On my First Week at Extreme Kids and Crew, I attended my first Gaming, Perspectives, and a Family Gathering Puppet Show to capture many photographs and videos and construct short-form social media content for the Extreme Kids and Crew. The Program is described as very friendly, welcoming, and safe for any neurodivergent children who are interested in Arts and Crafts, Culinary Arts, or Gaming; these programs were meant to be spaces for any Neurodivergent Gamers, Photographers, and Chefs who find their community who can connect to, relate by discussing their and make new friends to bond further with each other.
My first Project to work for Extreme Kids and Crew Organization was to develop a 30-40 second video about Spellbound Puppet Show located at the Spellbound Theatre at Brooklyn Children’s Museum on Sunday, November 10th. After capturing photos and videos and uploading into the Extreme Kids and Crew Google Shared Drive, i re-download them into my macbook, move all of the Spellbound Puppet Show Files into my Samsung T7 Solid State Drive ( also known as SSD)
After the Remote Interview Process was over, I’m Grateful that Americorps and the Social Media Coordinator were delighted with my Answers explaining why I was an excellent fit for the Social Media Intern role at Extreme Kids and Crew Non-Profit Organization. One question that I was glad I came in prepared, thanks to my older sister, who assisted me with mock interview questions and answers from her experience, was, “Are Disabilities Considered a Social Justice Issue?” People with Disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, live in poor-quality or insecure housing, and have low levels of education. They are often socially isolated, with fewer opportunities to take part in their life. We can make a change for a Brighter and Positive Future for our Neurodivergent Communities so that they have a Purpose in their Future Career and Lives by opening up more Comfort and Safe Space and Disability Rights against Abelism.
A few weeks went by after submitting my Internship information forms; I received an email from the Americorps Coordinator with my Official Schedule and my CUNY Internship Agreement Form Signed by my Social Media Coordinator and my Internship Supervisor for the rest of November to December 19th; this was to confirm that I got my Social Media Marketing Internship Secured. This was great news to receive via email; I started crying, overthinking that if I didn’t get an Internship Secured around November, I had no choice but to withdraw. I observed my entire Internship schedule during my first week and the rest of November through December 19th.
On November 5th, I attended my first day with my older sister at the Extreme Kids and Crew office at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. While trying to calm my mindset, I introduced myself to the Extreme Kids and Crew Staff and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum Security. This wasn’t my first time attending Brooklyn’s Children’s Museum Environment; I volunteered as a Fountain Server during the Felix Awards Ceremony in May 2023 on the rooftop and at the auditorium. But I still ask if there are other locations I should check for essential needs around the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. My first task was to watch both parts of the Volunteer Training Videos and write a paragraph answering the following four questions that stood out to my interest, any information that I wasn’t familiar with, noticed any examples from the videos in any programs I attended, and is there anything to add any helpful training advice or tips for future Volunteers and Interns for the Extreme Kids and Crew? After completing my Volunteer Orientation Training Task, It’s time for my first staff meeting with my attendees to observe the depths of what it’s like to be in an environment.
Because it was election day, two of my Attendees attended via Zoom, and our first Icebreaker Question of the Day was What type of Music Genre are you currently listening to? Icebreakers are communication exercises that effectively help teams get to know each other and feel more comfortable sharing, inspire other committees to develop communication skills, become polite and respectful towards others’ responses, and start meetings entertainingly. Then, we start gathering and communicating our tasks of the day.
In this week’s networking event, I attended an Adobe Max Watch Party in Pearl 117, City Tech Campus. George Garrastegui invited all COMD Students to watch the Adobe Max Sneaks Livestream featuring Guest Speaker Awkwafina, an award-winning actress with the Adobe Reccuring Staff, to discuss the Planned Projects of AI-Generated Features like Supersonic, for example, being added to Adobe Software soon. Project Supersonic is an AI-generated feature that assists you in generating audio design by recording audio, and the bot generates your soundtracks. They also demonstrated the Project Remix a Lot on Illustrator; if you wanted to design your poster about a Halloween Costume Cocktail Party, they include a feature for converting your traditional sketch and digital layout with your text, It generates the Layout by merging and duplicating your poster layout in various size dimension artboards.
One thing that Adobe amazed me on yesterday’s Max Livestream was this new feature, Project Know How. A new Website Extention planned to release in Google Chrome soon, hopefully on other web browsers too like Firefox, allows you to scan a design through your camera on your smartphone, or uploading an image file, or MP4 Video File, It detects the original creator and their App/software they designed in.
After applying for about fourteen Graphic Design Internship Remote Positions and Two Creative Marketing Intern Positions at Handshake that’s about sixteen total, I received four email responses from Power Digital Marketing Company, Calling all Graphics, Baruch College, and PROJXON, thanking me for taking the opportunity to apply as a Graphic Designer Intern Position while submitting my Resume, Cover Letter, and ePortfolio Site. What concerned me was the lack of response about scheduling an Interview. I was this close to securing my internship before the midterm grades were due, and Everything was making my mind feel very overwhelmed with frustration, anxiety, and depression. That is until after networking with my older sister, Cristina Nava-Sosa, the Lead facilitator at the Non-Profit Organization Extreme Kids and Crew, she contacted her social media coordinator and her Americorps Volunteer Coordinator to ask if they are seeking Social Media Creative Marketing Intern positions this Fall.
Extreme Kids and Crew is a Nonprofit Organization located at Brooklyn’s Children’s Museum. Its mission is to create entertaining, brave, and environment-friendly spaces that nurture a sense of belonging and community for neurodivergent children and families. We work together to cultivate programs allowing neurodivergent children and the entire crew to discover their own meaning of playtime.
They seek Social Media Interns who can assist the Social Media Coordinator of the Extreme Kids and Crew in capturing photos and videos to construct social media posts through their Instagram, LinkedIn, and their website, design holiday flyers through Canva, and promote 30-second videos briefly discussing their programs at Perspectives: A Photography Club, Fall Kitchen: Culinary exploration for young chefs, Rock Band for any Rock Star Band Members who are the big fans of Rock n’ Roll, Gaming Crew for our casual and competitive gamers, and many other family-friendly events for Neurodivergent children to make themselves feel special and have their life worth living.
I have an interview with Alysha Witty, the Americorps Coordinator, and Ramona Skelding, the Social Media Coordinator at Extreme Kids and Crew, at 3:30 PM on October 22nd. My next task is to practice a mock interview questions and some answers on how to ace your Interview explaining why you are the best canditate for Social Media Intern at Extreme Kids and Crew.
On Wednesday, September 4th, Week 2’s class was switched to Asynchronous due to Professor Tanya Goetz’s diagnosis of laryngitis. However, my next task is to update my LinkedIn account while searching for any graphic design internships that are looking for motion design, illustration, advertising, campaign interns, or Social Media Creative Marketing interns. Like our ePortfolios and resumes, updating your LinkedIn or Handshake profiles is essential when applying for future jobs. I updated my LinkedIn and Handshake accounts with some revisions to my skills category and my summary about myself as a creator. I am determined to pursue a career as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, or social media content creator intern. Multitasking is another step to improve, and so is managing my schedule to make it more flexible for remote or hybrid work.
On September 11, Professor Tanya Goetz scheduled a One-on-One Remote Meeting via Zoom to discuss her feedback on my Resume Layout. My portfolio professor, Eli Neugerboreum, critiqued the resume layout I organized last semester, Spring 2024. The left column needed more space because it was tight and needed more white space. Also, the leading on the headers for the Experience Row between the green border and the body text description is tight; I increased the leading by dragging the green border and minimizing the size of my Full Name. The same thing is between the two to three sentences of my summary about my experiences or bulleted lists of my skills to help any hiring manager reviewing my resume easier to read. With little Experience in Graphic Design Job experience, Professor Tanya Goetz suggested moving the entire Education section above my Experience. She uses one of her previous student’s resumes as a great example of her layout.
Goetz also suggests including coursework related to the communication design field, such as design team, campaign development, principles in motion design, and other previous design courses, as well as a brief description of the past projects I’ve worked on and this semester’s recent projects. Before concluding my Zoom Meeting, I asked Professor Goetz if it is required to provide a Cover Letter while applying for a Job or internship currently and in the future spring and summer internships. Most jobs require cover letters because you explain to your hiring manager why they should hire you for this position and describe your great fit for their qualifications and skills that make you a perfect candidate.
Searching for internships can be scary for me because I lack job experience in fields other than graphic design or creative marketing. I was browsing for Internships that require remote work on Linkedin, Handshake, or the COMD Internship Coordination Openlab Site. But there’s one thing I still need that’s part of their Job Requirements: a Cover Letter. Some jobs/internships don’t require a Cover letter, but many Graphic Design Jobs require a short cover letter discussing why the company should hire you as a Graphic Designer. Even though I haven’t had any luck with remote internships yet, I shall keep searching until I find one and hope that i ca
Two months passed by, and I was overwhelmed with stress due to being rejected by almost all of the ten to fifteen Fall Internship Graphic Design/Illustration or Social Media Marketing Intern Positions from the COMD Internship Coordination Site, LinkedIn, and Handshake. Some politely email my rejection reasons, but there was one I almost secure my Internship but didn’t give me updates on rescheduling for follow-up meeting, and i replied to them that i was interested in that position after the Interview on October 8th. I understand that it isn’t best to directly emailing your Internship Supervisor that if you get the Job Position or not, the hiring Supervisor would definitely not hire you. But if there’s one note i can give feedback was to give an elaborate reason why the follow-up meeting was cancelled instead of not giving updates of my status.
Then there’s a non-profit organization that could possibly be my last chance to secure my Internship and brainstorm how many hours i can complete in one week to earn one hundred and twenty hours before December 16th, Extreme Kids & Crew Non-Profit Organization is seeking for Social Media Content Creator Interns, because my Oldest Sister is the Lead Faciliator and the person i can network closely, She was able to network her Social Media Coordinator alongside with her Americorps and Volunteer Cordinator to Book a remote Interview.
