Thank You

Dear ASU TRIO Downtown-SSS,

I am very thankful your organization offered me an intern position and provided an opportunity for me to grow personally and professionally. I have learned so much and my knowledge of many subjects has grown. I was also challenged with the tasks you assigned to me, but the staff was very helpful and provided great advice on how to do something. I wanted to leave my mark at the organization I interned for and I feel that I have done that at TRIO. I will always be grateful to TRIO for not only supporting me, but for allowing me to contribute to the department and help it grow. I am so blessed to have met, worked with, and get to know the wonderful and dedicated people at TRIO. Your work truly benefits students and it is greatly appreciated. Phoenix is a stronger community because of your organization. GO TRIO!

Thank you,
Tessa Otero

Goals Mastered

According to my first post, I set four goals:

• Establish the Student Leadership Board (SLB)
• Maximize TRIO Devils
• Learn about grant writing
• Create a tutor/coach model

I have completed three of my goals. In the beginning of my internship, I read ASU TRIO Downtown-SSS' grant with the U.S. Dept. of Education and learned from Sylvia, the program director, about how grants should be written. The Student Leadership Board had its first meeting this week and we have six members on the board. Four members are current students and two are recent alums. TRIO Devils is planning for the fall semester and I am treasurer of the organization. I am still creating a coach/tutor model, but I am almost half way there. I will continue my internship till the first two weeks of August.

I believe I have mastered my goals and I'm on my way to mastering the last goal. My internship would not have been a success if I did not have great supervisors who really wanted me to learn and grow from this experience. I was able to accomplish a lot because I was guided on how to do certain tasks, but also given the freedom to accomplish each task in my own way. I am really glad I interned at ASU TRIO Downtown-SSS.

TRIO Devils

One of my internship projects is to help grow the student organization, TRIO Devils. This student organization is an extension of ASU TRIO Downtown-SSS and the purpose of the organization is to engage TRIO students, provide them with an opportunity to be involved on campus, and to create a family environment within the TRIO office. Recently, I just became the organization's treasurer and I am learning about asking for in-kind donations from businesses, how to do fundraising, and how to request funds from student government. I am excited to part of this student organization and love its purpose.

I never realized the skills students gain from taking on leadership roles in student clubs. I have only been active in student clubs in high school and I feel it was simpler to be a leader in those organizations. At ASU, students are really responsible with how they promote, fund, and operate the organization or club they are members of. I have also been offered a position as a policy member of the policy team with Undergraduate Student Government. I transferred to ASU last year and I am glad that I will be more involved on campus this coming school year.

SPA Career Services

On Friday, June 20th, I met with Maryjo Douglas Zunk from the School of Public Affairs Career Services to speak about my internship application for the MCLEAPS internship opportunity with Maricopa County. Maryjo reviewed my statement of interest and my resume to enhance them and hopefully increase my chances of being selected. I expressed my interest for two positions at the Office of Management and Budget and the Maricopa County Education Services Agency. I learned that applying for a position in public service requires one's resume to reflect the job description. Traditionally, I always submitted my standard resume and never revised it to ensure the employer's eyes were directed to what I wanted them to see in a few seconds. "You can direct them with your format," Maryjo said in our meeting. I never thought of directing employers with my format and will definitely apply this in my future applications.

Another lesson I learned was that my classroom projects can be applied when applying for a position. Before, I was always hesitant to use classroom experiences as examples because I was always focused to promote my work experience. For example, I have experienced adjusting a public budget for a county library in one of my classes, but I never thought to share that experience with employers. I think students attending the School of Public Affairs are really priveleged to have their own career services and it is offered for free. I have attached a link to the website for MCLEAPS below.

https://copp.asu.edu/students/mc-leaps-internship-program 

Strenghts of TRIO

The ultimate strength of TRIO SSS is the staff's commitment to ensure students succeed. This work requires a lot of dedication and belief in the mission. The goals of TRIO are to foster retention and graduation rates, foster an institutional climate supportive of success, engage students in the process of active learning, and encourage reciprocal teaching. Another goal is to provide services, opportunities, and resources that enhance personal skills and academic competencies. The goals of the organization are established, but there is not system that defines how to accomplish these goals. Every TRIO program is different and employees vary in personality and leadership style.

Recently, I contacted the director for the TRIO program at University of Arizona to inquire about their academic coaching and tutoring model and techniques. He replied and provided valuable information, but I was worried he would not help because TRIO is a grant and many institutions of higher learning compete for these grants. The competitiveness of TRIO grants is great and some programs do not really share their program components thinking it would be a disadvantage to their program. ASU TRIO programs share a lot of information with each other and all the staff members meet every month to give updates and share ideas. The staff work together to have TRIO's presence known at ASU and to grow their influence.

Student Leadership Board

One of my projects for my internship is to create a student advisory board called the Student Leadership Board (SLB). This past weekend, the applications were due and we received eight applications. This may not seem like a lot, but the day before they were due, there was only one application submitted. I was very worried that we would only have one application. SLB was created to provide an opportunity for students in TRIO to share ideas with TRIO staff and to gain student input about services and programs. This week, I reviewed the essays submitted and it was tough to rate them. There were many good applicants. I will not be able to interview the applicants because my work schedule conflicts with the scheduled interview times. I wish I was able to be there for the interviews.

I am really happy that one of my projects is more than halfway completed and I am witnessing the results of my work. I created the application using Google Form and advertised this opportunity to the students. I hope the board is effective and cannot wait to choose the finalists.

My Room

I have been living with my grandparents for the past two years. For eight months, I have not had a bed because it had a pile of stuff on it. This past weekend, I finally organized and thoroughly cleaned my room. I am so happy about that. I also got a new bed and no longer have a twin bed. I now have a full bed, yeah! It has taken me two years, but my room finally looks like a room and looks like an adult lives there. My grandmother is very happy as well because I am no longer sleeping on her nice couches. However, she is not sleeping on the couches because she falls asleep while watching television.

Since cleaning my room, I feel more organized and I wonder how I was able to function in a messy room. My room is still a working project because I need new tiles or carpet for the floor. The tile in my room has been there since it was built in the 1960s. I have a rug on the floor, but new tile or carpet is much needed. I finally painted the walls and the room now has character. I also need to purchase new closet doors because the closet doors in my room are broken and will not close correctly. New power outlets need to be installed as well. I purchased new outlets, but now I need to get one of the men in my family to finally install them. I still have some updates to do, but my room is almost complete. I am feeling very accomplished right now about my room.