so life is just a little more difficult to distribute Wahlberg-style. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190213-is-waking-up-early-good-or-bad">Studies have shown</a> that really we just need to be finding what works for us and going with that, just as long as you get a good night’s sleep and see sunlight at some point you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>Finding your routine is a difficult thing to do. For me I find that getting up early to work out does me a lot of good. The best place to start is to assess how much you use your time out of the office, and what you can do to use it more efficiently. These things take trial and error, and doing the exact same thing every morning can be boring, so don’t forget to switch it up occasionally. Once you find out what works, you can focus on the big tasks while the small things take care of themselves.</p>

We're always being told that waking up early is the key to success, but it is not necessarily when you wake up, but how you use your time.

Waking up early: Is it actually worth it? - EF Academy Blog

Waking up early: Is it actually worth it? ‹ EF Academy Blog

Waking up early: Is it actually worth it?

Waking up early

<p>They may not know it but anyone who has ever studied anywhere is an alum. You don’t even have to have graduated; if you’ve studied somewhere at one time, then you are an alum of that institution.</p>
<p>As soon as more than one alum get together, they become alumni (that’s the plural form), and the more alumni you have the wider your alumni network becomes.</p>
<h3>What’s an alumni network?</h3>
<p>Every educational institution has an alumni network, formal or not, and they’re used for a wide range of things. Alumni can build business connections, organize reunions, and serve as shining examples of the kind of people that their institution produces. It’s very useful for those who are genuinely interested in the lives of their old classmates and like to see what they’re up to.</p>
<h3>How can I get involved?</h3>
<p>Typically, these groups are headed up by an alumni coordinator. This is someone who’s there to help set up cool networking events, bring students together, and create a space where everyone can stay connected and made aware of what’s going on with former peers. It’s a complex job that involves working hard to connect people.</p>
<p>Look out for their emails asking you to update contact details and if there’s an alumni newsletter, sign up for it. You can also connect over <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8748071/">LinkedIn</a> and join any other official <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/efacademyalumni/">alumni groups</a> that exist across social media. Reaching out via email and simply engaging with your fellow alums is also a great step, as the community can only be effective if its members engage with each other!</p>
<h3>How can I benefit?</h3>
<p>School can be expensive and we all know it’s hard work. People may not realize it, but education is so much more than just the qualifications you receive at the end. It’s about the lessons you learn, the people you meet, and the relationships you build. So why would you expect to leave all of that behind after graduation?</p>
<p>Alumni networks provide the long-term value to an educational institution by giving alumni the chance to stay in contact and continue to learn from each other long after they have left school.</p>
<p>Support networks are hard to come by out there in the world and having a ready-made one full of people with shared experiences just waiting to connect is a luxury that few can afford to turn down. When you can, join your school’s alumni network.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">EF Academy is a boarding school that equips students for success in career and university. Learn more about how studying at our campuses in the US and UK can help you transform your high school experience.</p>

Why should you join an alumni network? Easy! Read our new alumni coordinator's take on why joining an alumni network is an important step full of benefits.

What is an alumni network and how can I benefit from one? - EF Academy Blog

What is an alumni network and how can I benefit from one? ‹ EF Academy Blog

What is an alumni network and how can I benefit from one?

What is an alumni network

<p>We’re often told that successful, driven people are able to reach their goals because they are singularly focused toward a final goal, one objective they’re reaching for their whole life. All of their actions are taking them towards that goal, <a href="https://www.unboundedwisdom.com/5-powerful-reasons-why-passion-is-a-key-to-success/">their passion pushing them through every setback</a>. Without wanting to sound dead inside, I’ve recently been struggling to find something in my life that I could describe as my ‘passion’. What I have found, however, is that living my life in pursuit of a passion can be just as fulfilling.</p>
<h3>Losing my way</h3>
<p>In my younger years I had a lot of hobbies. Younger me could read any book put in front of him, staying up late under the covers to finish whatever I was reading that week. At the weekends I would stand in a field shooting arrows into a target, six at a time until I couldn’t hold my arms up anymore (I belonged to an archery club I’m not just a psychopath). Through university I became intensely focused on the minute details associated with historical events, and the immense complexity of the lives of people who died long before I was born. I think it’s clear that I’ve never been the coolest guy in the world, but I certainly had a wide range of interests.</p>
<p>Now we’re a few years down the line you would think I’ve read thousands of books and I’m about ready to use my archery skills to steal from the rich to give to the poor, but that is sadly not the case. In fact, last week I finished the first novel I have read in over a year. It took me two months to finish. Finishing it felt like a genuine accomplishment, and it was. Throughout high school and university there was always something to work towards, like getting my A-levels or my degree, that distracted me from my hobbies. University was a fairly stressful time, and the constant race towards some predetermined final point can be all consuming. In the last few years I became so obsessed with reaching my goals that I lost the things I was genuinely passionate about.</p>
<h3>Trying something new</h3>
<p>This might make me seem like I live an unhappy life without anything that interests me, but recently I’ve found it remarkably calming. Now that I have a job and am no longer in pursuit of a final goal, I can enjoy the ‘here and now’ without stressing about what I need to do next. All of my goals are confined to my work time, and outside of that I can pursue anything that takes my fancy. My main pastime has been trying new hobbies. Turns out I’m terrible at both golf and skiing but having spent a year playing pool four times per week, and I can say that I am not complete garbage. Even writing these blog articles is an outlet for me to write about things which genuinely interest me, and have encouraged me to write more in my free time as well.</p>
<p>As much as I can sit here and list all of the fun things I like to do in my evenings and weekends, the point is that passion for me isn’t about pursuing some final intangible goal. Although I may not be the expert in any one thing, I’ve found I can turn my hand to a fairly wide range of pursuits and pick things up pretty quickly. Call it what you like: generalist, <a href="https://youtu.be/QJORi5VO1F8">multipotentialite</a>, polymath, the point is that I struggle to direct myself towards one thing. The conclusion I’ve reached recently is that I actually refuse to, instead favoring having a workable knowledge of many things.</p>
<p>Nowadays we constantly base our perception of success on our ability to fulfill big (often financial) goals. As someone with no clear goal, am I inherently unsuccessful? <a href="https://medium.com/personal-growth/whats-wrong-with-being-a-jack-of-all-trades-f3672b108a87">The answer is of course no</a>, and I certainly don’t feel unsuccessful. At work there are targets to meet, projects to complete and all sorts of small goals in between. But, in my personal life, I’m not focused on reaching some far off point. Instead I choose to take my experiences as they come, and I’m having an absolute ball. So, if you’re currently struggling to find a passion or establish some far away goal to reach for, I would recommend taking a step back and seeing what takes your fancy. Say yes to new things always, just don’t expect to be good at everything straight away.</p>

If you've been struggling to find your ‘passion’, you may find that actually living your life in pursuit of passion can be just as fulfilling.

In pursuit of a passion: The life of a generalist - EF Academy Blog

In pursuit of a passion: The life of a generalist ‹ EF Academy Blog

In pursuit of a passion: The life of a generalist

Finding your passion

<p>One quick google of the phrase ‘online presence’ will tell you all you need to know about its importance to both individuals and businesses nowadays. Half of the results are companies specializing in boosting and managing the online presence of other businesses. The other half are articles like this one telling you how important it is to take care of your online presence.</p>
<p>We are constantly told that we live in the ‘digital age’ and to be careful with what we put online. But what does that really mean?</p>
<p>Essentially there are two main areas you should be focusing on when considering your online presence: your work life and your personal life. Addressing the way you present yourself in these areas can make a big difference in the way you appear online. The aim here is to ensure that your online presence reflects you as accurately as possible, both personally and professionally.</p>
<h3>Personal Life</h3>
<p>Something we have touched upon in a few articles recently is self-assessment. You need to be able to look at yourself objectively and consider how people view you. This becomes increasingly important when looking at your online presence.</p>
<p>Below are a few steps you can follow to address the appearance of your personal life online:</p>
<ul>
<li>Look back at your public profiles online and consider what a potential employer might find if they were to simply google you. The easiest way to do this is to go incognito and essentially stalk yourself and see what you can find.</li>
<li>In the world of ‘cancel culture’, we all have problematic tweets, statuses, and posts from across the years that we don’t want seen. Delete them or go private.</li>
<li>Even if your own social media is private, see if there are any photos of you on a friend’s public profile that perhaps you don’t want to be seen, and ask them to take them down.</li>
<li>If you find photos of regrettable decisions that are actually great memories, save them, archive them, then take them down.</li>
<li>If you run a public account for a purpose, such as a political blog or a fan account on Instagram, you need to seriously address whether it benefits you or puts you at a disadvantage for the career you want, and prioritize accordingly.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Professional Life</h3>
<p>Looking into your personal life can often be a rather negative experience. It can often feel like you are hiding aspects of your personality for the benefit of a potential employer you may not have even met yet.</p>
<p>However, considering how you present your professional life online can be a great chance to show off your skills:</p>
<ul>
<li>Any work you have produced that is present online and not on your CV or portfolio should be, and vice versa</li>
<li>Keep your LinkedIn and Facebook updated so that a quick google can back up any claims you make in your CV regarding education or previous workplaces</li>
<li>If you work freelance or not, make sure that any online published work is easily followed back to you</li>
<li>If you’ve done something you are proud of and it can be found online, make sure it can be found easily</li>
<li>This is your chance to make sure that everything you are proud of is visible to a potential employer, even from a quick search</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusions</h3>
<p>Essentially the goal is to build your online presence into a representation of the kind of person you would want an employer to see. Keep those less professional moments for you and your close friends. Build an online portfolio that matches your CV. Hiring managers want to see a well-rounded person who will get the job done and be a valuable member of the team. Anyone having a quick look should see that you are a functioning human being who isn’t going to burn their company to the ground.</p>

We are constantly told that we live in the ‘digital age’ and to be careful with what we put online. But what does that really mean?

The do’s and don’ts of building your online presence - EF Academy Blog

The do’s and don’ts of building your online presence ‹ EF Academy Blog

The do’s and don’ts of building your online presence

Building online presence

<p>If you are anything like me, your life is a relentless series of events and activities, whether at work or at home. Whilst this might seem like I am moaning about nothing, this kind of constant activity can really take its toll. As soon as I am finished with one thing I am often straight on to the next, without taking the time to appreciate what I’ve done. Often life is based around a series of long term goals, with smaller milestones and actions in between. When we reach one goal, we set another and keep going, without really celebrating our achievement.</p>
<h4>Despite not appreciating our victories as much as we should, it often doesn’t stop us from being devastated by our setbacks.</h4>
<p>As we move from goal to goal, there can be moments when we fall behind or simple fail to achieve what we set out to do. Now, I can’t just tell you to not be bothered by your setbacks because unfortunately it just doesn’t work like that. Setbacks are hard, in all forms. Whether it’s missing out on a job, going through a break up, or simply burning some food, we all struggle to put on a brave face. When we are faced with these kinds of setbacks, it does give us a chance for a brief respite from the relentlessness of it all.</p>
<h4>Not making it doesn’t mean you never will, it just means it’s not going to happen right now.</h4>
<p>This is probably one of the most important pieces of advice I will ever give in one of these articles. When we fail at something, the tendency is to either give up entirely, or try again immediately, which often yields similar results. Regardless of whether it’s a PB at the gym, a sales target, or your dream job interview, you need to take some time before you try again. When we hit a goal we immediately think about what’s next, but when we are knocked down, we need to take some time to dust ourselves off before we move forward.</p>
<h4>Look at things from a different perspective, take a moment to breathe, then go from there.</h4>
<p>The next step is to address what you can do and how far you got, then think about what you were actually trying to achieve. Why are you trying to hit that PB? What does that sales target reflect? Why were you going for that job in the first place? Think about what your motivations were, what hitting that goal was supposed to achieve, then approach it from another angle. Often you will find that your reasons for wanting to reach a goal can be satisfied in a variety of different ways.</p>
<h4>You just have to wait and see.</h4>
<p>Chances are you won’t see the results straight away, but in a couple of years you’ll find you’ve gone far beyond what you were once trying to achieve, you just took a different route. I might not be an astronaut, a millionaire businessman, a politician and a Nobel Peace Prize winner all at the same time. However, each time I don’t become one of those things, I become something else. Hope for the future is never misplaced, you just have to take a new route and see where it gets you.</p>

Often we don't appreciate our victories as much as we should, but it doesn’t stop us from being disheartened by not making it.

Making the most out of not making it - EF Academy Blog

Making the most out of not making it ‹ EF Academy Blog

Making the most out of not making it

<p>We are constantly being told that we are living in the future, and that the nature of work is constantly changing in response to this. It is 2020 after all. But what does it mean to work in a ‘progressive workplace’? Do they actually provide any benefit compared to more traditional workplaces? Does anyone actually care? The growth of start-up culture has brought with it a need for large companies to become people-focused. Looking after your people, whether they are your customers or your employees, is crucial for the success of a modern business. With the world of work in its current state, here are a few things companies are doing to keep up.</p>
<h3>Personal development</h3>
<p>Top companies are increasingly providing opportunities for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/03/14/ten-signs-of-a-progressive-company-culture/#20e76e8c7382">employees to develop themselves on an individual level</a>. This comes in the form of assigning time for employees to work on their own projects, providing direct skills training, and setting up mentoring systems with managers. This is a classic win-win. Workers gain valuable skills whilst companies gain skilled workers and encourage loyalty.</p>
<h3>Encouraging entrepreneurialism</h3>
<p>Employees are pushed to come up with and follow through on their own projects from start to finish. <a href="https://edgenetworks.in/2017/09/14/6-tips-build-progressive-workplace/">Rather than waiting for extensive approval from management, individuals drive their own goals.</a> This allows for constant innovation at every level and has made proactive employees a valuable part of the modern workplace.</p>
<h3>Company values</h3>
<p>Originally a staple of more traditional workplaces, nowadays a company’s core values are less a set of rigid instructions than a <a href="https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/we-are-ef/things-that-make-ef-a-top-place-to-work/">manifestation their mentality</a>. Core values act as guidelines to inform on the way that employees complete their work. By building processes into a set of ideals rather than a rulebook, companies encourage creativity and reward dedication.</p>
<h3>Open management systems</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.maize.io/en/content/the-8-habits-of-world-s-most-progressive-workplaces">Less hierarchical systems of management allow people to make decisions faster</a>. With employees relying on their own judgement and that of their peers, rather than waiting for a board to decide, they can push forward on the big decisions and focus on the details. This also encourages workers to take responsibility for their work and decisions, adding a personal edge to the consumer experience.</p>
<h3>Collaborative workspaces</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/15-companies-that-are-redefining-the-workplace">Open, collaborative workspaces encourage cooperation</a> and direct interaction between colleagues operating at all levels. By removing blockages, even on a physical level, companies encourage colleagues to build more personal relationships and to work directly with each other. You would be surprised how recently it was that someone had the idea to hire people who will get on with each other. And it works.</p>
<h3>Employee wellness</h3>
<p>Companies focusing on employees’ well-being has been a trend for a number of years now. From on-site gyms and wellness days to agreements with local businesses, you will rarely have to go far from the office to keep yourself fit and healthy.</p>
<h3>Remote work</h3>
<p>Working from home was traditionally synonymous with essentially taking a day off. Now, as technology allows us to work seamlessly with people all over the world, the numbers of remote workers are growing. As big companies aim to catch up with start-ups, <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/beyond-your-desk-secondary-workspace/">flexibility is a crucial tool for holding on to key employees</a>.</p>
<p>So, what’s the point of all of this? Simply put, it makes everyone’s working life that little bit better. When companies encourage employees to enjoy their jobs and their workplaces, their employees believe in their values. Employees with passion for a company or a product translate their experience to the consumer. This results in the best possible experience for the consumer, as companies are able to innovate and grow whilst keeping quality high. In a world of short-term interests, building company loyalty is at the top of everyone’s list, and building a progressive workplace is the best place to start.</p>

Looking after people is crucial for the success of a modern business. As world of work is evolving, there are a few things companies are doing to keep up.

The value of a progressive workplace - EF Academy Blog

The value of a progressive workplace ‹ EF Academy Blog

The value of a progressive workplace

Value progressive workplace

<p><em>Vladislav, originally from Russia, graduated from <a href="https://www.efacademy.org/new-york/">EF Academy New York</a> in 2017. We caught up in September 2019 to chat about transferring universities and starting a business at school.</em></p>
<h3>Where did you go after you graduated?</h3>
<p>I started at Fordham University in the Bronx, then transferred to the University of Virginia (UVA) last year. Originally when I was applying for college I was aiming for really top schools. I knew that I wanted to go into the business field and study finance but when I was applying to colleges I didn’t have the prerequisites for the top schools that I was looking at. I got into Fordham University but I knew that I didn’t want to settle there.</p>
<p>What I realized early on is that what really matters in different colleges is the people you surround yourself with and your community. The people you get to exchange ideas and work with makes a big difference. Once I had decided to move on I took the hardest classes I could and got the best grades I could in order to transfer. Originally I was planning to go to Vanderbilt because of its rankings but I settled on UVA because its record for recruiting for finance jobs out of university is better, and the alumni network is really strong.</p>
<p>I’ve loved being at UVA, I’ve definitely found my fit. I love all my friends here and it’s a really great environment. The town is a little quiet after living so long around New York City but I like it. Having the opportunity to just do anything in New York when you want to is pretty great and you don’t realize that until it’s gone. Moving to a pretty small, traditional college town is definitely an adjustment but I’m so busy with school and extracurriculars that it doesn’t faze me.</p>
<h3>Were you involved in any extracurriculars whilst you were at EF Academy?</h3>
<p>I tried to be as involved as I could, particularly in the student cafe. My first year it was relatively non-existent. It was pretty empty, there was nothing really there. In my senior year I got a group of 5 friends together and we came up with a plan, pitched it to the administration, and they gave us a loan of $1,500 that we used to buy all the different equipment and the stock for food.</p>
<p>After a month or so everything was ready and we opened it up. It was a huge success. We were bringing in a lot of revenue and the students were happy with the products. We were trying to do our own thing rather than just selling prepackaged goods that weren’t necessarily on campus, like the school shop did. We were making and cooking our own things like noodles, milkshakes, and coffee. I think in our first month we brought in about $3,000 in revenue. It was so fun and students were loving it. It was great to learn and to have the opportunity to run our own business while in school.</p>
<h3>Do you have any tips and advice for current students?</h3>
<ul>
<li>Start prepping for the standardized tests like the SAT and ACT as early as possible. It’s not even just important for college it’s also important for jobs as employers still look at your SAT and ACT results straight out of college. It’s very important and the earlier you start your preparation the better.</li>
<li>Focus on your grades, focus on your extracurriculars and do really good college research. You’re aiming to find somewhere that feels like home and seeing which colleges are a good fit for you or not.</li>
<li>In terms of thinking about what you want to do with your life, it really helps to reach out to alumni to understand what they’re doing. It’s something we really didn’t have whilst we were at school and now that we have the option I would highly encourage you. That’s what you do at college, you just reach out to alumni for advice and help. Having all of that from school to start building that network is really beneficial for students.</li>
</ul>

Vladislav Tambaum graduated from EF Academy New York in 2017. We caught up to chat about transferring universities and starting a business at school.

Alumni Feature: Vladislav, from Russia - EF Academy Blog

Alumni Feature: Vladislav, from Russia ‹ EF Academy Blog

Alumni Feature: Vladislav, from Russia

Alumni feature vladislav tambaum

<p>Being stuck at home can be a real chore. Whether you’re studying for exams or just home for spring break, things can get tedious. Long hours spent staring at a screen should be broken up with plenty of short breaks, to keep you sane and help break the monotony. Rather than reverting to scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, take the time to try some things you’ve been putting off:</p>
<h3>Tidy your room</h3>
<p>Now is a great time to declutter your life and set things in order. If you’re going to be working in a confined space for an extended period of time, having it filled with dirty clothes and dishes can make things feel stuffy and enclosed. Open a window, clean your clothes, and bring your dishes to the kitchen. Vacuum the floor, wipe down the surfaces and change your sheets. Even if you do a little each day instead of all at once, keeping things clean and tidy helps to open up the space, and gives you something to focus on.</p>
<h3>Grow something</h3>
<p>In the process of cleaning you’ll likely find you have some new space on the floor or on a windowsill that you can fill. Now is the time to get that plant you always wanted. Even if it’s your first small cactus, taking the time to read about plant care and looking after something can be a great excuse to take a break. Watering, pruning and soil care all take time and thought. Plants also bring a new source of oxygen to a room, and can bring a splash of color to the space. Even if you’re just planting seeds and getting things set up, you’ll start a project that can really last. Start small and you’ll be a plant parent in no time.</p>
<h3>Satisfy your curiosity</h3>
<p>This one may seem a bit strange to those of you stuck at home studying, but learning about a topic that’s outside of your school work to satisfy your own curiosity can be really stimulating. If you’re stuck in a rut trying to memorize something for school, take 30 minutes in the middle of the day to think casually about something completely different. This allows your brain a rest, whilst still stimulating the same areas of the brain as hard studying. Pick a topic that you’ve always been curious about and skim a few articles on Wikipedia. No need to write anything down and don’t focus on one area for more than 5-10 minutes. Even if it doesn’t seem useful now, it’ll come in handy at a trivia night one day.</p>
<h3>Pick up a new skill</h3>
<p>This is one for those long days at the weekend when you would normally be out with your friends. Maybe you’re not studying, but you still need things to do. Take the chance to try out something new; it’s always good to have a party trick. You can try juggling, maybe learn some vocabulary for a new language, even pick up origami. YouTube is full of tutorials, and free apps like Duolingo are a great way to pass the time. Anything you can do that stimulates your brain but without putting it under direct strain will help. Learning something new is all about short, regular practice. You’re not going to master anything in one day, but regular practice over an extended period will get you much closer.</p>
<p>Being stuck inside can be hard on us all. By focusing on a personal project you can take breaks from the big tasks without feeling like you’re wasting time. Engage in small tasks on your breaks, and you’ll soon find that list disappearing. The key is not to stop when life returns to normal. Keep juggling, keep your room clean, and don’t let those plants die and you’ll have a set of good habits for life.</p>

Long hours spent staring at a screen should be broken up with plenty of short breaks, so take the time to try some things you’ve been putting off.

Making the most of your time at home - EF Academy Blog

Making the most of your time at home ‹ EF Academy Blog

Making the most of your time at home

Making the most time at home

<p><em>I recently caught up with EF Academy Oxford alum Federico Angioni to talk about his time at school, how he’s been getting on at the University of Leeds and to find out more about his internship at Microsoft.</em></p>
<h4>Why did you choose to study abroad?</h4>
<p>I realized that where I lived was quite stale in terms of having an open mind and looking forward to the future. Everyone lived day by day and didn’t really have an objective in their lives and I didn’t like that. I didn’t want to stay around a world that was really close-minded and really restricted, also in terms of job opportunities and university. I had a friend studying at the New York campus who told me about EF Academy, and in the end I came to Oxford and it was great.</p>
<h4>What was your focus of study at EF Academy?</h4>
<p>I’m a business person so for my IB I chose higher level business, economics, and English, and at standard level I chose French, math and chemistry. I wasn’t really aiming to study business at university from the start, but since I was starting to read books about business, how businesses operated and how to motivate employees it really caught my eye. I wanted to get a bit more in depth with it so I chose business as a subject and then did my Extended Essay in economics to support it and understand theoretical concepts, and it went on from there.</p>
<h4>Are you still in touch with people from high school?</h4>
<p>Yes, nearly every day. Most people are in London and the south of England but I get to see them quite often. We always chat on Facebook and Snapchat so I keep in contact with them quite a lot. Unfortunately, the group has diluted but individually I always talk to people. It’s always nice to have those memories.</p>
<h4>Which sports clubs or co-curricular activities were you involved in?</h4>
<p>I tried to get involved in lots of things but my main focus was the soccer club. When I arrived to campus, another Italian student and I signed up together. I had only actually played soccer for about a year at home before coming to Oxford so I wasn’t that good. But when I came to Oxford it was so nice, everyone was so happy that we got to train on a weekly basis and I managed to get more confident in the sport. At the end of the year I got elected as Vice Captain and Vice President for the following year. As part of those roles I tried to raise funds for new soccer uniforms. I managed to do in the end which was a good memory for every person. We were able to raise some money and eventually get our uniforms customized with the school logo and our names on the back. We had little tournaments here and there and it was really nice.</p>
<h4>How’s life at the University of Leeds?</h4>
<p>It’s amazing! I love it. It’s such a good university and the best choice I could have made, honestly. It’s a good university, it’s a fun place, and a nice city full of cool people. I couldn’t be any happier in my opinion. I would definitely recommend living in halls (student accommodation) to anyone applying. I didn’t know halls existed when I applied so I went to a private accommodation. It wasn’t bad but I didn’t get the kind of experience I would have got with halls sadly. Life at university more than makes up for it though.</p>
<h4>How’s life in Reading during your internship?</h4>
<p>It’s not Leeds, but it’s still nice. Reading’s quite tiny and there’s not much to do but the Microsoft campus is amazing. Honestly, if I could sleep in the Microsoft campus I probably would, that’s how nice it is.</p>
<h4>Can you talk me through your ‘Year in Industry’?</h4>
<p>My role is a Territory Channel Manager (TCM) which is a sales role, dealing with small- to medium- sized businesses. My role consists of trying to help partners sell more to customers. So for instance, we have call out days when we go to partner offices and talk them through a product. We then do a demo on what the product can do, how to sell it, what are the major propositions and what can we offer. I still haven’t really got the hang of things because they say the first three months at Microsoft are learning, learning, learning and I’ve only been here for three weeks so I’m still trying to understand my role but so far it’s going really well.</p>
<h4>How did you get an internship at Microsoft?</h4>
<p>Getting the job at Microsoft was actually quite the ride. I completed a lot of applications and had quite a few setbacks. I even turned a business down because I wasn’t satisfied. I felt disheartened at times but I didn’t give up and kept looking. In the end I got through to the Microsoft assessment centre. I really wanted to be at Microsoft, as I’m a bit of a tech geek and a techy person. I showed a lot of passion, interest in the company, interest in the culture and essentially I got the job.</p>
<h4>What do you miss about EF Academy?</h4>
<p>I would say the best thing that I took from the school was the people. I met amazing people at EF Academy and I still keep in contact with them. I managed to learn about so many different cultures and that opened my mind because I can understand how other people think and even if they come from a particular background I can relate to them on a personal level because of EF Academy. If I had left Italy to go to university in England for the first time without going to EF Academy, I don’t think I would have been able to integrate as well with other people and that was the most amazing experience. It was also a family-like community. We lived with other people from around the world and this made us bond in a way that we wouldn’t had we gone to a typical school.</p>
<h4>What’s next for you?</h4>
<p>I’ve never been at this point in my life where I don’t know what I want to do. Or rather, I know what I want to do my I don’t know if life will allow me to do it. Microsoft offers a graduate scheme, but to get to the graduate scheme you have to go through a massive interview process which is quite difficult. Not many people manage to get it so you have to put 100% effort in your placement year to show Microsoft you want to stay and you’re worth the investment. If I don’t get the Microsoft placement I think I will need to search for a new graduate scheme.</p>
<h4>A scheme focused around management and marketing?</h4>
<p>Of course I would like to do something related to management, I’m actually becoming interested in human resources now. I originally was more interested in advertising but as time has gone on I’m realizing I enjoy the people inside of the organization rather than the customer side. Especially now in Microsoft I’m learning a lot of things about how the company operates and how it treats its people which I think is amazing and something I would like to replicate in a future job potentially. I have always loved the sales part which is why I’m doing the placement. It would be management though, potentially in the tech industry but I’m not sure. I’m open to different sectors because I’m still quite young and I want to build some experience. After that I will have to see because it is five years now I’ve been in England and I would like a change of environment. I’m not the kind of person who wants to settle with getting a job and that’s it. I want to go around the world, see what I can engage with – new challenges, new people and new jobs.</p>

I caught up with EF Academy Oxford alum Federico Angioni to discuss his time at EF Academy, the University of Leeds, and his internship at Microsoft.

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Ed Davies

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