A Life Skill

Hi there,

For the first entry in this new year, and on a special day for me, let's review one of the topics we have been dealing with: success and its secrets. We've talked about what makes the most successful people on the planet different from the rest of us. We all agreed with the fact that practice, hard work and a bit of natural talent are key factors to be high achievers.

In this entry, we are going to listen to Chris Hadfield, the former commander of the International Space Station, talking about his experiences and what life skills have been essential for him to survive both up in space and back down here on Earth. 

For those who haven't heard of Chris Hadfield, I must say that there has been no other astronaut quite like him. Along these years, we have been learning how life in space is like. He has managed to teach us several facts about gravity and answer many of our questions. He has shown us how to shave or brush one's teeth in zero gravity; he was able to make a burrito or a peanut butter sandwich. We didn't know how astronauts sleep until he showed it and he even performed David Bowie's Space Oddity out there. Undoubtedly, he's a skilful man.

He has also written about his experience in his book, an Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. 

I'm eager to read your comments on this topic. Try to leave your comment if you haven't done it before and you'll succeed in your English.

My Kind of Job

 Hi there,

At last, a new entry ... but this one is not like the rest of entries this academic year. This entry has been created by one of your classmates in 1NI, Erma. She has a unique job. Definitely, it's worth having a look at what she has to tell us about it.

"I have a rewarding job. I’m an international judge of Artistic Gymnastics for women. It’s a very nice and difficult job. I need to be concentrated on the gymnasts' performances for a lot of hours, I have to judge a lot of aspects and parameters in a very short amount of time, such as execution, style, difficulty of the exercise, balance, ... Although it's hard, I love it.

Balance Beam

There are several different judges in a competition. Difficulty panel judges that is formed by two judges; Execution panel formed by five judges and two Reference judges apart from Line and Time judges. The difficulty judges give the exercise value. The Execution judges give the penalization.

I have taken part in many international events as World Cups, European Championships and World Championships. I was in the World Championship, which took place in Antwerpen (Belgium) last October.

Here's a photo of our extraordinary Spanish gymnast, Roxana Popa. She got a really good position in her last championship.

Uneven Bars

In Antwerpen, we were around eighty judges, from all over the world, to judge three competitions; classification, all around and apparatus final. After a draw, I had to judge the vault exercise in all around competition as well as uneven bars in apparatus final.

Floor Exercise

 All judges must pass difficult exams after each Olympic Games so that they can maintain the category they have or get a better or worse category. They range from four to one categories. Only category one and two are allowed to judge in the Olympic Games. I am category two although I’ve never judged in the Olympic Games. I hope to be part of the next board of judges in the next Games which will be taking place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016."

Thanks a lot for this enlightening entry on the topic, Erma. We all want to wish you the best of luck and we really hope to hear from you in the next Olympic Games 2016. :-))

OK, dear pupils, it's your turn to join and participate in this entry with your comments. What do you think of Erma's job? Do you find it interesting? Have you ever stopped and thought of the role judges have in competitions?