Another post with a picture

Image from YouNoodle and a screenshot of a bug I've found while doing QA

My first blog for CCSF

I already used blogger during Year Up. We had to write a blog every few weeks for our Business Communications class to improve our writing and vocabulary skills

Internship Eagerness

A technical skill that I learned at Year Up is using the L.A.M.P (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Python) by participating in an extracurricular course. I'm glad I took this course because web developing and programming is something that I would like to do in the future. I'm planning to further my knowledge with HTML, and programming languages by taking online courses at CCSF during my internship. Since I took the Quality Assurance course, I can find bugs on your website or software, and probably fix them.

Another technical skill that I learned at Year Up is troubleshooting computers. I have been using the computer since I was young, so I would say I'm intermediate at troubleshooting. If I'm not able to fix it, I'll find my way around to get it fixed. I will benefit from the team I work with, and the team might benefit from me as well because we don't know everything, and we can learn from each other.

Sahaar told me that I have a meet and greet today. I might be doing desktop support at a company in San Jose, CA. As a desktop support, I think I will be setting up computers for employees, or troubleshooting issues that come up.

I would work well with a manager that cares about their employees, and provide help when we need it. Weekly meetings would be great to discuss my progress and ways that I can keep improving.

I would really like to improve on my confidence and communication skills during my internship. I can start by creating small talk with new people as well as people in other departments. I can probably learn a lot from them. I hope I can shadow someone in a department I'm interested in, so if I have an opportunity to have a full-time job. I will have the skills for that department.

I'm worried about how to get the San Jose because it's about one hour away. I have a motorcycle that I can ride, but I messed something up inside the engine, and I hope I will get it fixed before internship starts. I don't know what my manager(s) will expect from me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to do the assignments right because I didn't take the IT track.

I plan to stand out by creating small talk with people in different departments, and work harder than others. For example, asking for more work when I'm done with a task. Working harder than others is not a problem for me because I already work harder than others at my current job. Creating small talk is something that I need to work on.

I hope there will be a full-time job opportunity after my internship. I plan to demonstrate that I'm dependable, positive, and eager by going to work and getting my work done on time, showing a positive attitude, and always trying to learn new skills. Going to work and getting my work done on time isn't a problem for me since I know how to manage time. I always arrived at Year Up and did all my work on time. I always show a positive attitude because I enjoy working with technology, and I'm a very nice person. I want to learn new skills by shadowing someone in the company or taking online courses during internship.

I actually do have a plan during my internship phase. I plan to take a few online courses on HTML and Linux. I'm trying to get the L.A.M.P stack certificate from CCSF. I hope I will get hired after my internship, so I have a stable job and help my parents pay off the bills. If not, I might look for other internship opportunities on Craigslist, and still take classes at the same time. I might apply for Google internships since that's a company that I would like to work for. I went to a field trip to Google few days ago, and the hostess told me that there are a lot of internship opportunities at Google. The most important thing I took out from the tour was how Google treats their employees.

Making the Most out of my internship

In class, we read a handout that has twelve tips to make the most out of our internships. I have listed them below from the most important to the least important.

1. Enjoy Yourself - I have to enjoy my job in order to do things right, and time will pass by quickly without me even knowing it.  If I don't enjoy my job, I might not do a good job, and time will pass by slowly because I'll be looking at the clock every ten seconds. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy my internship since I like to use computers, but if I had to apply it to my internship, I'll think about what I'll gain from doing it. For example, I can put troubleshooting computers, looking for bugs in a software, identifying hardware parts, and other skills that apply to me in my resume.

2. Set Personal Goals - Personal Goals are important to me because I can get all the tips from this list and list it as my goal. I already have set personal goals during my internship phase. My goals are to do my best, take 16 units of CCSF online courses (programming language), learn new skills while at work, and building my network. To achieve my goal, I'm planning to work only two days a week (Saturday and Sunday) at Ghirardelli. If I'm not able to get that schedule, I'm planning to quit. At my internship, I will try to introduce myself to everyone I see.

3. Don't be afraid to ask questions - Asking questions is important because I don't know everything. I will ask questions whenever I'm not sure about something. Like what everyone always say, there is no such thing as a stupid question.

4. Find a mentor - Finding a mentor will benefit me during my internship. Whenever I don't know something, I can just ask my mentor. My mentor can introduce me to other employees. I will find a mentor that I can get along with easily by asking them to grab food together.

5. Network, Network, Network - Networking will benefit me during my internship also because the more people I know, I will have a better chance of gaining new opportunities. This is something I need to work on. I plan to work on this by moving to the cashier position at Ghirardelli if it fits my schedule. That way, I can create small talk with customers and build on my communication and public speaking skills. At my internship, I'll introduce myself to people I've never met before.

6. Have regular meetings with your supervisor(s) - Scheduling regular meetings with my supervisor can build our relationship. We can get to know each other more. If I tell my supervisor the stuff I accomplished, or the things that didn't go so well and what I learned from it, my supervisor will know that I'm a good worker they can depend on. I will schedule meetings through e-mail, text, in-person, or other forms of communication.

7. Take initiative - I love to find other ways to do something correctly and faster. Taking these courses at Year Up is a bit of review for me since I know some of the stuff already. I still read the book whenever there was a chapter assigned to learn something that I didn't know. I'm glad I read it because I learned some stuff I I never knew how to do. Reading the book made me a lot more confident about what I'm doing. That gave me a chance to help my colleagues out when they didn't get something. My instructor learned something new because I found another way to reboot the computer into Safe Mode. I'm planning to take programming courses online at CCSF during my internship, so it will benefit me while I'm doing QA at my internship.

8. Get as much exposure as possible - I'm already trying to learn new stuff that can benefit me in the future. Work hard, play later is my motto. I will ask for new tasks at my internship, try to meet new people, and attending events.

9. Avoid negativity - It's important in the workplace, but this isn't as important for me because I already avoid negativity. I act professional everywhere I go. I'm a nice, calm, helpful person. It takes a lot for me to act negatively. It shouldn't be a problem for me during internship.

10. Leave with tangible accomplishments - I've already said some earlier. I'm improving my communication skills by creating small talk with customers. I scoop with my right arm, but I have been practicing with my left arm lately. Now, when my right arm is tired, I can just use my left hand to scoop. I can become ambidextrous if I keep doing it, and it will be really cool because not a lot of people can use two hands. I will look for stuff to learn during my downtime.

11. Never shun a chance to learn more about company/industry - This is something I really need to work on. Few days ago, a customer asked me how long has Ghirardelli been here, and I had to ask my co-worker. My co-worker told them the history and the customers end up giving him ten dollar tips. I learned a lot from him because I was listening to him while he was talking to the customers. I asked my co-worker how he knew all that, and he told me he read the history around the Ghirardelli Plaza while he was on his break. If I know what internship I'm going to, I will do research about the company, so I have a better understanding about what the company does.

12. Tackle all tasks with enthusiasm and a positive attitude - I don't like my current job because I don't think I will get anywhere by scooping ice-cream, and I don't want to do that forever. However, my job requires customer service, and that's something I need to work on. I told my advisor that I will try to create small talk with customers whenever I can. I have been doing that recently, and it's going pretty well. Although I don't like my job, I tackle the tasks with a positive attitude. I scoop faster than some of my co-workers when it's busy because they always take their time scooping. Whenever I'm getting a tub of ice-cream, I lift it up and down, so I can work out my arms. I don't think it will be a problem for me during internship.

My Work Life

One of the responsibilities that I really enjoy at work is when I scoop ice-cream for customers. A disadvantage about scooping ice-cream is that it is sometimes too hard for a human being to scoop, so we have to take some of the ice-cream out to let it melt a little. Some of my other responsibilities are making drinks, topping the ice-cream, and cleaning the department at the end of the day.

My primary responsibility is scooping ice-cream. We aren't assigned a primary responsibility. Anyone in the department can scoop, top (topping ice-cream), or run (making drinks). I like scooping the most. I don't really like running and topping the ice-cream because I'm slower at it than scooping.

I don't think that the impotent skills I have learned from Ghirardelli will help me in the internship; however, I always try to find ways to improve myself. For example, I try to memorize an order by looking at it once, so I can remember things better. Another example that would not relate to the tech skills is that I think of my job as a workout. I was a supervisor a few times, so I was able to gain some skills, but I still need to work on them. Some of the skills I have gained is being a leader, and managing time/work area. When I was a supervisor, I had to tell some people what to do instead of standing around, and I had to make sure everyone is working and sending them on break on time.

One lesson that I have learned while I was working is to listen to feedback. Everyone in my department has a different way of topping the ice-cream, scooping, or making drinks. Sometimes I did something wrong, so I had to ask the supervisor or manager the right way to do it. Another lesson that I have learned is to always work harder than others. I am a benevolent person. Whenever one my co-workers need help, I always help them.

Nonfiction Book Review

In the book "Freakonomics", the authors write about other views that some people had never even thought of. I think the authors wrote this book to let the readers have a different point of view about a topic.

A passage that left an impression is when the crime rates lowered because of abortion. I never thought abortion would be a huge impact on lowering crime rates. After reading the book, I had a different point of view.

The chapter that inspired the most discussion in the group as well as the class is the chapter about a child's name. Some of my group members thought it was funny to name your child "Cheeseburger" or “Loser”. We had no idea why a parent would give their child those kinds of name out of all the ubiquitous names. We had a class discussion about it, and the class also didn’t know why a parent would give their child those kinds of name.

I don’t usually read. The book was written in a way that I would understand; however, there were a lot of terms that I’m unfamiliar with. The language did make me lose a little interest because I didn’t know what the authors were trying to convey unless I look up the definition. I didn’t really bother looking up the definition because I read slow, and I didn’t want to waste time looking for the definition. The unfamiliar terms weren’t really explained; however, the authors gave plenty of examples to give me a better understanding of the chapter.

Yes, I would recommend this book to anyone in the college level. I hate reading, but I enjoyed this book. After joining Year Up, I always want to learn more. It might be because I’m changing the way I think. I think reading is important for me because I can learn a lot from it. I recommend this book to college level students because it might be too hard for high school students to understand because of the terms the authors used.

Process of Reading

The only annotation I did when I read was highlighting the words that I wasn’t familiar with. I am planning to find out what the words mean after I finish the book, and reread the whole book again, so I get a better understanding of what the book is about. In order to remember the definitions of the words, I will use a post-it note, and write down the word and concise definition.
 

I didn't ask questions or comment on sentences because I feel like that slows me down when I read. If I put my time into reading, I would annotate it fully. To me, annotating fully means to highlight the words that I’m not familiar with, ask questions or comment about a passage, and highlight the passage that stood out to me. 

Some advice I would give to another reader is to annotate every paragraph, so they can dive into the reading. 

I always try to find time to finish the chapter within one week. The reason why I don’t want to slow down is because I don’t have a lot of time, so I read whenever I’m sitting down on the bus. I was pessimistic about the book, but after reading it, I was interested in what I was reading. On Thursdays, I start work at 7PM, so I usually go to work after school, and read in my friend’s car until I start.

Credit Card Debt

In the Wall Street Journal article titled “Good and Bad in Credit-Card Binge”, Kathleen Madigan talks about consumerism with credit cards. People feel more comfortable borrowing if they know they will get paid in the future (Madigan 2012). Consumers will keep consuming if they know money will always come, but for others without a job, they don’t have a choice to purchase goods when they don’t know if they will have the money in the future. For most people, money comes and goes. They don’t know the importance of money because they focus on the present and not the future.

Affluenza is an ubiquitous disease that many people are suffering from. There are many symptoms, but one of the symptoms is purchasing goods when you don't have the money to pay it off. Most people apply for credit cards and use them to purchase goods instead of paying cash, so they can pay off the bill later on. Because of the choice to borrow money and delay the payment, people tend to use their credit cards even though they don’t have the money for it at the moment. Some consumers are still struggling with mortgages, joblessness, and past debt (Madigan 2012). Purchasing goods when you don’t have the money causes debt; as a result, you have to work longer hours to pay off the debt. It’s even worse for the people who are unemployed. They might not be able to pay off the mortgage payments for their house which will result in a foreclosure.

Madigan, Kathleen. “Good and Bad In Credit-Card Binge” Wall Street Journal 9 May 2012
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/09/good-and-bad-in-credit-card-binge/?KEYWORDS=credit+card

What's wrong with the clothes we wear?

In my Business Communications class today, we read an article about a stigma that goes with the clothes you wear. The article talks about this 17-year-old who was wearing a hoodie had been shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer who thought he looked suspicious. There was an uproar about this incident that lead to many angry Americans. What's even worse is that the volunteer was not charged by the authorities.

The issue about the stigma is that most people think that a person is gang related if they wear baggy clothes, hoodies, bandana, ear rings, and many more. The person who is actually wearing those clothes might think it's the latest fashion and like what they wear or they probably can't afford new clothes. Many people quickly assume the person is gang related by the clothes they wear or the way they look.

An example of the stigma would be an individual who didn't wear professional clothing to an interview. Most people knows that they should be dressed professionally during an interview. The interviewer will quickly have their answer about hiring the person or not. The answer would be most likely be no because of the clothes the person wore. The individual might not be able to afford professional clothing, but on the positive side, they might be very smart, nice, and they might have all the soft and hard skills the company needs.

My friends wear clothes from Foreign Exchange, Armani Exchange, The North Face, and many more brands. I don't know a lot about the latest fashion because I'm not into fashion. My friend wear their rings, ear rings, necklaces, and their hat backwards. Whenever I go into a store with them, the store owner or employees always stare at us like we are about to steal something when we look around to see if we want anything.

One time, I went to Bank of America to cash out my checks with my regular clothes. The employees that worked there were nice and asked me if I needed help. I told them what I wanted to do and they helped me. They had good customer service and I left after that. The next time I went in with my professional clothing that I wore to Year Up, they gave me excellent service. They told me I looked professional and started conversations with me. They asked me where did I come from, what I do, and about the Year Up program.

I believe that people's reaction depends on which neighborhood you are in. For example, a person might be comfortable in a rich and nice neighborhood, but if they are in a poor and bad neighborhood, they might watch their back constantly to see if someone is following them and keep their belongings closer to them. They might act differently at a neighborhood filled with people in the streets than an empty neighborhood

I reinforce this stigma by getting to know the person without judging them by the way they dress or look. Sometimes we unintentionally judge a person by the way they look, but once we get to know the person, all the stuff goes away

Pledge

I, Raymond Yan, pledge to speak and act professionally everywhere I go. To do this, I will speak professionally in front of friends and strangers. I will try to improve on my communication as well as professional skills by starting conversations with strangers. I will pay attention in my Professional Skills class.

I pledge to get my work done as early as possible by doing the work right away when I have time.  I will ask my instructor or colleagues for help if it is unclear. I will use my resources to help me with my work.

I pledge to become a great resource to my colleagues by helping others who are having trouble. I will give them my contact information if they need help with something. If we both don't know how to do an assignment, we can go through it together.

Chinatown

I currently live in Visitacion Valley, but I spent most of my childhood in Chinatown. Chinatown is always busy during the day because the clamors of people shop for food, products, and many more. It's filled with Asians and tourist most of the time. The streets are dirty because people throw trash on the floor. There is graffiti all around the neighborhood. A great thing about Chinatown is that you can sometimes bargain with the store owners to get a cheaper price; however, I don't like to do that. Chinatown is a great place to live because it's affordable and you can get most of the stuff you need.

I am who I am despite the neighborhood I lived in. School, friends, and family are the reason why I am who I am today. My family has taught me how hard and important it is to earn money. I'm glad my parents didn't spoil me when I was a kid. Because my father is retired, my mother is working full-time and always looking for more hours, so that we could pay off our bills. School and family have taught me the difference between wants versus needs.

Middle school has negatively impacted my English skills. The school is a great school with brilliant teachers who's always trying their best to teach. It was up to the students if they wanted to learn or not. I didn't like school when I was young because all I wanted to do is have fun. As I grew up and went to college, I found out how important school was. It was too late to take back what I did during my middle and high school years. I slept in my English class most of the time in middle school. In high school, I skipped class so I can hang out with friends. I have only read about five high school level books in my whole life. If I did well in my middle and high school years, I think I would have been better at critical thinking and communication which will benefit me in the future.

My friends are probably in the same situation as me with their English skills. Every time we communicate, we don't use big vocabulary. We don't do anything to build on our knowledge. All we wanted to do is have fun. When we skip class, we usually go to Chinatown and stand in the streets and just chat, or hang out at this place known as "studio" for hours. That was when I lived in Chinatown. Ever since I moved, we drifted apart, and we don't hang out with each other that often anymore.

Advertisement

Technology is improving every day. Because of this, there are advertisements everywhere you go. Television, radio, internet, multimedia ads, billboards, and many more are some types of examples of advertisements. Some people choose to ignore it while some people choose to explore the advertisement even further. People like me might not even notice the advertisement. We didn't choose to ignore it, but it might be because we are too focused on what matters to us instead of looking around for advertisements.

Newspapers, magazines, internet, and television advertisements might interest me because I come across those very often. The reason why I might come across it is because I always use the internet, watch T.V, and look at food advertisements when they mail me coupons. Telemarketing, mail, posters and billboards, and radio advertisements might not interest me. One of the reasons why it might not interest me is because I have a feeling that it's a scam or my information might not be secure. For example, I'm not comfortable telling someone my personal information over the phone or through mail. This might apply to some other people also.

Cars, technology, or video game advertisements grab my full attention because it's in my field of interests. Other  emblazoned advertisements may grab my attention, but it won't grab my full attention. Special offers and coupons will definitely grab my full attention whatever form the advertisement they use because I love to save money. I have saved a lot of money from special offers and coupons off newspapers, online, magazines, and many more. Advertisements come to me in various ways. For example, boredom, curiousness, pop ups, reading, and many more. When I'm looking at a product, it depends if I already have their product or not. If I don't, it depends if I need it or not. If I don't need it I choose to ignore it whatever form of advertisement they use.

Overcoming procrastination

Ever since I started Year Up, I have been doing all my homework on time. I admit that I procrastinated on some of the homework, but I have been trying to get stuff done on time. I just realized how important time is. Time is moving too fast for me. I do not have a lot of free time because I go to class Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays 8:30am to 3:30pm, and Wednesday 8:30am to 11:30am. I have work Friday 6pm to 11pm, Saturday 2:30pm to 10:30pm, Sunday 4pm to 12am, and Monday 7pm to 12am. Every Mondays and Friday, I go straight to work after class. I try to do my homework at work, but I always get distracted by my co-workers. The only free time I have is Saturday after 11pm, Sunday 10am to 3pm, Tuesday 3:30pm to 10:30pm, Wednesday 11:30am to 10:30pm, and Thursday 3:30pm to 10:30pm to work on my homework or hang out with my friends. Ever since class started, I have not been hanging out with them because I need to catch up on my sleep and finish the homework on time. Because of the limited free time, I always try to do my homework the day I receive it.

I hope I will be posting up more blogs even though it is not an assignment because I want to improve on my writing skills.

My goals for Year Up

My goal for Year Up is to become successful. I will be explaining about how I will accomplish these goals. To become successful in Year Up, I have to participate in class, do my assignments, and be on time. For participation, I have to ask questions if I am unclear about the topic the class is discussing. By answering and asking questions, I will take in more information and remember it easier. For public speaking, I will need to maintain eye contact throughout the whole class when I am presenting something to the class.

One of my goals that I have for myself in Business Communications is to enjoy that class. I’m not saying I dislike the class right now, but I dislike English class because my English skills are poor. When I say English skills, I mean everything such as writing, verbal, communication, vocabulary, and public speaking skills. I am looking forward to this class because I know this class will help me improve on all of my skills. Although Business Communications is not my favorite class, I hope I will enjoy that class as time goes by.

One of my goals that I have for myself in Professional Skills is to learn about the things I should do or should not do during I am at my workplace or outside the workplace. There are some things that I already know that I should do like getting up and letting an elderly person sit down on the bus, helping others when they need help, and  not interrupting someone when they are speaking. I want to learn more skills that can make me look and become professional.

One of my goals that I have for myself in IT class is to learn about how to html code. I want to learn how to create a website because I want to start an online business. In order to do that, I have to design a website for people to buy stuff. If that does not work out, I can start a social networking website and earn extra income by putting advertisements on it. I do not think we will learn how to html code in class, so I will have to learn how to do it myself on my free time. However, IT class will teach me computer skills that I will need to learn in order to learn how to html code.