Internship ready

I learned so much while I was in Year Up program and ready to incorporate the skills I learned to Bank of the West. I took apart computers parts and assembled them back together successfully, as well as efficiency in Installing Hardware to computers. I can’t wait to display my public speaking skills that I acquired at Year Up, since I will have to do troubleshoot computers. My professionalism has grown a lot since being in the program and can’t wait to build that even more at my internship. I am going to to be at work 20 min before I start, eat a great breakfast, smile every day, communicate with as many staff as I can, and show I am willing to learn everything and anything. I am hoping I get the job after my internship and work there full time, but also take some night classes as well. If I don’t get the job after my intern I will continue my road towards IT and go back to school and try reach out to Year Up for any job openings. I absolutely cannot wait for my first day on Monday at my intern. I believe I am ready, determined and focused to do my best at any company.

Making most of my intern

1.       Tackle all tasks with enthusiasm and positive attitude: I think this is most important because showing enthusiasm to any job you is assigned can get you the job. Showing your supervisor no job is too little can help you land the job. I will try to take each task with the same importance whatever the task is.

2.       Set personal goals: For me having personal goals is key because you want to get the most out of the experience of an intern and incorporate it in other jobs. I will set weekly goals in my notebook and as well as monthly goals and check them end of the month and week.

3.       Have regular meetings with your supervisors: This is important because you want to have a good communication between your supervisors. Accept the growth areas your supervisor gives you and do your best to work on them. Make an appointment once a week preferable Fridays and check in with them on how I did.

4.       Get as much exposer as possible: This is important because you want to meet new people and grow in the company, when you do that you will show off your skills to everyone. I am going to take on task and tasks to get the most of the internship. Try and build a good relationship with everyone and take on new tasks if presented.

5.       Network, network, and network: Build relationships with coworkers can help you land a job after if the intern doesn’t work out.  I am going to create a dice and linked in profile and interact with coworkers as well as in the work place.

6.       Enjoy Yourself: I ranked this in the middle because you don’t want to be a robot and get nothing out of it if you’re not enjoying it. I am going to come to work with a smile and leave work with a smile and feel good about it.

7.       Take enactive: It’s important because you want to always think outside the box but make sure it’s the right time and working with your supervisor always helps. I am going to try to bring new ideas to the company but know when it’s the right time to do so.

8.       Leave with tangible accomplishments: Writing down everything is important so you can use it in your resume and know what you did for your own records. I will bring a pen and notebook to write in everyday to work to try to accomplish that task

9.       Never shun to learn more about the company: I don’t think it is as important as others but if you do learn about the company a bit and your supervisors see that, it will give you a good thumbs up. Will show you are interested in the company. I will attend as many meeting as I can as well as conferences.

10.    Find a Mentor: I believe you should do the work on your own but if needed it is good to have a mentor to go to if help needed. I will try to reach out to someone that has experience in the company that can show me the ropes.

11.   Avoiding negativity: I should have put it lower on the list but I believe if you are positive things will work it out. You want to arrive early every day and not have a negative attitude.  I will dress accordantly to work and be positive every day. Arriving on time is a big deal to me so I will be early every day.

12.   Don’t be afraid to ask questions: I believe asking questions are a good thing but I believe finding it out by yourself would be better. Of course asking questions of your supervisor will increase your communications with him or her. I will try to ask as many questions as I can but limit them at the same time.

Worst or best jobs ive had

The worst job that I have had would be working at Sizzlers. I was getting paid 8.50 an hour and I only worked on Fridays. I felt like the sizzler factotum. My responsibilities were to clean table after people ate and take there dishes. Separate each plate or utensils and put in washer. I had to take out the garbage and always keep washing my hands every thirty minutes. If a customer spilled something I would have to clean up the mess. I enjoyed the job just because at the end of the day I got tips for being the busser, but I only got one day a week which can be a good thing or bad. I had to have a lot of patience with the customers and wait till they were done eating until I cleaned there table and also if there kids made I mess I had to smile and say it was fine. I learned that working at sizzlers was not for me and I couldn’t be doing that my whole life. The money was minimum wage and I wouldn’t survive in this world with that salary. I wanted a higher paying job and fast.

The best job I have ever had was working for Verizon wireless. I was the greeter for Verizon wireless, I would great the people that walked in and made sure they had someone help them as soon as possible. The customers would see me first so I had to always smile even if I wasn’t having a great day. I enjoyed working there because I loved helping the customers out and making there life easier. I gained great knowledge talking to people and being comfortable not knowing the answer but finding out.

Freak

The book freakanomics displayed different topics in which the authors gave their opinion and hidden sides of the topic. I believe it was written this book to show the readers that there are mysteries and hidden facts that the economy doesn’t want you to know about. There was this specific passage that stood out to me:“I ain’t no African American either, you idiot, I’m a nigger.”  J.T. then administered a lively though not unfriendly taxonomical lesson in “nigger” versus “African American” versus “black”. I feel like you can’t say there are different types of African Americans. To me there is no difference between “blacks”, “niggers”, and African Americans. I can say the same for any other race like Mexicans for example since I’m Mexican. People call Mexicans beaners, wetbacks, Pisa, etc. they are still Mexican regardless. Another thing is that if you have a lot of money or no money at all it doesn’t make you a different race you can’t change that with however much money. The book to me was easily readable, but at times it was too much random facts. The book used a lot of words I didn’t know so that was a plus and gave me the opportunity to learn and look up words. I would say I would recommend this book to people but to keep an open mind. It will help you to look at different sides of things and I think the authors did a good job of keeping me interested with all the different chapters, they got me to wonder, what will happen next?

Take notes

Thus far in the book some of my strategies consist of reading the chapters in section throughout the week. I check how many pages are in the chapter and I choose a number to read per day ending on Thursdays, giving me enough time to finish my role in the group for Friday. Unless I am the moderator, then I read the whole chapter on Monday and Tuesday splitting the pages between the days. I made sure I didn’t read the book too late in the day because then you just read to read not to read for comprehension. I love to read in my room either in complete silence or with very soothing music in the background, but not music that is distracting. I always underline a word I read that I don’t know, even if I am not vocabulary manager for the week. It helps me expand my vocabulary. Highlighting something you found funny, you think that is important, opinion on a quote or passage are all good ways to annotate. When reading this book you cannot be a pessimist while doing so. You have to look at it in many different perspectives because the way the book is written is only one thought. Have an open mind while reading and have fun with it.

Citizenship

The article I read was about the benefits of being a United States citizen and traveling abroad to different counties. I have a quote that in a way angered me. ”Retired individuals residing overseas can breathe a sigh of relief as it is possible to receive Social Security payments outside of the U.S. All that is required is to show up monthly at a nearby U.S. embassy to receive the payment. There are certain restrictions though. The Social Security office states it isn't currently possible to receive benefits in Cambodia, Vietnam or parts of the former Soviet Union” (Fuhrmann 2012 ). People are struggling to get citizenship in the United States but U.S citizens can go to other counties and get social security payments when they retire? That makes no sense to me what so ever, why don’t they make it easier to become U.S citizen if other counties are making it easy for them to go to their country. Also you can vote while living in another country. “There are differing options for U.S. military personnel from citizens living outside the U.S., but options exist to vote as an absentee. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP.gov) lists the options in detail and includes online resources to register to vote, request ballots and track the activity once it is completed” (Fuhrmann 2012 ). I don’t understand how if someone leaves United States and goes to another country and they can still vote. U.S citizens get benefits anywhere they go. A good thing for me but my family without citizenship, not so much. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/17/investopedia82398.DTL

Mexican stigma

 Not all Spanish speakers are Mexican. I have had this occur many of times to my friends and I that speak Spanish. We would be sitting there speaking Spanish and a stranger would approach us and ask “hey are you two Mexican”. I suppose it shouldn’t bother me as much because I am Mexican but it tends to hit a nerve when I hear it. The language spanish originated from spain not mexico, so why is everyone that speak the language mexican?Just because people speak Spanish it doesn’t mean there Mexican. Mexico is not the only Spanish speaking county in the world. Spanish is the most spoken language in the world with 20 countries speaking the language. I don’t just look at it in my view but in other peoples and races perspective. I’m sure people from other Spanish speaking countries don’t enjoy being called a race they are not. With that being said it may cause an altercation between the “Mexican” and the person making the stigma. An altercation that should be limited or should not occur. Overall i believe it will be resolved it just may take some time.

My Pledge

My Pledge for business class:

I pledge to be on time to class and my intern everyday by setting my alarm a couple of minutes early and having a plan B to get to class.

I pledge to graduate Year Up and move forward with my life by staying positive, not giving up, trying my best, and asking questions that will benefit me and classmates.

I pledge to offer any help I can to my colleagues to help them learn by giving my contact information out so they can reach out to me for any reason.

My Neighborhood

 I spent my childhood in Hayward, Ca near Kennedy Park and Bohannon Middle school. The neighborhood in which I grew up in was a diverse and multicultural environment. My group of friends consisted of all different races: Korean, American, Indian, Mexican, Filipinos, and Chinese. My two best friends were Korean and White but we never excluded the rest when we had activities such as neighborhood soccer, football, baseball, and basketball. We would always play outside together after we finished our homework our parents wouldn't allow us to go out and play unless we finished our entire homework and gave it our full effort. It was a very secluded neighborhood with a lot of shops and places to dine. I enjoyed the fact my neighborhood was near many places to wonder off too. I moved from the neighborhood I grew up in the summer of 2005 to Castro Valley, CA transferred school districts and left my high school and childhood friends behind. It was a very difficult time for the transition but I didn't waste any time making new friends, the neighborhood I moved to wasn't for me. It was a very nice area to live in with parks and neighborhood tennis courts, basketball courts, and a swimming pool but something was missing. In my neighborhood the majority of families are white and Chinese ages from 50-75. There is nobody near my age in my neighborhood all of their kids are married and are living on their own. Despite of that it is a really nice neighborhood and the people are really nice, so I can’t complain that much.

I am who I am because of the neighborhood I grew up being so diverse. The race did not matter to me or anyone, it was as if we were one big family and were all brothers. It showed me to be open to different ethnicity and not to strictly associate with my own race. I am very grateful to have lived in such a great neighborhood.

Advertisements

I really enjoy the advertisements that have a clear and education message and sticks to you. For instance the "Live Above The Influence “commercials, something about them changes my day in a way that I feel brings me better knowledge on smoking or drugs. It leaves the person reading or watching the advertisement feeling for what the person is going through and draws them in a way to make a personal connection.  Once the person makes the connection with the personal life it keeps them interested in the product. I am disturbed and annoyed of the advertisements I receive when I am exploring on the internet. For instance when I listening to music streamed from Pandora or slacker radio an advertisement plays about every three songs and can ruin the state of mind.  Also when sponsors or advertisements are somewhere they do not belong. When a bus has advertising for a movie or in other cases condoms, I believe that is unnecessary and not  benevolent there are many different ways they can advertise and advertising on a bus is not right.

Grabbing the attention or interest of the viewers plays a big role in advertising. There are many different styles of advertisements for variety of ages, race, size etc. The styles of advisement that grab my attention the most are humor, sentimentality, and shock factor. Humor and being able to make a person laugh or smile has a great affect on a person which can lead to remembering the purpose of selling the product to the person. For me if you make me laugh in an advertisement commercial or picture you have already won some credibility in my mind, and many advertisements strictly focus on getting the attention of a wide audience especially the new generation.

Advertisements believe by starring a celebrity in there advertisement will lead to great success and lots of money. People buy products or invest in things because there favorite athlete, singer, actor, or actress are on the advertisements. For me I think it is really sad to see that some of the biggest company's make a huge profit from who is wearing their product in a commercial or picture. I have never bought any attire just because celebrities influenced me to buy it. I am not saying that it’s wrong to buy a product because your favorite celerity is wearing it; I am just stating that I don't.

Goals

My personal and academic goals are simple. I want to be an exemplary student. I am striving to accomplish turning in all my homework and class assignments on time, passing all my exams, and coming to class prepared and awake so that I am ready to take full advantage of the knowledge I’m being given by instructors. I will accomplish these goals, just like I accomplish anything else in my life by being responsible, improving my time management skills as well as my organizational skills. One example would be how I will keep a student planner where I write down my assignments and their due dates, or keeping binders for all my classes with dated notes. One of the challenges I know I will face will be giving myself the substantial amount of hours of sleep I need in order to do well at the internship. To facilitate this challenge I will give myself a bedtime, 10:30p.m., in which I will try to keep as a routine. Of course there will be some exceptions, like on days I need to study for an exam or complete a big assignment. To make my goals narrower and easier to obtain I will have one overall goal in each of my classes. For my business communications class I want to better my confidence in public speaking, in my professional skills class I want to better my S.L.A.N.T., and for my tech class I want to be able to understand all the components of a computer and their function. As I start to see my progress academically and professionally at the internship I will reward myself, and this in turn will keep me focused, and make my goals seem less straining. While at the internship my rewards will be things such as taking myself out to eat a good meal or dessert, spending quality time with family and friends , as wells as giving myself days off where I can do things like watch television, sleep, and listen to music. My goals for after the internship will be bigger because of the bigger accomplishment. I would love to travel to Spain, Mexico, and England. I would also like to be able to get myself a new car, preferably a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.