Journal Entries 1-8

Journal 1

As an upcoming graphic artist, opportunities present themselves in unexpected ways.  I have been in the CUNY Service Corps internship since September 2013.  I doubted in getting into this program because I signed up at the last moment.  I got in after a few group interviews, meetings, trainings and events.  There was a large placement fair at John Jay College in Manhattan where companies like Brooklyn Navy Yard, Hall of Science, and Museum of Natural History came to find interns they would like to hire.  CUNY Service Corps pays the interns, not the placement.  My placement site is at New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute’s (PDI) Informal Family Child Care (IFCC) as a graphic artist.  I make layouts for newsletters, flyers, different types of forms, and photo editing.

Journal 2

Here at the office, we are doing so many different little projects that will lead up to the main project, which is the newsletter.  I took care of some photos in Photoshop so that way there are more photos for the newsletter.  I made changes like removing people from photos and I fixed the other photographic elements like exposure.  This took some time to do because of the fact that it should look real and it should be perfect to print with no types of noise.  Noise in photography is a term used for distortion of the photo in which it looks like grain is on it.

I also had to make sure the design I made for the previous newsletter is ready for it’s new content as well as being a bit updated.  I did not change much of it except for how the photos and their captions will be placed.  It was not hard to set some placement texts and photo boxes for the spring newsletter template.  My hours went by so fast fixing the pictures and revisiting some old pieces.  Those pieces were edited and needed revisions through InDesign.  I am the only one with the files, so I had to fix it.  I was told to send the main file to ACS so they can make more direct corrections if needed.

Journal 3

This week was extremely busy!  I had so much to do and such little time.  Making up hours from last weeks snow day and my sick absence sent me back five steps.  Yes I could have used my sick day because I was sick but I did not want to because I am determined to make those hours.  It was really hard with classes and homework.  Work was piling up and I needed some time to get it done.  My family is always so difficult to work with when in need of some time to do something.  I have a large family and my siblings have their families as well.

Having children always being loud and excited takes you so far away from the quiet time you are looking for to do work.  Not being able to go outside, other than school, does not have its perks.  I have tried to set time aside when I’m at school and I do, but this week was jammed packed with work and classes.  I felt as if my head was going to explode, but I kept my cool and meditated.  I do not want my employer to think I cannot handle this.  I can and I will be able to do anything I put my mind to.  That is how I was able to get through this week without going crazy.

Journal 4

After a tough week, this week seems so calm.  I’m glad everything went back to normal.  Our mental deadline is coming up for the newsletter.  I say mental deadline because we do not have an exact deadline but we do have to get things done by a certain period.  An example would be like mid February, all texts for the articles have to be written out and placed into the template. So far everything is going as planned.

I have no negative thoughts or doubts that this newsletter will be past the deadline.  I have been giving it 110 percent and keeping everyone on track.  I have not been rude or anything.  I just give them a friendly reminder like, “I was wondering about the article you are writing.  Is it finished so I can place it into the newsletter?” or “I am almost done with the newsletter.  I am just missing an article from you.”  I hope that does not sound like I am harassing them. I would not want them to think that.  They never reply negatively and they always reply with a smile.

Journal 5

Today was really interesting.  The newsletter is close to finishing.  I can tell my supervisor, Angelica, is stressing to get this done this week to get it out by next week.  March is finishing and the newsletter has to be in our child care provider’s hands by April 1st.  It was hard to talk to her today with all my questions.  I know I have a lot of questions because I want to get it perfect and I want her to be happy with my progress.  The questions were not about the design, but for the content.  I need some translations and pictures for our provider piece.

Angelica was having a bad day as well.  She kept getting texts that made her so mad.  She apologized after she realized she snapped at me.  She knew I was just trying to help her get the newsletter ready to go.  So I finished the newsletter by the end of the day so now we have to wait to sign off on the proofs and we are all set!  I am really happy that this will be my second time that my newsletter design is going out.  I also changed up the spring training calendar.  It used to be an orange color which did not match the new newsletter colors and layout.  It looks more unified.  I will give you my newsletter the next time I see you.  I came one Wednesday morning and class was not being held.  I felt silly but I went to my internship and did some hours.  I am glad that the college and my internship are nearby.  It would have been a drag if it was somewhere else.  Well today was a good day.  Everything went according to schedule.

Journal 6

My second newsletter was printed and released to our audience! I was so excited to know I was finally done with it except for one thing. There was a typo.  I contacted the printer and they already had the plates ready so it was going to cost  $476 to make new plates.  As a non-profit organization, we need to save our money and since it was such a small error, we decided to leave it the way it was.  I knew that if I was working the day that the proofs came in, I would have mentioned it before it was signed off.

I did not get scolded or anything.  It was a good day though, knowing that my newsletter was being printed again.  As a designer, knowing that your work was published has a good feeling to it.  This internship being my first job to an opening to my future career is an incredible thing.  I feel great that I am a part of this company and that I can help people in need.  This internship is not just an internship but it is also community service because I am part of CUNY Service Corps.

I feel like there is so much that I have learned from this company and I am happy about that.  I read the newsletters to get some ideas while taking care of my nephew and nieces.  I want to be able to have children one day and teach them the way my mother taught me as well as what I learned throughout my life.  I hope my children will look up to me as I do my mother and sisters.

Journal 7

Without having to do the newsletter, I have nothing to do at the moment.  It feels weird so I just decided to pick up an idea I had when I first came into this internship, work on the website.   I want to create a new website for them.  Theirs is really outdated but I do not want to be mean or anything.  I did talk to their web developer, Hamish Strong, and had me talk about what my opinions are about the site.  It was productive for him but some of my main points could not be changed.  He gave me a duty to make a landing for IFCC so that is what I am working on.

I have not handed my journals since week two and I do not know if there is any pressure to get it in.  I have all my journals but I did not know when to hand it in.  Last week you told us where we need to hand in all seven journals in so I am going to do that as well as hand in the first journal with the corrections.  My journals can be how I think, right?  So it can be informal and narrative or should it be formal.  If so, I have redo all my journals.

I finally got something to do.  I have to make a brochure or a one page flyer informing our providers of our different types of training and who we are.  Not knowing what to do is hard.  Having something makes me feel important in this company.  I will be handing this journal with the rest on Thursday since it is my free day and I can get it to you in time.

Journal 8

This week has been very mild.  I just continued working on my brochure which then turned into a flier because my manager does not like brochures.  It is very quiet and I am bored.  I am doing my work though.  Just feel tired.  I had coffee and my lunch and listening to Pandora Radio and I am still bored.  Maybe it is just the day.  It is cold and dark out.  Maybe it will be better on Thursday.

Well it did get better.  I am working on a picture on Photoshop.  I love working with this program.   I feel really good that I can make people think that there was no one there in the first place.  I used the picture to make one of our informal child care providers stick out.  Out of all of them, she was happy to be there.  She was learning other ways to take care of her kids and she was enjoying it.  I wanted to portray that so I zoomed in and I cropped the photo on her.  Then I removed the face that was cut off when I cropped the photo and an arm.  It was fun doing that.