Blog 21: Mentorship

Content:

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog

Okay.

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place
Isabel Godoy, Soledad Enrichment Action.

 

    Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
The most important thing I gained from this experience is the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of a counselor and experience firsthand what it takes and how much effort you have to put into improving someone else's life. Although I don't plan on majoring in Psychology, this project has opened the door to me having future connections and experience/knowledge about a topic that is worth going into, if I ever change my mind.

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.
This helped me answer my EQ because I got to work with a lot of different counselors that have dealt with a lot of different clients and I was able to listen to their feedback and take advice from them and interpret it into a way that fit my essential question. All these counselors deal specifically with adolescents, which was a plus, because it made it evident how this problem is so huge yet unnoticed amongst young adults. Not only was I able to get insight from my mentor, but I was also able to get insight from her coworkers, which helped a lot.

Mentorshipppppp

I've been lagggggging on my Mentorship hours. I've completed maybe four hours, and I know the mentorship check is sometime in January so that's my new years resolution lol. The picture above is of my current mentorship location. The church is actually one of SEA's Charter Schools, and the main office is located in the back. Thats where I go and do my hours, which is honestly mostly office work. Since I've changed my essential question, I'm currently looking for a new mentorship opportunity that's focused specifically on substance abuse. I guess I'll just see how it goes.

Still got time....hopefully

So I finally started my independent component hours even though there's only like two months left. Better late than never though right? I started doing my hours at the SEA office in Pomona. It's located right next to a church on San Antonio st., which is also the charter school. I think I'll post a picture soon. Anyways, I got to meet a couple of my mentor's employees and they all seem really friendly and knowledgeable, hopefully I can use one of them for my interviews.  My independent component is starting out rough but I think the longer I keep going, the better it'll be.

still on the search

So last week I visited this small counseling center that I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts but when I got there it was closed and it looked half empty, as if no one does business in there. I got the phone number but asking for mentorship is something I would rather do face to face. There's a small rehabilitation center next door but when I walked in there was no one at the front desk. Obviously these centers are unreliable and out of the question. So that's a no but I'm not worried because its Pomona and they're literally everywhere. Last year I watched Brittany Ho's presentation and she said she worked at a certain center here so I might use that as a backup.

Possible Mentorship! (hopefully)

so even though i already have a set mentor, it doesnt hurt to have more than one right? yesterday i was driving around pomona and actually paying attention to my surroundings, something i dont do often, and i found two possible locations where i can get mentorship at that i didnt find while searching online. theyre both literally within a fifteen minute walking distance from my house. one is a small rehabilitation center, and another is a small drug counseling center. i still havent called or anything but im planning to do so sometime this week and hopefully get another mentor or if not, at least a possible future interviewee.

Summer Mentorship Component

Literal: 

1. (Know) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AndJdFec-0QydHktcE53WlBLb3R3WjRQc3ZIYXJiSGc#gid=0

2. What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered?
Isabel Godoy: 213 400 2547   

3. (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them.
How do you get your clients to cooperate?
Do you ever feel as though their problems are a burden because you have your own problems to deal with?
What are the best strategies for approaching someone in that position?

 
Interpretive

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
I learned that most people who need advice/counseling come from very troubled backgrounds. That isn't always the case, but it is the case in this situation.

Applied

5. How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.
What Isabel does is somewhat therapy/counseling/management for troubled teenagers on parole. She oversees their problems and tries to do whats best to get their lives back into a stable place. Coming into this senior year, I wanted to do my senior project revolving around psychotherapy, but after this experience I think i might head towards the Drug counseling/Alcohol Anonymous route because I've seen that it plays a major effect on someone's life and I think it would be good for awareness.