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Interview with Yosef - Grow tougher


This month we have Yosef sharing his story a little about himself and also his experience in shout out. He talks about how he channelled work ethics from his sports into his university.

 

Q: Describe your experience as a shout out speaker

A: Shout out was brilliant as it allowed individuals to speak and voice their opinions, it gave the individuals the ability and platform to gain their confidence and start to understand how to speak on the stage on topics that they are passionate about.

We have some marketing lady came over to teach us on how we can market yourself on online platforms or general marketing. ABC also came over to teach how you should present yourself on the camera and presented levels of communication on how you can convey your message in a concise manner and everybody can hear what you have to say. A lot of the shout out speakers are passionate about things that are really close to our hearts.


Shout out allowed us, individuals, to have an opinion and viewpoint. Saying that " Your opinion does matter and your viewpoint does actually matter. "


In my personal standpoint, everybody has a voice and everybody has an opinion but some people just do not know how to use it properly. Shout out gives that platform and access to resources for you as an individual to be able to share your opinions and experiences as a speaker. Moreover, utilize your voice in the best way possible.


Q: Biggest hardship during your childhood and education


A: My biggest hardship would have to be a barrier in communication especially with my parents. I came to Australia when I was 7. I grew up in Tasmania which is a wonderful little state. During my time there, the whole entire year of my education essentially was difficult as there was this communication barrier between me and my parents. My parents did not understand the culture and I had to explain to them what the culture is like.


For example, when I got my grades during school, there was no room or opportunity for me to celebrate it with my parents by saying " hey this is my grades and you should celebrate my success with me." This was because they did not understand what grades were and they do not know what it means to do well in school. So my greatest hardship was that I would never get that validation from my parents in my work.


The way I overcame all of this was to tell myself at that young age that I was doing it for my future. In my heart, I knew that I would not get any reward from my parents to do well but I made a promise at the age of 7 that I would continue to stay focus on my education and sports. Doing that made me became who I am right now and getting this far in university. Studies and sports were my focus point and I would worked hard just to get that top marks.


I would get awards every year for doing well in my education and sport and it did not matter if my parents did not congratulate me. Cause they would not understand.The funny thing is that my parents thought that it was normal for a student to receive that many awards. Which was not the case.


Q: You mentioned sports? Could you elaborate on that?


A: I played futsal first and then I played soccer. At the age of 11, I went to the nationals and I was selected for the all Australian team. During my teenage years, I was selected to play for the NTC which is the national training center in Tasmania which allowed me to compete with the best of the best in soccer. I was also selected for futsal nationals.


Q: One of my most significant moments


A: One of my most significant thoughts was being selected for national twice and especially the second time as we came out victorious from the tough competition. The other moment was becoming a speaker. When I first started speaking I was extremely nervous such as when I was selected to be valedictorian in canning college. I did a couple of other speaking events including the shout out. Consistent improvement allowed me to be able to win a speaking competition in the later years.


Q: So did you use whatever you learned from sports are incorporated it into your position right now?


A: In sports, you are thought to be consistent and be hardworking. I really love the fact that I did play sports and that helps me to be able to be hungry and it keeps me consistent. It also gave me my work ethics. I was not the smartest student but I told myself that I was able to work harder than anyone in the class. Things such as starting earlier to be able to keep up with the curriculum. University is all about you and you need to develop that consistent effort to be able to produce that kind of results.

Q: The best advice you can give to someone in your same position


A: The best advice I can give to individual facing such hardships is that you have to change your current influence and get the right people. It is very crucial that you are with people that lift you up and not stay around those people that are tearing you down. The reason why you are in that situation in the first place is that you are not talking to people who can bring you out of that position or prevent you from falling into it. As hard as it is, you need to look for a new source of people who can give you information which would be valuable to you to improve your position and solutions to get out of the place you are currently at.



Q: The most memorable experience as a shout out speaker


A: I have done a couple of speaking gigues. The last one I did was with Ombudsman a private government sector which they ask for some speakers to speak about how their services could be utilized for people from a cccc background. We were invited to speak on this topic and how to improve their services.


We went in there and I spoke. It was brilliant as we were able to give solutions in the way the service should be running. It was all positive feedback and it looked like they really valued our suggestions. I felt that I was helpful and it is always a good thing when we have good feedback from our audience telling us that we are providing productive resources for them to work on. I got treated to coffee from one of the ladies who were part of the organization. She wanted to thank us for our efforts. That to me was the most memorable moment of being a shout out speaker.



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