Internship Readiness

The qualities of someone who is internship ready are professionalism, knowledgeable, striving to learn, and focused. I plan to demonstrate all the qualities I mentioned, but I also plan to demonstrate my potentials such as being capable of meeting deadlines, participation, and become proactive. My strategy for meeting deadlines would be to complete my assignments on time, have my time well manage, and organize by setting up a daily schedule on my Google calendar. I’ll participate by sharing my ideas with my co-workers, ask questions when I want to understand a certain assignment that is expected of me. I think being proactive is very crucial in the work place and I’m sure my manager will appreciate it. Setting up my priorities, efficient multitasking, and full time engagement, is what is going to help me achieve the art of being proactive. The changes I’m planning on making during the internship phase would depend based on the kind of responsibilities that are expected of me. For example, if I have a position in the help desk department, I plan to take advantage of it by using it as a way to grow my communication skills and find a method to combine it with my tech skills in order to succeed in the workplace. The knowledge, the skills, and the experiences that Year Up offers will be the tools I will use in order to accomplish my life time goals.

Goodwill

My first official legit job was working at a Goodwill store as a sales associate. I had three primary responsibilities working at Goodwill; one of them was to always make myself available to the customers whenever they needed assistance, second, always be proactive, never just stand there and do nothing, and third, always pick up phone calls no matter how busy I was while working as a cashier. As a sales associate, I was required to do a lot of multitasking, sometimes three things at once. It was quite bit stressful in the beginning because multitasking was one of my biggest growth areas. Thankfully for my enthusiasm and motivation on finally getting an opportunity, I took complete advantage to work on my growth areas. My organizational skills were one of my biggest strengths and it really contributed in the workplace. What I found enjoyable about working at Goodwill was the fact that I worked with funny people, so I remained entertained, I also made friends with some of the customers, most of the regular customers would demonstrate their appreciation to our services by giving good feedback, and of course the payment and hours weren’t too bad. There were certain things I didn’t find amusing, such as getting up at four o’clock in the morning, taking a two hour bus trip across the city to start working at 7 in the morning. From all my good and not so good experiences, I managed to learn a lot and build new skills along the way. I’ve learn to work under pressure, manage my time, increase my organizational skills, and from all the multitasking I had to go through, I’ve learned to handle it efficiently by setting my priorities first. I believe all the skills that I mention will serve me well in my internship because I saw how it made me successful working at Goodwill. As long as my motivation and enthusiasm keeps leading me forward, I believe I will be ready to contribute my skills and be ready to adapt to new ones at my internship. 

Deliver Opportunity or Become Unbalance

Although Rivera’s Frozen Asset mural was created during The Great Depression, I can see a lot of resemblance toward The Occupy Movement that is going on today because the Frozen Asset mural and The Occupy Movement were both created during rough times. Looking at Rivera’s mural, I can see that there are not many differences from then and now. Businesses, homelessness and unemployment are what I see on the Frozen Asset mural and those are some of the issues The Occupy Movement discusses about. Businesses can either deliver opportunity or become unbalanced by selfish decisions. Unbalance would have to be the perfect description in this case because that’s what the mural really depicts by showing empty businesses  on the top of the mural and a lot of unemployed/homeless people in the middle and bottom of the mural. A lot of businesses in today’s society are not giving many opportunities simply because their intentions are to get as much money without spending too much, along with that mentality they have to face sacrifices such as laying people off, minimizing opportunities just so they can still continue profiting. One thing that struck out to me about the mural is how it shows a guard in the bank segregated from the public behind a gate because it reminded me of how consumer’s trust in banks are becoming more distant due to the banks greediness on taking money from their clients. The Occupy Movement sees the reality of unfairness we face today just as how Rivera did when he created the mural and comparing them both made it clear to me on how strong their well connected to one another. 

Inspirations Leads to Motivation

My inspirations would have to be successful people and when I say successful people I mean the ones that came from nothing and make their futures into something. Successful people tend to inspire me simply because they all have a story to tell on how they overcame the challenges to get to where they are. Every time I hear about their success and how they didn’t let the challenges take over, I get inspired and motivated to continue fighting my challenges. It gives me hope that there are better things in life and that if it’s not given to you then you take it by going after it. I wouldn’t say I’m alone because everybody gets inspired by someone whether they know it or not and for someone to look up to someone else, they must have done something remarkable to make others feel inspired. I am aware of others having an alternate reaction to my source of inspiration because when they look up at a person’s success they get influenced. Successful people are everywhere, it can be someone famous, artists, musicians or it can even be you. Although I have a lot of inspirations I look up to, my mom would have to be my greatest inspiration because coming from a third world country and raising two kids on her own in a city must of took a lot of courage and motivation. My inspirations on successful people will always remain for many years to come because there will always be people that’ll amaze me by their creativity and experiences. One thing I noticed about successful people is that they never stop even after they meet their expectations they create new goals to continue achieving. As long as my inspirations keep motivating me, I will keep striving to reach my goals and create new goals.

Community Essay Pre-Writing Prompt

Members: The members from my community are the Year Up staff and students.
Interact: The interaction within my community is academic, friendly, and professional.
Membership: There are a variety of ranks within the Year Up organization. Such as the site leaders, followed by the teachers, and then comes the students.
Choice: Yes, students choose to be part of the Year Up program to obtain an opportunity, education, internship and a successful future.
Community Characteristics: Year Up’s expectations for everyone is to be respectful and professional. Year Up has great learning and safe environment.
Benefits: some of the benefits Year Up provides are education, weekly stipends, internships, and a variety of great resources.
Disadvantages: Only 80 can be chosen at a time to participate.
Successes: Graduates have a higher chance to keep on succeeding. Year Up graduates have more education and experiences.
Problems: Unprofessional behavior can sometimes set Year Up to have a bad image.
Like: What I enjoy about the community is that it has a powerful support network within the community and corporations. I also enjoy working with my colleagues. I like the education topics and the great teachers that teach them.
Dislike: What I dislike about my community is that cell phones and tablets are not permitted to be used in the building at all. For example, you can’t use it during break and lunch.

Writing Topic 10/25/11

Some of the things that I learned about myself, is how dedicated I can be to the Year Up program and maintain strong to stay committed to avoid other distractions. I surprised myself on how far I was willing to push myself outside my comfort level to succeed in the first module.

Plus: The following is a list of my strengths for module one.

• ·         I helped out a lot
• ·         Was able to complete assignments
• ·         Learned new skills
• ·         Experienced by applying knowledge
• ·         Quizzes
• ·         Cooperating
• ·         Focused
• ·         Dedicated
• ·         Came everyday ready to learn

Delta: The following is a list of my growth areas for module one.

• ·         Not being able to get work done efficiently
• ·         Public speaking
• ·         Paying attention to detail
• ·         Work under pressure

The Mission

When I think of the Mission district I see art, culture, restaurants and parks. I moved a lot throughout my life but it was always within the Mission district. Despite the gangs, homeless, and police, I felt safe running the streets as a kid. I remember me and my neighborhood friends would always go buy smoke bombs to play hide and seek, cops and robbers in the streets. It was all fun and games at first but when I got to the age of 11, it started getting serious. Me and my friend that I’ve known since the age of three witnessed our first shooting and never spoke about it after. I had no idea why I would see letters and numbers crossed out with Ex’s and why almost every block I walked seemed like there was someone trying to find out where I’m from. My friends eventually became part of it, which made me guilty by association. I didn’t feel like I had to get jumped in to be accepted because deep down I knew they had me. Although I never became part of their organization, I was still accountable to follow the rules and carry out orders. Aside from doing things I am not proud to say, I spent my teenage years roaming the Mission streets. Whether I was riding on busses or on cars, I would always like to sit by the window just to look at the Mission and its colorful murals. Art always caught my eye. When I returned to the Mission on early 2010, it wasn’t the same anymore. Gentrification was happening right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t walk around my own neighborhood or be at a park without a cop stopping me to search and ask questions. I can say that most of my childhood has been wiped off because the murals I grew up watching aren’t there anymore. The friends I grew up with are no longer around, it seemed like everything just crumbled down. I’ve become anti-social growing up in this type of environment. The Mission is changing, I am too.

Corporate America

Companies profit from low-wage earners by being sneaky about their businesses. They talk more about how the company can help the consumer but they don’t get into detail on what you have to do in order to pay them back. I think the corporations, government, or individuals hold responsibility for alleviating this issue. Corporations don’t say too much on what you really have to owe them; they talk mostly about what their services can do for you. Governments hold responsibility as well because not much education on how to do businesses with the corporations are provided. A majority of the responsibility goes toward the individuals for many reasons, for example, ignorance, busy, not doing enough research, and poor decision making.  One thing about me is that I never do business on the spot unless I have a good understanding; otherwise I go do my research. I remember a time when I was looking for a bank and this one particular bank tried to persuade me to join them by offering a cooler bag with their logo on it. I wasn’t fooled by all the free gifts; I was focused on what they really had to offer and what I had to do for them in order to benefit both of us. I talked to at least one representative from each bank but never did any agreements on the spot until I did my research to concur with their statements. I am glad I took the time to educate myself and get a good understanding on what I got myself into. When the government decides to push toward this issue, there would be resilience in the opportunity divide. If the government decides to educate individuals on this topic many businesses would go down because they would no longer fool people just so they can get support for their companies.

Moving Forward

I discovered my passion for computers when I was locked up. I took a computer literacy class that taught me the computer basics. My curiosity started going towards something positive and I saw a future in technology. The more my teacher taught me, the more I wanted to learn. Until this day I don’t know what exactly attracted me into technology but I began to build a passion the more I got involved. When my freedom came I had my goals set. One of the hardest things I had to face was finding one opportunity. Getting into Year up was not an easy process but I was determined to face anything that came my way. My chances of getting into Year up were very slim, not only because I had to compete with more than 500 other applicants but there were also concerns about my record. It took a lot of sacrifice to make it happen but I was committed. Now that I am in Year Up my goals is to build a professional record and network. I’m currently developing as a young professional by taking Business Communications and Tech classes.  I am aware that my history limits my prospects but I’m a man that knows what he wants and there’s nothing that can stop me from trying to reach my goals.

View on Hunters Point

On Monday September 19, 2011 two young men fired shots at each other in front of the Torino Grocery Market on Third and Palou Avenue in San Francisco Ca. Both men missed each other, but a five year old girl was caught in the crossfire. The five year old girl was shot down in the knee while she and her dad were trying to get away from the shooting. Investigators are still looking at numerous surveillance footage from around the area. They found one security tape that is said to have shown the actual shooting. The girl's Father is very upset about the whole incident. The girl spent the night at the hospital; the results are that her injuries are not life-threatening. The reason I am writing about this article is because it really got to me, not only because I live around that area but also because a former neighbor of mine and her new born baby were there during the shooting. She lives right on that street and as soon as the shooting occurred she rushed inside her house with her baby. It upsets me when I hear about conflicts such as this one because it just reminds me that there are still selfish irresponsible people that walk the streets. Many don't understand why there's people that do inconsiderate things that lead to this kinds of situations but i can tell you that even most offenders don't understand because most of them are raised that way and for the most that's all they know. I share just as much guilt for associating and being partially raised that way but lucky for me I was raised in two different ways which later on gave me some understanding of both aspects. I am glad to know the girl survived. I believe everything that happens has its reasons whether it's a good one or bad one everybody in the community has been impacted in some way. If you are interested following up on the story here is the URL: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8362992

Memoir of my High School Years

I started off attending Abraham Lincoln High School which is considered as one of San Francisco's top best schools for my freshman year. At the time, I was a little immature. I didn't care about my education and it seemed like the teachers felt the same way about me. It didn't make a difference whether I showed up or not but eventually I ended up getting into trouble that got me arrested and expelled from that school. I was sent to Balboa High School, which at the time was known for having a lot of "gangs". The only good memory I have from Balboa High School was my math class because the teacher had a lot of positive energy and was very supportive. I gained a lot of confidence in math because of that class. I was too distracted by other activities that had nothing to do with my education. The school budget was kind of low. I recall that at times there weren’t enough books to go around, for the ones that couldn't obtain a book they were given copies of the book pages. A year later they started moving out a couple students to continuation schools. They claimed the reason for moving me was because I was low on credits, in my opinion for them doing what they did is to "clean up" the school to gain a better image. I was placed on a continuation school called Downtown High School. Downtown High School had a bad reputation but for some reason I kind of liked it. I guess I liked it because the teachers I had were great, I saw their commitment to teaching. I liked the fact that even though the school was low on budget, they still took us to field trips and do outdoor activities. I had a writer’s workshop class; the teacher had us write poetry for our assignments. She enjoyed reading my poetry and she asked me if I can read it at a poetry event. She made me feel comfortable enough to say yes. It was an experience out of my comfort level because not only did I have to speak in front of my classmates, I also had to speak in front of other students from other schools and with a camera man recording. The day after I presented my poetry teacher told me that two other organizations were interested in me speaking at their events. I was being more productive in my education until something happen that I had to drop out of Downtown High School. I eventually ended up enrolling in a school called Five Keys Charter School. It was different from other schools because I only had to show up once a week and do weekly packet assignments. I was tired of people underestimating me to drop out or assuming that I'm just going to get a GED. A GED to me is like saying I give up. I decided to not settle for less and really focused on completing each packet, I even requested extra packets. I avoided any type of distractions because I kept my eyes on the prize. To this day, I still remember the great feeling of walking over the stage receiving my diploma and looking down on some of the faces that doubted me in the past.

The Diversity of Languages

The first language I ever spoke was Spanish because that's the only language my parents spoke. I remember when I first attended elementary. I didn't know any English and it was weird hearing everybody else talk English because I couldn't understand anything. I was placed in a bilingual class and I slowly started picking up the English language by watching and observing. By the time I went to middle school, I was able to communicate in English affectingly and that's when I started to notice most of my classmates spoke in a different way. The group of friends I grew up with started using a lot of slang and I had to keep up to be able to communicate with them. I started using words like "hella" "wussup" "kick it" "on everything" "that's hurt" "I put that" "fasho" etc. For a couple years, it remained that way and it got to the point where I felt like that's all I needed to know to get around. It wasn't until last year that I started to develop professionally. I participated on a job readiness program were they helped me develop my professional communication skills. Growing up using different types of idioms with different types of people has caused me to forget some Spanish where it gets a little hard to communicate even with my own mom. I can still understand when somebody speaks to me in Spanish but it gets difficult when it's my turn to speak. When I try to speak in Spanish sometimes I forget the word and have to substitute the missing word with an English word which ends up turning into a language I call Spanglish. Currently I feel like I’m living three different worlds because whenever I’m on a professional setting, I keep in mind that I have to speak in Standard English. When I’m with my friends I still have to keep up with the new slang's. When I’m with my mom, if I can't figure out the missing word or she can't understand the English word, I pull out the translator app on my phone. On the bright side by me talking to my mom in Spanglish, it has helped her to understand and adapt to a new language as well.