Just my luck: Dec. 17

December 17, 2010, my journey to the Envision Support Office was a DISASTER!! Mical, my mentor, asked me to come in around 9am and so like I was told I left my house and got to bart around 8:20, so I could get the 8:29 bart to Richmond, when I arrive to bart I noticed that I forgot my cell phone on my bed charging. Little did I know that I was going to be late because of bart delays. So I guess there was a smoking cable in between Fruitvale and Lake Merrit and so one whole train track was closed. The Richmond bart train comes and I was not aware of one track being closed so I got on and after leaving San Leandro the bart operator sed “ The last stop for this Richmond bound train is the Oakland Coliseum and after the train will be turning back to Fremont.” While I was standing on the platform cold and confused I thinking in my head whether if I should have used a pay phone to call my mom, Nida or Mical or if I should not call and arrive at the Support Office when I got the chance, but then I was worried that if I get down it would take me longer to get back up because there was so much people I did not believe it. After 10 minutes of standing and thinking the bart operator announced that a SFO train was arriving. Once the 4 car bart train arrived people started to squeeze in, but all of a sudden the bart driver sed “bart train out of service” so everyone had to get off. As the Fremont train arrived people started to get on and go back while others exited and took bus or a taxi. After about 20 minutes the operator announced that another Richmond train was arriving but that it was turning back around towards Fremont. Soon after about 12 more freezing minutes passed by another SFO train was arriving but once again it became out of service. Shortly after that SFO train another SFO train was arriving but the catch was that it was only 4 cars long. The SFO train arrived and left with each car jam packed with people, as if they were 200 sardines trying to fit in one case that could only hold 50 sardines. Once again it was time to stand and wait, but then the operator announced that there were no direct bart trains going to Richmond or to Pittsburg/bay point and that passengers had to get off and catch a bus towards downtown Oakland, in order to get on a Richmond or Pittsburg/Bay Point train. I was like what is going on but I decided not to get off and wait a couple of minutes to see what happens next. 10 minutes after that announcement the bart operator announced that for Richmond or Pittsburg/Bay point passengers they had to get on a SFO train and get off on West Oakland and catch a bart train on the opposite platform. Soon after that announcement a SFO bart train that was 10 cars long arrived and everyone rushed in. The bart train left but did not stop at Fruitvale nor Lake Meritt, we just passed by like a nascar on the race track. Once the bart arrived at West Oakland lots of people walked down the stairs and then up again to the second platform. When I was about to go down the stairs a Richmond train arrived and then left, luckily this time I only waited for about 5 minutes for the Pittsburg/Bay Point train. The bart train arrived and I got on as we were leaving the bart train stopped on the tracks right before the tunnel. I sat down and waited for several minutes that felt like an eternity. Anxious to arrive at the Support Office, I continued to wait but all of a sudden the bart train moved. In that moment I felt relieved because the next stop was my exit. In about 4 short minutes the bart arrived at the 12th street station and finally I arrived at the Support Office.

         Feeling like a frozen Popsicle I got the elevator and went up to the 9th floor to Suite 920. The elevator stopped and I hear a “ding” which indicated that I had arrived on the 9th floor. I stepped out and turned right towards my destination, I grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open but I did not see or hear anybody. In my head I was thinking, oh no everyone left or everyone is in a meeting. I walked towards the back to where everyone had their desks and ran into Alicia, who asked me if I was stuck on bart and made me feel comfortable because I thought that I was going to be in big trouble for not calling. I greeted my mentor and talked about the delays and why I was late. Before I started to work, I called Nida and left her a voice mail. As soon as I was done I went right ahead and finished where I had left off last week, which was updating passed graduates’, from all of the Envision Schools from years ’09, ’08, and ’07 on a web based program called, Beyond 12. I was not sure what my mentor was doing but it seemed important. I was also supposed to work with other people in the support office but it did not work out, so maybe next time. When I was done with my work, I took my lunch break and ate some pasta, chicken alfredo with brocolli – yummm. Then I found myself with time to spare, a light bulb went off in my head and I was like hey what a wonderful time to write my WLE blog.

So far I only have about 27 hours with 50 minutes, but I also worked with Jen for about 4 hours, which makes me have about 31 hours with 50 minutes. I am pretty sure that I will have all of my hours completed if I work 7 hours every Friday but also still working with Jen every other Wednesdays from 1pm to about 5pm. For my project my essential question is: How well is the Envision School’s curriculum preparing students for success before, in and after college. I do think that Envisions curriculum is helping students to become successful in most areas but in some areas it is a difficult task to combine regular boring textbook work with fun and interesting project-based learning. 

Leadership Skills: Dec. 10 

 The leadership skill that I mostly use is Complete Projects Effectively because I am given a task to do but then I also help Alicia, the development associate, with stuffing envelopes with thank you letters to people that donated to Envision Schools. So far I have to learn how to manage my time and which task to complete first in order to be as productive as I can be until 4pm. At my WLE I am using all of the leadership skills but I think that I am not developing any new skill that I could not develop in class because no matter what I do, I could always find away to apply the leadership skills at my WLE and in school. At Impact I have learned lots of skills that I am using at my WLE, like learning how to balance different tasks and how to speak and dress professionally. My role as a student is very different from my role as an intern, because at school I dress and act a different way that would not be okay for my WLE. Also with being an intern, I am doing work for someone else and I have to do a good job because it is their job at risk not mines.  

Support Office: Dec. 3

My workplace, Envision Support Office serves all of the Envision Schools. The Support Office has many strengths but one is that everyone is focused on his or her own work but still take time to talk to each other. For example everyone comes in and starts to work on their tasks but then take a small break to get some coffee from the coffee room and talk to their co-workers. So far I haven’t seen any weaknesses in the Support Office, but I think that the quietness is awkward because I am used to noise and loudness, but I’m pretty sure for my mentor, Mical and the other workers it is calm and relaxing. So I am not sure if it could be improved because it’s probably quiet for a reason. 

How I plan to get my WLE: Oct. 26th 

The type of internship I’m looking for is either at a small business or with an accountant. This year I want an internship where I can do more for my mentor and have different tasks every day. So far I called and e-mailed lots of people and businesses, and I got rejected from all of my contacts. I also visited businesses and constantly called and left messages but no one has called me back. I thought that I found an internship at a business in San Leandro, but then I was told that the owner had to get surgery and he wouldn’t be back for a while. My next step is to keep calling, e-mailing and visiting other businesses until I find an internship. I could use the leadership skill communicate persuasively, to convince a business owner to hire me as their intern.