May 16, 2018
This year I will be interning at The Hot Spot, a candle and ceramic place in liberty station. I am excited because this is something I have never really taken the time to learn about and its definitely a unique place to do our externship. I'm curious to see all the different things we will be doing because it seems like there is going to be a lot to do. I hope that we can spend this month learning more about ceramics and really get a chance to be creative and make something cool. Also I hope to learn more about what it's like to run a business and how all of that works.
A new skill that I haven't necessarily learned but have been able I practice in my first week of externship is customer service. I have had many jobs but learning to deal with customers is different at every business. I have also been learning what it's like to work in a place by yourself because even though I am with two other interns and a mentor, our mentor is usually there by herself so I can see all the things she has to do with no help.
A new skill that I haven't necessarily learned but have been able I practice in my first week of externship is customer service. I have had many jobs but learning to deal with customers is different at every business. I have also been learning what it's like to work in a place by yourself because even though I am with two other interns and a mentor, our mentor is usually there by herself so I can see all the things she has to do with no help.
May 18, 2018
May 23, 2018
One of the challenges I've faced so far would be learning all the necessary steps to everything that is done there. At The Hot Spot, pretty much everything is done by hand and in person, there is a lot you need to know especially when its our job to make sure customers are pleased with their results as much as possible. Everything is a process and missing one small step can really effect the end product. For example, when making candles, if you melt the wax for too long it will dry up sort of white which can kind of ruin someones design. Or when you're dipping pottery, you must double dip certain pieces to make sure they are safe for people to use with food and drinks. We learned this when we first made candles. My mentors have been very good at helping us understand to be careful and exactly what steps need to be done.
May 25, 2018
To be honest, there is a lot to do at The Hot Spot and when only one person is work there at a time, I imagine it can be a lot. We must, glaze pottery, put it in kiln, clean all stations, clean all tables and floor, make wax, help customers, stock everything, etc. Being an intern, we are really able to help minimize all these tasks. We also get to do a lot of the fun things like, put pottery orders together, paint samples, make candles and much more. The appreciate our work and our company a lot. They've really put their trust in us so that we could watch over the place and be ale to do anything necessary if our mentor was to go run and errand for the store or something.
May 30, 2018
High Tech High has always taught me to be in charge and ask questions when I need to, thats what it's like at the Hot Spot. Our mentor is not always telling us task after task what to do but they expect us to being doing what is necessary. Also, working with others is a helpful skill because there are a few different girls that mentor us and we need to be able to work with all of them. When we walked in on the first day, none of us interns had ever worked with any of these girls but we were all able to adapt and get along as a team with each of them. The Hot Spot is similar to High Tech High in that sense as well as talking and approaching people. At the hot spot we tell customers all about the place and answer questions and teach them how to do things. High Tech High has visitors all the time that we are constantly approaching and talking and that had helped me learn a lot of talking/social skills.
June 1, 2018
An "Aha" moment I had was when I realized that I will never fully learn how to do something until I actually do it. I have learned this in every job I've had but I always am reminded of this whenever doing something new. I was scared to glaze people's pottery at first because I was worried I would ruin their piece or do it wrong. But glazing pottery is an important job here so nonetheless, I had to do it. My mentors assured me that mistakes happen and although you want to be careful, there is always a way to resolve a problem if we have one. I would've never known how to do any of the things I do at my internship, even something simple like reading an order ticket, until I actually got up and did it myself.
June 6, 2018
June 8, 2018