One more week, and the semester will be over.  I was happy to take this class and to get an internship.  It will be a precious experience what I learned from this internship.

I was happy to work with Maggie@MPGraphic Design. I learned a lot of things from her.  One thing that I want to mention is how to deal with clients.  She showed me step by step to how to deal with the client before she designs a logo.  She gave me some questions to ask about the clients.  For example, what is the favor color that the client like?  What is favor typeface the client prefer? Etc… I know it is very important to communicate with the clients.

The first thing, I need to do is sketch.  Sketching is very helpful.  The more sketching I do, the more ideas will come out.  Sketching can help me to come up with new ideas and concepts so that I can solve design problems.  I have learned a lot of things, except how to create a logo and to deal with the clients.  She also gave me the opportunity to learn and improve my skill with Photoshop.  After these on hundred and twenty hours, I feel that I have improved with this software.

This is my first time I got experience working with a co-worker.  This internship was the right place for me to gain experience and to have confidence in getting a job in the future.  Overall, this internship was helpful and improved my skills and I will be keep sketching in my work.

Usually, people say that if you are happy you feel time passing very quickly and want to keep that happy time as long as possible. If not, then the time passes very slowly.I have that same feeling at this moment. I really feel this semester is difficult for me the go through. It seems every minute and every second is even longer.

It is because this semester is not going smooth. Every project that I try to do the best, the result is the same as I thought. It seems my mind stops and I do not have a good ideas. Maybe, I am too tired. Studying and working this semester is too much for me.

I have a two day part time job at an accounting field. My friends told me that I should resign my current job and focus on my studies. It is better for me, I can spend more time on my classes, and I can graduate early. Then, I can find a full time job after graduation. However, it is not what I want. I want to keep my job, even though I am working two days. I still get some money. Therefore, I can pay the tuition by myself and have some money to spend on my daily activities.

No matter how hard it is, I cannot give up.  Sometimes, I feel frustrated with my studies. Then, I tell myself I would be good. In addition, when I wake up next day, I feel better. I can continue to go on with my journey.

From the article of “The Disruption Machine”, one sentence that catches my eye is “the world may not be getting better and better but our devices are getting newer and newer”. I believed this is true. Today, everyone must has a USB drive (Universal Serial Bus); we use this to save our documents and our files. It is very useful and easy to carry. I always have two UBS drives in my bag, whenever I want to save something, I can use it. In the past, we used the floppy disk, the size id bigger that the USB. Technology is growing fast, I cannot find the floppy disk now.

Listening to music used by record player and gramophone record was large. I had some gramophone records, but I threw out all of the one year ago. It is because I do not have a record player. I thought that if I kept these, this gramophone record may become an antique and then later become a treasure. Nowadays, we listen to music in mp3.

In addition I remember that the first cell phone was very big; it was not easy to carry. However, it was very convenient for us to make a phone call. For that time, this cell phone was very expensive and not much people had cell phones. Nowadays, I think most people own a smart phone; some people may have more than one. We can see people using them on the bus, ferry, subway, everywhere.

Technology is growing very fast, just as the author wrote, “our devices are getting newer and newer”. Anyway, it is good for us.

In the article of “The Brainstoming Myth” it says that if people are scared of saying the wrong thing, they will end up saying noting.

It is true, if people do not say anything because they are scared to say the wrong thing, we will not get any result.  So, we should not criticize. Brainstorming provides a free and open environment that encourages everyone to participate.  Any ideas are welcome, it can help us develop a rich array of creative solutions.

Osborn said that many of us can work much better creatively when teamed up.  Sometimes, when a person expresses his or her idea, another person can come up with another thinking because of that first idea.  It can bring out  a lot of ideas within a short time when working with a group.  The brainstorm turns people into imagination machines and is a good way to boost productivity.

Brainstorming also can help me to solve problems. Individual brainstorming is good, I do not have to worry about other people’s egos or opinions, I can be free and more creative. I just write down whatever comes into my mind, list my  ideas and do not judge the quality.  It can help me choose a topic, and let me know what I should do.

I think there is no wrong or right, we just make our minds deliver the ideas.  We can say anything  free willingly.  We do not have to be afraid to say anything that comes to mind. Also we always use brainstorm in the classroom.  It is a creativity technique used in the world.

The last time, I shared how foods can make our lives healthier and last longer. This time, I would like to share about “Tai Chi,” that it too can make our lives healthier and last longer.

Tai Chi can help to improve balance and stability in older people and in those with Parkinson’s disease. It also reduces back pain and pain in the knee (osteoarthritis). It also can improve the quality of life in people with heart disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses.

An analysis from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, from seven small and moderately-sized clinical studies, concluded that a twelve week course of tai chi reduced pain and improved function in people with these condition.

The NCCIH is supported research suggests that practicing Tai chi may help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and can also improve mood and self-esteem.

I myself have had a pain in my knee and had to do physical therapy. My friends suggested me to buy a supplement that has glucosamine chondroitin. However, both have not worked for me. Therefore, I try to find some videos from YouTube about Tai chi. Whenever I have time, I will open the tai chi videos and follow them to do the exercises.

No matter if it can cure the pain in my knee or not, I think it is good to do exercise every day. Regular physical exercise can give you a healthier life. Therefore, everyone should do exercise no matter what kind of exercise you are doing. Sometime, I am lazy to do exercise and think I should not have any excuse.

Life is short.   Therefore, I would like to share how  eating influences our life. By eating certain foods, we can live a longer and healthier life.  And also through exercise which is a powerful tool for improving our health.

The largest killer in the United States is heart disease, we can eat more avocados that help to keep our heart healthy and improve our odds of a long life.  Avocados can lower our LDL “bad” cholesterol while raising your HDL “good” levels, and they help our body absorb heart-healthy vitamins like beta-carotene and lycopene.

The second killer in the United States is cancer. Lycopene is an important nutrient in the fight against cancer.  There is no better source than rosy red tomatoes.  You can eat them cooked, in pasta sauce, tomato soup, or chutney.

We know that getting more fiber is good for our health. Experts say that fiber can protect against diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and obesity, and can reduce cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. Therefore, we should eat more whole grains foods.

While many experts say that organic foods are nutritionally the same as their conventionally grown counterparts, however, a few studies have shown that foods grown without pesticides have higher levels of vitamin C, and other immunity-boosting antioxidants.

Regular physical exercise and health foods can lower our risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some forms of cancer, and depression. Therefore, no matter how busy we are, we should try to do exercise every day.  Even ten minutes is fine, as long as it adds up to about three hours of moderate exercise per week.

In the article of “Social Animal”, I would like to share a few thought on “His inner-mind training began before birth. Even when he was in the womb, he was listening for his mother’s voice, and being molder by it.”

Some experts say it may be possible to teach a baby before birth. A baby can hear sounds from about 23 weeks of pregnancy. If a baby hears the same sounds regularly in womb, he will know them once he is born. Therefore, the particular language that your baby hears in the womb may be easier for him to learn later in life. I also heard that if you eat shrimp, crab or beef when you are pregnant, your baby will have allergies when they are born.

Whether or not there is any evidence to prove what they say, I still choose to believe it. Whatever is good for my baby, I will do it. If it can help him to learn more easily later in life, why am I not do it? It is easy to do, you just let him listen to the particular language. If I am pregnant, I will follow what they suggested to do. I am not eating any shrimp, crab or beef for ten months, even I like to eat all of them.

I will only do it for ten months and it will change my baby’s life and may make him smarter and healthier. I think it is worth it.  Most parents will do anything for their child.

Susan Kikuchi is my friend, she has a day job at an accounting firm, but she wants to change her job to a freelance position related to graphic design. Then, her working hours will be flexible. That is what she wants, she does not want to work office hours from 9 am to 5 pm.  Therefore, she is studying to be a graphic designer part-time at a university.  She never hesitates to learn something new. She is trying to establish herself in this industry.

She has recently started working as a graphic designer. She works alone and in her home and she shares a house with a friend from school.  This is her first time taking on a project. She does not know how to negotiate how much she should charge her clients.  Some of her friends told her that she should estimate how much hours will be spend on this project.  Then she may know how much she should charge for her client.  She is also thinking to change her freelancing part-time to full time and work for clients around the world in the future.

I am writing about her situation because I also want to be a freelance graphic designer. Her dream is the same as mine.  Flexible working hour is very good, I can do anything that I want to do at daytime and I can work any time that I want.  It is so free.  The important thing for me to do now is to work hard on my studies and to graduate.

In my country, I just finished high school, and then found a job.   The first job was a sales person, my brother’s wife suggested me that I take it.  She said that I could do this business at anytime and anyplace; it gave me a lot of freedom.  The duty of the job was to sell insurance products to clients.  I knew that this was not a suitable job for me due to my character.  I do not want to deal with people.  I just want to work by myself.  However, she said that I should try it, because I did not know what I wanted.  So, I took the job and attended the class to learn their products.  I called my friends and clients to tell them that I would like to introduce the insurance products for them; and that maybe one of our products would be suitable for them.  Most of them knew that I wanted to sell a product to them. They said that they were very busy, and had no time to talk with me.  I really understood that they did not want to buy any insurance products from me.  I did not want to call them and bother them again because I too have had the same experience.

I remembered the first insurance that I bought from my friend. He called me many times, and I did not know how to refuse him.  Finally I bought the life insurance.  My mother said to me, if I do not want to buy, I should resist doing it.  I should not buy something that I do not want.  Even though I felt he was troublesome, I did not know how to refuse him directly.  It is not easy for me to do it.  I called my friends and customers, if they said that they did not have time and refused me several times, I knew I should stop.  I did not want to bother them.  If I do not want a person to treat me like that, I will not do it to them.   It is my personality.

Computer, I hardly remember when the computer was invented.  A long time ago, maybe 1946, at the time, the computer was very heavy. Today, the technology is growing fast, we can carry our computer anywhere. Nowadays, most of the families have their computer at home.  I should say almost everyone owns computer or mobile device.   It becomes more and more popular and important to our society.  It is very useful and helpful in our daily lives.

On the internet, you can find programs or interesting things that you might want to learn. If you don’t know anything, you can go to internet to find out. We can use the computer to watch a movie or play a game.  You can find a lot of online games and play with other people on the computer.  It is fun.

I remember when the hurricane Sandy hit, it made the power cut off for one week at my home.  That whole week, I had nothing to do.  No electrical power, no internet, I could use computer. I discovered that life was boring.  I could not imagine that how I would passed the time without electronic devices.  At that time, I went to sleep at eight. I have never done that before.  It was because I had nothing to do. I could not do anything without the electronic devices.

Every day, I use the computer or mobile device. Electronic devices are very useful; they are part of my life.  I cannot imagine if one day the computers or mobile devices disappear, how it would be?