Jan 17th post

        I think the first skills, I will display on the first day of my internship are soft skill, because on the first day it is very important to gain a good impression from my managers, mentor and my co-workers. I learned all of the professional skills at Yearup like how to give in an appropriate handshake, how to talk with people in appropriate tone and words, how to manage my stress and time, and even how to act professionally when having lunch.

The one question that I have in my mind about my internship is “What will my co-workers be like and can I get along with them?” I have this question because I think 6 month is a long time for me, and I also think I can finish my internship more perfectly if I get along well with the people I will meet every day in the following 6 months. 

       My dream office environment would be working in a tall building with a lot of windows so that I can see the outside world from my desk. But the most important thing I want in my office environment is that all the people who work there are nice people. I hope they are people who feel comfortable to help each other out and are willing to teach people who are new to the company.  

     My tentative plan for after my internship is keep studying in college. If I get hired by the company in six months, I will continue to work there but also make time to take English class. But if I can’t get hired after the internship, I will stay in college to be a full time student keep learning computer science and English. When I am in college, I willand keep looking for a full time job that is related to my major.

1/2/2012

This is the last day of the long break. I am going back to school tomorrow with a good attitude and getting ready for my internship in the end of the month. I had a deep concern during my break about my internship and my future. When looking back to the year of 2011, I thought of everything I did in the past year. It was an important transitional year for me.  My first internship is right there around the corner. Before attending yearup, I never thought of I could  have a good chance and change like that. I know 2012 twill be another important year for me to make progress and start the road to success.  I asked myself a question so many times, “Am I really get ready for the changes?”  The answer I got is absolutely yes.  I am eager to get success, I want to prove myself that I am good enough to get what I want. I know the most important thing to reach success is not for people to trust me but for me to believe in myself . I am looking forward to the great change in this good New Year 2012.  

My second Christmas in USA.

This is the second Christmas I had in the USA. Although my family doesn’t celebrate a lot before, but Christmas is still one of my favorite festivals. This is a special year for my family, because this year is the first time we got the whole family together. So we had a big dinner at my grandma’s place. We ate a lot of good foods and watched TV together.  My cousin introduced her boyfriend to us that night, it was good to know her funny boyfriend.  I knew the tradition here for Christmas is people exchange presents, but our family didn’t do that. I think the most important thing is we can get together and spend time together instead of the presents. But I am still happy that I got  presents from my friends . It was a great Christmas for me .

                                                                                                                                    -----12/25/2011

Lake Tahoe Trip

After the trip last week, I just made time to sit down and write in my diaries.  I want to share something about the trip to Lake Tahoe. It was an unforgettable time spent with my friends. We went to ice skiing at the second day we been there. That was so exciting even though we fell down so many times. After that, we went to visit Tahoe. Tahoe  was a small city but a very beautiful one, it has some special things that a big city will never has. It was peaceful and quiet. Once my friends and I went to a new place, we bought a post card and wrote down our feelings, then send it to ourselves and our friends. Also, we took a lot of pictures during the trip. Time past so fast, we went back to SF three days after. I hope I can got another trip soon. Over all, it was a nice trip for me and my friends.   

Internship Readiness

    The qualities of someone who is internship ready are acting professionally, working hard and having a positive attitude.  First, we should keep doing what we are doing in the program which includes being on time, having material ready, dressing professionally, using appropriate language, staying awake, being respectful and accountable. Secondly, we should try our best to finish all the work our managers give us within the time limit. And also, we should do it in an efficient way to achieve a better result. Third, having a positive attitude is the most important thing we should bring into the internship. Different attitudes determine what you can do. We can’t do anything well in the internship without a positive attitude.

    In module 3, I will keep my strengths that I have in the first two modules. After a deep evaluation for myself, I think my grow area is speaking more in the class. I’ll try being more active both in class and group work by briefly asking my questions and my opinion.  Also, knowing that public speaking is an important skill that we should have here, I’ll spend more time to practice in order to get improvement in my presentation assignments. Preparing more, practicing it ahead of time, speaking loudly and write down some key points I have to say while my presentation are the things that I’ll try to do to improve my public speaking skill.

     I would like to change my organizational methods in module 3. I think I should get separate folders for BC class and Tech class so that I can separate the huge amount of handouts between the two classes, and there will be no need for me to worry about missing any important data I need.  

Temporary Job but Permanent Experience.

   The only one job experience I have in USA was work as a cashier in a super market. That was the first time I was a cashier. Everything was hard in the beginning. It took me about one week to get used of my job. 
   As a cashier, the first and most important responsibility was take good care of the money in the cash box. Every day before I left, I had to count the total income of the day and passed it to my supervisor. If I couldn't say the right total money amount of the day, I had to do it over. So it was so important to being awake and careful when working with a lot of customers at the day. In my workplace, if cashiers miss money of the day, we have to pay for the missing part of the money. That’s why I wouldn't talk too much with neither my co-workers nor my customers. I was afraid I would make mistake when I was talking. I was trying hard to make as fewer mistakes as possible so that I could get the full check at the end of the month. 
   As time passed, I worked more and more practical and fast with my job, and I talked more with my customers when I was working. Another responsibility of my job was helping my customers to find what they wanted when they asked me for help. The supermarket I was working for is not a big one but it still has a lot of goods there. My supervisor told me that I had to remember most of the goods that their exact position in the store. That required me to have a good memorize.
    And at the same time helping customers, I was actually improving my customer service skills. A good worker should be helpful and friendly. Helping my customers to get what they need and leaving a good impression on them is an important skill I should develop during my internship. And also, in order to be a good employee in my workplace, it was important to know time management.   Because the super market has two working shifts in a day, I had to make sure I would be there ahead of my work time and got ready to take over my co-worker.  But if I really couldn't make it on time, I had to call my supervisor ahead of time so that she could let somebody else subs my shift. It showed that I am responsible for my job and my co-workers, and that’s exactly what I need to bring into my internship.
   The last important thing that I think I learned from the cashier job was how to get along well with my co-workers.  Most of co-workers there were Chinese and Mexican, and they were all very nice to me when I first came there. We loved to help each other out no matter in the workplace or outside the workplace. But I think the two most important reasons why we sould build a good relationship between us were I putted my real heart into my job and always could be responsible.  And for sure, I will bring all I learned from my cashier job into my upcoming internship even in my future career.

snacks caused a wind wave.

The Sacramento Bee posted a news story this morning about a professor of Sacramento state university who was stopped from requiring snacks from his students during class by the dean of that university. Sources say that the professor had been doing that over 39 years. (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/23/4074957/sac-state-students-dont-have-to.html#disqus_thread)

When I first time saw this news, I didn't feel surprise because it happens in USA. I agree that professor's view on his behavior is way of encouraging students to work collectively, among other things. I feel comfortable sharing snacks with my instructors and colleagues during class when it doesn't interrupt the formal class. I have heard that some successful companies such as Yahoo, Google, etc.  have their snacks serve area for their employees in the workplace, and I think that's a good way to cheer up the employees. Only working in the workplace seems boring for the employees nowadays. Personally, I hope that I can have a professional work environment but at the same time can have fun and a good relationship with my co-workers. Sometimes, even a snack can break the ice when you are not so familiar with some new people. In this case, a little snack has huge power.

On the other hand,I don't agree with the professor's behavior that he force his students to bring snacks and left the classroom during class when his students didn't meet his snack requirements. Everybody should feel comfortable when you share something with others. If not, then that's not sharing. In the professor's case, that's not sharing. Students were forced to bring snacks to the class, and the professor should let the students feel free to do so, so that the students can learn something from that.

I found this news in the education column. I think it's weird, but I also think it's really a serious problem for us to think about.