Internship Prep

The skills I plan to anticipate first on my internship are my knowledge on troubleshooting computers and my ability to adapt quick to any environment. My main concern regarding my internship is what kind of environment will I be placed in, for example, is it going to be conservative environment or it going to be more of a liberal environment?. I hope to work in an office environment similar to Year Up because being in a positive environment working along with great colleagues and instructors makes it easier to become more productive and keep focused on what needs to be done. The type of manager I’ll work great with is someone admires quality work and who is very supportive to look out for my best interests. The skills I’m hoping to develop at my internship is my networking skills because I believe that alone can take me so far ahead into my career path. My main anxieties regarding my internship are the location and how much time will it take for me to get there. I can’t really answer on how I plan to stand out while at my internship because it would really depend on the type of environment I’m placed in, the type of people I work with, and what expectations are expected of me. I’m going to have to strategize along the way but I’m confident I’ll find a way to stand out. If I don’t become employed right after my internship, my tentative plans are to go to college to continue my education, get a temporary job, and hopefully by then I’ll be an independent representative for a telecommunications company.

New Year 2012

I finished my party almost at six in the morning and managed to get at least three hours of sleep. When I woke up, I no longer had my voice; I was only able to whisper. I got up and headed straight toward the Jacuzzi to sit back and relax. The Marriott hotel was nice enough to give me a free extra hour to stay there, which was great because it gave me more time to relax in the Jacuzzi. My friends decided to take me to breakfast at IHOP for our last event. It was a nice beautiful sunny day, I wanted to spend it all day outside but everybody, including me was very tired and I wasn’t able to talk. So my friend took me back home so I can rest for the rest of the day. I was surprised to find out that my party was still the talk of the day even a day after it ended.

It seems like everyone’s thoughts about this New Year is to start a new beginning, to me it means I have to pick up from where I last left off and take care of business. Happy New Years!!

New Years Eve/Birthday

I woke up feeling great and even better when I received birthday wishes on my phone and on Facebook. I was very surprised to find out that my birthday party was the talk of the day before it even started. I had no idea it was going to be bigger than I planned it to be. I was fighting against time trying to get everything together and ready for my party. My friend came to my house to pick me up so we could go pick up a couple of things. He recorded me using my ID for the first time, which I personally thought it was funny. I reserved a suite at the Marriott hotel and it was very nice. My friends came and they brought some of their friends as well. I hired live entertainment for my guests and everybody was having a great time taking videos and listening to music. I loved how the suite was soundproof because I didn't receive any complaints about the noise. Before the New Year started, I made a toast to everyone to thank them for all the support and how much I appreciate them for everything they have done for me. My party was my way of giving back in return. I wanted everyone to enjoy themselves and I’m happy that’s exactly what the outcome was. 2011 overall was a successful year for me and it ended just perfect.

Winter break

Since my mom and sister went on vacation to Guatemala on December 15, I had the house to myself. It was kind of depressing because I got sick and it remained like that for most of the week. I spent the whole week very drowsy and weak because of the medicine. My goal for the week was to get well before my birthday. I wish I wasn’t so sick for the week because there was a lot to get done and because of the drowsiness, I wasn’t in good condition to do anything. On December 29, my mom and sister returned back to the United States and I was glad they made it back safe. I spent the whole day with them listening about their trip and how everyone had a new experience. At least they had a better week than I did.

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.