WLE Blog 10/18/11

My mentors name is Alvaro Silva and he is the owner of the company "Silvas Bakery" and he is also a baker and takes very strong pride in his pastries that he makes.  His typical day at the job is that he gets there around 6 AM and starts to bake all the pastries before 7 AM so that people that may want treats in the morning.  Then he officially opens the store at 7 AM and bakes all day and then closes at 6 PM.  Mr.Silva became interested in this field when he was young because he felt like he wanted to embrace his race through food because he felt as if food is the one way that everyone could embrace their race peacefully for everyone to enjoy.

WLE Blog 10/24/11

While I am at my internship I have many responsibilities such as I could be helping with packaging, preparing food to go into the oven, or what I did for the most part on 10/24/11 was that I was baking myself most of the day.  So I do not just have one specific name or title.  Well this Tuesday coming up I will be doing the same thing that I did  last Tuesday but I will also have more jobs also such as I may be working with the computers to set up orders and to help with meetings.  A regular day for me is to get in at 7, right as the store opens, help Mr.Silva with packaging, help get the dough ready to go into the oven, bake some specific things because I am not at the same level as the rest of the crew so I am starting off  baking easier sweets, then we make sure the sweets are cooked enough then we put them in the front to be sold.

WLE Blog 11/02/11

What I am thinking of doing for my project is to project my WLE to the public.  Such as my mentor requested that I make a Facebook page for his business because his business already has its own website but it does not have a Facebook page which most business' have mostly now since people are on computers more and more.  I also want to be able to hand out fliers which would show a picture of a treat such as a Lenguica Roll and have the business' name on it and address so that if people like what they see in the picture then they may go into the store and purchase the treat.  And I will be able to calculate if the page and fliers are working by if more and more people go into the store than the regular amount.  I was able to come up with this idea of the fliers because whenever people ask where do I intern I always tell them at "Silva Bakery" and people always ask "where is that?"  And I believe this bakery is so good that more people should know about it because I believe all the people that did ask about it would really like it.  But the Facebook page was actully my mentor's idea because as I said before he has a website but he thought it would be useful for people to be able to look up his business and business' info while they are on Facebook.  

WLE Blog 11/08/11

Today at my workplace I did my usual which was that I got there at 7 AM and then I packed the flat breads for an hour and had to separate the orders and make sure the orders were correct.  Then I packaged cornbread which I have never packaged before and then I had to package the rolls which was differennt because the rolls you actually leave air in the bag when u package them which took some getting use to and then after that I took pictures for the Facebook page for the company to get started.  After that I showed Mr.Silva how to use the Facebook and how to make any edits he wanted to make just in case I did something or put something wrong on the page that he did not like.  Mr.Silva and I have started talking about how we would calculate the data for the project by seeing how many more people come in or how many new orders he may  get.  So far this project is coming by very well since I am almost done with the Facebook and now I just need to work on the pamplets to hand out.  

WLE Blog 11/15/11

Out of the four Leadership Skills that we like to emphasize at Impact I believe that the one leadership skill that I am incorporating at my WLE is Communicate Powerfully.  I believe that this leadership skill is being used the most because of the fact that my project for my WLE has me emailing my mentor outside of my WLE time and while i am there we have to come up with more ideas for my project.  I believe that I am using this leadership skill at a alright average because when ever I have questions to ask my mentor I always wait till Tuesday to ask him questions when I should email or call him to ask him those questions.  Like I said before this leadership skill helps me with my project because it helps me communicate with my mentor about my project but while I am at my WLE it helps me with him telling me what i should do while I am there and what else i could help him while I am at the workplace.  I would say that out of the four leadershiip skills my mentor uses the leadership skill Collaborate Productively the most because through out this WLE time span he has always put his ideas into the project ideas and also what I would like to use and do and he is always offering help with whatever I need.

WLE Blog 11/22/11

Through out this whole WLE experience I found out about myself that I can work at a very fast pace which is the total opposite of how I work at school and such.  I found this out through all the activities I do at my WLE such as being able to package a food quick enough to keep the customer satisfied and also by when ever I bake you have to be on your toes and check the food all the time so that you are sure you are making it right.  Some of the challenges I have faced during this session of WLE was that my first initial WLE told me a day before one of the Tuesday's that I had to go to the district and get fingerprinted and have a background check and that it would be $75 dollars out of my own pocket.  So then I had to tell them that I would not be returning so I had to find a whole new WLE but thankfully the previous week the bakery that I am at right now told me that they would accept me and thankfully Mr.Silva took me in.  My creativity is being put into place at this WLE because in the beginning weeks Mr.Silva and I would be making treats and I would come up with some ideas for bakery treats and also another way it is being put to use is because my whole WLE project is about ways to publicize the workshop so I had to come up with different ways to publicize the shop.  Before I went into this WLE I had thought that being a baker was simple and easy and all you had to do was bake the food whenever you wanted to but through this I see the difficulty that comes with it such as the holiday rush that comes around all holiday times.  If someone were to ask me why what I did at my WLE was important I would say it was because I am trying to spread this shop to people that may have never heard of it but appreciate what they make.  

WLE Blog 11/29/11

Way back in the beginning of the WLE search what I did was at first I called a lot of schools to see if they would take me in and a couple of schools said they would but I ended up choosng the school closest to my house because I thought it would be more convienent.  But after the first week they told me that in order for me to be able to go back there and to be able to intern there that I would have to go to the district and get fingerprinted and have a criminal background check and that I would have to pay for that out of my own pocket.  So once they told me that I had to have the help of my mom so then we called all of the local places and my mom ended up being able to get me an interview here at Silva's Bakery.  The most effective way of getting a job and getting hired is by calling and asking to speak with the owner, manager, teacher, etc. and being very polite with them and telling them that you would be working for them for free, which is a big thing because anybody would like to have free help.  As a result of my WLE, I think being a proffessional or a responsible adult in this world means that you are advocating for yourself and being able to do things on your own.  Because once you are out on your own you will not have anybody to help you and you will have to do everything by your self and have to be able to hold your self up in this world. 

WLE Blog 12/06/11

Today at my WLE I presented my WLE Presentation and I packaged breads and treats for the rest of the day.  So once I got into my WLE at 7 AM I started packaging the breads I usually pack then at 8:30 AM I had to present my WLE project then once that was over I went back to packaging the breads.  I believe I have improved as an Intern because I have found a job site that I have actually enjoyed while last year I just looked for a job site that would just take me in and the project would be easy.  I also improved my communicating effectively leadership skill because I was actually talking to my mentor this time rather then last year's WLE experience.  The thing that makes my WLE great to work at is that it is a very safe and comfortable environment and that everybody accepts you immediately.  

WLE Blog 12/13/11

Some final thoughts that I have about my WLE is that I really appreciate my mentor accepting me late and letting me come in on multiple days to make up hours.  Also I would like to thank all of my co-workers for helping me whenever I needed help whether it was with how the really big oven works or just where multiple materials where.  This WLE will affect my future because now I realize that I like to work in a fast paced environment because it keeps your mind focused on the task at hand and also that I actually have a patience when I thought I didn't.