I feel that during this internship there were many moving parts and that Mia and I, both, made an impact in our workplace. I feel that one way I contributed to my internship site is by always being attentive to detail and trying to get as much work done in the time given. I was constantly communicating with my mentors about what more there was to do after each task whether it was writing emails or hanging up artwork. I also believe that my contribution was not only to my mentors but to those who we worked around. My mentors were Cris and Mario, both part of the education department, they are both very busy people and I believe we were of great help to their schedule. One of the main things I helped with was writing emails to the 25 & Under contestants, we communicated about logistics of events and answered any questions they had. Overall, Mia and I were involved in whatever came up each day, there was no set schedule or set tasks that needed to get done each day. Liz is one of the people who we also worked closely with, she was part of the education department, we helped her with art prep, mainly. I believe that we were of great help in that side of our internship as well because there was constantly new artwork being put up and new exhibitions to showcase. Apart from Liz there were also many other people who were part of the education department which we helped. One other contribution we made was with Luisa, when she held art labs. Art labs revolved around having students create artwork with materials given to them after learning about art. Luisa conducted 2 art labs while we were there, both of which we helped with. One of the art labs was particularly busy as there were many little children and it was hard to keep them together. I believe that being around made the time they were there easier as well as the set up and clean up.
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One of the most memorable experiences through internships so far was setting up artwork for the 25 & Under art contest. This whole process was so fun as I got to look at art, write about art, and learn about all that it takes to make a professional exhibition happen. Throughout this process, I communicated back and forth with artists, speaking about logistics, but also answering questions or concerns. I believe being at High Tech for so long has given me the skills and ability it takes to write professional emails and artist statements which was a tool much needed for this internship. After emailing the winners and receiving all the artwork, Mia and I worked on creating text for the labels that would go next to the work. We worked a lot on spreadsheets, making labels that described the work presented and spoke about the message it conveyed. After each description, I translated my own descriptions to Spanish and I also helped Mia translate hers statements as she needed some help. Spanish was another skill that I was thankful for throughout this internship and which I was happy to have encountered. Both of my mentors spoke Spanish and often switched languages with everything going on in their head. We also had two volunteers coming from TJ, which knew English, but often communicated in Spanish with the people around them. Being in San Diego, translating labels and artworks to Spanish was a very crucial step and I was happy to be able to help out. This second week of internships has been far busier than the last. We held 2 exhibitions simultaneously, including 4 high schools and 1 UCSD graduate class. Mia and I have been in charge of many different tasks such as sending emails, receiving art from the winners of the 25 & Under contest, cleaning, and setting up for Thursday’s exhibition. Although there are many things to be done, sometimes Mario (our mentor) is too busy to be assigning us work all the time so we often take on the task of finding new people to help. This has worked perfectly for us, as we’re able to meet new people and learn new skills! Mario is my mentor and he is one of the people in charge of the education department. Although times get stressful, especially during exhibition week, Mario manages to handle it all. On top of being in charge of the logistics behind art exhibitions, Mario also takes it upon himself to take on the hospitality role. He makes sure food, dishes, and “mingling” spots are available to guests to enjoy. One thing I admire about Mario’s work ethic, that I would like to see in myself, is his ability to level out the work there is to be done between himself and the people surrounding him. He is able to take on work but also make sure that others are on their toes. Another person who is my mentor is Cris. Cris is the head of the education department and she is one of the most confident women I’ve ever seen in a workplace. Cris Scorza is always willing to help you with your tasks, but often will help you in order to push yourself. She understands the effort and time put into every piece of work that goes into creating a show and makes sure anyone working feels appreciated. One thing I would like to learn from her is to be so confident in your own decisions that it makes people agree with you. One last person who I would like to gain knowledge from is Liz! Liz is one of the leaders at the education department and she is focused on a teen artist group called TAG. Liz is so positive and one of the friendliest people I have yet to meet at my time in MCASD this far. Liz always has a smile on her face and makes sure to say good morning and goodbye every day. One skill I would like to take away from spending time with Liz is being more meaningful with the time I spend around others. Seeing Liz make an impact on both Mia and I, makes me want to make the same impact on someone else. My internship is at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in downtown. I begin at 10am and end my shift at 5pm. I like my schedule because I get to sleep in a little bit longer and get to watch up on my rest from the day before. I usually arrive around 30 minutes early from internship so I’ve been getting a coffee most morning to help me energize for whatever is to come throughout the day. My work site is not very big, there is maybe around 30 employees but each one is working on something to keep it moving. There are many departments within the museum that are all working together in order to fundraise money, bring in people, create contests, and educate younger generations. I am interning as a part of the education department which means that there are 2 main things I am working on right now. I am working on the 25 & Under contest and on the next ESP showcase. The 25 & Under contest consists of choosing 25 artists under the age of 25 to represent the artists in our community. The ESP showcase is the same thing that our school got to with collaboration of the museum, this month we are working with High Tech High Media Arts, San Diego High School, Westview High School, and Hoover High School. As part of the 25 & Under contest, Mia and I were assigned to sort through the top voted artists. In order to do this, we collected data from a website and casted the votes on spreadsheets in order to better display the data. After seeing which pieces got the most votes, we picked the top 25 voted. After doing this, we worked on an email to send out to the selected contestants congratulating them and reminding them to bring in their artwork. For the ESP showcase, I worked on writing a text for a poster describing the ideas behind each school’s exhibition. In order to get this showcase ready, we had to bring down furniture from upstairs multiple times and help arrange it in a way that better displays the new artwork. Another part that went into preparing for this showcase was cutting out labels for the artwork, receiving artwork from the schools. What strikes me the most about my workplace is that there are so many moving parts behind each contest, showcase, and museum visit. Each person contributes something meaningful to the team whether it be their compassion, tech skills, confidence, or simply their lending hand. There has been a lot of support from employees, they let us now that it’s a safe space and that they started off as interns too which they were able to translate into a long term job. Some skills that I have include communication, grouping ideas, and creating a safe space. I believe that these skills were reinforced during this zine project so I am able to freshly write about them. I believe that communication is one of the most important things to keep in mind while in a real world experience. Holding communication with my mentor and co-workers will be what makes or breaks this internship experience. I believe that communication will allow for my mentor to see the progress that I’m making and also teaching me what I can learn from my mistakes. Creating a safe space for myself will be something I really have to focus on because I will have to make sure I feel comfortable enough to share ideas and make mistakes. Grouping ideas will be really important when it comes to my internship project because I will need to get a hold of good ideas and find a way to include them in 1 big project. One skill I would like to work on is keeping my personal issues away from the work I am trying to get done during internships. During first semester it was something I really struggled with but also something I worked hard on during second semester. I want to work on this because it will allow me to get practice for future classes or internships and I believe it will give me a specific time and place to work and another place to let go of personal issues. Although I don’t know my final internship site just yet, I want to work on something that leads to my career choice which is graphic design. My ideal project would be getting to work on a design that could hopefully impact either my internship site or our school. In my future, I see myself following a creative path close to my friends and in guidance from my family. My family has a history in the interest of art so I believe they will have creative advise. One of the careers I’ve been deeply interested in is graphic design. I believe following a career where I’m able to express myself creatively, I will not only have a job that supports me but a gateway to creativity. I see myself going to a four year college where I want to major in graphic design and minor in marketing. My big dream, as it is for many, is to support myself financially and emotionally. I believe my greatest goal in life is to be happy which, for me, is often backed up by conducting creative projects and a lot of traveling. The bigger dream around this would be to own my own business in whatever I find my passion to revolve around. I think there is always something to better yourself in, for me that would be devoting my time and passion completely to one area of focus. I often find myself not completing tasks, whether it be academic or personal, because I fail to keep a connection the whole way through. I believe looking deeper into each task to find a personal connection will allow me to complete each project. Heading into internships I feel nervous because we only have around two weeks left and I still don’t have one confirmed. The reason being is that I wanted to find an internship on my own without any connection to the school, which obviously hasn’t worked out. I am positive I will get one soon but it is still a little nerve wracking to get so close to the date and still not have somewhere to go. This week was a really interesting one with a lot going on. We were given a lot of work time which included making choices. This week, our school held a Women’s Day Walkout where we were given to choice to peacefully walkout or to stay in class. I felt that this was one of the many choices we had to make this week. With project work time comes freedom and responsibility. During this time there is a lot to get done but there is also not so much one on one time with the teachers which sometimes makes it harder for others to stay on task. Although project work time has its cons, it also comes with many pros for those who take advantage of them. Being given the chance to walkout was also a choice we had to make as students and activists in the society we live in now. I believe that even though project work time and walkouts may not directly correlate, they do in many ways. We have choices to make and as almost seniors, we begin to hold greater responsibilities. Walking out was a hard choice for many because it collided with our work time. Although we were given the choice to walk out, we knew we wouldn’t gain that time back which may have had a negative impact on some.
I felt really empowered this week because I, along with my peers, was able to make decisions for myself which as teenagers we don’t often get to do. I believe giving us this freedom and choice helped us feel more responsible for the work that need to get done. This week, was a busy week, much was done but my favorite part was visiting UCSD. Going on this field trip, I didn’t expect it to be much different than the rest, I was wrong. We began by separating into groups, my group went with Mrs.Nuvia to the library. Through the walk, Mrs.Nuvia gave us a mini tour as spoke to us about her experience at UCSD. Mrs.Nuvia made it very clear that making friends here was not easy. Although, I am quite an outgoing person who is very opinionated, I am NOT good at making friends. Talking to new people doesn’t scare me, but, opening up and trusting someone does. Besides that, I was amused at the building we stopped right in front of. UCSD Geisel Library. It was a weird shaped building with many, drank tinted, windows that caught my attention.
As we went into the library, we made a stop by the computer lab. We took a mini lesson about the “secret” sources you can access at UCSD. On these computers, we learned about many resources UC students have access to when looking for new books that will help for each individual’s interest.This was my most favorite part of the whole trip. As we accessed this database, there were thousands and thousands of articles to access. This immediately caught my attention and I began to wonder if there was anything that I wouldn’t be able to find on there. Our instructor was guiding us through these resources and gave us a mini lesson as to how to take advantage of these search engines. Using the word “or”, in your search, narrows down your results. Including the word “and”, expands your results. Lastly, using the work “not” narrows down your search even more. Taking what I had just learned, I dove into my search of the best articles on sexual violence (my social advocacy topic). I found 10, reliable, articles in the matter of 15 minutes and I was so happy with my newly found research. This week, we focused a lot on our zine cover ideas and critique for them. It was really fun getting to talk to my group about our individual ideas and how we could merge each thought. Everyone in my group has pretty similar ideas but with a personalized twist that has made us work even better as a whole. We all have ideas, that we know, could work together. My first draft of the zine was really rushed because I forgot to do it so I didn’t have time to actually get it done. I did though, take that critique and tried implementing it into my second draft. My second draft was much, much better. I spent quite some time working on it and getting it to look as I wished. I had an idea of making it very simple, yet informative about what would be inside. My zine page includes light colors with a contrast of two bold colors in the center of the page, as well as a flower to symbolize things like beauty and growth.
After getting critique for our first draft and working on our second draft, we were able to present as a group and get individual critique from Luisa (from MCASD). It was interesting getting to do a different process for critique. We usually go through the “Kind, Specific, & Helpful” route, but this time we dove into something more interesting. Our critique sheets had specific questions about certain elements of our zine covers that allowed us to give more useful critique. These questions included how eye-catching our cover was, what message we got through it, and how we could reach out to others in order to make it better. Last week’s college trip was a memorable experience that I will never forget. I learned a lot about myself and about those who surrounded me. The way up to San Francisco was really exciting. My advisory and I chose to fly up a day early in order to visit my old advisor (Mr.Bosselman) and get to tour 2 other schools. As we were waiting at the airport I was reminded that it was Idalia and Vanessa’s first airplane ride ever. I was excited for both of them and happy I was able to witness their first one doing something this big. This stuck with me because I am always open to doing new things and I feel that my advisory, as a whole, has allowed me to keep that sense of curiosity in me. Rah-Ben is an amazing advisor and always reminds us that there is way more to the world than just us. Being able to experience new foods, new cultures, and new experiences with my advisor and advisees has been a cool thing that we are able to do throughout the year.
After visiting this trip, I felt more confused than before. I was really expecting to fall in love with one of these schools which was not the case. I was, though, able to pick out things from some schools that I really liked. USF and UCSC were probably the best out of all the schools. USF was located in a really fun part of San Francisco and had good vibes all around campus. UCSC was beautiful and I really liked the way the colleges within one big university worked. Although, I am very confused as to what exactly I am looking for, I now have some pinpoints I would like to focus on. As I mentioned, USF and UCSC were my top two which were then followed by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly had a super nice atmosphere and it was the one more closely focused on what I am interested in as a career. What I disliked about this school was the location it was at. I felt that this was too far from the city and I would not be able to feel comfortable. Not feeling comfortable in a place I could be spending 4 years at could lead to not feeling that relatedness of wanting to be there. Below Cal Poly would be Berkeley. Berkeley was just not what I was looking for or what I expected. I didn’t feel like I belonged there or that I would enjoy spending my time there. SJSU and UC Davis were two of the schools I was not excited about, at all. Neither of them made me have a sense of comfortability which could result in not feeling safe and wanted. Overall, I feel that I learned so much on this trip and I would do it all over again if I could. This week went by really fast but a lot was learned. We deepened our learning in neuroplasticity by conducting visual note taking and making connections with past articles, class discussions, and videos. The videos we watched were both around how our brain can grow, be molded, and rewire itself. Being able to get this information and turn it into simple words, images, or symbols has allowed me to gain a better understanding of the topic. This skill has already helped me in another class. In humanities, we have been reading a book in which I rewrite or draw things that are playing out, this allows me to create a better connection and have a deeper understanding of the things that are happening. After each video we watched, we conducted a class discussion which really allows me to go even deeper into the subject. Hearing other people’s ideas, questions, and comments provokes me to think of new things to think about or to ask.
Having these visual notes to look back at has allowed me to be able to look back at previous discussions and connect them to the current one. I use much of this information to remind others of what we previously spoke about and to think about how it all works together. All the videos we’ve taken notes on the past few weeks relate to each other. Weather I have notes about the teen brain, pruning, or rewiring I am able to look back and see which comes first and what happens after. This week went by super fast but I did many things that caught my attention and would like to learn more about. One of them being, having Dr. Sasha Kauffman coming in and giving us a lecture! We have been looking at the teen brain basically the whole school year. We were taught how our brain reacts to issues around us, in The Power Within, and are now learning about how those issues affect us in a deeper more complex way. It was really interesting getting a summary, of what we have been learning, by a professional. I felt proud that I was able to keep up with his words, ideas, and hypothesis about what is yet to be discovered. Dr. Sasha Kauffman specializes in the difference between the male and female brain. Hearing his research, was able to give me an inside look as to why opposite genders handle the same issues or situations differently. One of the things that really struck me about him was that he was able to connect his own research to other areas of study.
Having this lecture was able to give me a little inside look of what a class in college could be like. This week, I also visited Chapman University and UC Irvine where I was able to gain and experience how it’s like around two different types of campuses. I was able to make connections as of what kind of learning I am looking for in a college campus. Both Chapman and UC Irvine are very big on research which is something I was able to find helpful as I thought about the lecture with Dr. Sasha Kauffman. The most memorable learning moment this week, for me, happened through compassion. It was beginning our student social topic proposal. I’ve always been passionate about political or controversial topics and always stand my ground regarding my opinions. This being said, I had many different topics in mind as there are many things to be angry about at this moment. The topics I am most passionate about are immigration and women’s rights. Last year, I participated in a project revolving around normalizing controversial conversations in which I spoke about abortion. Choosing my topic, for this project, was hard. Not because there isn’t things to be said, but because there is too many things to be said. After rounding up all the topics I had in mind, I found one that I felt was prominent and that needed to be more present in our environment. Sexual abuse is one of the few topics that I don’t hear being talked much about at our school, so I chose to shine a light on it.
My wonderings and dispositions allowed me to choose such a sensitive topic in order help others. This being said, I believe my compassion was shown through this activity by pushing myself to pick a topic that will help others be informed and to create a safe space for others to share their stories. In humanities, we recently began reading The Bluest Eye which shines a light on topics such as incest, maturity, and growth. Reading about the main character, Pecola, and her unhealthy relationship with her dad made me realize that this is a very realistic situation in which someone could find themselves in. Visiting the MCASD gave me a complete 360 shift of how our society came to be. I was able to see some of the most amazing art regarding topics like colonialism, bureaucracy, and modernization. I was able to see the different ways people were able to express themselves, in a time where it was deadly to do so. I related this directly to the social needs we spoke about in biology while watching the movie,Terra.
This week, we finished watching the movie Terra which was all about how humanity started and how it has evolved, for the worst. In this documentary, we are able to see the way man takes over earth and slowly begins to destroy it for its benefit. It shows how man has taken away the basic needs of animals in order to satisfy our social needs. While watching this movie, we kept track of basic/social needs that lacked or were being met. We then shared the different pieces of the movie that we kept track of and made connections with them, as a class. Watching Terra helped me quickly identify social needs that were trying to be met through the art at the museum. All of these artist were able to find ways to gain status and certainty in their life, which is something the government had been constantly taking away from them. The artists that were part of the “Memories of the Underdevelopment” exhibit, were part of something even greater than their own art. They were part of a worldwide movement that left lifetime effects on everyone that came across their artwork. This week, we focused a lot on the human brain, specifically, the teen brain. We went over the brains rewiring that occurs in our adolescent years, the advantages of the teen brain and the basic social needs. In order to learn about these topics in more detail we completed some activities. The top 2 activities that helped me the most were watching a short film while conducting visual note taking and creating short skits. The first activity that helped me better understand this topic was watching “Why the Teen Brain Has an Evolutionary Advantage” and taking visual notes along with it. This video spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of the teen brain, as well as when the human brain reaches a fully developed stage. Some of the advantages included taking risks and learning things at a faster pace. Some of the disadvantages included not putting enough thought into decisions or overthinking decisions. At 25 years, the brain finally reaches a developed stage. It also made sure to get across the message that the human brain doesn't reach a developed stage until age 25. Taking visual notes on this video really allowed me to remember certain facts or ideas that were vital when learning about the teen brain and its rewiring stage. After learning about the teen brain in more detail we moved on to learning about the 5 basic social needs which are: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. After learning An activity we did to understand a little more about each social need, we got was getting into groups of about 7 people and creating ted skits relating to each social need. Performing and watching these short skits was really fun and ensured that we knew how each social need could relate to real world examples. After in taking all this information many questions have formed including: Does the human brain rewire from adulthood to the elderly stage as it does from the teen to the adult stage? |
AuthorMy name is Valeria Aguilar and I'm currently a Junior at HTHcv. Read these blog posts to know a little more about my experience! Archives
June 2018
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