GSMST Junior Fellowship Experience: Summer 2022

GSMST

JUNIOR FELLOWSHIP

EXPERIENCE Volume 1 • Issue 1 • July 21

JFE Coordinator Rebecca Robbins

Created By

Abraham Pena

What is JFE?

Pre Junior Fellowship Experience

The Junior Fellowship Experience takes place over 5-6 weeks where The Junior Fellowship Experience is a one-semester long students are tasked with working opportunity for students to grow their knowledge in a with a mentor in order to complete certain field and to experience what it is like to work in a projects or learn more about a specific career field through shadprofessional environment. Students also use this experiowing. Students are responsible ence to build their soft skills, to be able to present them- for finding this internship before selves in a more professional manner in and outside of the the experience begins. This can be through opportunities that are classroom. provided by GSMST, or the student can search for an internship by themselves. GSMST has partnered with several organizations in order to provide these opportunities to students including Georgia Tech, the University of North Georgia, the Gwinnett Youth Commission, and many more. Students are also responsible for creating a resume and cover letter in order to apply to these opportunities, and some of these internships require an in-person interview. Several of GSMST's classes help prepare the students for this through presentation practice and writing practice several days throughout the year.

Junior Fellowship Experience Onboarding

Post Junior Fellowship Experience

In order to pass the Junior Fellowship Experience, students are required to take a series of classes over 4 days which helps develop soft skills and prepare the students for their Junior Fellowship Experience. During this summer, this experience is 4 days, but during the Fall and Spring semesters, these classes take place over 4 weeks.

During these four days, students will learn the process behind JFE and what they need to do in order to be successful at their internship.

Students have the opportunity to collaborate with other students in projects such as presentations, where students choose a topic to present, and they will be graded on their ability to present in front JFE instructors and fellow students. Preparation for the Junior Fellowship Experience involves refining and polishing the students Resumes and Cover Letters in order for them to be able to seek future opportunities, which may be their Senior Capstone Experience.

At the end of the Junior FEllowship Experience, students are required to create deliverables which will be used to both summarize their experience and to also help build soft skills through presentations and speeches.

These deliverables include a FInal Presentation, which students will present during a later semester in front of a class of rising Juniors, in order to share their experiences and to provide any advice to the students. There is also an Eleva-

tor Speech, which students use to describe their Junior Fellowship Experience when someone asks "What did you do for your JFE?" All of this helps build those speaking skills which are crucial for life in the real-world workplace. As well, the students are responsible for creating an abstract and ePoster which both summarize the students' experiences. These are then compiled onto the Junior Fellowship Experience eSymposium, where they can be viewed along with photos of several internships taken by the students.

Maneet Shah Code Ninjas

Maneet Shah interns at the Code Ninja Suwanne Branch and works as a Code Sensei. He learns the coding processes behind languages such as Scratch and JavaScript in order to be able to better teach the children who come to Code Ninjas to learn how to code.

"Why did you choose this posi- there and for the first 15 minutes, tion?"

I’d work on my personal projects which are assigned to us by our I was interested in the Computer mentor. Then, once students start Science field but I wasn't too ex- coming in I start helping them. perienced so I wanted something When the students are caught up that I could build my knowledge and know what to work on, I can off of so maybe next year for my work on my personal projects.

Senior Capstone Experience I can do something more complicated "What skills have you develfrom the experience I gained here. oped throughout this experience?"

"How has your relationship been with your mentor?"

I've gained multiple skills at Code NInjas. My coding skills have imMy communication with my men- proved as throughout this protor has been great, whenever I cess I've used scratch and java need mentor evaluations done script. Although I took AP Comor time logs verification, I just puter Science Principles in school need to message her on Slack and it was during a digital year, so I she's willing to do what I need wasn't really sure how the skills within the hour and she's been worked in reality. These skills of great with the communication using Scratch and Java helped and she's a great mentor overall. me fortify my base of how things work so I can build off that when I "How do you prepare yourself move forward. I've also mainly imfor every-day work?" proved my communication skills as you have to speak to a variety I work 4 hours in the evening from of age groups, so it's not always 3PM to 7PM, three days a week. speaking to someone who knows As we don't have any homework what you're talking about or or assignments outside of class , has the same experience as you. it's very relaxing. What I do is I get

"What have you learned in this experience that you can apply outside of the classroom?"

One thing I really learned that although I already knew, I had never experienced, is that in the professional workplace, its important that everyone does their job so that the responsibility does not fall on somebody else to complete.

Everything is like a domino effect, so if you don't do your part then someone has to do more. In contrast, in school for most assignments you do your own thing.

Steve Doan Georgia Tech Math Department

Steve Doan interned at the Georgia Institute of Technology Mathematics Department. Their work included graph theory and coding key definitions and examples from a textbook into Latex.

“Before starting this experience, 5.13 of a textbook provided by how did you prepare for it?” our mentor. We then have to code the key definitions, examI didn't really have any coding ex- ples, and definitions into Latex. perience and it's really hard to understand a computer program at “How has your relationship first, so the first thing I did was I with your mentor been?” looked up some simple Latex tutorials, and I got used to simple Every week, we have a zoom meetcommands such as loading text ing on Monday where during the and adding pictures. I also re- meetings we present our coding viewed previous math and spent from the week. In Latex, we code time reading practice textbooks. in the format of powerpoint presentations called Beamer Slides, “What were you worried about and so far the meetings have coming into this experience?” been informal and fun because we learn a lot of new things I was especially worried about . how I would have to communicate with my mentor because the experience is digital, and I also had to make sure that my computer was set up and ready to handle all the intense coding that was required for this experience.

“What are your primary duties and responsbilities during this experience?”

Every week we have responsibilities, so for example, this week I have to read section

“What software or equipment have you used for this experience?”

This experience was mainly just LaTeX and Zoom Meetings. LaTeX is a computer program that is used to code our daily textbooks and math worksheets. In there, we can code mathematical equations that are typically hard to code in other language programs. Typically, we code complicated mathematical notations which we try to sum down and paraphrase for our presentations.

"What do you wish you knew before starting this experience?"

I wish I knew how complicated it was going to be because initially I thought we were only learning math, but it turns out we had to code a lot in LaTeX and we had to understand a lot of complicated mathematical notation which is usually outside of the high school curriculum.

Calvin Tran

Gwinnett Enviromental and Heritage Center Calvin Tran interned at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, where there are summer camps and children from all over Gwinnett County come to the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center for a new experience.

Calvin was one of the counselors who helped take care of the children and to manage the camps.

I just hoped to gain that profes“What are your primary duties “How have your relationships and responsibilities during this been with your co-workers and sional experience in a working environment since this is my first mentor?” experience?” time actually working, and so I Most of it involves taking care This is one of my favorite parts was just hoping to gain a sense of of the children, so we help them about this internship every- structure, schedule, showing up whenever they need anything so one generally has been real- and leaving on-time. I also hoped like when they do Arts & Crafts ly nice to work with. I wouldn't to gain some soft skills I was workthey might be confused. We go say there's anyone who's awk- ing with children, so I could build around helping them with that. If ward to talk with, and it's a real- my patience. Maybe speaking as I they need to use the restroom or ly easy-going environment. Ev- would be talking to children, those something else, we help take them eryone wants to speak with you. types of things. It's not an academout to wherever they need to go. It's really friendly and there's no ic sort of internship, so I wouldn't We also take the children from the need for you to be worried about be increasing my knowledge a lot. car to the building during drop-off any social interaction overall.

“How have you changed as a and as well during pick-up. To sum it up, we're just there for them. “What were you worried about person outside of developing before you started interning?” hard skills?”

I was kind of worried about working with children. I was looking forward to the internship, so I wasn't worried about it a lot.

I just wasn't sure what to expect as I hadn't had that much experience working with children, but I think that worry went away as the first week started.

“What did you hope to learn about or accomplish before this experience?”

I've maybe gone to be more patient, as I appreciate kids more now. I find them really adorable as they do really cute stuff. I really appreciate them more. I also find it easier to talk to strangers now, as often I walked around making conversation with kids or strangers. I think I've become more sociable in that aspect.

Sarah Ninan

Gwinnett Department of Community Services Sarah Ninan really enjoys history and hands-on experiences. For her Junior Fellowship Experience, she made a display for the Gwinnett History Museum on textiles and incorporated the diversity of Gwinnett into it.

“What position do you hold at your internship and what are you duties?”

A lot of our responsibilities here are just meeting with our mentor, discussing with my mentor what we are doing for the day. Recently I had to put together a materials list for my display. I had to research textiles within the constraints I was given, for example, I had to use materials my mentor had already used. I also had to include the diversity of Gwinnett, as that's something the county has been wanting to push, and I had to make it tactile in order to make it interesting for visitors. My responsibility was to research textiles, narrow it down to a theme, and then draw up a design for my display. Now we are in the phase of getting my materials and assembling them.

“How has your relationship been with your co-workers?”

I really enjoy talking with my co-workers. I've noticed that a lot of those who work here are people who are very involved in the community. I've found a lot of peo-

was so resource-heavy at least in the beginning portions. I had to figure out how to read sources, pick out the biggest pieces of information, and pick a central theme. Science Fair also helped me as I had to find the right materials, draw up a design, and create a proposal.

They were informal, but I still had to organize my ideas for my mentor. The brainstorming sessions “Are there any previous classes from Science Fair really helped or experiences that have helped me on how to articulate my ideas. you with this internship?”

“What has been your favorite Science Fair has helped a part of the experience so far?” lot because this experience I think I really enjoy where I work and how flexible my schedule is.

The area where I work is so beautiful and the Seminary is an old building and very creaky, but it's still a really cool place. Also, downtown Lawrenceville is a really nice area. I was able to walk down there with another intern to the historic Town Hall and that was really fun. Everything here is really close together and it's a nice area. There's a nice courtyard outside of the building, where I can sit and take a break. We are also right next to the Isaac-Adair House. ple are retired teachers and have a passion for history, and they want to do something after they retire from teaching. I've met a lot of people from a lot of different ages so they all have different experiences so it's very interesting. People here are really laid back and treat each other with a lot of respect, so I really like my coworkers.

Katha Patel

Georgia Tech Psychology Department Katha Patel interned as a research assistant at the Georgia Institute of Technology Psychology Department. She helped out in the foundation lab by interviewing participants to see how commuting affects their spatial navigation abilities.

“How has your relationship been with your mentor?”

This was fairly independent in a way because I haven't met my mentor, it was all done digitally. I have a good relationship , the communication is stable and consistent.

The mentor that is in charge of the research assistants has been really nice and I can go to her with questions. It's been a really good experience and relationship.

“What were you worried about before starting this experience?”

I was mainly intimidated because I limited knowledge psychology and conducting institutional studies, so I was very intimidiated, nervous and scared about the experience. However, I was still very excited for the internship because I was looking to get a research internship outside of school after last year, so this was the perfect oppurtunity for me. Overall, I was really excited to meet new people and learn more about research ethics and psychology, which is what my internship was about.

“What skills have you developed throughout this experience?”

I actually learned a lot about time management and this is because of the flexible hours, and the drive too and from my internship. I wanted to complete my tasks faster because I didn't want to drive through Atlanta traffic during rush hour, so to do that I had to learn to maximize my team during the participant session so I would do all the tasks I needed to do like upload documents, transcribe interviews,

and create payment documents while the participants were doing the activities that were related to the interview.

“What has been your favorite part of the experience so far?”

I really enjoyed going through study protocol and being able to interact with the participants because during the interview I get to learn more about their spatial navigation stories and it's really not formal, it's more informal, so I'm able to talk to participant and gain their experience so it's pretty intereting because I really enjoy it.

“What do you wish you knew before starting this experience?"

That it would not be so individual work, I thought it would be more individual , as I thought I wouldnt be interacting with participants and interviewing them. I wish I knew that because I did not want to have an internship where I would talk with a lot of people because I wanted more individually paced work, so I wish I knew that.

Julian Varga PRO Granite

Julian Varga interned at PRO Granite in Atlanta. The business is responsible for accepting customer requests on granite orders, measuring, cutting the slab of granite cut from a quarry, polishing the pieces, and installing the pieces of granite into homes. Julian is responsible for going to client's houses, measuring the space for the granite should ,and customizing the order with the customer.

“Why did you choose this spe“What did you hope to learn about or accomplish during this cific position?” experience?”

I wanted to be able to have a I deal with a lot of business things, flexible schedule and I wantso I get to look at the inner work- ed to be able to have a position ings of the business and how it's where I know what I'm going to run. Specifically because I work in learn about businesses because tandem with the boss and with that's what I want to go into. a lot of experienced people in I wanted to get that business the workplace. Initially I wanted perspective where I could get fito get that business perspective nance details and somewhere I as in like, this is what is need- could get in close because speed to run a viable business, you cifically I knew that my mentor need these qualities. I learned would provide me opportunities about fluent workflow, where ev- to get into every single detail. erything is efficient and quality.

“What software or equipment did you learn/use throughout this experience?”

“What is your relationship with your coworkers like?”

I do a lot of work with this one guy, he's my partner, I go everywhere with him, I've learned so much from him. His name is Alberto, and over this past month and a half we've grown together a lot as we're in the car a lot driving from job to job and we're talking, things like that. With him, I work so well with him, I work incredibly well with him. Especially on measuring jobs, because in certain situations we need templates. It takes a lot of time, but me and my partner have become super efficient and we've gotten really good at them.

“How will this experience help One of the biggest ones is Quick- you towards a future career or Books. QuickBooks is something goal?” that my boss uses for financing, managing invoices, investments, I plan to become an investment jobs, he uses it for the entire banker, so one of the key skills outlook. He primarily uses it to you need to have in that field is schedule with employees when you need to be able to talk to custo do specific tasks such as cre- tomers. That's something I feel I ate a template for a customer. was definitely able to do and gain We don't use a lot of computers throughout this internship. Esin the workplace besides calling pecially being a salesperson and and QuickBooks for financing. selling more expensive options.

Genesis Cruz GSMST Digital Media Department

Genesis Cruz interned at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology under the guidance of Chris Gegen, who is one of the leaders of the Digital Media Club at GSMST. She primarily works on animations and video editing, and she got the opportunity to work at Summer STEM, an event where rising freshmen are introduced to GSMST. “How is your relationship with your mentor?”

“Are there any previous classes or experiences you had that prepared you for this experiMy mentor is really awesome, ence?” he's super cool about everything and he's really honest about giv- My digital media class and the ing feedback. He likes to be really fact that I was in the club helped supportive and I appreciate that. a lot because that was where I He's also really good at his emails was introduced to the internship. and he always has something to say whether it's good or and “How did you prepare for this he makes sures you understand experience before starting it? what you are supposed to learn.

Before we even started the Junior Fellowship Experience, we “What are your primary duties/ had to plan out what we wantresponsibilities?” ed to do, and two of the weeks I do a bunch of animations, and I get to choose what I want to animate. For my internship, I decided to work on different news intros for the school, like before morning announcements there's an animation that goes on and I chose to do some of those. I also worked on video, and I also used some video from my vacation in Florida.

I also was able to use other Adobe programs that I learned from my digital media class my sophomore year. I just worked using different Adobe Products to make a video.

out of the five to six weeks I had to do I got to go in-person at the school and work with Camp Gegen and Summer STEM. For three of the weeks I had to work at home and I got to choose my work schedule. I got to plan out what I would do every week. Like one week I would work on, another week I would work on research, and the other week I worked on extra stuff I wanted to work on.

"What have you learned in this experience that you can apply outside of the classroom?"

Definitely organization, I had to depend on myself a lot to make sure I did stuff on time, turning in work, making sure my mentor knows what I did that day, since I'm not in-person. Also, my own professional skills as I had Zoom meetings with my mentor and I had to be professional to make sure I knew what I was saying. Definitely basic skills, I got the chance to work on those a lot throughout this internship.

Chason Bell Gwinnett County Government

Chason Bell interned at the Gwinnett County Government and he worked under a Outreach project manager, and his project for the internship was to develop a way to engage teenagers with the department of Planning & Development.

"Why did you choose this posi- dress up in business casual everytion?" day. Also, I had to communicate with a bunch of different peoMy mom said that a lot of my ple ranging from my co-workers family is into governmental po- to when I had to contact people sitions. For example, one of my in the Board of Commissionaunts is a lawyer and my uncle ers Office, who are in charge of is a politician. I wanted to learn Gwinnett County as a whole. Bamore about the government on sically it taught me how those a local level. Also, the Planning & specific interactions should go Development department has ur- and when I should be more proban planners, and in the future fessional and when I can be a litI thought about being an archi- tle more laid back. It helped me tect or civil engineer, and urban navigate the workplace easily planning goes along with that. and communicate with others.

"How has your relationship been with your mentor?"

It's been really great, she did go on vacation for a week but she kept up communication while she was on vacation. Everyday, she would come to my desk to check if I was doing okay.

“How will this experience help you towards a future career or goal?”

I learned a lot more about the opposite side of civil engineering, because I know in class we learn a lot about the actual building process, as in class this year we did a bridge building project. Howev"What skills have you develer, we never talk about the othoped throughout this experier side's building constraints and ence?" building codes, so this internship introduced me to people who go I feel that the biggest skill I gained over those plans and make sure throughout this experience is my they meet those codes. They professionalism because I had to also make sure that the struc-

ture is viable for the public, and that they want the project to be there. I thought that it was interesting to show another side of what my future goals could be.

"What do you wish you knew before starting this experience?"

Before I started interning, I wish I knew that my mentor was open to me picking what I wanted to do because the first couple of week she asked people if I could shadow them. It wasn't until the second two weeks where I realized I could be reaching out to people myself.

Isaiah Iwayemi Lovin Elementary School

Isaiah Iwayemi interned at Lovin Elementary School as a Technology Assistant, where he assisted faculty and students with any updates needed to computers or troubleshooting problems.

mentor, for example learning “What are your primary duties “How have you relationships and responsibilities during this been with your co-workers and many new applications which could be beneficial when using mentor?” experience?” technology. I hoped to gain even One of my main tasks as a tech My relationship with my mentor more knowledge about technolassistant was to update comput- was very good as he was nice and ogy I had before starting this exers and laptops that students and I was able to ask questions with- perience. At the end of this inteachers turned in the previous out feeling afraid and I felt com- ternship, I did learn a lot of things school year, and get them ready fortable in my work place and I because my mentor taught me. for the summer school and the felt I could ask him anything. This next school year. Also, I was tasked made me work more effectively “What software or equipment with helping any new teachers as he helped me a lot with many have you used for this experithat came in to pick up new lap- of my assignments and I learned ence?” tops. I also had to help set up new many new things from my menclassrooms for teachers which tor, and I'll be grateful for that. An application I used was called Active Directory for tracking every included installing new printers or monitors in those classrooms. “What were you worried about device in the school. Every device before you started interning?” in the school was on that application, so if a teacher wanted to I was worried it was going to be check out a device, I had to help very stressful and I thought I was them log the device into the sysgoing to have many tasks piled tem. It was helpful as I was easion top of each other. That was ly able to track who the teacher not the case as my mentor was was and what device they were very relaxed and he assigned me checking out, as it was on one list. tasks in a reasonable amount of time, so I could complete them.

“What did you hope to learn about or accomplish before this experience?”

I hoped to

learn a lot from my

Class Of 2024

2022 Summer Junior Fellowship Experience

JFE Coordinator Rebecca Robbins

Created By

Abraham Pena