UPDATE TIME!

So I would love to tell you all about my wonderful experience so far interning with the City of San Ramon. But to be honest, my internship hasn't started yet. It's not that I haven't put in the effort. I have had multiple conversations with the Aquatics Manager Keith Haase, but he continued to need more clarifying paperwork that does not exist.

Talking it over with Mrs. B., she suggested contacting the mayor.  My mom cautioned me about going directly to the "big guy" because it might cause more problems if it's an internal staff issue. My mom was talking about the situation with a friend from her Rotary Club who teaches in the Parks & Recreation department at Cal State East Bay.  She thought my interning with the City was a great idea and was puzzled, but did see that the bureaucracy could be the problem.  She suggested I contact Chris Chamberlain who also teaches at Cal State East Bay and used to run the Aquatics Center for the City for a suggestion of the next person in the City to talk to.

I spoke with Mr. Chamberlain last week. He also thought the internship sounded like a good idea especially since I'd worked at the pool all summer and already know many of their procedures. He suggested that I contact Esther Lucas.  Her phone number isn't on the city's website so I called the Parks and Recreational Services number listed on the website.  The person who answered informed me that Esther Lucas is on vacation for three weeks.  She asked what I wanted to talk to Mrs. Lucas about, and I explained.  After I was finished, she asked what degrees I had, and I re-explained that I’m a high school student in a career exploration/internship class.  She abruptly told me they don’t do anything like that.  She was about to go into a team meeting and would bring it up, and if anyone was interested she'd give them my email address.  She indicated that she thought it was not likely, and then suggested that I sign up for the city’s volunteer program.

It feels as if the City of San Ramon staff wouldn't know a good idea or a win/win situation if it dropped in their lap. It also bothered me how the person I talked to on the phone talked to me.  She treated me like I was about ten years old, rather than a young adult trying to be professional.

But I still haven't given up! My mom was at a meeting with Mayor Clarkson on Monday and she asked him for a suggestion.  He suggested emailing one of the Parks Commissioners and cc'ing both him and Karen McNamera, the Director of Parks & Community Services.  He thought this would be addressing it at a low enough level to not backlash, and by cc'ing the Director she wouldn't be blindsided, and he could gently weigh in, getting the request some attention.  I emailed Commission Rene Matsumoto this afternoon.  Hopefully, this will get the ball rolling!

The 5 People in My Life and My Someday Island

Five People who can help me achieve my dreams and goals 

1.  My brother Adam was the one who suggested that I consider Parks & Recreation for my major and career.  He’s also always been my supporter for water polo and has taught me many life lessons that only a brother can teach.

2.  My mom has supported me throughout all my school challenges.  She knows a lot about my reading and writing disability and has been my advocate and my guide in my own advocacy. 

3.  My dad has been a more general supporter, and doesn’t let me get away with excuses.

4.  My best friend Ashley Pedersen because no matter what people do or say, we always stand by each other.  She provides a reality check for me about the amount of time and effort typical high school students spend on their studies.

5.  My friend Haley who treats like a big sister.  We share our emotions and thoughts and give eachother realistic feedback and perspective. 

Get Off Someday Island!  Five things I've been procrastinating about 

1.  Closure with City of San Ramon on iQuest internship.  Because I have been afraid of offending Keith Haas, who is ultimate “boss” at the Aquatic Center, I have been procrastinating pushing back on his requests for written documentation about the iQuest internship.  I finally did talk with him last Thursday and we agreed I would pursue setting it up with someone else in the City’s organizational structure.  Mrs. Bonagura suggested reaching out to Mayor Clarkson for advice on whom to call.  But he is on vacation.  I also want to be careful that involving the Mayor doesn’t cause more problems.  Instead, I have decided to contact Mr. Chamberlain who used to run the Aquatics program, is a former Cal High parent, teaches at Cal State East Bay in parks and recreation, and still has strong ties to the City’s Aquatic program.   I will talk with Mr. Chamberlain this week.

2.  SAT Prep.  I took the SAT for the first time in June.  I didn’t do very well, especially on the English Language Arts sections.  One of my goals for the summer was to get through the online SAT prep program that we purchased for my brother.  I acknowledge that I did not make this the priority that I should have.  I don’t mean for this to sound like an excuse, but the main reason I didn’t get it done was that the self-study nature of it is very difficult for me.  I do much better with a live instructor with whom I can interact, especially since my reading skills are so weak.  I’m going to retake the test in November.  This week I will schedule time with my mom to get through one section.

3. College Search.  Everyone is talking about college applications.  I am planning to apply to Cal State Chico, Monterey Bay, and East Bay.  But other than that I’m feeling very behind on the whole College Application process.  This week I will go on to Naviance/Family Connection with my mom and familiarize myself with the tool and make an action plan. 

4.  Cal State Applications.  The deadline for these is November 30.  I am setting a personal goal to be done with them before November 15.  This week I will look at the application.

5. Cleaning My Room and Getting Myself Organized.   I didn’t get a chance before school started to thoroughly clean my room and purge old stuff.  This is adding to the mess and my sense disorganization.  This week I will get rid of all the school stuff from last year that I don’t need to save.