Entry #10 (Final Reflection)

Final Reflection: This internship experience is one that I am so thankful for. I learned soft skills and hard skills. Some soft skills it taught me was time management with my projects and how to work on those at an efficient pace to get things done on time, while still being my best work. I also learned how to lead and participate in meetings, as we had them once a week formally, and everyday informally. I took notes, contributed ideas, and communicated progress to important people and coworkers to share my input on issues or show my projects. I also learned how to answer the phone of a company effectively and deal with walk-in guests as I worked the front desk a few times. In these situations I had to fulfill requests on the spot, and guide these guests in the places they need to go. I was also the first face people saw when they walked into the church office, so it was important to be pleasant and respectful to keep the company's good image. I also learned how to work in a collaborative work space, in an office where the doors were always open. This meant it was super easy to ask my supervisors for help or just a quick question, and I really valued this during my internship. I also did some real world stuff that I didn't realize companies faced. I had to organize and cleanup the church's database system that had over 14,000 records. It was a tough task to handle but they needed someone to do it, so I taught myself quickly to fulfill the company's needs. It really helped them make things run smoother and faster and I'm so glad I could do that for them. The system their database was on was called ACS and it was pretty old, so I could get the functions down easily. I also used WordPress to do website redesigning, and I didn't realize that a large number of companies actually use WordPress for their websites, so I think learning how to use it was beneficial. It was easy to navigate, and was generally drag and drop features that we could add our own information to. I also helped out around the office doing all kinds of tasks such as ordering things they needed, delivering middle school kits to students' houses, and running errands to get supplies. I think this was such great work experience that I have learned numerous lessons from. I think I also grew as a person and my work habits are so much better. I definitely am grateful that AOIT gave me this opportunity, and I want to do this again in the future. 

Entry #9

Reflection: Some of the frustrations I felt were having trouble with WordPress. The whole process was fairly easy to pick up, but me and my coworkers were frustrated at the loading time WordPress had between screens. All of our blog posting and page creating took longer than it should have because we were waiting around for the page to load for half a minute every time. I think if this hadn't been a problem things could've gotten done a lot faster. But, this is out of our control so we adapted and did our best despite that. This problem also allowed us to multi-task and do other things at the same time. That helped us try to kill two birds with one stone and stay productive for the day. I also faced frustrations when the database had missing information that led us to have to contact people to find out these pieces of missing info. We solved these problems by staying organized on a spreadsheet with color coded cells in the places we needed to look further into. It was a good organizational strategy that helped us be accurate in all the database work. I didn't face any other frustrations, and things were smooth!

Entry #8

Date: 7/29/19
Activities: Last day, VBS organization and execution
Technical Information: None
Reflection: Beside technical skills, I have learned a lot about myself and what I want in my career. I have always wanted to be a teacher, but I knew that there are other occupations and tasks that I can see myself doing for a career. I have done DECA through high school, placed, and really excelled in that environment. Because of this, I could see myself working in a real-world business setting and doing really well doing that using my skills. This internship has let me actually put that idea to life in a business. I faced problems that businesses face on the daily, things they do frequently, strategies, etc. More specifically I learned that I can do really well in a flexible, open work environment. The relaxed feel that the church office had was comforting and it felt very natural and easy to carry out my day-to-day tasks. I have learned also that I do not work the best when given detail work-in the sense that I take my time on every thing, even if it's rather small. This hurt me when I realized I had a deadline to meet, and was spending too much time doing the little things that weren't on the final product. But, I have done better as I've gained experience in working efficiently and effectively.

Day-By-Day:
On Monday, it was my last day and also the start of VBS (Vacation Bible School). VBS is a big deal at the church, and there is a very large number of kids who participate in it. The kids followed along to some songs and easy games, and it was fun helping out in any way I can, even if it wasn't so technical. Then after the kids left around lunch I headed back to the office and gave my thank you notes and gifts to my supervisors. It was sad to see this internship come to an end! I also explained where I left off on my projects so they had a smooth transition when I left.

Entry #7

Dates: 7/22/19 -- 7/25/19
Activities: Organizing and creating kits, Website Re-Design, Delivery, Errands
Technical Information: Lulu.com, WordPress, Divi Builder, Google Sheets
Reflection: This experience as an intern at the church has definitely changed my views on my career path. I have always wanted to be a teacher, and I've had my heart set on having my own Kindergarten class. But this internship has opened my eyes to a more business mindset. I realized I really like working in an office-setting, and the atmosphere here is one that I can definitely see myself working in. Also, I have been able to use my skills and knowledge that AOIT has taught me in action at my internship. This includes my soft skills like professional interaction and some technical information like creating a weebly. I have definitely broadened my horizons by doing this internship and I really appreciate that the church has given me this. Because now I know that being a teacher, although I still want to do that, it isn't the only interest or only path that can be right for me. I am very thankful for this experience for exposing me to different work environments that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Day-By-Day:
On July 22nd, my supervisor texted me and told me to take the day off, as he was still recovering from the mission trip the past week, and his coworker who I also work closely with was going to be in late.
On July 23rd, I used the website Lulu to design boxes to send out to our rising 6th grade youth sort of like welcome kits. The website was really easy to use, and we were able to upload some of our photos to appear on the sides and top of the inside of the box. Then we had to organize what goes in the boxes and look at the T-shirt sizes on a Google Sheet. After lunch we worked on making posts for all the groups in Involve, and linking them to the Involve Page. It's been a while since I've used WordPress and I had some difficulties at first, but they were easy to figure out.
On the 24th, I spent the morning and lunch hour delivering the kits we made for the rising sixth graders. I also ran an additional errand for a coworker. It was very fun and it was nice to leave the office for a while and I felt very responsible, and happy they put their trust in me to do their errands. When I got back to the office I continued working on website stuff and navigating the permalinks to the correct blog.
On the 25th, we talked about how my last day will be next Monday. Because of this, we are doing last minute touches to the website and making sure the formatting for every post is the same. We did any finishing touches on the database such as finalizing the groups with pictures and their tags.

Entry #6

Dates: 7/15/19 -- 7/18/19
Activities: Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP)
Technical Information: None
Reflection: I was on a mission trip with the church this week, called AOSP. We are put in teams of about 12 people, all high schoolers and we go to a site and do repairs on peoples homes to make them safer, warmer, and drier. It is such a rewarding experience. For this reason I was not in the office this week. My duties have changed since I've first started this internship, because it went from having two big projects that I'm working on, being the database cleanup and website re-design, to more tasks that are needed at the moment by people in the office. Although those are still my two main projects that I do most of my work on, sometimes there are "odd jobs" and errands to be ran. Sometimes, there are also things coming up and are unfinished that we can finish and take the weight off these workers shoulders. For example, we are sending out welcome kits to the rising sixth graders who are going to be joining youth. I had the responsibility of making those and putting them together, with their correct T-shirt size, and focus on other details. So, yes I have been given more responsibility, as I also helped prepare big things for AOSP, that all the youth would be using It feels good to have more responsibility as this internship continues, and I love all the work I'm doing, and value it very much!

Entry #5

Dates: 7/8/19 -- 7/11/19
Activities: Running Errands, Re-Organizing, Filming, Converting Spreadsheets, Making Spreadsheets, Displaying Output
Technical Information: Crowd Control, GoPro, Blink Cameras, Google Sheets, Google Maps, Spotify, Stage Display
Reflection: I feel that the main contribution I have made to my internship is cleaning up the church's database. There are over 14,000 records on ACS (the software they use), and most are outdated, incorrect, or useless. There are lots of fields of information for people we have been missing, and narrowing the list of those people down is so rewarding. Every time a staff member hears that I am working in ACS, they are relived because it's something that needed to be done so badly. It makes me really proud to know that I am doing something for this organization (which is also my church) to help them so greatly. Also, just doing the tasks that need to be on most employees' sidebars. It feels really rewarding when you can take the weight off someone's shoulders, and learn some super valuable skills while doing it.

Day-By-Day:
On July 8th, we had to go reset the gym, where contemporary worship takes place, back to its usual setup because the floors were just redone. I also had to go run a few errands at Home Depot and Lowe's to get some wood and spray paint for an upcoming service project, which we are making crosses for. After lunch I had to write down all the teams and the members of each team for this service project on a big board in the office. It was very funny because people were shocked at how many names there were every time they walked by, and I felt very proud.
On July 9th, I had to help the other student leaders for our upcoming mission trip build crosses, which involved cutting wood and sanding it down, using liquid nails to attach and screw, then spray-painted them. In the afternoon, I worked on the concept of live-streaming GoPro footage onto our projector.
On July 10th, we worked on setting up and installing Blink security cameras in our hallways, that detect motion. We had to sync them through the app and connect them to the hub. We ended up having to order a second hub so we can reach more area. Then we made a to-do list and tackled the next task which was using Google Maps and Google Sheets to put a bunch of locations in a visual site map. I had to merge sheets from previous years into one master sheet, convert it to a csv file, and make a layer for each column to show up on a Google Map. It was my first time doing something like this, but I enjoyed it!
On July 11th, we worked on using a system on a TV to show for people on a stage. We worked with the Stage Display application on our computer and iPad and ran HDMI cables to show that on the TV. Then we installed more cameras using the Blink app. I also worked at the front desks answering calls and taking messages while our receptionist was out to lunch, and made some Spotify playlists for the mission trip.

Entry #4

Dates: 7/1/19 -- 7/4/19
Activities: Family Vacation
Technical Information: None
Reflection: This internship has met my expectations in numerous ways. I have gained so much office and real workplace experience, in a company that has so many functions. It has been really interesting also because I've been doing polar opposite things, in that one day I'm transferring information onto our hard-copy permanent records, and the next-day I'm using an online application to change the church website. I am also getting to sit-in on staff meetings, and communicate with most of the workers in the whole office. I have also learned some web designing techniques and concepts, which I wouldn't have learned without being given this opportunity. Overall, this experience has met my expectations, and I take these skills I have learned as very valuable ones, which will be used in any workplace I may end up. I can somewhat control if my internship is meeting my expectations, because there are so many functions at the church that I could take on different projects or help in different areas to get a different experience. I think this is such a great exploratory experience for me, and to dip my feet into the real workplace.

Entry #3

Dates: 6/24/2019 -- 6/27/2019
Activities: Database Cleanup, Record Changing, Inventory, Record Updating
Technical Information: ACS, Permanent Records, Google Docs
Reflection: My classroom experiences have not really prepared me for the internship thus far. That is because we simply don't do the things that businesses do in the classroom setting. For example, I've never worked on a database in the classroom like I'm doing at my internship. There are things like soft skills that I learn in the classroom and that AOIT has brought me, such as teamwork, professional speaking, and organizational skills. I am thankful that I have been given the opportunities from AOIT to learn and grow in these areas before many high schoolers even think about it. These soft skills have been used in staff meetings, presentations, and social media posts for my internship. I wish that I had learned more about web development in my classes. I am however on the programming track, and my knowledge of programming did not help me with the tasks I've done. I wish I could've gotten more experience working on web development, because that is one of the big tasks I'm doing in this internship. But, I feel like if this internship didn't expose me to the web development side of IT, I wouldn't have been able to learn about it and become an independent worker on it. So to sum it up, I was prepared for the soft skills of this internship, but I had to learn and adapt to some web development software and ideas that were completely new to me.

Day-By-Day:
June 24th was a big database cleanup day. There were almost 600 records (people) who did not have a primary campus, and we had to look through the change log and other information to classify their primary campus. We couldn't determine the primary campus of everyone however, and compiled an email with names to send out to the rest of the church family. In the morning, Ms. Robinson also came for a site visit.
On June 25th, I sat in on a staff meeting that lasted about 2 hours. It was very interesting to compare it to the last meeting I went to, since the new executive director lead his first meeting. We also had to update some address changes that were given to me from the congregational care director. We also had a switch from one database to another a few months ago, and had to make everyone who was missing a birth year, born in 1960. So in the new database, we changed everyone back to just not having a birth year.
On June 26th, we went through the recent confirmands and updated their membership status and confirmation date, just updating records for them. Tomorrow, we are going to put these in the permanent church record book. We also ran some searches on people who were missing contact information like phone numbers or email addresses, and are going to make those into spreadsheets and organize them.
On June 27th, we went through an old computer closet and identified and did inventory on what we have. It took quite a bit of time, as we also took pictures of everything so the people using the inventory list could relate a name to a picture. Then in the afternoon, we worked with permanent church records, and this was different because it was actually hard-copy information, compared to the electronic entry I've been doing thus far. We organized all the information in a Google Doc.

Entry #2

Dates: 6/17/19 -- 6/20/19
Activities: Database Cleanup, Website Design, Survey-Making, Inventory
Technical Information: ACS, WordPress, Divi Builder, SurveyMonkey, Google Docs
Reflection: The work atmosphere at the church is very relaxed, collaborative, energetic, productive. There are always church families or even some of the employees kids in the office, and the environment is lively. Also, doors are almost always open and conversation is present. With that being said it is very cooperative. The decisions are normally made by the person doing the work, but for questions for example I go to my supervisor. Also, when the executives are in the office they normally make decisions, but the employees already know what they have to work on and do their daily activities. However one thing I found interesting was that there was no outlined dress code. When I got the internship however, I was told to dress business casual. Also, since this is a church environment it is understood to be modest but comfortable. The work ethic is productive more so in the morning than after lunch time, but it is very relaxed and cooperative. I feel like this work atmosphere is definitely one that I can see myself working in in the future.

Day-By-Day:
On June 17th, I made the homepage for the website on WordPress. It was pretty easy with the Divi Builder, because I could insert the modules I wanted where I wanted them. I had trouble creating a button on an image for the "I'm New" page, so we had to do some HTML for that. Then, we learned the run-down of ACS, which is a church database system that the church uses, and it houses over 14,000 records. We learned how to do a search of the records, and set criteria for it, which we can then turn into a Google spreadsheet of what does or does not meet that criteria. We used it to find who does not have a primary campus on ACS, which we could then go in and do what we need to do to determine their primary campus. Also we identified and merged duplicate records, and flagged odd names. This was tedious and sometimes time-consuming, but I actually enjoyed it.
On June 18th, there was a staff meeting in the morning, which I was not required to go to, so we worked on making the Worship Blog page perfect, so we can duplicate it for the other pages we need: Connect, Involve, and Invest. After we made these pages, we started customizing each one with its respective menus, and made all the pages look pretty with sliding images. It was really fun, and I like website designing more than I thought I would.
On June 19th, I went to a college essay writing class at SAS, so I was not in the office, but checked in with my co-workers to continue to be up to speed.
On June 20th, I worked with the other intern on creating a survey for the congregation about the church's communication techniques. We used a website called SurveyMonkey, and it was very easy to use. We came up with questions to ask them and created the survey for our supervisor. Then we merged duplicates on the ACS database, which lowered the number of records total. Now that we are getting more in depth into our two goals for the summer, I am getting more excited!

Entry #1

Dates: 6/10/19 -- 6/13/19

Activities: Website Re-Organization, Installing Software

Technical Information: WordPress, Divi Builder

Reflection: This summer, I am working as an intern at Apex United Methodist Church. This organization is a non-profit religious one, so the things I come in contact with won't be like many businesses. I am assigned two main tasks to help the employees of the church, and help those who are new to the church. I will be doing a lot of internal work on the website, which is visited most frequently by visitors or potential members of the church. I will be making the site easier and more concise so they get the information they need without the hassle. My other big task is database clean-up, and dealing with approximately 14,000 records. This will help all the employees of the church when trying to find the information they need, to make sure it's accurate and up-to-date. The church office is set up in a relatively flat structure, in a way that I will be reporting to the Communications Director, who reports to the Church Lead Pastor who is an executive. But, sometimes when certain people are out of the office or on vacation for instance, I report to the Youth Ministry Team. I am very excited for these tasks of website re-design and database clean-up, to help the church with their business-like but yet unique functions. 

Day-By-Day

June 10th was my first day, and I started with installing some software on my laptop; which I'll be using everyday. Then we started looking into the website and what we could change with it, until I ate lunch with my co-workers and supervisor. Then, we did inventory on bandanas we have, and what we need to order for a future mission trip. It was not as scary as the stereotypical first days are, in fact it made me excited for my progress and growth this summer. 

On June 11th, I got to sit in on a staff meeting, which was really interesting for finding out how a business meeting runs, and how important teamwork and communication is in every business. I then downloaded WordPress, which is the software we use to edit the website, and was given a campus tour. Then I got a basic run-down tutorial of the Divi Builder in WordPress, which we've used for our previous pages. We also set up sticky notes on the whiteboard, to organize our thoughts and get a basic plan for the new website in visual form. It was very fun and collaborative.

On June 12th, we really started getting in depth with the website redesigning and finding out how we can filter certain pages on the site by categories like gender, age, etc. We also started making blog posts for each group the church has in the ministry directory. This is so we can put all those posts on one Worship Blog to have the info all in one place. 

On June 13th, we finished making all the blog posts for the groups which took a big chunk of time, and designed a final plan for the "I'm New" page and Home Page. It was really interesting to work on the website that the whole church will visit, and I enjoy continuing next week (since we don't work on Friday's!)