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.