Week 1
Hello, my name is Isabel corral and I am communication design student at city tech. I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in graphic design. I applied in 2012, and I am a part-time student who’s working full time. So far, I have applied for so many internships there are not pay because I feel more comfortable not getting paid since I don’t have enough experience working as a graphic designer. I have not built my website yet because I don’t know a lot about coding and when I took my web design class at CityTech I honestly did not like it and I felt the pressure to learn code in JavaScript. to be honest, I rather do motion design, photography, and graphic design.

Week 2
So far, I have created my LinkedIn account and I have my website available for me to insert my resume. I feel like I’m stuck on my resume on the design aspect because I feel That I am not inspired to design my resume. I’ve searched the web so I can get inspiration and see other designers’ resumes and get an idea on how I can create a resume that shows that I’m a graphic designer. I do have business cards that I created them I believe in the year 2008 that was when I was in LaGuardia Community College. They still look acceptable Anne I am going to use them so I can promote myself as a freelancer. Once again, I do not feel comfortable charging people money especially when I haven’t practiced with Photoshop or InDesign.

Week 3
I finally was able to post my resume and some of the work that I have done through the years while I’m at city tech. now the challenge is to update my work on my Behance account. I pretty much don’t have a lot of work to show since usually rather handing our post might work instead of schoolwork. I have taken some time to create a little bit of design work out of the blue. I know that my design skills aren’t strong as I would like them to be but I’m the type of person who takes on the challenge and tries to figure out things how they should be executed. I haven’t been able to register for network events since they are while I am at work or working and it does not let me register for an event since I can’t.

Week 4
Finally, I have everything ready and up and running. My website is it’s ready my resume is ready; my Behance is ready; my LinkedIn is ready but nothing yet. will I get cold will I get an email saying that they would like to interview me? so far, I have applied to 12 jobs and I haven’t heard anything from either of them. I am not being impatient, but I just want to be on time and have my hours, so I don’t have to be stressed out at the end of the semester. I have asked some of my peers to critique me on my website and they have been great doing so. I know I must fix my typeface I also need to fix the white space as well and also; I need to include more video or any motion graphics. Ideally, I want to post more work so I can showcase my talent.

Week 5
Still on the job hunt. So far I have applied to 32 jobs and nothing yet. I don’t know if is because of my portfolio or is because they hired a “good fit” candidate. I believe it’s hard to get a part-time job instead of a full-time job graphic designer especially a remote. I walk around my neighborhood and I have gone inside staples business own print shops and no luck. They don’t need a person to work for free!! I even offer to work as a secretary that knows how to create forms in InDesign at a veterinary clinic that is open 24/7 about 20 minutes walking distance from my home. I saw them on Yelp and I called them next time if they wanted to have an Instagram account or Facebook account and I can’t even offer myself to work for it for free I just needed to have them sign some papers for my class but they said no that they’re not interested so I guess I have to venture out more.

Week 6
No sign of hope…I have applied to 57 jobs so far and nothing. I don’t know what to think anymore. Will I get an internship in my internship class? Ideally, for me, I would love to get a job where I can design/practice my graphic design skills and if I get stuck on something, I can ask my mentor (Art Director/Manager). I don’t ask for a lot. Just a part-time job where I can complete my 120 hrs. I don’t know what else I can do, to be honest. Right at work things are a bit stressful since I must cover my manager due to her mother being sick in Romania. My director is too involved, and all the work that I must do plus guide people whenever they can’t do a task due to a problem on the website or the analysis. It’s hard to get things done for a deadline. Anyways I will continue with my applications for an internship. I am mentally exhausted and to be honest, I can’t design any new mock-ups since I don’t have the time to do so.

Week 7/8
ooooooo my god! Finally, I got a reply from a job post. I was soooo shock. I couldn’t believe it, but it’s true. Hooray! So, the interview is for a nonprofit that helps emotional and economical support to cancer patients. By the way, I love nonprofits. It’s for a great cause. I am a bit nervous since It’s my first graphic design interview ever. Luckily the prof gave us lots of resources that we can use. I practice in front of my mirror just to see my facial expression and how confident I see myself. The good thing about this interview is that via ZOOM, so I don’t have to worry if I am in my pajamas.

I feel confident that this job will be mine. I haven’t stopped applying to companies so I can intern. Just in case I am not a good fit for this company. I don’t want to get my hopes too high.

So today was my interview and the lady Introduce herself as Julie Ann she described herself that she just got hired. From her understanding, this time profit wants to rebrand themselves because they restructure their employees and due to COVID they need to do virtual meetings, and right now they have reached more than what they did before. the plan to create new content for their social media website Anne email notification such as constant contact. She explained to me that I would be working by myself but if I need any help, she can help me out. I also met Linda and who works directly with the nonprofit and she introduced me to the company’s vision and what nay expect from me.

Week 9
After sending my driver’s license the information where I currently work Julie hasn’t emailed me or anything else for me to work on. However, John from the nonprofit he contacted me and said that he needed some help with some content for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. I was able to do so within four days the design work but whenever I did my changes I’m starting to notice that John is sending me emails merrily like it’s over here it’s 12 midnight or 1:00 AM so it’s kind of like a little bit of hard for me to manage. Julie contacts me and she notified me that she had a knee injury and she went into surgery so that’s the reason why she didn’t contact me earlier. She did send me some work for me to work done Anne in the meantime she will look for work for me to work on.

Week 10
I’m starting to noticing that I’m getting more emails from two other members of the nonprofit company Anne I didn’t realize that the time sound was going to affect me I thought that maybe I will be getting wait quarters roughly around like until 11:00 PM here. So I am getting a little bit too overwhelming and I just wanted to let Julie know that during this week I’m working with my professor in helping her as well and also at work I am working a little bit late each day because we have also a deadline. She understood and she said, “school comes first”. to be honest I really like her flexibility in her understanding because it’s very tiring and then my kid mental block because I bolded the science that I have to do like to be honest it’s just something so simple and yet edit on Google to get an example for me for to design and I’m still can’t function I think it’s too late for me too start working on something in at the same time my eyes are very tired my eating habits it’s been very bad. So far, I have gained six pounds in I eat dinner around 8:00 PM or 9:00 PM at night. I don’t know how I got myself into this but I know for a fact that I get upset at myself because I want to deliver 100% but sometimes I feel so tired that working I fall asleep then I wake up an icy 3 messages from my manager asking me for something that I need to do. Well, my manager does understand that I’m going to school I’m been very lucky that day my director my manager understands and is very flexible, but the next morning I have double the work and I cannot function 100%. I spoke with my mother and I told her about my situation, and she said just to keep on going and it’s going to be over soon. that I shouldn’t give up and just continue and push myself harder no I will come through this challenge. Sometimes I feel dad I’m by myself even though that I am but living by myself and not being nearby my family does get me a little bit of feeling lonely sometimes. I can’t wait for this pandemic to be over Anne things go back to normal. I’ve never got the flu shot and after I did the vaccination, I felt weak and I did not want to do anything only stay in bed. Luckily for me the next day I’ve started to feel much better. I got a call from Julie asking me to do another project. just in time when I was starting to feel much better from the vaccine. Overall, I cannot complain because I feel bad about the people that I’m working for understanding, and they are extremely flexible.

Week 11
I have one more week left to complete my presentation and I’ll show pretty sure I’m not going to complete my 120 hours. As I continue working for the nonprofit, I am grateful that I can create my own designs however I don’t know if it’s especially appealing. I haven’t gotten any critique so far, but I do wish that I had someone right next to me or another designer who I can ask a question if I get stuck. In my school presentation, I don’t have a lot of design work that I can show I’m stuck on the theme but basically I’ll just show what I got in also what my process has been within the nonprofit. hopefully, I can make it on time Anne I’m not afraid of presenting in front of people either presenting via Zoom.  I feel pretty much comfortable doing this presentation. But I don’t feel comfortable doing is basically showing my work since I don’t have a lot and I haven’t done my hours to complete the 120 hours.

Week 12/13
I got another remote internship in my country Ecuador. Since I was looking and looking for health services that provide support to patients that are vulnerable and need medical help right at their home. I told Cancer Community Arizona that my internship was over. Eventually the interview went smooth since they were looking for someone who speaks/writes English.

Week 14
I was nervous to see the work environment due to COVID restrictions. Overall I felt welcomed and I started right away. At the beginning it was tedious since I have to take notes from what the client described. Eventually I over came my fears and I stated to be part of their team.

Week 15
We have weekly zoom meetings to discuss what I need to work on and to be fair I felt fine working following orders. It makes me feel productive, and Group EX makes me feel at home. Right now I am working on their online presence. I have never done this.