Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

• What I am most proud of on my first lesson is that I finished on time, I talked enough to fill up 7 minutes, and still had more to talk about. This made me feel confident that when it comes to the longer presentations I will have enough to say.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

• I would give myself a P/AP, mainly because I talked to fast. I felt like this caused people to not understand what I was saying and that I made it hard to follow along with me. I think that everything else that is on the P column I did well. I did the basic things and did everything I was asked to do.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

• If I can do my lesson 1 all over again I would be more relaxed, during my lesson I was nervous so I talked to fast, I got worried that the wasn’t understanding what I was saying, so that's something I would change. I would also fix my conclusion I didn't like at all how that ended, for my lesson 2 I would want to actually conclude not just say thank you and walk away. And lastly for my next lesson I want to memorize my lesson more, I looked at my paper a few times and I feel like this made me look unprofessional.
  
  

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

• When I go to my mentorship I help out at the gym, I make sure that the seniors who enter the gym are allowed to use the equipment. I do believe this task is somewhat meaningful to my topic because I get to interact with the seniors, however I do want to do more activities with them, I just have to work my way up there. 

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

• I found my mentor by looking online, I was looking for senior centers around my area. Laurie was the person I talked to and she introduced me to the center and has helped me get used to things. It didn't take much convincing all I did was ask her and she said she'll do it, I got lucky. 

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

• I think my mentor and I have a good relationship, we are growing the more time we spend with each other, the more time I help out in the center. She is very kind to me, she's always open when I need her, even with my schedule. 

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

• What went well was that I got to learn more about my mentor, I learned more of the kind of person she is. I learned that she genuinely cares about the seniors at the center and thats something I find important to have as my mentor. I need to improve on my questions and how fast I come up with follow-up questions, I start to get nervous at the end of every answer because I'm trying to figure out want to say next. I need to work on this in order to make my interview run more smoothly. A way I think I can solve this is by making the questions and under those questions have possible follow-up so I have an idea of what to ask next.

Interview Audio 

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

• Currently I do have a mentor, the same one I started with, we have been in contact with each other which is good. I have not completed my interview, however I do have a day to complete it which is on next Monday around 2pm. 

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.   

• Looking at the research the topic that I'm guiding into is how long a senior citizen live being happy and active, not just sitting to around waiting for the moment.

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

• The sources that have helped me get the most information have been articles or journal. For the next month I will probably get more of those, I would get them either from normal Google or on Cal Poly's library.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

• What are ways that an elderly person can live a longer and happier life?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• For Independent Component I will be working with Jocelyn Sanchez, her topic focus on the psychology of suicide and we thought that our topics could go well with each other. What we would be mainly focusing on is a blog that explains the correlation between growing older and mental health issues. We would be doing research to get the information needed. We want to interview professionals that take care of elderly people and maybe even the families of the senior citizens. During this time of looking for information and updating our blog we want to have social media accounts for Pintrest and Twitter.On Pintrest we plan to reach out to adults and young adults to give visuals to teach about the symptoms and signals that may lead to suicidal thoughts. On Twitter we plan to post “fun facts” on mental health within the elderly community to give youth a brief understanding on how to care for their grand parents and point out watch out signals they may present, and also by using hashtags.Towards the end of the component, we want to share what we learned. We want to go to retirement or nursing homes and educate volunteers about mental health issues, we also might make a pamphlets to give to the families of the elder. 

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• What we would do to show evidence of working on the component for 30 hours is mainly by working on the blog and by the way we share out, however our blog would be the main informational outlet. We would need to do research to have the information need since we are planning on updating our blog once a week. For our interviews we want to record the conversation and them post it on our blogs. We either want to interview together or we will each interview different people. We will basically do our share out on our social media accounts and hopefully get to go to retirement homes and educate volunteers and families. 

3. Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• By joining with Jocie it will help me explore my topic more in depth. By focusing on the mental health of elderly people I can learn more on how they feel, the way they think, ways to help and to prevent them from suicidal thoughts. This will help me know more ways in how a senior can live a longer happier life. 

4. Update your Senior Project Hours log.

• Done. Link

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

The purpose of the second interview is to justify your mentor as an expert in the field.  You will be asking them at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

           My mentor is Laurie Portillo, she works at the senior center in the city of Rancho Cucamonga. She is in charge of the volunteers and placing them in positions they are interested in. She is also helps with events that the senior center, like Grandparent's Day. She makes her a expert for my topic because she gets to see how the center affects the senior citizen.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. How long have you been working here?
2. Did you want to work at the center?
3. What changes did you bring to the center?
4. What have you learned from working here?
5. Do you have close relationships with some of the seniors?
6. How do you want to see the center in a few years?

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview? Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

The most important thing I learned from my interview was that how much the senior center actually does help an elderly

person, well at least the one the one in Rancho Cucamonga. It has a place for a senior to go do something they like, for example knitting, dancing, playing bingo, etc., it is also a place for them to be active like going to the gym, and its a place where they can be with friends and family. 

What I would do differently is talk more clearly, I realized from my interview that it's hard to understand what I'm saying sometimes, so that's something I would work on. 

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

I didn't get contacts from my interview but I got ideas, my mentor said to volunteer at a nursing home and to talk to patients or doctors there. I think this would be very useful because then I can compare the two different places that elderly people go to, senior centers and nursing homes. 

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My interviewee was my mentor, Laurie Portillo, I think she is very qualified because from here I know what to do next and who to interview next. She helped me with some questions that are hard to find online so yes I do think she is qualified to help me, which she did. 

Link to my interview: Click here 

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

I think what has worked well for me in the senior project is the that I'm staying on top of things. I check the class blog everyday to make sure I know what I need to do.  Another thing that's going well for me is the research check, I haven't had any problems finding articles that fit my topic. 

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

I think what I'm finding difficult in my senior project is mentorship. I have a mentor but I find it hard getting to the mentorship. I don't drive! I think I can fix this by starting to move around my schedule and going to the mentorship whenever I have free time, and of course learn how to drive. I don't know how the senior team could help me in this. 

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

Through my senior project, I want to learn about something I enjoy doing, which is helping senior citizens. I want to help make the rest of their lives more enjoyable and help them remain as healthy as they can. I want to grow relationships with them, I want to learn from them as well as have fun with them. The impact I want elderly people to get from my project is to learn how to live a long healthy life. That's what I want to focus on my senior topic. I want to help and educate seniors in longing there lives but also having fun. From this, I can learn to live a healthier like as well. With my mentorship and the research that I'm doing I think I can achieve this. 

Blog 3- First Interview Preparation

.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

• I plan to interview my mentor for the first interview. I think she would be the best choice because from her I can learn where to look for more information and who to interview next.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask. What additional questions do you plan to ask?

The five required questions

1. I'm interested in studying. What can you tell me about it?
2. From your perspective, what could I study that would be significant to other people?
3. Who else would you recommend I talk to?
4. What kinds of places or activities do you recommend I do for the mentorship component?
5. What materials should I read in this field? Who else can I interview?

Question I want to ask

1. What are some activities that elderly people enjoy to do?
2. How do must seniors know about the center?
3. Other than physically,how else does coming to the center help senior citizens?
4. Are there any requirements that the seniors have to meet in order to join the center?

Blog 2- Summer Mentorship

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• Laurie Portillo
• (909) 477-2780 x8002
• James L. Brulte Senior Center

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?     

• She's in charge of the volunteers, she places volunteers in the positions they are interested in, she also helps with activities and events at the center. Since I want to focus on the activities that senior citizens can do, I knew that she would be perfect.  

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.    

• What kind of events do seniors like to attend?
• What's a well rounded activity that all seniors can do?
• How can we convince seniors to exercise?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• I think the most important thing I gained from my experience was to see that any senior can workout no matter their age or condition, yes they have limits but they can still do something. I think by knowing this I can look at a my topic in a new way now, maybe instead of thinking of activities for them to do maybe I focus on how to get others to join, or maybe both. It gave me a new idea.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

• My senior project is going to be about what activities senior citizens can do and how to get them to do it. My mentorship helped me make my decision by making me realize that anyone can do it, not just the young health seniors. I know lots of people don't care about their health until something happens and that was the case for a lot of the seniors in the center. I want to help them not go because the doctor tells them to, I want them to go because they realize they need to exercise to stay healthy. 

My lovely mentor.

The gym where I helped at.

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1.  What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

• The three most helpful lessons that I saw during the two weeks were Imelda Gomez (Art/Fashion), Hannah Seyffert (Elder Care), and Ingrid Mata (Elementary Education). 
• I really liked in Imelda's presentation and it helped me the most because I saw what a good presentation looks like, she made her topic seem like it was the best thing in the world, she explained it so well that she didn't lose the audience attention, and her activity went with her lesson perfectly. I'm really glad I got to view her presentation because now I know what I can do in my presentation.
• The main reason why I went to Hannah's presentation was because I liked her topic, I wanted to see how a topic of elderly people went. Her presentation gave me the idea of doing something with elderly people as well, if it wasn't for her presentation I probably will still be doubting whether or not I want my senior project to be about elderly people.
• Even though Ingrid presentation was really good, and she cleared up the independent component a bit more, her activity didn't really went with her lesson. I saw what the activity did to her lesson and how it confused people on what she was talking about. It was something I don't want to do. 

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

• I learned how important it is too choose something that you like and are interested in, not something that is easy to get. 

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

• At the moment I'm only considering on doing my topic on the activities that elderly people do or anything that has to do with elderly people. I really like volunteering at the care center and since I already volunteer there I hope I can easily get a mentor.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

• What activities are entertaining and safe for senior citizens?

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

• Where I volunteer at, Upland Rehabilitation and Care Center, and I would want to ask the activity director to be my mentor.