Internship is Around the Corner

The technical skills I have picked up that will add value to my internship are knowing how to troubleshoot a computer and checking to see if there are any driver errors. I learned a lot about the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and hard drive and how each one has to be compatible with the other in order to have an efficient running computer. We practiced a lot with certain Microsoft software applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint which would definitely help during internship. We also learned how to partition a hard drive and install an Operating System on a virtual machine, such as VMWare. Recently, we have spent some hours working on Macs, in which we learned how to change system preferences and learned shortcuts. All of which, will be very helpful and will add value during my time at internship.

There is no doubt that I will be nervous to meet my manager at the company I will intern at. I think I will work well under a nice, laid back manager. A manager that can communicate with me, listen to me and answer all my questions would be a great manager that I will work well under. I would like to get feedback on what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong so that I will know that the manager notices me and wants me to succeed.

Some anxieties that I have about my internship is possibly messing up and not knowing how to fix the problem. I am also anxious about the new experience and what I will learn and the new skills I will acquire. Although I will only be an intern, I am excited to meet the people I will be working with for the next 6 months. I try not to think about what can possibly go wrong and focus on the positive so that I will just have fun learning something new.

I know I am very shy; however, I plan to stand out at my internship by letting my work speak for me, as well as starting small talk with fellow colleagues and my manager. I don’t want to be a “loner” nor have people think I’m weird, so I will definitely step out of my shell a little bit. I will also try to go above and beyond by asking for other tasks and using my downtime effectively and show that I want to be there. To show them that I am dependable, positive, and eager, I will try to take up new tasks every day and ask thoughtful questions. I will be on time every day and show up with a smile on my face and do my work.

Tips =)

1. Network, Network, Network

·         I chose this tip first because I feel that networking is a very important tool. Nowadays, you have to know somebody to really get what you want and you don’t want to burn your bridges because you might need that reference in the future. I plan to meet and build new relationships with people by starting off with small talk and working my way up.
      2. Setting Personal Goals

·         This was my second choice because I feel like you should walk in to a place, already knowing what you want to do or accomplish. If you have goals already set, it would make your work much easier because you would know how you want to approach things. I plan to set realistic goals that I can accomplish one at a time, whether it be day by day or over the course of internship.

      3. Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions
·         This tip was my third choice because you should not be afraid to ask questions. It is useful to get a better understanding of something than to mess up and still have to ask the question later on. I plan to write down any questions I may come across and ask them to a manager or colleague.
      4. Find a Mentor

·         I chose this tip as my fourth choice because it almost goes hand in hand with Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions. A mentor is there to look out for you and help you if you need help, so I would take advantage of it. Any questions you may have, you can ask your mentor. When internship comes around, I plan to find somebody and ask them to be my mentor. This would not only break the ice, but it would make me feel more comfortable, knowing that I can turn to at least one person.
      5. Enjoy Yourself

·         This tip was my fifth choice because I feel that you need to enjoy yourself to be able to do your work. If you sit around all day and act like the world is against you, it would not make anything better. I plan to take everything and come with it with an open mind so that I can enjoy myself while working. Time goes by faster that way anyway.
      6. Take Initiative

·         This is my sixth choice because one should be able to take initiative of things, even when they aren’t expected to. It shows that you are dedicated and willing to take on any tasks. I plan to ask for more work to keep myself busy and offer take up new tasks.
      7. Avoid Negativity

·         I chose this as my seventh tip because you definitely don’t want to have any issues with co-workers or manager. Always stay positive and don’t worry about gossip or things that you hear. I plan to build new relationships, but also keep to myself so that I won’t come across a negative issue.
      8. Conquer Tasks With Enthusiasm and a Positive Attitude

·         This is my eighth choice because you should be able to take on any tasks with a positive attitude. Even though you might not be sure of what you’re doing, just make sure you always smile and try and learn new things.
      9. Get as Much Exposure as Possible

·         This tip is my ninth choice because you want everybody to know you by name and face. The more you do, the more you will get noticed. I plan to work hard and communicate with the right people so that I won’t be known as just “the intern.”
      10. Never Shun a Chance to Learn More About the Company’s Industry

·         Although this tip is my tenth choice, it is still very important. You always want to know and learn new things about the company you are working for. This will help you in your work. I plan to ask questions when necessary.
      11. Leave With Tangible Accomplishments

·         This tip is my eleventh choice because when you leave a company, you definitely want to leave with goals that you accomplished. It shows that you worked hard to where you are at. I plan to do hands-on things and learn as much as I can so that I can leave as a resource for other colleagues.
      12. Have Regular Meetings With Supervisor
·         This is my twelfth choice, but also very important. We talk a lot about feedback during L&D and I think meetings with your supervisor will be helpful. It is always good to know what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. I plan to ask questions and not be afraid to ask for feedback.

Work Experiences

         The best job I ever had was working at the movie theater. I was about 15 years old and I worked part-time at AMC Movie Theater in Emeryville, CA. It was the best job to me because everybody that I worked with was all high school students and went to the same high school or another local high school. The managers were down-to-earth and there was a lot of excitement throughout the day. It was 3 main roles and those were ushering, concession worker, and box office cashier. The roles for everyone switched up almost every shift, which made it fun and different every time. It was very well a customer service job and from there, I gained excellent guest/customer service skills and knowledge of what goes on in a movie theater.

        The worst job that I ever had was working at a fast food Mexican restaurant called Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill in Emeryville, CA. The title was Guest Service Agent where we had to take customer’s orders, maintain cleanliness of the restaurant, sweep and mop the floors, and clean the restrooms at the end of the night. When I first started, it was overwhelming because all the job duties were new to me and different from the Movie Theater. The management wasn’t so great either. At the time, I was still attending high school and management never wanted to work around my schedule. The store manager was cogent when he said that if I wasn't dedicated, he'd find somebody else. As a company, I understand that they are more worried about their business, but it made me feel as if they didn’t care about the employees. Although this job did not turn out to be a great job, I did learn new skills for that particular job title. It taught me how to manage my time and be more patient with rude customers.

Looking Back on the Reading

“Freakonomics,” is a non-fiction book that makes people second think about certain situations. It talks about situations that occur in people’s daily lives and the authors express their opinions and point of views. This book was very one-sided to me, so I think the authors wrote this book to try and change people’s views to what they believe or how they see things. I think the message that was trying to be conveyed was for people to look at things from every aspect. For example, they talked about the difference between a swimming pool and a gun and which one was more dangerous. Although people might think that a gun is more dangerous, in reality, they show how a swimming pool is more dangerous.

The chapter that inspired the richest group discussion was probably Chapter 5, What Makes a Good Parent. We discussed different parenting skills and how what works for some parents, don’t work for all. Personally, I don’t think the book was written in a way that was easily readable because there were a lot of words that many people did not know. That made it hard to understand what I was reading the first time. After finding the definition for those words, I was upset because it was the simplest meaning used in a big term.

After reading this book, I would recommend this book to somebody who has a really open mind and is an active reader. I definitely would not recommend this book to anybody who doesn’t read much and who isn’t interested in other people’s opinions or point of views.

               

While Reading "Freakonomics"..

The reading process for this non-fiction book so far has been a challenge for me. I usually don’t read and I tend to take more time finishing the book than others. A reason for that is because there are many words that I never heard of and it makes it hard for me to read or understand what the author is really trying to say. Since reading this book, some of the active reading strategies I have employed are writing down the words that I don’t know, looking them up to see the definition, and then going back to the phrase to get a better understanding of the text.

Honestly, I didn’t do any annotations while reading, which I should have because I think it would have helped me a lot when trying to write my summaries. If I were to annotate while I read this book, I would have been able to remember what the text stated in short and refer back to it. A piece of advice that I would give to another reader to help them with retention and understanding of this book, is to be assiduous in annotating and writing down words they don’t know. Also, read the book sooner than later because you don’t want to get caught up having to read 80 pages in 1 day.

I tried to keep up with the assigned reading schedule by reading any chance that I had. I sometimes pulled out my book and read on BART and if I had any other homework, I usually saved the reading for last because I never knew how long it would be to read a few pages. I admit, I didn’t read as many pages as I should have at a time, but I read enough to where I could see where the author was going at the time.

Teen Suicide: We Need a Solution

            Teen suicide has had a big effect on society today. After reading the article that was posted on Colorado’s Channel 9 news, it talked about a bill that was being passed after a young teen committed suicide back in January of 2012. According to the latest statistics, Colorado has the seventh highest suicide rate in the nation, and it is the third leading cause of death among young people in our state (Strasburg 2012). Referring to the previous text, this bill came in affect to address the growing problem and change the statistics in Colorado. 
             The article goes to talk about a 14-year-old boy named Spencer Russell who committed suicide on January 10, 2012. Spencer was an up-and-coming motorcycle racer and did not seem to show any signs of suicide or frustration towards his family. School officials believe what led to his death was caused by an incident that occurred at school the day before; however, family and friends are still unsure. Although his father described his motorcycle racing as a good thing, such as being chosen to be Rookie of the Year, there might have been a lot of pressure on him. "In our society we tend to look at a child who's active and we tend to think they're very much balanced, what we're not looking at is how that person handles things on the inside," (Curry 2012). I believe this quote is very true. In my essay, I talked about how each person handles every situation differently. No matter how happy one may seem, they might have issues deep down that they can't handle. I also talked about how a lot of people keep emotions and feelings bottled in which makes it hard for family and friends to know what is truly going on. 
             After reading this article, I was shocked that anybody of any age is capable of having suicidal thoughts. We definitely need to spread awareness so that if anybody feels like they're going through a tough time, there is always at least one person there to talk and be there for you. Suicide alone is a very sad issue and every just needs to support each other.

Tattoos: Good or Bad?

In this current generation, tattoos have become very popular and have been applied to bodies to represent memories of people, feelings, life beliefs and more, but most importantly it represents the work and the nature of art. Although you would think getting or having a tattoo is a sign of expression, it is deeply frowned upon by those who feel that tattoos are usually associated with gangs and violence. In many cases, you can argue that a great deal of tattoos are on the bodies of those who are criminals involved in gang violence, yet that is not always the case. Plenty of people that you won’t expect to have a tattoo, actually have tattoos and aren’t related to crimes or gangs of any type. Of course everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but relating anybody that has a tattoo as being a “rebel” or being involved in a gang is unfair and unreasonable.

As for myself, I have 9 tattoos and I chose to get mine because I appreciate the artwork of a tattoo and the meaning behind some of them. Before I got my first tattoo, I remember telling my parents and they yelled at me and said that tattoos were only for “bad people.” I was upset at the fact that they know how I am and that if I were to get a tattoo, it would not change how I act as a person, yet they still related a tattoo as being “rebellious” or “bad.” I heard it plenty of times before from other people, but hearing it from my own parents was just different. I suppose they were just trying to protect me from what other people would think, but unfortunately did not take into consideration of what I can do, whether I have tattoos or not.

Other than my parents, there have been times where I would notice people staring at my tattoos and making a face as if they were disgusted. Back in my Senior year at high school, a lot of my peers started to get tattoos and it was hard for them to get part-time jobs due to their excessive amount of tattoos. Although it is considered unprofessional and should be limited or hidden, it does not determine whether or not you can or cannot do your job right. Tattoos do have a big effect on your life and can cause some people to turn their heads. I personally think that nobody should be judged by what is on their body, instead should be interested in the way of how one presents their self, tattoos or not. Tattoos do not and should not determine one’s ability to do something.

There is no foundation to the stereotype because nobody can prove that a person with tattoos are “rebellious” or associated with violence. It is known to better keep your tattoos hidden so that you can look more professional and well-kept. I think a way to repair the stigma is for people with tattoos to show off their talents and show that there is no difference between one another when it comes down to opportunity and ability to do something.

I Pledge..

Over the break, our Year Up staff went on a retreat and signed a pledge to reassure their commitment of providing knowledge and support to the students and to ultimately help close the opportunity divide. In class, we discussed the concept of a pledge and agreed to create and sign a pledge for ourselves, being a Year Up student.

I, Lisa Zhuo, pledge to succeed at every task given to me by remaining focused on my work, using my resources to help me find the answers to any questions I may have and show that I am committed by being prepared to learn and doing everything on time.

I pledge to be a good role model by setting a good example of never giving up on yourself and help encourage and support others throughout their struggles and life journey.

I pledge to graduate with the confidence of knowing that I can achieve any goal I have set for myself by continuing to take on any opportunity available to me, believing in myself and working extra hard to get where I need to be.

Lisa Zhuo

Oaklandish

 I live in North Oakland, which is usually considered the better part of Oakland, aside from the Oakland Hills. Compared to East Oakland and West Oakland, North Oakland is more “clean” and “safe.” I have lived in my neighborhood for almost all my life and it is located on the borderline of Oakland and Emeryville. Although it is considered as the safer part of Oakland, there is still a good deal of violence that occurs. The block that I live on is calm and quiet, but the blocks to the left and the right of mine have a little more commotion. Everybody knows everybody, so it definitely just feels like home.

I am who I am despite the neighborhood I live in. Growing up where I reside today, I was able to see a lot of different things and meet a lot of different people. The schools I attended were predominately African American and so was the neighborhood I grew up in. Being different from others, because I am Asian, I was still able to interact with the kids from the neighborhood and play with whoever. Most of my Elementary school life, I would spend most of my time at my late grandparents' house which was also in North Oakland about 20 blocks away from my house. This neighborhood was a little rougher than my side of the neighborhood. There were kids from the Elementary school, but there were also drug dealers and “crack heads.” As kids, my cousins and I were exposed to a lot of violence and drug abuse from people within our neighborhood, especially from the apartment building 2 houses down from my grandparents' house. Although they were all around friendly people, it was not the type of neighborhood some people would want to live in. As I went on to middle school and high school, I noticed a bit of changes. The apartment building was restored and a lot of new people set in and the neighborhood became a little more inviting, despite the young teens that were hanging out on the street corners. Growing up in the neighborhoods I've grew up in, I am definitely used to it, but I am not ashamed of it. I usually like to tell people where I am from so that they can see that I was not affected by my neighborhood and be able to understand that anybody from anywhere can achieve. I learned a lot from the people I hang around with to the neighborhoods I have been in and I wouldn't change where I came from for anything.

Quote: Marilyn Monroe

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

                                                   -Marilyn Monroe

Advertisements: My Opinion

          There are tons of different advertisements nowadays. Whether it's an advertisement about a great nursing program or about Coca-Cola, you can expect to find one anywhere. Advertisements of course, are meant to catch the consumer's eye to either purchase their products or invest in their programs, but some company's just take it a little too far. As if billboard ads aren't enough, company's have pushed the limit to placing ads on sides of buses, in classrooms, social networking sites, game applications on your smart phone, etc.

          I never paid too much attention to advertisements before, but once I did, they got to be very annoying. There are advertisements that aren't so beneficial for me, yet I must admit that it does catch my attention/eye when the ad is very colorful or has a catchy phrase. Some of the advertisements that do appeal to me most of the time are the company's products that I've already consumed products from before or products that I've thought about trying/purchasing. There are also some commercial ads that I find really funny and those appeal to me as well. For example, I like iPhone commercial ads, Coca-Cola, Jack-in-the-Box, Olive Garden, Foot Locker, T-Mobile, Bounty, Tide, Movie Previews and many more. Like I said, most of these are advertisements for products I've used or am using now.

          I admit, I get distracted very easily so honestly anything can grab my attention. It's not always a good thing though because I don't like wasting my time on something that I'm not interested in. I am usually

interested in anything that is well known like Nike shoes or a well-known restaurant, which means that I probably won't be interested in any new product. Even if it does catch my attention for a second, I try not to take interest in it. I'm not sure if reviews on a product is a form of advertisement, but I definitely check reviews before I try something new.           
          Some advertisements are beneficial and some aren't, some are very creative and eye-catching and some are just plain boring. Although I don't prefer annoying or pointless advertisements, it is the company's way of getting their products out to the consumers.

Favorite Quote

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

                                                     - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Story Of My Life

My goal in life is to succeed and be able to provide for me and my family. Back when I was in elementary and middle school, life felt so much easier. I must admit, I was a very spoiled child. Both of my parents were employed and I was just growing up and living life. The start of high school is when things became hard for me. My father was unemployed and my mother was the only one working to provide for the family. For most, freshmen year is usually one of the most exciting years in high school, however not for me. I was unable to focus in class and my grades dropped drastically. Instead of doing my homework and class work, I decided to take on a job. I got a job at a local movie theater. While working, I was still attending school. I tried my best to stay focused in every class, but as a teenager, the money was in the way.

During my Junior year, I struggled to bring my grades up. I was still employed and working more hours than I should have been. By the end of the year, I missed a couple of credits and had to attend summer school and also had to take a summer course at a community college. Although I was still working, I knew now that my main focus was to do better. As Senior year approached, I was short 4 credits from being an official Senior. I was very disappointed, but I found the reason why. A teacher from one of the summer classes didn’t submit my grade yet. A few days later, it came through and I was proud of myself. Having worked so hard, I was only motivated to continue. Throughout Senior year, I had extra work to do, yet I was able to pull through and graduate.

            After high school, I quickly attended a community college. Like high school, I was still working and going to school. I was a bit more focused, but unfortunately I fell back into my old habits. I started working a tremendous amount of hours and fell off track once again. After a while, I had no interest in going to school. My main focus was to work and make enough money to pay off my bills. I became frustrated at myself and knew I needed to do something better. I had heard about Year Up through a friend and finally decided to get back up and continue my education.

            I am now enrolled in the Year Up program and I am willing to work hard and stay focused. I know I will succeed because this is something that I really want to do. I am certain that I will finish this program and get a good job and be able to help provide for me and my family. One of my most important goals is to have my parents be proud of me and to be able to tell their friends that their daughter is successful.