What went well, what would you do differently, and what stands out to you?
​I think my whole final project went well, we did do it the 3 days following up to the IPOL but were able to do it anyways. We did a mockup and I brought an actual physical version of that would look like, not exaclty the same but close enough for them to get the idea. I was really suprised in how much I knew by the end and how I was able to build up the table by myself without gabriela. The only thing I would do differently is have started this project a little earlier. We did it the last week before Ipols which was stressful since I didnt know how everything was going to play out. My mentor was really good at keeping stuff on schedule so im glad I had her for this process.


Blog-2: How do you feel about returning back to classes next week? Do you anticipate a different experience of school now that you have been immersed in a workplace? What are you looking forward to about coming back? What are you going to miss about internship?
I am looking foward to going back to school because I like having a routine which is what I lacked during internship. I doubt the expirence will be any different since I liked doing everything online without having to see people all the time. Having an online internship reminded me of online school in some ways but im looking foward to being able to see my friends again everyday. Im also looking foward to being able to communicate to my teachers ifI have questions because I struggled with this during intenrship since my mentors really busy so most of the stuff I had to just figure out on my own. Im going to miss my mentor the most, she has been really kind to me this whole process and she has really been making me have a valuable expirence even with it being online.  Overall I really like internship for the time I had it but am looking foward to going back to school again. 

Post the highlights from your mentor interview and explain what makes these quotes meaningful to you.

Question: “Since you sought out jobs that interested you, what advice would you give me when trying to reach out?”

Answer:“... I've often told people that i've had the most success in my career by just walking up to people or emailing them my resume, I mean technically marlen that's how you got this internship…I would definitely recommend that as a really good option because there's a lot of people who might hire you but you wouldn't get the job unless you knew someone in the company, stumble upon a job post, or it doesn't exist. You just have to reach out…it's really helpful to be aggressive and follow up. I often say that closed mouths don't get fed so if you want something you’ve got to say it…"

Question: "How do you deal with confrontation at work?"

Answer: “...It's really important to me to be very forgiving. I try to have a short term memory in those ways and only if there is a constant problem, then that's something we maybe need to address over and over or cut ties at that point. There's been a couple situations like that but i really try to make it a team effort I try to be supportive I want to be a good leader and understanding in ways that id want someone to be for me as well I understand this job can be really stressful and difficult and all of our problems are very nuanced…I think patience, understanding, empathy is really important, and sometimes knowing when enough is enough”

​Question: Do you see yourself in this career for a long time?


Answer: "Yes, I've been in this career for 9 years. I like it. I always come back. I say there's always a threshold and if you don't like this job you’ll probably leave it for a maximum of 3-5 years. Most people who can't hack it will leave it in 2-3 because they can't handle the stress. If they like it but still can't handle the pressure, those people will usually leave in 5 years…I really like lavish i've been with them since 2019, 4 and a half years and I would say christine is the best boss she is the most understanding, she's really giving, very supportive, and she gets me on a personal level which helps and she's really receptive to my feedback. Having a great boss is really important in the workplace because you could have a job that you like but if the boss is awful that can tear down companies"

These quotes are meaningful to me because she went into detail and even added more that she didnt have to but would help me like advice. This interview gave me a lot to think about since gabriela would give me advice no one ever has before. I appreciate her also trying to be more personal in the interview which also helped me be more talkative. 
​
(A few pictures of gabriela working)

I was very prepared this week since I finally finished my last venue list which was the OC one and I had my interview with gabriela scheduled as well as the site vist with Mrs. Carli. I loved the interview with gabriela because I would say we have a good relationship with each other and she is able to provide me with meaningful answers. Our relationship also helped me feel more comfortable to ask more questions and have more personal conversations (which I took off in the video). In that same zoom we reviewed all my work and she also assigned me some more.  On friday we had our virtual online visit with carli which helped me and gabriela know what to do for my final project. We were also able to decide on the internship site visit time with Mrs. Lauryn. After this week I feel more confident in my final project and going into week 4. 

What are you thankful for in your internship experience?
Im thankful for my mentor because I have a hard time understanding instructions but she makes her instructions very clear and easy to understand. She has also been checking in with me through zoom for any issues I may be having with any assignment. This week I was assigned to find hindu priests, barrat for a groom, muas, and hair stylists. It was hard to find them but I was able to get all the resources I needed in order to complete my tasks which im thankful for.

Read another student's blog. What stands out to you? What experiences do you have in common? What contrasts do you see? What questions do you have?
​When reading arianas blog what stood out to me was how much she was sturggling in the beginning but she was still able to move on and have a good expirence. Something we shared was the fact that we were both very confused at first and were emaling Mrs. Carli a lot in order to help us figure it out. Like her I was also doing online for the first week but she continues to do it in real life while I only went once in real life. I dont mind staying home, the reason i wanted this internship was because it was mainly online but I could see how someone like ariana would want to be getting hands-on expirence. The only question I would have for ariana is if she thinks an online internship is as rewarding as a normal internship?

For my project I will be doing a mockup for a fake client since a mockup is a big part of wedding planning. A mockup is a test run/an opputunity to preview part of the decor for the ceremony or recpetion prior to the actual wedding day. Since I already had expirence seeing one in real life my metor and I wanted to include that in my final project. As of now the final product could be canva slides showing the mockup of the fake client along with a physical representation of that. It would be a dinnerware set including flowers just to show a small part for the people who will be coming to see mine.  For this I will need to utilize my creative skills since I will be needing to put the fake clients vision into this mockup and hope its what they want. This isnt really benifiting anyone but me since its a fake client but I am grateful for gabriela who will be helping me while I do it.

​What are you looking forward to most about your internship experience?​
​In my first week of being gabrielas intern I was mostly assigned online work that I would complete for the week. She assigned some easy projects in order for me to get used to the website since most of the work she does is online. I am using asana to do my tasks and so far its been easy since gabriela has been helping me by ansewring questions and showing me examples. This week I created canva slides for venues in OC, LA, and SD. I also found instagrams of makeup artist and hair stylist in the bay area for one of gabrielas clients. The work is fun for me because I love researching and creating slides so this has been helping me gain more expirence in that.

I am looking foward to meeting gabriela in real life and seeing the kind of work she does with her clients. She invited me to go to one of the mockups for the clients wedding I will be attending. I am looking foward to this because it will get me out of my comfort zone and help me adevnture out socially since I have a hard time communicating with others.

​The name of my internship site is Lavish Weddings, my site plans out weddings for couples and provides many services to make your dream wedding come true. My mentor is Gabriela and we first met over Zoom since they are all online. Our first meeting went well we were able to connect before we got into the logistics of the actual internship. Meeting Gabriela helped relief my stress over the internship since she had done it before and had an idea of what to do already. As of now I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing but will get in contact with my mentor about it. I hope this internship can help me decide for my future on what I would like to do and help me with my people skills. I have a fear that I'm going to be lost and not have enough work for the week to meet the required hours but I hope me and Gabriela can talk and figure it out.