Post 10: My last day at WLE
On the last day of my WLE, I did the same things I usually do. I did my daily duties which included logging detentions, referrals, etc.
Something Important I realized about myself is that I am a lot more responsible than I thought I was. I always figured out a way to get the work done even if I fell behind at times. I think the work I do can be extremely overwhelming if it isn't done correctly or if time isn't managed well. I feel like this connects to business management in a way because I'm constantly dealing with information, keeping track of it and collaborating with other people to make sure the work gets done. However, I certainly do not want to work at a school and I honestly don't think business management is something I would be happy doing as a career. This is the second year I've done a WLE I felt would give me a sense of what business management would be like and I didn't like it so I don't plan on pursuing it in college anymore. If I did, it probably needs to be something I'm genuinely interested in such as art. I learned that the Work world requires a lot of responsibility and effort fro man individual. I think a lot of professionals need a huge amount of focus and dedication which are 2 things I have but find only useful when I'm working in something I enjoy. I realized I don't want to work in something but because I need a job. I want something that will allow me to grow as a person and maybe even allow me to help other people.
Seeing as how I.A. is my WLE, I guess I can take pictures whenever I want. I don't think It's 100 % necessary though. I don't think I made it quite to 75 hours every Friday but I did work throughout the week on my own time which should make up for the remainder of the hours.
Something Important I realized about myself is that I am a lot more responsible than I thought I was. I always figured out a way to get the work done even if I fell behind at times. I think the work I do can be extremely overwhelming if it isn't done correctly or if time isn't managed well. I feel like this connects to business management in a way because I'm constantly dealing with information, keeping track of it and collaborating with other people to make sure the work gets done. However, I certainly do not want to work at a school and I honestly don't think business management is something I would be happy doing as a career. This is the second year I've done a WLE I felt would give me a sense of what business management would be like and I didn't like it so I don't plan on pursuing it in college anymore. If I did, it probably needs to be something I'm genuinely interested in such as art. I learned that the Work world requires a lot of responsibility and effort fro man individual. I think a lot of professionals need a huge amount of focus and dedication which are 2 things I have but find only useful when I'm working in something I enjoy. I realized I don't want to work in something but because I need a job. I want something that will allow me to grow as a person and maybe even allow me to help other people.
Seeing as how I.A. is my WLE, I guess I can take pictures whenever I want. I don't think It's 100 % necessary though. I don't think I made it quite to 75 hours every Friday but I did work throughout the week on my own time which should make up for the remainder of the hours.
Post 9: Description of my Workplace
My workplace is Impact Academy of Arts & Technology. As everyone in my academic seminar knows, Impact is a Charter high school in Hayward, California which they all attend every weekday. I work in the main office alongside of my Mentor Kirsten Grimm who is the Vice Principal of student support here. I would say Impact is Medium sized even though I spend the majority of the day in the office which is fairly smaller than most offices. I don't know the exact amount of staff member here but I do know that on Fridays, the office is make up of Grimm, Linda, Dave Hoopes, and Tucci. Also, there are only lower division teachers teaching classes between 8 am and 2:50 pm. With that said, My workplace employs hard working individuals who are determined on helping their students getting into and graduating from college. Each Teacher has their own subject that they specialize in. To my knowledge, all of the teachers here have graduated from a 4 year college or have even gotten their masters.
I don't know what else to say about Impact Academy. I feel like it's sort of unnecessary for me to do this especially because I will continue coming here everyday for like 5 months.
the end.
I don't know what else to say about Impact Academy. I feel like it's sort of unnecessary for me to do this especially because I will continue coming here everyday for like 5 months.
the end.
Post 8: Looking at other people's blog
Based on the blogs I've read, I think a lot of the WLEs are really different. I think everyone is learning something from their internships but it would be more helpful if people actually did the blogs. One blog that stuck out to me was Julie's 8th post. I think a lot of people aren't doing the blogs not because they aren't learning anything, but because time doesn't allow us to get them done especially with all the other things we have going on. Julie's suggestion on making it a mandatory thing during academic seminar for a few minutes woudl be a way to improve this system that way we will be able to answer these questions a lot easier. I also read Reanna's and I know she is interested in Radio so it seems like she really is learning a lot from her radio station. I heard her today and I thought that she must have had some sort of training in order to stay professional.
Post 7 : How my WLE project is going
In order to preapre for my WLE project, I began organizing the discipline data I have been working with since the beginning of the year. I focused more on the 2nd quarter data and began organizing it in excel. This required me to took at teacher data, organizing referrals based on gender, race, grade and advisories. I'm also suppsoed to read an article that was published in the New York Times and see if I could finds any connections that can help the purpose of this project. This was all to prepare for the presentation that I will give to the Impact Academy staff either this upcoming or the following Wednesday. The purpose of this project/ presentation is to figure out why the data seems to be unbalanced when it comes to race. Coming up with a hypothesis and proving supporting it with the data plus presenting it to the staff is all a part of the WLE project. Because this project needs to be done in less than 3 weeks for me, I plan on working on it everytime I have some free time when working with Grimm and I also plan on utilizing the 8 hours I am at Impact in order to prepare for this presentation. I will also organize it at home and make sure I know what I will be saying come the day of the presentation. I am fine with my hours but if I did end up not having enough come the end of WLE, I will use the hours from when I stayed after school and at lunch to make up for that time because I am not able to make it up any other time.
Mentor Interview
POST 5: Friday Dec. 17th, Hours and Project
Today at my WLE, I did my daily duties as usual. This included logging detentions on a google doc, logging referrals in powerschool and notifying teachers via email. After I finished that, my mentor helped me plan my WLE project and gave me an example of the presentation she did last quarter when presenting the discipline data. From there, we took a step further and decided to focus on why so many people of color were getting referrals. I wanted to dig deeper and figure out how I could help figure out a solution to this problem.
TO BE CONTINUED.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Blog 3:
My workplace is Impact Academy therefore it serves its community. Both the students and teachers alike benefit from Impact Aademy for different reasons. The structure my workplace has is very strong which is something that a good school needs in order for it to be its best. The mentor I work with is also a strong asset to the school because she helps keeps things organized and is constantly juggling multiple responsibilites which I've been helping her with since the first day of school. I didn't know how much work there was "behind the scenes" until now because I'm actually a part of it so seeing that process and the outcome helps me understand it a little better. One weakness I've notcied at Impact is the organizaiton. Although a lot of the information is well kept, I feel like there isn't enough organization to keep an accurate record of everything which is something I think is important. As of now, thats the only weakness I've noticed. I'm curious to see the rest of what my mentor is planning on teaching me and the outcome of the project we are planning right now.
Intro Post: How I got my WLE: Oct 26th.
I got my internship without doing much really. I was actually considering doing something with photography this year but that didn't work out exactly how I wanted it too so I'm going to do it on my own time. I actually got my internship during the summer. Coach Grimm called my house a couple of weeks before school started and offered me a position as her assistant. She told me I would do it in the place of AP environmental science, and would receive WLE credit for it. She also told me that I could find something constructive to do every Friday so that I wouldn't have to be at school & could possibly be paid for it since I wasnt going to get school credit from it. I'm still working on finding a paid internship with photography but if that doesn't work out, I iwll just ocme ot school on fridays and work in the office for a few hours. So far, I've asked a friend of mine for help because her aunt works as a photographer so I thought it could have been an amazing opportunity for me to work with a camera, take amazing pictures, and create a portfolio that I could later use some of the photos for. I've also been looking online at places I could potentially work at and emailed one of my mentors from last year to see if he had any connections. If I am able to get an internship within the next 2 weeks, I will do that but I definately want it to involve photography and I would need it to be near home or in San Francisco because of other commitments.
Post 15: My last day at my WLE
On the last day of my WLE, I didn't do very much. I just handed out the newsletters I completed the previous week along with an ad that my mentor asked me to hand out. We also had a Cinco de Mayo party to celebrate our last day at work. My mentors gave Karen and I Jamba Juice cards on our last day to thank us for our hard work. I wrote a letter thanking my mentor for the job opportunity and i invited her to the WLE exhibition/ dinner
Post 14: Almost Done.
Since I only have 1 week remaining of my WLE, I plan to write a Thank you letter to my mentor thanking her for everything she's done for me. I also plan on inviting her to the exhibition and dinner than will be held on June 1st. Even though this is the end of my internship for school, I will still see my mentor because she is my sister so I plan on helping her whenever I can. As for the dinner, I don't know what kind of food I will bring. I will have to speak to my parents and see what they will be willing to help me make for the potluck.
Today at my internship, I finished the final newsletter that I will be doing at Walker Landing. It was the May newsletter that includes tips on how to go green (the focus for my WLE project), healthy food tips and Holiday information. I also included announcements and important dates on the calender displayed on the last page of the newsletter. I feel like this one was the best i've done because there weren't any mistakes when my mentor revised and printed it. This week I started my Survey but I don't think it will be done and passed out until next week. I will definately work with my mentor to have it back before May 12. If that is not possible, then I will definately have it before the 19th. I have also started taking pictures focusing on how to make Walker Landing more Green. Like I previously stated, I'm not sure if my project will be finished in time because I recently figured out what it would be but I will try and get the survey complete and returned by May 12th. I then plan on getting different percentages of how many people know how to go green and share ideas on how they can improve. I am also working on how Walker Landing can show that they are fully commited to being green and having all their residents follow in their footsteps.
I think my hours are complete but if they aren't, I will come in when I have a chance and don't have to worry about testing, homework, and other things that are on my mind right now. If i did have to make up hours, it would only be about 3 so that shouldnt take longer than a day or so.
Today at my internship, I finished the final newsletter that I will be doing at Walker Landing. It was the May newsletter that includes tips on how to go green (the focus for my WLE project), healthy food tips and Holiday information. I also included announcements and important dates on the calender displayed on the last page of the newsletter. I feel like this one was the best i've done because there weren't any mistakes when my mentor revised and printed it. This week I started my Survey but I don't think it will be done and passed out until next week. I will definately work with my mentor to have it back before May 12. If that is not possible, then I will definately have it before the 19th. I have also started taking pictures focusing on how to make Walker Landing more Green. Like I previously stated, I'm not sure if my project will be finished in time because I recently figured out what it would be but I will try and get the survey complete and returned by May 12th. I then plan on getting different percentages of how many people know how to go green and share ideas on how they can improve. I am also working on how Walker Landing can show that they are fully commited to being green and having all their residents follow in their footsteps.
I think my hours are complete but if they aren't, I will come in when I have a chance and don't have to worry about testing, homework, and other things that are on my mind right now. If i did have to make up hours, it would only be about 3 so that shouldnt take longer than a day or so.
Post 13: How my WLE is going.
Today at my WLE, I spent the majority of the day working on the May newsletter with Karen which has to be done by next wednesday so that my mentor(s) could approve it & have us send it out on May 1st. My mentor & I didn't interact much today because we were in sperate rooms working on different projects. This week I made a copy of the newsletters I have done & saved them so that I could use them during my presentation. I am also trying to attain copies of the letters I have helped write & of different documents I have worked on during this experience. Becasue I work with personal information such as social security numbers, income, & that sort of thing, It is difficult for me to show what I have done for legal reasons. We plan on getting copies of some of the documents so that we can black out the name, social security, address, birthdate & all other information that is confidential.
Besides the information i am trying to get, I have also been working on researching how to "Go Green." This is something that Eden Housing is focusing on right now so I thought I would help spread the word of going green by basing my WLE Exhibition project on it. It's something that has been included in the monthly newsletter & is something Eden feels is important within their communities. I plan on creating a survey for the Impact Community asking how much energy they save, how often they recyle & that sort of thing. I also need to call PG&E and Waste Management so that they may give me information i need to make my Project really good. I am behind with this project but there is nothing more I can do to get caught up. I am just going to use the rest of the time I have effectively & make the best i can out of it.
As for my 100 hours, I dont know if I have all 100 but I should be pretty close. I didn't have my time sheet for 2 weeks now so I didn't include those hours yet but I should be pretty close. I came in during Spring break & worked about 7 hours for 3 days. I will be really disappointed if I don't get all of my hours because I worked every day I was supposed to & even missed days of my 2nd internship to do extra time. :]
Besides the information i am trying to get, I have also been working on researching how to "Go Green." This is something that Eden Housing is focusing on right now so I thought I would help spread the word of going green by basing my WLE Exhibition project on it. It's something that has been included in the monthly newsletter & is something Eden feels is important within their communities. I plan on creating a survey for the Impact Community asking how much energy they save, how often they recyle & that sort of thing. I also need to call PG&E and Waste Management so that they may give me information i need to make my Project really good. I am behind with this project but there is nothing more I can do to get caught up. I am just going to use the rest of the time I have effectively & make the best i can out of it.
As for my 100 hours, I dont know if I have all 100 but I should be pretty close. I didn't have my time sheet for 2 weeks now so I didn't include those hours yet but I should be pretty close. I came in during Spring break & worked about 7 hours for 3 days. I will be really disappointed if I don't get all of my hours because I worked every day I was supposed to & even missed days of my 2nd internship to do extra time. :]
Post 12:
See post 13.
Post 9:
Today in my WLE, I learned how to work with the money that the company makes & made a receipt to keep for records. First I made a copy of every money order on the copy machine with 2 orders on a page. I then used a receipt calculator to record the amounts of each order as awell as to find the total amount. I messed up a couple of times so I had to start over 3 times but I finally understood how to do it. I double checked & after I was positive that the records were correct, I began to record the amounts of each money order into a deposit book thing so that we could deposit the total amount at once and so that it owuld be easier for the bank to deposit the money. I then stamped all the deposits with a stamp that read to the order of Wells fargo or something like that. Once I finished, My mentor took Karen and me to Wells Fargo Bank and Karen deposited around $10,000 into the bank. ONce we were done in the bank, we ran other errands that our mentor needed to do like going to the Corporate office and the Post Office.
As of now, I am not sure what my project will be for this WLE but i'm pretty sure it's the project that I will create for the children even though I think that's been put on hold because I am doing the monthly newsletter.
*BONUS:
-Why is managing a buisness so important? If any mistakes are made, who will be affected & in what way?
-Can Managing a buisness help create your own one day?
As of now, I am not sure what my project will be for this WLE but i'm pretty sure it's the project that I will create for the children even though I think that's been put on hold because I am doing the monthly newsletter.
*BONUS:
-Why is managing a buisness so important? If any mistakes are made, who will be affected & in what way?
-Can Managing a buisness help create your own one day?
Post 7: An Extra pair of hands
I noticed that many people didn't write a lot of blogs so I chose people I knew for sure had internships.They belong to Shelby, Reanna, Britney,and Scott. Of these 4 people, I think Britney has the best blog because even though she didn't get an internship until recently, she completed many blog entries. Once she attained an internship her blogs were very specific and provided examples. I also think Reanna's blog is very informative especially the 4th one because it gives a detailed summary of what she did at her internship. She spoke a lot about excercising and nutrition so I found that to be interesting. Shelby's blogs are brief and straight to the point but I feel she should write more to give her readers a big idea of what she does. Scott has only written 2 blogs so I am not able to give much insight.To make my blog more effective, I could probably give examples or talk more about what exactly i did at my internship. i could also try ad spend more time on them like I am on this one.
I don't feel comfortable picking on one person's blogging skills so I'm not going to. I will provide a general idea as to what people could do. I feel like the big reason why people don't do their blog is because they are either too busy or tired to remember them. That has been the case for me but I decided to start blogging from my phone or attending the LC. Maybe people should come up with alternative ways to do their blogs other than waiting to get home. For example going to the LC in the morning or whenever it's opened like I did. I don't know if I'm learning more than anyone else but I do know that I am in a good place right now and that works for me. It's hard to tell with so many people not doing their blogs
Now that I have been at my Walker Landing for 2 months, I feel that I am more interested now than i was when I first began my internship. At first It didn't seem like there was much for me to do but as time went by projects were prepared for me. Now I do a monthly newsletter, Help write correspondent letters, file everything, run errands, mail things, and deliver important documents to everybody's unit. For now this keeps me busy but as time goes by I would like to learn how to use the different programs, other than Microsoft Publisher, that are used in this buisness. I would also like to start the Project that I am supposed to prepare for the children that attend the after school program held at the apartment complex on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today was a great day because I got a lot done with the extra pair of hands that Karen Perez provided today. She began her internship at Walker landing today and did an amazing job learning how to do almost everything i've learned these past 2 months. We were really busy but she made the process easier because all the work was split in half. It was a pleasure teaching her how to do certain things and showing her around the property. I look forward to us working together until the end of this internship as well as the YAAW internship we do together.
I don't feel comfortable picking on one person's blogging skills so I'm not going to. I will provide a general idea as to what people could do. I feel like the big reason why people don't do their blog is because they are either too busy or tired to remember them. That has been the case for me but I decided to start blogging from my phone or attending the LC. Maybe people should come up with alternative ways to do their blogs other than waiting to get home. For example going to the LC in the morning or whenever it's opened like I did. I don't know if I'm learning more than anyone else but I do know that I am in a good place right now and that works for me. It's hard to tell with so many people not doing their blogs
Now that I have been at my Walker Landing for 2 months, I feel that I am more interested now than i was when I first began my internship. At first It didn't seem like there was much for me to do but as time went by projects were prepared for me. Now I do a monthly newsletter, Help write correspondent letters, file everything, run errands, mail things, and deliver important documents to everybody's unit. For now this keeps me busy but as time goes by I would like to learn how to use the different programs, other than Microsoft Publisher, that are used in this buisness. I would also like to start the Project that I am supposed to prepare for the children that attend the after school program held at the apartment complex on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today was a great day because I got a lot done with the extra pair of hands that Karen Perez provided today. She began her internship at Walker landing today and did an amazing job learning how to do almost everything i've learned these past 2 months. We were really busy but she made the process easier because all the work was split in half. It was a pleasure teaching her how to do certain things and showing her around the property. I look forward to us working together until the end of this internship as well as the YAAW internship we do together.
POST 6: Grading myself for WLE
In Mastery of Knowledge, i believe I deserve a 4 based off of the work i have done at my WLE. the reason I deserve this is because I have learned how to do many things such as filing, writing letters, time management and productive collaboration. I have used these skills while at my internship when writing and delivering notices to 78 apartments. I file receipts, applications and all sorts of paper work that is important to the business. although I haven't used productive collaboration right now, I will have to when I begin doing the monthly newsletter. My mentor's boss will provide me with information that will help me complete the newsletter but she also would like that i incorporate my own interests and creativity into them.
In Leadership skills and College work habits, I deserve a 3.5. The reason I deserve this grade in College work habits is because I am responsible and have showed up on time, prepared every time I attended my internship. I also followed instructions and directions really well and asked questions whenever I had one because I knew that if i made a mistake, It could have affected many different people. I took a leadership role when I wrote a letter in the place of my mentor and made edits to other letters that she wrote. She asked me to do it for her so I did without complaining. I actually liked the fact that my mentor trusted me to do something so that she may attend to other buisness
In application of knowledge and metacognition, i deserve a 3. I deserve a 3 because I have tried my best to apply myself into everything I do. My procrastination has gotten much better because I have not waited until the last minute to do anything. There was one situation that casued me to not complete the assignment I was asked to do but my mentors thought that they did not give me enough time to complete it. This time they are giving me 2 days to complete the assignment and I intend on doing my absolute best to get it done.
In Leadership skills and College work habits, I deserve a 3.5. The reason I deserve this grade in College work habits is because I am responsible and have showed up on time, prepared every time I attended my internship. I also followed instructions and directions really well and asked questions whenever I had one because I knew that if i made a mistake, It could have affected many different people. I took a leadership role when I wrote a letter in the place of my mentor and made edits to other letters that she wrote. She asked me to do it for her so I did without complaining. I actually liked the fact that my mentor trusted me to do something so that she may attend to other buisness
In application of knowledge and metacognition, i deserve a 3. I deserve a 3 because I have tried my best to apply myself into everything I do. My procrastination has gotten much better because I have not waited until the last minute to do anything. There was one situation that casued me to not complete the assignment I was asked to do but my mentors thought that they did not give me enough time to complete it. This time they are giving me 2 days to complete the assignment and I intend on doing my absolute best to get it done.
POST 3: My Official First day at my WLE
My WLE this week was very productive. I arrived at about 9:00 am and immediately got to work on filing, stapling letters, delivering the letters to everyone and some more filing. Although it doesn't seem like much, this took most of my day and i feel like I did a good job at what i was asked to do. After that I had lunch at Rigatoni's with my mentor and soon after got back to work. We went to another property to deliever some stuff to them and then went to pick up her official buisness cards. Once I had done my hours, My mentor gave me a ride to the bart station so I could arrive to my next internship on time.
My WLE is what I thought it would be like. I figured that I would be mostly filing and things of that nature becasue this is my first time working andidn't think that a company would want to put a lot of responsibilty on a 16 year old high school student. I was told that I will be doing more with the computers and inputting information in them. I was also told that I will work on a project for an after school program that is held at the property where I am doing my WLE so i am looking forward to that. The environment i am working in is not what I expected it to be. I thought it would be a serious, boring environment but the people I have met so far have been nice and made my WLE interesting. I was surprised to find that this was possible in a buisness but was very happy as well. The skills I acquired during this week were filing Notcies and payments recipets. I also got to know the property better by delivering annual income forms to every door. I was informed that I will soon be able to know how to operate the programs and the computer so that I may input all kinds of information. I will also be starting a project with another employee and will be planning things for children who attend the after school program that is held at this property. I am really looking forward to everything that is in store for me at my internship.
My WLE is what I thought it would be like. I figured that I would be mostly filing and things of that nature becasue this is my first time working andidn't think that a company would want to put a lot of responsibilty on a 16 year old high school student. I was told that I will be doing more with the computers and inputting information in them. I was also told that I will work on a project for an after school program that is held at the property where I am doing my WLE so i am looking forward to that. The environment i am working in is not what I expected it to be. I thought it would be a serious, boring environment but the people I have met so far have been nice and made my WLE interesting. I was surprised to find that this was possible in a buisness but was very happy as well. The skills I acquired during this week were filing Notcies and payments recipets. I also got to know the property better by delivering annual income forms to every door. I was informed that I will soon be able to know how to operate the programs and the computer so that I may input all kinds of information. I will also be starting a project with another employee and will be planning things for children who attend the after school program that is held at this property. I am really looking forward to everything that is in store for me at my internship.
POST 1: An intro to my WLE: January 6th
I attended my Job Shadow day but was not there for the four hours i was supposed to be. My mentor, Nichole Marrow, originally asked me to arrive between 10 and 11 AM. I called her at around 9:45 so that she would give me directions but she was at another property with a temp. She told me that she would call me at a later time so that I may come in and work. I received the call at 1:30 and informed both my academic seminar teacher, Nida Sahr, and mentor that I had an appointment at 4:30 so i would have to leave promptly at 3:00 so that I could make it on time. Nicole Marrow is my step-sister who works as a manager at various apartment complexes that belong to Eden Housing. The property I will be doing my work at is Walker landing located in Hayward, Ca.
