12/24/11 - 12/25/11

A Phoenix made out of golden spoons

On Christmas Eve, my family and I went out to eat at a buffet.  It was a simple way to celebrate Christmas Eve with just the four of us.  We didn't have gifts for each other or did anything out of the ordinary, but we still had a good time eating out. 

On Christmas Day, my family and I went out to the Global Winter Wonderland event at Santa Clara.  We joined with my sister's boyfriend and his family.  It was an "okay" event for me.  The event showed a bunch of lit-up structures such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Eiffel Tower.  We took pictures and had a good time.  For some strange reason, my parents walked fast and they usually do not walk fast at events like these.  Later on, I found out that my father was "cold."  Ironically, he was the one who told all of us to dress warm.

Overall, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were nice and relaxing days.

Internship Readiness

The qualities of someone who is internship ready are:  Having good grades in both Tech and BC; have a good amount of contract points (or shown improvement); overall attitude, behaviors, and interaction with colleagues and staff.  I think those are the minimum requirements of an internship-ready person.

I plan to demonstrate internship readiness during module three by staying consistent.  By staying consistent, I will prove that I can perform at a certain level and be able to follow through with it.  I have set the bar for myself very high and I must keep it that way or make the bar higher.  I will continue to be infraction-free, show up everyday, do all the work, and stay positive.  Basically, I need to do everything I am already doing.

I'm not sure if I need to make many changes to show I am intern-ready.  One change I can definitely improve on is to simply talk to people.  Complimenting people is part of the social skill I am working on and I have started to compliment people.  I can talk to my fellow colleagues and some staff members.  I hope to be able to speak even better and be able to speak to anyone and be able to do it well as the module progresses.  The mindset I have set for myself has been working and it needs to be the same throughout Year Up and throughout my entire life.  My mindset is to persevere and to ask a simple question: "What's next?"

Best and Worst Work Experience

The best volunteer job I've ever had was volunteering for this fashion show called Macy's Passport.  I was 14 years old, and was in the SFPAL (San Francisco Police Academy League) during this time.  It was like a free show for the Cadets that showed up.  During the start of the event, we, the Cadets, directed people to go where they need to go to.  At the end of the event, we directed people where to go as well.  After finishing directing people where to go during the start of the event, we got to check out the event and watch the show as well.  It's like those police officers who do security detail at baseball games; they get to hang out, watch the game, and get paid at the same time.

Ironically, Macy's Passport was also my worst volunteer job experience.  When I was 15, we went back to volunteer for Macy's Passport once again.  This time we showed up and did the same work at the start of the event, but we eventually got kicked out after that.  We were invited to volunteer that year, but the event planner kicked us out for some reason.  We did nothing out of the ordinary, but there was something going on with the event planner and she no longer needed our help.  She required us to leave the event.  This is the worst experience I've ever had because it was a waste of time.  It's also disrespectful.  It's like calling someone and saying "I've got nothing to say." and hang up.