Tag Archives: Job

A Summer Teaching Experience

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Hello! It’s me again, back in California, back at Scripps, and back, undoubtedly, in my element. Happy as I am to have returned to the chaos that is campus life, I’ve found myself occasionally yearning for the routine I had established for myself over the summer. I always find it a difficult thing to switch between homes. Still, I’m unbelievably happy to be back here, and to come back with a newfound sense of confidence that I got from my summer job.

This summer, I worked for an organization called The GO Project as a Teacher’s Assistant. I had expressed concern last year that I would be woefully unqualified for the job, as I had little to no experience working in a classroom environment. But the training I had on educational inequality, and the progressive teaching techniques that GO uses, prepared me to deal with the variety of circumstances that I would- and eventually did- face. I was still the youngest person working the job, but I believe that gave me an advantage; I felt like I was able to just talk to the kids a lot better than my older counterparts. Also, because I wasn’t a teacher, I wasn’t comparing the kids at GO to kids I would have taught before. This is an important distinction, because many of the kids at GO have behavioral problems or learning disabilities that made them difficult to manage in a classroom environment. But to me, they were just kids; I soon began to refer to them as “my kids.”

Though I had never been in a classroom before, I found that having sixteen eight-year-olds looking towards me as an authority figure immediately forced me to adapt to my environment. Every day was nothing short of a day-long adrenaline rush. The structure of the day worked out so that from 9-2, the kids were in an academic day, but from 2-5, they were in “enrichment periods,” including Art and Poetry, Drama, and Martial Arts. I was the only person that was with them for the whole day, and I gained the trust and support of the kids as a result. My group was incredibly challenging: I had a runner, some fighters, and a lot of dramatics. Though I used a lot of effective teaching methods, I found that the most important thing I could do was to not get frustrated with the kids, and to be empathetic. A lot of kids in my class at GO came from unimaginable circumstances, but the effort and love that they put into our time everyday showed me a lot about the resilience of the human heart.

Aside from the kids, I was working with a fantastic teaching team, which supported my kids and me. A lot of what I learned came from other teachers; whether it be the “One two three, eyes on me!” “One two, eyes on you” chant that I would use to get the children’s attention, or the cool-down techniques that helped when dealing with an eight-year olds mental breakdown. I had people that would chase my runner’s for me, and people who would take care of the kids if I had to run to the bathroom. It was amazing to feel like a part of a real, working team.

The logistics of my job at GO made it so I had a two-hour commute every day, so it was literally all I was doing for six weeks. While I don’t think I’ll be returning to GO next summer, I don’t think I would trade the experience for anything.

Getting the Job

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There is nothing worse than the weeks of anxiety that come after having applied to a job, and knowing that you’ll get some sort of response at some point, but not knowing when. Our modern age makes this time particularly volatile, as I can check my emails incessantly, an action that undoubtedly increases my anxiety. During college acceptance season last year, I often joked to my friends that it felt like we were living during the Cold War, waiting for the bomb to drop at any time. It was not uncommon to see kids break down during class, having peeked at their phones under their desk only to see that they had gotten rejected from a school. Waiting for this job to get back to me brought back those feelings of anxiety.

The job I applied for told me they would get back to me by the end of the week, but if I didn’t get a response, not to panic (as if that was something I could control). I had sent them a follow-up email after my interview, as the Gods who wrote the Career Services Guide had directed me to do, and when I hadn’t heard a response by the next week, I sent another quick email asking whether or not a decision had been made.

The reply I received was worse than rejection: “A decision has been made, and you will hear from us shortly.”

Shortly? Shortly?! I thought that meant by the end of the day- or the next day, when I still hadn’t received a response. In reality, it meant three days, during which time I busied myself with friends and schoolwork, trying to get the uncertain nature of my future off my mind. But at the end of three days, I got the best news possible- I had gotten the job!

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I so excited, that I ran into Mallott at brunch without swiping in, having seen my friends in there (I got yelled at and had to go back). I immediately texted my family, who told me they were so proud. I am still so relieved to have a set plan for the summer, and that I no longer have to worry about waitressing, because…

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I still have a far way to go before becoming a full-fledged career woman- I’m texting my dad tomorrow to help me fill out all the paperwork for the job. But I’m glad I was able to take the first step in getting an actual job, at an actual organization. I’m a bit nervous due to the sheer amount I’ll have to work- the job is 9-5, Monday through Friday, working with young children. It’s more hours than I’ve ever worked before, and I have to get up early to go into New York with my dad, too. Talking to a volunteer there, I heard it was the most professional environment that they had ever worked in. Still, I know that I will get plenty of training before actually starting my job, and I’m excited for all the new challenges to come.

 

 

 

Stories from the Summer: That Big Presentation

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Alright, you start your internship/first job and you’re told that you have to do a presentation. That presentation is going to be done in front of the company management, and anyone else who happens to be free at the time. It also includes people being video conferences in…

Scary business right? This was the situation that I came up against this summer. Considering that most of the people who work at the McChrystal Group are incredibly impressive people, it was absolutely terrifying in the scheme of things.

The two hours before I was to give my presentation, I wanted to crawl into the corner in a fetal position or have a hole in the ground swallow me up.  For the record, these feelings are all okay. Most people have them, even my father who is “Mr. Presentation”, gets nervous before public speaking engagements. If people in the company are having you present, it’s for your own development. They are not expecting some A+ stellar presentation.

Fast forward, and it is fifteen minutes before the presentation.  Step one, get presentation onto big screen and have people who are video conferencing in confirm that they can actually see the presentation. Sounds easy right, but not quite. There is a reason why you always set up your presentation well in advance.  Because there is some form of universal law that states: When you try to use technology for some big important work event, something will go wrong.

If you’re lucky (like I was) you won’t actually have to deal with solving the problem of technology. If you’re lucky you just get to sit there, freaking out, and quickly going through your presentation eight more times. Eventually, given that there is no catastrophic failure with your technology, you are probably ready to go. If you’re like me, five minutes into your presentation everything has to stop because the people video conferencing in couldn’t see the presentation.

Throughout the ordeal, I realized that, giving presentations, especially on topics that you know a lot about, is really not that bad. More importantly, the questions the various people asked were not as difficult as I thought they might be. Admittedly, there were some questions that I just could not answer. This is where I found that telling someone you do not know the answer is always the right option. It’s scary, admitting that you don’t actually know the answers, especially when it seems like you should. It really is okay to say that you don’t know something. However, you can’t just say you don’t know , either make sure that someone follows up on it (if you’re me and leaving the next day) or follow up on it yourself. Important to note though, if you offer to find the answer, be prepared to actually find the answer and respond to the person. Not doing so is bad form.

Twenty minutes later I was finished. I felt a wash of relief as I realized that a) I didn’t faint halfway through or get swallowed up by the ground, b) the question and answerr sections were really OK and maybe fun, c) I had just given my first real adult presentation, and it actually went exceedingly well.

She Gets A Job At Phonathon, You Won’t Believe What Happens Next…

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Get it? Cuz I write clickbait! Haha jokes.

So today we’re talking about the job that I currently have because I have literally no idea how to find a future one of those (which is what I’m supposed to be writing about shhhhhhhh). This post has been kind of a long time coming since I got a job like a month ago (two months ago?) but before I get started talking about my job, here are some recent things you might need to know….or maybe just forgot

NBC's Chuck anyone? No? of course not

Get the reference? NBC’s Chuck anyone? No? Right, Of course not. Ugh

So without further ado: my past month.

-Learned that faxing is still a thing (I’m taking animation classes at my community college this summer. That is, if I actually faxed them things and didn’t just STRUGGLE FOR NOTHING).

-I went to Disneyland, it was awesome, I will fight anyone who disagrees.

-I cut off a lot of my hair.

-I got elected SAS MEDIA RELATIONS CHAIR (did I include this little update thing just so I could be excited about this? no. yes. probably. sorry about it).

-I’ve burned through a lotttt of TV (in order i think… Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The 100, Salem, Gotham, Archer, Garfunkel and Oates) I watch this much TV through a technique I call, “being a useless human being.”

-started this blog post, it’s not one of my best, but it’s going pretty okay I think, anyways.

So I currently work at Scripps Phonathon, which is an interesting choice because I normally try to remove the negativity from my life:

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And asking people for money is so so so so stressful.

Here’s the thing though, asking people for money is literally every job, it’s just that you also sometimes get to exchange goods and services for that money.

I, on the other hand, get to exchange my limited bank of Scripps memories and a lot of speculation about the new dorm.

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“um yeah, so there’s probably gonna be rooms and stuff, i think it’s gonna be eco-friendly, anyways i see you graduated with a degree in please start talking about yourself please.”

 

(Thank god for stock photos honestly.)

But seriously, I love my job because I get to connect with really cool Scripps alumns and also really cool current Scripps students (please love me guys, y’all are so cool), and I also fear it because it’s a lot of pressure.

Fun fact: Scripps tuition only covers 65% of the operating budget and I am now partially responsible for coming up with that other 35%

Less fun fact: I am absolutely terrified of rejection.

I totally get the whole “don’t take it personally thing” and I try to, but in my head all interactions with another human look like this:

 

tumblr_mz1op3FqL31r5c7dco1_1280I’m not sure how to make that emotion more clear other than to specify that I am Ned in this situation and the spoons are maybe a metaphor that hasn’t been completely realized yet.

But here’s the thing, people have and will continue to reject me for the rest of my life.

How exciting is that!?!?!

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So right now I’m learning how to take rejection and so should you. There are like 12 billion TED talks I should link you to right here, but I won’t. Instead enjoy this uplifting? song and the knowledge that every time you ask someone to contribute to the Scripps Fund and they can’t because they’re in med school right now it isn’t about you and that rejection just makes you stronger as a person and eventually you’ll have as many dials as Elisabeth.

Or you know, something more accessible. Either way really.

 

Let’s Go Fly

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When I think of my future, a lot of question marks seems to visualize out of thin air. Let’s just say there is still a lot to be figured out. Now when I think of how I could react, there are two ever so near and dear options:

  1. Freak out
  2. Stay calm

The funny thing is I often go back and forth in between these two options. However I do *try* to embody the latter. How do you do this miraculous thing called ‘calmness’ you might ask?

Well a lot of it has to do with having faith that a certain recipe of moving parts will collide, leaving me okay in the end (whatever okay even means).  Hard work, perseverance, aptitude, and the right attitude leave quite a bit of room for beautiful and serendipitous things to happen.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

No matter what situation you apply these excellent words to, I think there are many lessons to be learned from this quote. In regards to the very daunting and unknown future and what we like to call ‘the real world,’ there are often situations that present themselves and you have to jump and then soar. You may not know where this will take you, often times you have no clue where it will take you, but isn’t that the adventure of living in the moment? It’s mysterious, it’s scary, and its marvelous all at the same time.

Taking that literal leap of faith, not knowing where you are going to land and just winging it (flying pun intended) will take you on the ride of your life and maybe it won’t take you anywhere special, but it’s all apart of the journey. We might as well enjoy it!

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Mary Poppins knows how to fly!

So let’s go flying, what do you say? Will you join me?

Hope so,

Isabella