It's the end of the fourth six weeks! I truly can't believe how fast this year has gone, especially with ISM. I feel like my first few weeks where I was so confused and didn't know where to begin just happened, but in actuality, the year is almost over. As far as working on my Final Product, I've begun to compile common questions and I'm taking notes at every client meeting I've sat in on. I'm hoping that the information I'm taking in will really help me when I start to put together the actual pamphlet. Aside from that, it's now time that I consider ISM for next year. Actually, I probably should've worked more on the application earlier on, but I've been really conflicted about my classes for next year. Because of that, I haven't yet completed the application. Still, I'm ready to do it now and I've decided that I'm very excited for the possibilities another year in ISM can offer. Next year, I really want to observe local government. I came into this year with the goal of helping people, and I definitely succeeded in finding a profession that did that. Still, I want to explore a variety of ways to achieve that, and I think that local government will be a great way to go about that. I'm encouraged about everything still to come.
This week I went on another great mentor visit. I got the opportunity to sit in on a client visit Anna had with one of her clients in which she went over the divorce decree and discussed all of the legal language. I really enjoyed this visit because I felt like it was the first time that I really got to see Anna in her element, as a lawyer. I saw her interpersonal skills truly in action, and it was inspiring to me to watch her in her comfort zone. As far as the other things I've been working on this week, I've honestly been taking it a little easier. I think that I needed these last few weeks to recharge after the crazy weeks leading up to and after the Research Showcase, and I'm glad that I had this time to get back into the routine of going on mentor visits and getting work done is ISM every single week. After this three day weekend, I think I'll be fully prepared to embrace the Final Product and all the work that it will entail. Overall, I truly can't believe that I only have a few more months with this mentor and this first year in the program. I feel like I'm just now completely comfortable in what's going on, and soon, it'll be coming to an end. I realize I'm speaking a little hyperbolic, but I know that once Spring Break hits, everything goes extremely fast until the end of the year from there. Still, it's been a great week.
This week was definitely a lot less chaotic in regards to how busy I've been recently in my classes in ISM. I went on a mentor visit earlier in the week and it was really eye-opening. For the first time since I've started the mentorship, I got to see Anna actually interacting with a client. On my visit, she let me sit in on a meeting she had with one of her clients going over the results of a court case that had been decided. Having the opportunity to actually be there in person while she interacted professionally like she does every week was so fascinating. I feel like every time I think that I know what's going one and have gained the knowledge I can about something, another door is opened and I start all over with new information. This meeting was so interesting because I got to see the way Anna handled herself professionally, which surprisingly was quite different from how I feel like she has conversations with me. Being able to sit in and gain this intangible knowledge was so interesting. In addition to this mentor visit, we are also solidifying my plan for my Final Product. She completed the mentor evaluation on the product proposal I sent her and knowing her thoughts and what she thinks will benefit this project is making me even more excited about what's to come.
It was unsurprisingly another busy week in ISM. It feels like we're in a transition period between the end of the Original Work phase and the beginning of the Final Product phase, and with it comes a lot of work on both ends. For example, this week I'm presenting my Research and Original Work speech, while my Final Product proposal is also due. Basically, I just feel split between wrapping up all of my Original Work reflections, while trying to juggle the start of my new project. I had a mentor visit with Anna where we discussed what I want to accomplish with my Final Product, and I think we've come up with some really great ways to combine something both tangible and useful to the community. I definitely struggled thinking of these that I thought were original, but still would help others. It seems like all year, I've been trying to find ways to reach out beyond the Frisco High School environment, and hopefully with my Final Product I'll be able to accomplish that. Apart from that, I hope that the way I'm building my speech is effective. It just recently occured to me that the work I'm doing right now is literally going to become my Final Presentation Night speech, so I hope that I'm writing it well. As a whole, I hope things calm down in the next few weeks, but knowing ISM, I anticipate I'll only keep working harder.
ISM has been really overwhelming for me lately. Ever since the Research Showcase, even when ISM isn't at the front of my mind, it's always close by. I think the weekly mentor visits are a large part of the pressure I feel with ISM, because I haven't fully gotten used to the weekly trips to Dallas and always being on top of the Travel Forms and communicating with my mentor. I really enjoy going, and every time I've been to Anna's office, I've learned something new or gotten great exposure that wouldn't have been possible without ISM, but it's still a lot to always be thinking about. Also, it's a just a busy time in general with school and choir, so I think all of the layers of my life have been piling up and conspiring for attention on top of each other, and it's a challenge. Still, things are going well. My Final Product proposal is due today, and although I have some ideas, I'm still concerned that I'll be locked into pursuing some large end-of-year project that I'm not fully passionate about. I really want to do something that helps society in some way, so from here I just have to explore all aspects of my ideas to see which one will be most fulfilling to me and the world around me. As a whole, it's been a fine week, I'm just really stressed out with everything going on in life these days.
This week was by far one of the best weeks I've had in ISM all year. Not only was the Research Showcase this week, but I also had a mentor visit with Anna where I really got a chance to talk about my expectations for the program and for my Final Product with her. I think the more I meet with my mentor, the more comfortable we'll become and I really enjoy the opportunity of getting to go every week to talk to and shadow her. The Research Showcase was also the clear highlight of ISM this week, because it was an incredible event as the culmination of so much hard work. After working all semester to get to that point, it was the most fulfilling thing to see all the boards and evidence of the hard work. It was cool getting to see what everyone had been working on over the course of the year and it was inspiring to see others get so passionate about what they've been doing. It was definitely exhausting, standing there for hours and talking over and over again about my research, but at the same time it was rewarding because I've been putting in so much effort and the Research Showcase gave me an opportunity to share my work with my peers, teachers, and other people from the public. As a whole, it was an incredible week, and from here I need to keep moving onward with my more regular weekly mentor visits and coming up with ideas for my Final Product.
This was one of the most stressful weeks I've had in ISM since the program began for me this year. I truly underestimated how hard I was going to work in preparation for the Research Showcase this coming Wednesday. Between putting the final touches on my physical Research Portfolio and assembling my presentation board, it was a really long week. I think part of the reason it was so much work is also just because I wanted everything I did to turn out really well, and I didn't want to sacrifice quality, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but moving forward I really need to try to procrastinate less. I also had my first (more official) mentor visit. Even though I've met with Ms. Rupani outside of the interview, the first time was an event where a playground was being unveiled, so I didn't really have a chance to sit down and talk with her. This week, though, we went over the Mentor Handbook, talk about my Original Work and Final Product, and discussed the Research Showcase. I really liked having the opportunity to meet with her and actually see what it's like working as a lawyer in her environment. Overall, it's been an incredibly busy week, but I'm so excited for the Research Showcase and going on mentor visits on a weekly basis.
The past few weeks in ISM have been so busy! Since I last posted a blog update, I've had my first mentor visit, completed and turned in my Original Work project, and worked on my trifold board for the Research Showcase. Before winter break, I remember feeling like the Research Showcase was so far away and I would have so much time to prepare for it, and now here we are, with only a week and a half left. My Original Work was so intense. I really underestimated how involved I would get into it, so even though I split it up over a few days towards the end of Winter Break, it still felt like I had crammed the whole thing into to the end of break. For my final project and next year, I really need to resist procrastinating so much. But other than that, I'm really happy with how it turned out, the focus being on domestic violence, and I can't wait for the Research Showcase. As far as Ms. Rupani, I need to get in contact with her so we can begin our regular mentor visits, as she was out of town the last few weeks of December, so I haven't gone on any since the first one. The mentor visits becoming regular is probably what I'm excited most about right now. Overall, I worked really hard during the break and I'm glad to have accomplished as much as I did, but in ISM it seems the work never truly ends, so for now I'll just keep moving onwards!
Having a mentor is so exciting, and I'm so happy that I was able to find someone that aligns with my interests for what I wanted to study this year. This week, my mentor's background check was confirmed and late last week I sent my background check to her for processing. Now I need to continue with the next steps of getting a mentor. I'm sending her the Mentor Handbook, and along with that email, I'm going to try to set up my first mentor visit with Ms. Rupani. I'm excited to begin regularly meeting with her because I'm so interested in her profession and Mosaic Family Services as a whole. She's actually going out of town for the last two of weeks of December, so I'd really like to meet with her next week if possible, so I get a chance to know her a little more before 2018 begins. I also need to still be focusing on my Original Work, because I know that it's a huge commitment and something that I can't let fall to the last few weeks before it's due. Overall, it's been a pretty relaxed week, mostly just trying to get through the nuts and bolts of having a new mentor. Also, I handed out my invitations for the Research Showcase at the beginning of the week. I can't wait to put everything I've been working so hard with on display in January. Even though it was more of a transition week for me, I can't wait to keep going!
This week is probably the most exciting week I've had so far, because I got a mentor! Over the break I asked Ms. Anna Rupani of Mosaic Family Services to be my mentor, and on Tuesday she called me to further discuss the mentorship, so it's official! I've filled out the background check to volunteer at Mosaic and I've sent her the process for the FISD background check, and now I just need to start making serious headway on my Original Work. I feel like the Research Showcase is coming up so quickly, and I barely have anything completed. I hope that in the next few weeks, I can get a lot done, because I don't want to be cramming everything into the last few days of winter break, which I know could easily happen if I don't plan my time well over the next month. It's crazy to me how far we already are in the year. I know that we still have about 6 months in the school year left, but between winter break, spring break, and AP exams, I know that time will pass really fast. I'm so excited for the experience this mentorship will give me, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store! Even though we're already so far, this mentorship is another huge shift that will greatly impact my ISM journey and it'll be great when I get to start my weekly mentor visits.
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