Selina Doran Mrs.

Taylor APP-190 Internship 26 November 2013

Internship Seminar Assignment This past semester has been an absolutely incredible learning experience for me. Not only have a I learned so much and obtained many new skills under the training of Jamie Rivadeneyra, but I have also formed a strong friendship with Jamie and her family in a way that I did not expect. Jamie is a very hardworking woman who is willing to risk for what she wants, yet she is also a very down-to-earth individual who values time with her family, her children, her husband and her friends outside of her work. Ive been able to look to Jamie as a role model for how she prioritizes her time and accomplishes so much on a week-to-week basis. She always seems to get her work done (and done well) while at the same time making time for her other priorities. During my internship with Jamie I have learned how to file and apply for a patent pending technological design, apply for a business license and communicate with top executives while doing so. I have also headed our kickstarter campaign and our social media campaign which includes Facebook. I have served as Jamies personal assistant and helped plan our investors dinner and outreach event that was held last month, and I have also coordinated the photography done for our shoes and website. I also traveled to LA with Jamie and helped hand-pick the leather that was used to make the final prototypes of the shoes. I have loved all of the work I have done for Jamie, and I am so thankful for the time I have had learning from her. The reading assignment that stuck out to me the most during my time working for Jamie throughout this semester is taken from John Ortbergs 19th Chapter Let God Flow in Your Work. I found Ortbergs idea of flow to be extremely beneficial. My favorite passage from this chapter is: Research shows that the best moments of our lives dont come from leisure or pleasure. They dont involve sex or chocolate. They come when we are totally immersed in a significant task that is challenging, yet matches up well to our highest abilities. In these moments, a person is so caught up in an activity that time somehow seems to be altered; their attention is fully focused, but without having to work at it. They are deeply aware without being self-conscious; they are being stretched and challenged, but without a sense of stress or worry. They have a sense of engagement or oneness with what they are doing. This condition is called flow. Ive found that when Im doing work for my internship time flys by. When Im calling event planners, writing e-mails for news press coverage and (especially) working on our kickstarter campaign, I am so engrossed in my work that I loose track of time. This excites me. I love networking, event planning and finalizing product designs with my boss, and this is the kind of work that I do well and do fast. This seems to be my flow. It will be exciting to see how I grow in these areas and how I can use these skills to further my education and continue on into graduate school in the areas of interpersonal communication, public relations or event planning. I would also love to work for a large company in the area of conflict and reconciliation (or mediation) so that work can be done as efficiently as possible. I get excited about the possibility of working in any of these areas, but I also know that I have to take a lot more time and energy trying to discern what I love, what Im good at and what I feel called to. My understanding of Christian vocation is still in the process of development. But in my opinion, Christians are called to work in all areas of the workforce, not just in ministry. This is very important. I grew up in a church community where it was highly encouraged to go into ministry and outreach, but only slightly encouraged (or prayed over for that matter) to go into the work force after getting a college degree. Most of my friends from my church went to Bible college after graduating from high school. I was one of the few that left the state to pursue higher education in a field that was not specifically related to ministry. But Christians are called to ministry wherever they work. That is the most important part of our being. We are called to love those in the workplace like nobody else will. We are called to be examples of patience and love. We are also called to work with passion and zeal, and do everything we do well and to the best of our abilitiesnot for competitions sake, not for the raise or for admiration and titles, but because God has called us to do good work, further his kingdom, and help those in need. I think it is important to realize that we discover our calling not by planning our life out, but by being attentive to what God is doing through immediate circumstances and the

present moment. I agree with Sittser that Discovering our calling is as much of an art as it is a science. Another great example of vocation, calling and ministry is discussed by Dennis Bakke. Bakke felt the need to pursue a vocation that was useful for society. He was taught that people got more credit if they performed service centered jobs or took work in the church or Christian-affiliated ministries. It wasnt until later on his life that Bakke experienced a shift in mentality. In his article he argues, One of my core beliefs, then and now, is that every entity incorporated by the state should serve the needs of society in an ethical and economically healthy manner (Bakke 247). My ultimate belief about Christianity in the work place goes along with Bakkes argument because I believe that Christians should work not only to be a light in the workplace but to further the kingdom and serve the needs of society. Regina Moons presentation was very impactful for me. She spoke about Spiritual Formation and her own personal journey through spiritual growth. Moon said that she was completely clueless about Gods plan for her life when she was a young college student, however she said she was extremely grateful for the fact that God was watching over her. Moon went on to define spiritual formation as simply being formed into the image of God. She said that as Christians, our goal is to be more like Christ, and that as life moves on we hope to see more of the fruits of the spirit in our lives. She reminded us as a class that when we have a deep internal relationship with God, and when we know that He truly loves us, it makes a huge difference in our levels of peace and joy in regards to our careers and vocations. I will always hold onto the eight things that she wished she had known as a college student: (1) the extent to which God made her unique, (2) the fact that she was only responsible for who God made her to be, (3) the fact that God does and will communicate with us because of His love, (4) God isnt waiting to zap us for messing up, (5) God has an amazing way of putting crazy pieces together, (6) there is no reason for God to hide His will from us, (7) we are eternal beings made in the image of God, and (8) we know enough to see life as a gift. Moons talk was a beautiful reminder to look and listen for Gods voice in my life and to trust His ultimate plan. I also greatly appreciated Fatima Jawads contributions to our class a few weeks ago. As a fellow Communication Studies major, Fatima inspired me to pursue business opportunities and internships next semester in order to network and grow in a challenging environment. Her drive was contagious and her curiosity proved to be a powerful tool throughout her professional careers. Her key point was that humility will get you far if you constantly ask questions and seek our wisdom and find opportunities to learn. She stressed the importance of curiosity while navigating the social structures of businesses and inspired me to not be discouraged in the process of trying to figure out what I want to do after college. Apart from the guest speakers that we had in class, I greatly appreciated the time we had sharing about our personal internship experiences in class when we met. I liked hearing about how other students were doing in their line of work, weather it was teaching Spanish at an elementary school, working as an engineer intern, working at the DAs office or working at the Westmont Garden. It was interesting to hear everyones strengths and weaknesses and it was encouraging to see how unique God has made each one of His children. Our seminar and roundtable discussions were extremely beneficial because it gave me a wider perspective about the various opportunities that are out there for college graduates as well as the many ways to serve in our community in Santa Barbara. After listening to Dana and Celias presentation I felt very encouraged about my internship. I realized that even though I am not a business major and I do not have any experience in accounting, macroeconomics or statistics, I have relational strengths that will be extremely beneficial in regards to marketing, networking, investor outreach, event planning and product promotion. According to my StrengthsFinder results my top five strengths were Positivity, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, and Includer. People have always told me that my joy and enthusiasm is contagious and that my positive outlook on life is encouraging to others. My Signature Themes Report states: You inject drama into every project. You celebrate every achievement. You find ways to make everything more exciting and more vital. Some cynics may reject your energy, but you are rarely dragged down. Your Positivity wont allow it. Somehow you cant quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose ones sense of humor. I believe this a more than accurate description of my outlook on life. According to my Developer results, I focus on the potential in others, and rarely see the negative aspects of another persons character. This is also very true. I find great joy in being able to encourage and empower other people by helping them

recognize all of their potential. It is fulfilling to build others up and encourage positive and beneficial group dynamics in the process. I have always felt an ease with communicating with people and sharing in their emotional experiences, but my StrengthsFinder Signature Themes Report puts it perfectlyit states: You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. I believe that I am able to feel deeply with others because I have been blessed with parents who are keen to other peoples emotional needs and who have taught me the importance of patience and love in relationships. Harmony is another aspect of my StrengthFinders results that is extremely accurate in regards to my personality. However a noteworthy difference is that I am not afraid of conflict. I think confrontation and reconciliation is a vital part of relationships and conflict is not something to be afraid of (furthermore, it is important to note that I prefer to find common ground in situations of conflict and strive for peace and consensus). My StrengthsFinder results articulated Includer in a way that I loved. It stated: Stretch the circle wider: This is the philosophy around which you orient your life. My biggest goal in life is to make everyone feel like they are loved. Ive met with Celia a few times to discuss my results and the best piece of advice that she gave me was to not put myself in a box. I love that. I never want to feel tied down due to what I should be doingI want to pursue what makes me happy and use my gifts and talents to develop a strong work ethic along the way. I also want to be open to possibilities and ways in which I can grow as a person. I never want to stop learning and I always want to pour into others and have others (especially mentors) pour into me so that I continue to grow in the fruits of the spirit. As a Communication Studies major I have flourished in my internship. Coming into the internship I realized that even though I am not a business major and I do not have any experience in accounting, macroeconomics or statistics, I have relational strengths that have been extremely beneficial in regards to marketing, networking, investor outreach, event planning and product promotion. After putting more thought into it, I have realized that my boss (Jamie Rivadeneyra) has a strong background in business management, and that the combination with my strengths as a good communicator and extremely intuitive person has helped build a very strong team dynamic. One of the most helpful relationships that I have maintained during this semester and throughout my internship has been with my mentor from home, Kara Millhollin. Kara is one of the top engineers at BP in Bellingham, Washington and is one of the most successful (and intelligent) business women I have ever known. I have been extremely thankful for her encouragement and advice throughout the time Ive known her (which has been since I was in junior high) and value her opinions and advice. One of the things that she told me was to take time after graduating before pursuing graduate school. This is been extremely encouraging because I feel somewhat behind my friends who know exactly what they want to do and what school they want to go to. Karas advice has allowed me some time to think and really ponder what I want to do and what area of study I want to go into. Do I want to work for a start up? Do I want to do event planning? Do I want to work for a big corporation that does conflict and reconciliation work with other companies abroad? Possibly. But I dont know. Karas advice has given me some peace with the fact that I dont know exactly what I want to do with my life as of now. It has also helped to view my current internship as an opportunity to learn, even if I might not be working in the specific field that I want to go into someday. As far as regrets and lessons learned go, I dont have many. I really have been blessed with my internship. Ive loved every minute of it and have been extremely thankful and grateful for my boss and the environment in which I work. I have learned more than I anticipated and have gotten to meet many influential businessmen and women throughout Santa Barbara because of it. Honestly, the only thing I would change would be making it a paid internship because that would be helpful as a student. As far as next steps after graduation is concerned, Im unsure. I know that I want to graduate school, but Im not sure specifically what area I would pursue in Communication Studies. Possibly cross-cultural communications or conflict and reconciliation, but like I said, Im not sure. I would also like to take some time working between undergrad and graduate school to gain some experience in the work world and jazz up my resume, but Im not sure where I would look for a job. Possibly a PR firm or at BP back in Washington since I have connections there. Thankfully, Im not too worried about the future because I am planning on taking next semester to really do my research on graduate school programs and job opportunities in Santa Barbara and beyond. Im hopeful that

there will be many different options available to me once I graduate, and Im willing to work hard to make those opportunities a reality. Although I am scared of life after graduation and all its uncertainties, I am not afraid of the opportunities because I know there will be something to work with and work through. I am excited for what is next in my future. Whatever that may be.