Warming up for Internship

  Its only two weeks before internships and I'm definitely feeling the anxiety. We've had five months to prepare. Knowing the managers have an understanding that we are interning in an entry level position makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I'm sure the social skills that Year Up has taught, helped me develop will play a huge factor; in that I will communicate with co workers for help and begin to create my own professional network. Being in the space of a professional corporate environment gives me the impression of having to fit in to the most difficult and painful regard. Being a 22 year old college student I think many of us like to think of ourselves as non conformist, so seeing a lot of old Caucasian men all dressed in the same suit isn't very attractive to me. I would like to see a more laid back working environment, not that I cant conform with the old white guys, I can always find a way to talk to people. Its just that I think it will do good for myself to be in an environment with co workers who are around my age and are a part of the same generation as me where we can all relate on a few things. With managers though I would prefer them to be very work oriented and lead a team not by his voice, but by his work. Just as teachers have impede me from learning with their lack of teaching skill, I believe a great manager will also help in setting me on the right path. All I ask for is their confidence and trust.  Although I am faced with some limitations entering this unknown field of IT. Everything that Marcus Colina and Year Up has taught me when it comes to technology has, metaphorically, given me the vehicle to get me to the destination that I desire.

Kids and their Shows

Do you remember Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and Doug. Those were a few of my favorite cartoons as a kid. They had so much imagination to them and made me so interested in their world. The characters in these cartoons inspired kids to be curious about their surroundings and to use their imagination. Then I look at the cartoons now and... well I hardly catch any cartoons now. Nowadays the most popular shows I see are just a bunch of kids sitcom shows. It disappoints me to see what stuff these networks are mashing into these kids minds. All I hear are random jokes being spewed out by the main characters, which most of them being little girls. I wonder why? Maybe to promote it to the insecure 10 year old girl who don't know any better and will enter middle school with that same sense they watched on that iCarly episode. I feel like an old man complaining this much about what other people watch, but I feel in this society creativity has gone down the drain and the quality of our entertainment are just rehashed old pieces of work.In fact 2011 broke the record for the year of the most remakes and sequels. I would hope there would be a generation to have an original way to wow the world.

Reflecting on Family

This holiday season was special to me because of the amount of time I was able to spend on a side of my family we don't normally get to see on holidays and that would be my mom's side. It just became a tradition to go to my dad's side and celebrate with all the family. The thing that has always intrigued me about both families is how different both sides are. My dad's side or the Judilla and Abril family is very close knit and if you were to walk into one of our parties it would be clear cut where the old folks are, the young adults, and the little kids. It's almost like we are broken into sections around the house but we always do things together. This always feels like a huge family since there are so characters and we are always set on the same traditions. Such as Christmas there would always be someone dressed up in a Santa outfit giving out the gifts.
As for my mom's side there is no clear name to brand us with. If you were to walk into one of our parties you would see a mixed bag of people, most of them looking fairly young. It is a small family but thats also what makes it special. An example are the gifts my sisters and I received, they were gifts that proved they really knew us. My favorite one was the t-shirt with a literal meaning of Batman and Robin. This family is a great example of showing you don't have to be blood related to be family, since half of this family aren't even full blooded relatives. There is a huge contrast between the two families and I feel so lucky to experience both sides during this holiday season.

Reflecting on Christmas

Christmas felt very minuscule this year compared to the past years my family have had. Maybe it was the recent passing of my Great Grandmother. We would usually drive down to San Diego and my family and relatives would just sleep over in my uncle's big spacious house. Not to say it was a terrible Christmas, only that it wasn't up to par with the Judilla standards.
In fact the unique thing about this Christmas, it was the first time going to two houses for Christmas. We also had the chance to be with my Mom's side of the family. I've missed so many holidays with this family and to finally celebrate a major holiday with them, that's the best thing I could have asked for.
As for presents its always interesting to see how small my presents get with each year. I really have no complaints about the amount of gifts I have received. In fact I truly, truly did not want anything. It was a tough year for me this year both financially and emotionally. Fortunately I had my friends and family they gave me their warmth, support and money. My Christmas definitely happened much earlier this year.

Internship Readiness

When I hear readiness I think of maturity and focus. To be ready the first step is to look ready. The first impression is important, so you don't want to lose that as you feel comfortable. That's where the focus comes in, if you feel your work is too easy then your quality may not be up to par. I believe the quality of my work should portray the image of myself I am omitting. Maturity comes from knowing when and where to do certain actions, or to be appropriate. I feel these are two factors I need to continue to develop myself. I tend to socialize in the same way I would with my friends, but of course a toned down version of what I would normally say.

Flipping More Than Burgers

I worked at Burger King for three and a half years. It was a terrible experience. While I was here I worked the burger boards, cashier and also closing. It wasn’t very fun, I had the choice to be at front and work with demanding, rude, and insulting customers or work in the back next to my boss who would constantly critique me on the smallest details, such as how I put ketchup on each burger or how I put one too many pickles in a sandwich. There was also that possibility of my boss asking me to work another day which I constantly tried to avoid. The only duty I didn’t mind doing so much was closing. Although I would stay there longer, it was easy avoiding the customers and most of the orders. My responsibilities mostly was on cleaning, restocking the fridge, taking out the garbage, mostly just to prep everything for the morning.

What skills have I learned?  I learned how to make a sandwich really fast. But seriously I learned about diversity, many people I worked with had accents and were difficult to understand at times but I learned how to listen and conjure up conversations with them. I also learned to do my job, although I hated it at Burger King towards the end I learned that I signed up for this thing and I should just come in and work those days they ask. Most of the time was just caught up in the negative environment that my boss, co-workers, customers, and especially myself that was projecting.

First Step Without First Amendment

Protect IP Act, this is a bill that is trying to be passed to protect the entertainment industry. But it doesn't just try to censor movies and music, it gives the power to shut down sites by having internet service providers block access to infringing domain names, remove links to that site or cutting of funds to the sites. This goes as far assueing users who show you how to videos to download free media to banning videos that may have music just playing in the background. When I first heard about this I thought of how it could impact our first amendment rights. Sure they can't keep us from what we say but they sure can promote whatever they want to show. The Protect IP act seems like the first step to condensing our right to say whatever we want. This is at least what my news source tells us.
My news source mostly relies on videos and audio, all from YouTube (www.youtube.com\sxephil) I watch and listen to others opinions and it admittedly persuades me at times. I'm open minded to new ideas but I do keep my guard up to strike down any opinion I think or prove to be invalid. I mostly watch my sources with an open ear and would like to hear opinions but they should come across on both sides.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Lyl16Qs&feature=BFa&list=PL3B0BF0172B7D9BD2&lf=plpp_play_all