So my Joanna Week has finally come to an end. It's been 2 weeks of just...pure torture for everyone around me. I mean, how often is it that the usually oh-so-happy and easy-going Joanna becomes well...the exact opposite? I've had fun these last 2 weeks, been very selfish and taking time just for myself. I just needed that bit of time to re-charge and re-energize. :) Oh...and to study of course.

Speaking of studying, I finally wrote my National Professional Practice Assessment (NPPA) on Saturday, May 1st. I had the exact same feeling as when I wrote the National Knowledge Exam (NKE). It was easy to eliminate 2 of the answers, but trying to decide between the last 2 was a difficult task. Oh well, I'm just glad I'm done now and there's really nothing much I can do about it anymore. If I pass, I'll have my CHRP. If not, then I'll need to wait until I get 3 years of professional HR experience between getting my designation.

During my Joanna Week, which is explained in detail via my Facebook Notes, I applied to volunteer for Canada 3.0 2010, ideaCity 2010, and Net Change Week 2010. I've heard back from both Canada 3.0 and ideaCity 2010 so far and will be at both events. :)

Last Thursday, I also attended A Dragon From Dragon's Den: Mr. Brett Wilson, hosted by Rostie Group. I'm very happy to say that based on Brett's measurement of success, I'm extremely successful. :) He mentioned that everyone should study or learn about the 3 essential building blocks of business: marketing, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy. Marketing is more about how to market yourself and well, coming from an HR background, I'm pretty comfortable with how to market myself and how to write a proper cover letter. For entrepreneurship, Brett describes it as a way of thinking. I've successfully surrounded myself with entrepreneurs lately and trying to learn from them. :) Attending all these events help out too I guess. Lastly, for philanthropy, well...I've always been quite giving. :) It's not just about giving money though, I actually care about causes and willingly give up plenty of my time to help others. Anyways, I really enjoyed Brett's talk and I like his view on life.

I never realized how much actually happened during my Joanna Week. On Tuesday, April 20, thanks to the Arts Student Union and Nikki Best, past VP Academic of ASU and current FEDS VP Internal, I was invited to attend the PostSecret event held at UW, featuring Frank Warren. Nikki also gave us a chance to meet Frank before the event; we got to talk to him for a bit and got him to sign our books. :) He's such a friendly guy and really easy to talk to. He's such an inspirational character.

That's it for now I guess, can't wait until Canada 3.0! Oh, one last thing, I finally had time to put together the application form for EPIC, so thanks to our awesome communications team, it's up on the new EPIC website at http://www.hiepic.com/join-us. If you're interested in joining our team, just fill out the application and I'll get back to you shortly!