Here's an explanation of my project!
This project was important for several reasons, and for several people. For example, it was important to me because I needed a project for school. I’m glad I stuck with this one, because I learned a few new skills such as; editing on iMovie, managing time, what questions are most important to ask, and more. Some of these skills were already advanced because of the amount of editing we do at school. However, there’s always room to grow, and I can confidently say that I advanced in this skills from this project.
Moving on, this project is also important to my company, because it benefits their marketing. Hopefully, with this film, more students will be drawn to joining the class. It will be put on their website under their Learning to Draw page, and will be open for anyone who would like to watch. I’ve learned that there’s lots of information that’s nice to keep in a film, but no one really watches an interview for more than one or two minutes. So, with that in mind, I tried my best to cut down as much as I could without leaving the video without flow. I feel happy with what I have, especially since the first interviewing film I’ve produced. I feel that I’ve kept enough information and pace to where it doesn’t get boring, and I hope it attracts the artistic audience of San Diego. My final internship is a bit modified from the original project that I had in mind. In the beginning, I believed that I would be centering my project around interviewing students from every class. However, it has drastically changed to only two. Those classes are Introduction to art 1 and 2. These classes can be bought through either Groupon, or on Prima Materia’s website. Groupon is about a hundred dollars cheaper, and brings in more students than the package on their website does. For example, the two students that I had an amazing opportunity to interview are both from Groupon. Although they’re both from Groupon, they’re completely different people. Mary Wassner, one of my interviewees, is an optimistic woman that enjoys the company of her friends and boyfriend. She’s very easy going and excited to come to class more often. Tharaknath Rao is a very intellectual man that works in Biotech, but would like to get back into art. I began this project with just a google document and a storyboard packet I printed out. It was hard for me to start, because I had an unclear idea of what my mentor wanted out of the project. I might’ve annoyed her, but I asked so many questions about what her vision was for the video. She wanted videos for each class, but I believed that’d be a tad too much work given the time I had left, and I wouldn’t be able to attend each class due to my schedule. So, to overcome this problem, I asked my colleague Bill what he would like to gain from the videos. He said he’d only like one video with a few people in it from Intro to Art 1/2. I agreed to this idea, discussed it with my mentor, and came to the conclusion that I was only making one video. The goal is for it to be posted on their website, to inform new students that are interested in joining the class to get a headstart on knowing what it’s about. Overall, I interviewed three people. Only two people made it into the cut, because the third person wasn’t from the class. I was still developing ideas for the video, and realized I didn’t need her input. Fortunately, I’m still grateful for the time she gave me, and the rest of the people that tolerated my high school project. Right after recording Tharaknath, I uploaded the footage to iMovie, and got to work. It must’ve made me look like a bad receptionist, because I was super focused on my phone editing. But, it’s all for a greater cause. It was tricky to add in Mary Wassner’s video, but I managed to do it. I cut the video all the way from 30 minutes, down to only 2 minutes. Now it's full of key information and great reactions to make the video more lively. Here's a slide show of my presentation!My Project!
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Before I began internship, I had a small glimpse of what I was hoping for in terms of college. I had an idea of going to Mira Costa for two years, and then transferring to CSU Long Beach or Fullerton. It was an extremely long process of finding what college was going to set me on the path that I had hopes in pursuing. However, through this internship, I’ve found new things that I’d like to possibly pursue. Some of the small projects that I’ve been completing throughout this experience have to do with graphic art and psychology. Two things that I’ve never looked into for a college experience.
I came about graphic art through this internship from the handouts that I print, and the signs I design for the company. Such as small-projects-to-work-on handouts, college portfolio program information, the sign up sheet, and the business hours. For the psychology part of my internship, I found out that there’s a lot of thought that goes into an interview. Interviewing has been my main project, and I had to do a bit of research before truly diving in. I did research on how to start an interview, what makes people tick, how to get people excited in an interview, and other things. I used the information that I gathered from my research, to create a well thought out interview. I put lots of time into creating the questions, and went back and forth with my mentor. These are all small things that have had a big influence on what I want to work on in the future. I not only gathered these interests in my work, but also outside of it. My passion for graphic art is growing because of events that have recently taken place in my family. My grandmother, who is so kind to drive me for this internship, wants to create a business for an event venue in her backyard. Knowing my experience with business from this experience, I told her that I’d be glad to help her with it. I’ve used my interest in graphic designing to create a business card design for her, and will hopefully in the future create a website. Now that I have this interest in graphic designing and psychology, I’m curious to where it will take me for my future. I’m also scared, because my college experience could have a high possibly of going downhill, or could be amazingly informative. I’ve observed a few things about the business side of small companies from the eyes of my colleagues. One of my colleagues Bill, who has helped me immensely, is one of the owners of Prima Materia Institute. He completes transactions, deals with money, makes calls, and does marketing for their website. I thought I was going to be doing lots of marketing in the beginning of this internship, but what I am currently doing is far different. Rather than making my own advertisements and being focused on the class, I‘m focused on a lot of what Bill does. I as well do transactions, make purchases for clients, organize just about everything, and take calls. I’m still super grateful for this role, because I’d never have experience doing it somewhere else. I’ve learned that being a business owner is lots of work, and I have no interest in pursuing that for college. However, as I said earlier, I have a few other interests that I’ve from this internship, and I’m excited to see where they’ll take me as I begin college. Below are two different parts to this blog post, and a few questions that I'll use for my POL next week.Part 1:
How did you make a meaningful contribution to your workplace? From the very beginning, I asked what I could do to help. I dislike sitting down without anything to do, so for the benefit of the company (and me), I make sure to stay on top with my work load. My daily routine for whenever I enter the building is this; turn on all the lights in each room to brighten up the place, check the trash cans to see if they're overflowing and put them in the bigger trash can if that is the case, if the bigger trash can is full, then take it to the dumpster, check the cups and coffee machine, turn on the computer and log in the attendance from the day before. That usually begins my day. This doesn't take too long, and I try my best to make sure I'm done quickly so that I can begin on the more crucial work. Depending on the days, I'm either a super busy intern, or a rather impatiently bored one. However, I'm rarely every impatiently bored, because as soon as I reach that state, I talk to my colleagues about how I can help them. They grant me my wish for work, and show me ways I can help them. I believe that this way, I'm making a meaningful contribution to my workplace, because I'm staying a hard worker and a motivated intern no matter the circumstance. How was your work as an intern meaningful to your education? In the beginning of internship, before even starting, and looked at this experience as a way to help guide my future choices for college. Although I never believed in going to college to become a receptionist (because that's my role as an intern currently), I won't take what I'm doing now for granted. In this internship, I get to see the customer service and the business side of a work place. I have learned how to communicate with students, whether they're new or have been coming for a while. My work as an intern has helped guide me into where I'd like to land my future. I know now that I don't want to be a receptionist, and that I'm not looking for any business degree. In addition, I also have gained the knowledge of knowing that if I completed a college education that has me communicating with customers (for my job), I know that I can handle it. After the first few days, it's much less stressful. I rarely get a customer with negative intentions or attitude, but I can also handle them if it comes to that point. Part 2: What new appreciations did you develop while working as an intern? Why? I've never taken the time to consider how much work a receptionist does. The only receptionist I've ever come close to seeing the experience of, is by watching Pam from, "The Office." She made her job look fairly easy, but from what I've been doing, it's anything but that. I have to have caffeine almost everyday to keep me awake. It takes lots of energy to keep a smile on for everyone that comes in, and to make sure everyone is checked in, knows which class they belong to, and asking whether or not they're new. If they're new, I have to ask them to fill out a registration/contact sheet. This has given people a weird vibe, and they look at me as if I don't know what I'm doing. They give me that look especially when I ask for their card information. Although I get stink eyes from time to time, I keep that genuine smile on to let them know I'm still happy to help them. And I am! I don't want for any customer to feel undervalued or forgotten. As you can see, I've come to appreciate the patience front desk workers have for customers. I've also come to appreciate the amount of paper work and data transferring they do. In my work place, we're transferring data from one program to another. To be quite frank, it's a hassle. You must constantly check the reports to see if any data is missing, and to check the client profiles to see if they're paid for. If they're unpaid, or any information is incorrect, it's my job to change is as soon as possible. At times, I'll face a conflict with the website where I'm unsure of what I'm doing. Then, if my colleagues are unsure of how to solve it, I have to work up the guts to call tech support. I'm so grateful for the people that do this work, because it's time consuming and draining. However, the quicker I get the work done, the less I have to do in the end. And to be honest, I have made a huge impact compared to the first time I came here. I brought the unpaid visits down 2,000 dollars, and I'm looking forward to getting that number closer to zero. Thank you front desk workers for tolerating so much work! How did interpersonal relationships and/or collaboration at work influence your understanding of life outside of high school? Before this experience, I had no exceptions for what the colleagues for who I'm working with would be like. The only expectation I held, was that I'll keep strictly professional relationships with them. This expectation has completely changed throughout these past two weeks. I'm able to call everyone by their first name, while still being polite and using my manners. I've also become close enough to some of my colleagues, to a point where she talks about her plans for the week, and another colleague has been kind enough to buy my pizza. This has changed my view for the "real world". I've always been very intimidated by the idea of working, but this internship has put me at ease. I've learned that you can still be professional while being friendly with your fellow employees. I understand that this is not the case for every work place, and I believe it depends on where you are. In bigger corporations, it seems that the relationships between colleagues and bosses remain professional. However, my work environment is a small family business. The teachers here have close relationships with their students, and it gives me a whole new perspective in the world of working. So far, I've never let my relationships at work affect my work pace. In fact, I work even harder knowing that my mentor and colleagues share high expectations for me, and I'd hate for them to ever be lowered. I truly appreciate the chance I've been given to see a new side working, and I don't believe I would've seen this side without the opportunity. I'll always be grateful for this experience, because I have learned so many skills and new matter that I can't wait to apply to once I begin my first job. Below, are five photos that I'm going to use for my final photo essay.How have I advocated for myself during my internship? If I have done anything at my internship, it's asking questions. From past experiences with shadowing workers, I've learned that one of the best skills you can have, is standing up and asking questions. Even if they're a bit embarrassing! If you don't understand how to do something, you must always ask. Otherwise, you're bored doing nothing but waiting for a magical answer to show up. I have quite a lot of persistence, so when it comes to being stuck, I always speak up about my confusion. I hate not knowing what to do, and I've realized that the more I know, the better an intern I'll be.
Speaking up for yourself can be quite tricky sometimes. That's why, with courage and practice, you'll be able to do so in no time. Like I said earlier, when you don't speak up and ask your questions, you'll stay stuck forever. Asking away can be convenient towards both you and your mentor. My mentor and other colleagues appreciate how many questions I ask, because I look eager to learn. Which is true! I want to learn as much as I can, so that I can officially start fixing things on my own. Once I achieve that, I'll truly feel like a successful intern. Before starting my incredible internship, I had no knowledge of how to work Wellness Living, a program used to keep track of who goes to what classes. Now that I've been working side by side with my colleagues, and speaking up for myself when I'm stuck, I feel confident in what I'm doing. Other than asking questions, I try to be an intern that everyone remembers, by being friendly. Being nice towards the customers and my colleagues goes a long way. When I show that I can work well with people, I believe I'm giving more assurance towards my mentor that I'm good at what I'm doing. I want to be remembered as as a hard working and easy to get along with student, so I'm taking all the steps for that to happen. Such as greeting everyone when they come in, listening to instructions when given, asking questions, and going out of my way to do research on what I'm working on so that I have even more knowledge on how to complete my tasks. I hope that this is what I'll be seen as throughout internship as I pursue my role as a receptionist. I have two huge projects that I'm working on throughout this internship journey, but my biggest one will be to conduct interviews and record them with new students. When I discussed this with my mentor, she was very excited about the idea. She's wanted to have an interviewing video like that for some time, and now I'll be the intern to push through with it.
I'll most likely be interviewing students throughout a class called Intro to Art. This package is full of information given within two separate nights. One is Intro to Art 1, and the other of course is Intro to Art 2. My mentor, Olya, had the brilliant idea of me making fun interviews where I ask them questions about where they're at with art and such. Not only will I interview them personally, but I'll also be trying to record their artistic process. I'd like to begin the interview by creating a list of questions that will help me get to know the interviewees. I don't want the questions to be intimidating, so my goal will be to make the students feel at ease, and to feel comfortable. I plan on opening up with a few ice breakers, and transitioning to learning about their artistic skill levels and more. Olya had a vision for the video, where the students don't feel as confident in the beginning with their art, but at the end of the second class, they're proud of where they came to be. This will help other artists out there who are looking for a chance to advance on their art skills, and to see this video and have hope that this class is the perfect fit for them. I hope to gain better social skills and interviewing skills throughout this project, because I often get stuck when asking people questions. Some skills that I'll be needing are; social skills, interviewing skills, filming, and kindness towards everyone I get the chance to talk to. I'll absolutely need support from my mentor, so that I can make sure I know what I'm doing, and that what I'm doing is under the correct format. I'm happy to help out my mentor, and the rest of the studio with the project, and I look forward to meeting tons of new students that are yet to come. Interview with Olya Losina Today, I conducted an interview with my wonderful mentor, Olya Losina. Here are some of the questions I asked her, and her responses. What is your job title? Well, I don't just have one. Because it's a small studio, I carry many responsibilities. For some, I'm a teacher of Intro 1 classes, Master Classes, and Prima Materia workshops. For instance, the Intro 1 classes are two classes that teach an introduction to art. We do various exercises that you carry through a 3 hour time period, so you have to keep a lot of determination as a teacher in that. Other than being a teacher, I'm also the owner and CEO of the company. That meaning, I do lots of business transactions and other heavy work someone of that criteria does. Why did you choose to work here? How did you end up doing the job you do? I grew up in Russia, so I went to University of Moscow. After settling down in the U.S., I came to find that I didn't like the state of art. So I started private art lessons that took place at the students' houses. After finding that the students have excelled in their work, I created this studio. Some of the students who I taught privately from over 10 years ago still come today. What skills and training are necessary for your position? You must have at least some sort of art education. I have a Masters in Fine Arts, and I train potential art teachers who don't have degrees. So I believe that as long as you have the dedication, empathy, compassion, and basic art education an art teacher needs, anyone can become one. I train them by having them work the front desk, and be an assistant for all my classes so that they can get a real feel on what Is there anything you wish you'd realized about the world of work when you were my age? I wish I thought of what it took to be an art teacher before becoming one. To become an art teacher, you need skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, and the ability to be there for your students when they're not confident in their drawing. That skill is especially important, because you'll experience a lot of situations like those through being an art teacher. What should I know about this organization as I begin working here? Because you're working at the front desk, remember that you're representing the company. You will be the first person everybody sees as they walk in, so always smile and welcome them. Whenever somebody interns here, they become family. Although a month goes by fast, it's still a long time. And since we're such a small community, you can't help but grow close to everybody around you. Even the students will be sad when you leave. In addition to the students, you will see that all of them are super nice. Most have gone here for a very long time, and you'll be amazed as to what you see when art brings out the best of them. How important is getting along with other people in your career? Very very important. We have about the same five or ten students that come every single day, and if you don't have a good relationship with them, or are at least not on good terms, then class can become chaotic. It's always crucial to be kind-hearted towards every customer, especially when they're not having the best day. This way, you're looked at with respect and kindness in return when they realize you'd been nice towards them. ReflectionThe only questions I have for my internship, are about my colleagues. Each one of them holds a unique story as to how they became an employee at this work site, and I'm super interested into hearing it. As far as what connections I can make to this internship and school, there are a few. Throughout this internship experience, I've done more organization with contact information and papers than before in my entire live. Every day I'm busy at work with transactions and updating client information on various programs. I can connect this experience to my Biology class. This is because in biology, while conducting an experiment, you must always be on top of observation notes and updating other characteristics around the experiment. Over here at Prima Materia, you must always be on top of your work by updating everything you can, and writing notes about observations I see in the website that I have questions about. In addition, you're always a busy bee. I'm always typing away at the work that needs to be done, and in biology, you're always writing away what notes need to be taken. Both experiences share hard working skills, and dedication to the job.
I can also connect this job to exhibition. Like my mentor said earlier, I must always greet everyone that comes in. I can easily connect this to being a greeter at exhibition. At one of my most recent exhibitions, I was the person to say hello and to guide the parents coming in to see their children. At the time, I was bored and very self conscious about how good my greeting skills were. Now, I'm grateful I had that job, so that I can use those skills I gained over night for the job I have now. I look forward to staying busy and becoming closer with the community I'm lucky to be surrounded with. May 14th - First Day As I arrived at Prima Materia Art Institute, I was nervous, yet excited to begin my first day of internship. I have been looking forward to this day for a while, especially since Career Day. Due to Career Day, I felt frankly comfortable beginning my work on the first day, because I already had a head start.
What struck me most about the workplace, is the community. I never truly got to see how tight-knit the students and teachers were here until today. On my first day, I got to experience seeing the relationships between one of the teachers, Nikusha, and how she acts around the students. Everyone I have met so far, whether they're an employee or a student, are all completely friendly. I'm shocked at the cultural difference between here, and San Marcos. The streets are busier, the people are louder, and the customers are more friendly than the customers I see in San Marcos. I'm very grateful to have this opportunity to see what it's like to spend all day in a studio, and to meet brand new people. What strikes me most about my colleagues, is how organized and hard working they are. Prima Materia is a family business that runs on communication and dedication to fast-pace work. Not only do the teachers clean, but they check students in, clean the entire studio, complete business transactions, organize all the contact sheets, and much more. I'm optimistic about helping with whatever small task they need assistance on, because as an intern, I want to make their work as easy as possible. Throughout this month, I'll be trying my best to help my mentor and other staff members help run things smoothly by updating WellnessLiving, Adexpresso, and other websites that need transferring. Work at my internship is taken very seriously, so I'm influenced to stay professional and to be on top of my job. Before my first day, or even my Career Day at my internship site, I had no idea what it took to keep a business running. After today, I realize it's quite the heap of work. Recently, my colleagues have been transferring information from several websites onto one, and I've had the job of helping with that. There are so many patterns and tiny details in sheets and receipts you must see before uploading it into WellnessLiving. One small mistake leads to a difficult of removing it. I stayed focused and asked all the questions I could to make sure I understood what I was doing. I'm struck most by the amount of work that needs to be done for a business to function perfectly. I'm worried about overwhelming my colleagues with questions. Due to me wanting to understand how everything works, I've been asking plenty of questions. I'm paranoid about possibly annoying my colleagues, but I have hope they understand that I'm only asking questions so that I won't have to later into internship. I'd like to understand as much as I can right now so that I don't need to ask a million questions later. I'm excited to help my mentor to make her job easier by being optimistic to any task I'm given. I'm also excited to get to know my mentor and the other employees throughout this process, because they're all wonderful people that have allowed me to have an amazing opportunity at their work site. My Career Day Experience For Career Day, I was able to shadow a the business owner of of Prima Materia Art Institute. His name is Bill, and he and his daughter Nikusha guided me through what a typical day of work looks like there. At first, I was sat down with Bill to talk about an assignment that was given to me by my teachers. This assignment had questions centered around what the work policies (tardiness, absence, etc) are, and I was able to successful fill out the document. Prima Materia has open studio time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, following with a class afterwards. During the rest of the week, the schedule is packed with Master Classes and Group Coaching for anyone that wants to join. All the teachers at Prima Materia are dedicated to teaching a well informed class, while giving their students the freedom they deserve to express themselves through their own styles of art. For work policies and dress code, they take their work very seriously. It's critical to have everyone who's working, whether they're an employee or intern, to arrive on time and to dress accordingly. According to Bill and Nikusha, they said that the dress code is business casual, and that you should always be prepared to have paint splattered on you. After going over the assignment, Nikusha came in to the building and sat down with me instead. From there, we further discussed what I'll be doing there during internship.
Then, I was given a full tour of the studio, and learned the ins and outs of each room. I got to see where classes took place, and where the supplies are kept. Nikusha discussed things I'll be doing such as; answering phone calls, checking people in, updating profiles on Wellness Living, reprinting handouts, and other small jobs. Although the jobs are small, they're important and necessary to keep the studio running. No job there is too small to be unimportant. As I said earlier, I was guided through what a typical day of work looks like here. After given a guide and a rundown of what I'll be doing, I had the opportunity to have a hands on experience with the online jobs. I sat at the front desk and overlooked their AdEspresso website that they use for marketing. I was told that I'll be using this website for my main internship project, and that I'll get a closer look at it during internship. Just for Career Day, I was able to explore the website. After researching AdEspresso, I was given a physical task. Bill had sat down with me, and taught me how to use Wellness Living for uploading students' profiles. After a few minutes, I was left with a stack that I was excited to upload. I tried my best to complete my task as quickly and thoroughly as I could, while not being afraid to ask questions. I feel very lucky as a High Tech High student to have the skills I've gained from each class, to apply to during internship. Classes like Humanities and Biology have taught my structure and organization through the loads of notes and work I've completed over the past year. My art class has brought out my creativity that I'll use to bring new ideas to the workplace. My math class is critical for calculating bills and other transactions that will be made. Overall, I'm very thankful for the time I spent with Bill, Nikusha, and meeting long-term students that I've excited to see again. Now, I feel more confident and excited to start on May 14th. |
Prima MateriaPrima Materia is an art institute full of opportunities to advance in your artistic skills. Whether you're a beginner, or a professional, Prima Materia is a great place to excel in. ArchivesCategories |