Getting that coveted position at work or being named valedictorian are wonderful accomplishments.
But while those achievements are nothing to scoff at, there are other moments in life outside the workplace or classroom worthy of praise.
A pat on the back for a job well done was sometimes more satisfying than a plaque on the wall for some of these people when Redditor Inevitable_jalapeno asked:
"What is your biggest non-academic, non work-related accomplishment?"
You might find some of these relatable.
Coming to the aid of those in their time of need or while in distress have got to be one of life's biggest accomplishments.
Stepping Up After Tragedy
"Adopted my little sister (16) when I was 21 after my father murdered my mother helped her finish school and kept a room over her head till she was old enough to move out on her own."
Passed Out And Saved
"When I was a kid, I saw a guy passed out drunk on the side of the road. Neither of my parents noticed, so I said something. We went back and my dad went to check on him. It was around 20 degrees Farenheit out and he was wearing a thin jacket and pajama pants. My dad (who is a paramedic) told me I quite possibly saved his life that night."
Lady In Distress
"Saved a lady from drowning at the Outer Banks about 10 years ago."
Upright Citizen
"I was driving down a two lane road one night and saw an upside down electric wheelchair. I thought to myself 'that's an expensive thing to trash' and then I saw an arm reach up. The poor guy couldn't talk and only had one working limb. He was cursing downy the road and caught the edge and flipped. His chair was too heavy and the landscape wasn't conducive for me to flip it alone. I called the ambulance which was 20+ min out and tried to flag passing cars down. No one stopped for about 10 minutes (~ 60 or so cars). Finally a truck stopped and the guy was able to help me flip him back up."
Animal Lover
"I saved over 100 cats in my lifetime and I feel happy thinking about it."
These laudable achievements make one feel as if they've arrived.
A Mouthful
"I ate a triple burrito in one sitting ten years ago, for which I won a t-shirt. I still wear the shirt from time to time."
Strawberry's My Jam
"Not that exciting, but I'm still pretty proud: winning a blue ribbon at a state fair for my strawberry jam. My husband loves to brag about it, and it makes me feel pretty special when he does."
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Music To My Ears
"My old band got played on a local radio station a few times."
– circa319
"The same thing for my band too. The university radio station liked us so much, they recorded one of our songs for a local music CD."
Magical Garden
"Growing veggies and herbs without killing them. And making pickles/jams/infused butter with the results. So that's pretty cool I guess."
Power Of Healing
"My stroke recovery. I can walk, use my left hand and I can cook again. Things aren't perfect but considering that I couldn't pick my head off of the pillow the day after last Christmas I am doing fantastic."
Impressive Play
"running the table at pool where after the other person broke and i sank every single one of my balls and the eight ball in one turn (i'm not usually good at pool). a stranger came up to me said it was one of the greatest things he's ever seen. I think about this often lol."
– fetanose
Taking care of yourself is an accomplishment that can be more rewarding than any trophy.
Growing A Backbone
"I stood up for myself with my family and set boundaries. Then I actually kept them."
"I had a very abusive and traumatic childhood. Standing up for myself when I was a child always resulted in pain of some kind. This was a huge step for me."
Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes
"Probably not the biggest but I flat out slapped this random man on the street after he grabbed my a** .My hand shook for almost the rest of the day but I was so proud of myself!"
– Kali_B
It's never too late to discover one's own hidden capabilities or talents and getting recognized for them.
Stranger In A Strange Land
"I moved to a foreign country where I knew only 1 person and didn't speak the language and managed to independently make it and now I call it home."
– mejok
Getting Crafty
"Taught myself to crochet. I'm not terrible at it."
"Me too! Go us. I particularly love chunky yarn - the projects finish faster that way haha."
Amateur Artist
"An artist at a major animation studio saw my fanart and shared it on their Tumblr, they commented on how funny they thought it was. That was years ago but it felt great."
Published
"I briefly became a published comic book author as a side hustle. My first issue sold out at a retailer level across the globe on day one. Super proud of that."
Throughout my musical theater performing career, I've been what's known as a swing. Swings are essentially an understudy for most of the male ensembles in a show and I would go on at any given time at a moment's notice to cover an injured performer or someone who called out sick.
That meant I had to know – in some cases – up to nine ensemble tracks and be able to integrate myself into the show seamlessly.
For every time I did not get shoved by a fellow performer for being in the wrong place on stage or missing a costume change, I gave myself a huge pat on the back by the curtain call.
And then I would go home and enjoy a glass or two of well-earned vino to calm my nerves from safely finishing the performance unscathed.
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
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