Photo Essay

The Beginning of the Day

I walk up the stairs and look up to see a building containing LARC(Language Acquisition and Research Center), my internship location. LARC is located at SDSU and I have been and will continue interning here for the length of this semester. As I approach the building I wonder what I will be working on during the day. After walking up to the fourth floor I try to mask my deep breaths from the 10 flights of stairs. After I reach the fourth floor, I walk down the long hallway watching college students walk to class. As I watch these college students walking to and from class ideas of what college will be like pop into my head. Once I reach Room 410 all the thoughts about college go away and my work day has begun.

Distractions at the Workplace

I walk over to one of the far desks and start working on one of the many instruction sheets I have to do. While working, I also have to help students that come in with any problems they may have, which distracts me from my work and stops my train of thought. After an hour working on instruction sheets, a college student comes up and asks, “How do you use Skype?”, I follow her to the computer she is working at and guide her through the different programs for voice recording and video editing. After she understands how to use the programs and can finish her work by herself, I go back to my desk and continue the instruction sheets that I have to do. At around 11 a.m. a teacher walks in and informs Jonathon and me that a class will be coming. To get ready for a class we have to get certain things prepared such as the projector, computer operating systems working correctly and opening applications necessary for the lesson.

Class has Begun

The class has begun and the teacher has let Trevor give a basic workshop on how to use the program Skype. Jonathon is demonstrating how to use the programs on the instructor station while Trevor is explaining what the class is supposed to do. At this time I am walking around taking pictures of the class and answering questions people may have such as, “Why can’t I hear my partner?” and “Why cant I hear anything?” Those are 2 very common questions that are generally answered by turning the volume up or someone accidentally clicking the mute button on their microphone. Once the class has finished their assigned task we show them a program called Fetch. Fetch is used as a “shared documents” folder for turning in assignments, which we them use to put their videos in before they leave. After the class leaves and the room is quiet again, we turn the projector off and leave Room 410 heading towards Room 419.

Meeting with our Mentor

After leaving Room 410, Jonathon and I walk down the hall and reach Room 419, this is the open access room for all college students who attend SDSU and where the offices of my mentor and many of my colleagues are located. We walk to the back of the room, past the rows of computers and hard working students and walk into the office of our mentor, Trevor Shanklin. We inform him that we are leaving for lunch and what work we have accomplished this morning. After hearing our progress he says “good job” to Jonathon and I which I then head out, past the rows of computers, and go down the long hallway and walk down the stairs until I get to my car.

End of the Day Routine

Upon Returning from lunch, I go and head down the hall again towards room 419. Here I work with a few of my colleagues on the website and see how everything is working. Room 419 is where I get all the information on what I need to change on my instruction sheets and how we will get everything together. After getting input from my coworkers I spend the next hour critiquing my work and proofreading it with Jonathon. Once my work is done, I talk to Trevor once more. Once I am done talking to Trevor I leave Room 419, walk through once again the long hallway, down the steps and end my day with a quiet drive home.