Blog 10: The End: Tuesday Dec 13th

Overall my WLE was pretty good. I learned a few things and in return, they got my help. I did simple work to help out in any way I could. I got to meet lots of new people and learned to do a minor service on a car. This years WLE was more active than last years. The experience that I got from working at my WLE will definitely help me in the future; I will be able to change my own oil on my car and save money . I learned about how a real work experience looks like and feels like.  

Blog 9: Life at my WLE: Tuesday Dec 6th

Today was a usual day; I cleaned up, took out trash, swept the floors, nothing major. I talked to my mentor about different things; basically it was a chill day. I improved as an intern by being attentive and patient with things that I didn't know before. Sometimes it was frustrating because I didn't have a clue on what to do but by being a good intern, as I always was :) I managed to succeed in the projects I was doing. What makes this place, "Neal's Mufflers" a good workplace is because it has a peaceful and relaxing, or busy environment. For example: my mentor doesn't have a daily schedule. He can relax and not do work whenever he wants, or he can keep himself busy by working on cars. It also depends on how much people need their cars fixed. Sometimes business can be slow or sometimes it's so packed that my mentor is busy and doesn't have time to chill and have a break (which is good because money starts to roll in). Basically my mentor is his own boss.

Blog #8: Professionalism: Tuesday Nov 29th

In order to find my WLE and get hired, I had to go out and actually search for it. Instead of calling, I got up and went searching for a WLE placement. In my opinion calling people and businesses will not be as effective as actually going there and being there in person. I called a few places, some places never called me back, searched online and suddenly remembered that I knew a guy that owned this shop , "Neals Mufflers." So instead of calling, I went there in person and they hired me without any questions, it was that easy (thank God). It was a thrill to me that I found an internship because as you may well know I'm not that good in the social world. The most effective way of looking for a job and getting hired is by (like I previously mentioned) just going to the place of your interest and talking to them in person. It might be more nerve wracking (talking to them in person) but it gets the job done. As a result of my WLE, I think being a professional or a responsible adult in the work world means: Showing up at work every day, accomplishing any projects you are currently working on and satisfying your customers.

Blog #7: What I learned, Reflection: Tuesday Nov 22nd

I learned that if I put my head up to it I can do anything. I learned many things that are needed in life. I learned to communicate with people that I don't even know, I learned to change oil, I learned the basics of cars and how to fix and clean engines, I learned many things. The challenges I faced was trying to remember all the different terms used for all the different parts of a car. There is a lot of parts to a car and each and every part has its own name; it was difficult to remember all the terms used for those parts. How to change oil is a specific role that I learned and is important that I will use later on in my every day life. This WLE gave me an insight of a car mechanics every days duty. I learned that being a mechanic is a busy job and that it's important to do your job on time because there is other customers in need of assistance.

Blog - 6: Leadership Skills: Tuesday Nov 15th

The leadership skill I use is "Communicate Powerfully." I need this skill because I know nothing about car mechanics; that is why I need to communicate with my mentor to see if I'm doing the right thing. My mentor guides me through the different projects he tells me to complete such as: changing oil on a car, filing important documents, scrubbing a v-8 engine with a chisel like tool and other small projects as well. I am using this leadership skill very well because my mentor approves of my work and gives me comments on the good work I accomplish during my WLE. My mentor usually uses the leadership skill " Complete Projects Effectively." It's his job to complete projects effectively for the customers. Since he is a car mechanic he needs to do a thorough job fixing cars because if he doesn't then there would be no business.

Blog - 5: Progress on my WLE Project, part 1: Tuesday Nov 8th

At my WLE today, I cleaned up the shop. I moved different tools around, heavy machinery, swept the floor and recycled. Nothing says hard work then sweeping floors. My mentor and I have discussed my WLE project and my mentor thinks it's not such a bad idea for me to change oil as my WLE project. So far, I actually learned to change oil and my mentor gave me some more insight on what a car mechanics job is all about.

Blog - 4: Project Brainstorm: Tuesday Nov 1st

For my WLE project I am thinking of doing an oil change on a car. I would like to teach the proper way to do it. When I first started at this internship, Sean (my mentor) showed me how to do an oil change and told me to give it a try, so I did. Then I was thinking about it and decided it wasn't a bad idea for a WLE project. If my advisory comes to my internship, then I can show her hands on on how to do an oil change; and maybe do a PowerPoint and explain every detail on how to do that. This will be a neat idea for a project because, not only will I get the experience but I can also show my advisory every step on how to change oil and maybe she can benefit from it. In the next 3-4 weeks, I will actually need to have a car to change oil on and maybe some more practice can do me more good, so I can do a accurate job. 

Blog - 3: My Role: Tuesday Oct 25th

My main responsibility is to assist my mentor, help him with things that he needs help with. For example, recycling, filing, organizing, changing oil or even help with cleaning an engine thoroughly; mostly hands on work. Every week I take out the trash, sweep the floors, help file papers and occasionally Sean would teach me something about cars, how to do this and that. Every Tuesday, I would wake up at 7 get ready by 8 and head out to my workplace, which is like a 5 minute ride. When I get there, I would check the trash cans and if there is trash, I would take it out. Sometimes Sean would ask me to assist him with work that needs to be done. So far I changed oil on a car and cleaned a 6 cylinder engine. What I mean by cleaning an engine is that I had to scrape the engine to make it clean and smooth. I used a tool that looked a lot like a chisel. And with this chisel, I would go around the engine scraping it. 

Blog - 2: My Mentor: Tuesday Oct 18th

My mentors name is Sean. His sister "Ally" is also like my mentor; she works in the office. I help her file documents and help clean up. Sean is the owner of "Neal's Mufflers," he is a car mechanic. Sean's and Ally's father, Neal, was the previous owner until he passed away. So the business was carried on to his kids, Sean and Ally.

Blog - 1 My Workplace: Tuesday Oct 11th

My workplace is called "Neal's Mufflers." Neal's Mufflers provides help for customers who are having problems with their car. They help with oil changes, replacing mufflers, help with the cars suspension, installing new brakes; basically any problems that a car might have. My workplace is a small business owned by my mentor. My workplace is located in Castro Valley on Redwood Road, right across "Trader Joe's." At my workplace, there is only 3 people, who have been to college and got their 2 year degrees, that assist customers; one of them is my mentor. My workplace is a family owned business therefore you would have to be part of the family to be employed. My workplace serves any customer who is having difficulties with their car. The strengths of my workplace is that it is a family owned business; they are there to help when help is needed. They are nice people who are eager to assist. Some weaknesses might be that some days have lesser customers than other days.