Blog Post 11

I think my internship at KJR has prepared me for success in college in a couple of different ways. First, this internship has been full of long days and hard work, which is something Im sure I will experience very frequently in college. It only helps that I am getting more practice now learning to work hard and long on different projects. Additionally all this hard work has brought along with it work that seems impossible in the moment, but I have forced myself to find a solution and overcome it. In college I know that many situations like this will indeed arise, and my parents will not be around to give advice.  It will be up to me to overcome these challenges myself, and by doing just this at my internship, it has given me good practice for when I have to do it more in college. Also, this internship has forced me to socialize with my fellow co-workers. Though I do socialize with my friends in my personal time quite a bit, socializing in an entirely different environment with totally new people is very different, and exactly what college will be. In college everything and everyone will be totally new, so making friends is something I, and all the other freshman will have to work at. I believe this internship will give me more experience into making friends in an entirely new environment. Other than those two, I am short of anything else my internship will necessarily help me with, not because my internship has been a waste of time or a bad experience. No, its because I really don’t know what to expect for college. I can speculate all I want, but I only will really begin to understand what college life is like the second my dad walks out my dorm room and I start my life as an independent. So that’s what why I don’t know what else my internship will help me with in college, but I’m sure I will realize it helps me on a lot more than I wrote here.

Blog Post 10

Even though in all my blog posts I have talked a lot of good about my internship, how its rewarding, or how I really enjoy going to it everyday, there are naturally some aspects of the internship I don’t particularly enjoy. And though many of the things they have me doing I find interesting there are other tasks that seem very trivial and boring. The first of these boring tasks that do not enjoy at all I got on my second or third day on the job. The task was to take one of the radio’s banners, cut out the part that says “950 AM”, throw away that banner, and then literally past that cut out over the part that said “102.5”, for the radio station had lost that number and now only had 950 AM. It was essentially a way for the station to attempt to save money, because doing this would mean they would not have to design and purchase new banner just because one of their station numbers were changed. This task was surprisingly very time consuming, and I ended up just doing that for two hours. It was extremely boring and it was obvious that I was not getting anything from this experience. Out of all the tasks I have been given at KJR, this by far has been the worst. The other task I have not enjoyed at KJR is cleaning out the prize closet. The prize closet is where we file away different prizes so that I receptionist can find them and give them to people coming to pick them up.  Cleaning out the prize closet entails going through each and every while, which there are a lot of, and seeing if any have been sitting their for over three months, or if they are tickets to concerts that have already happened. In either of those two cases they are removed and put into a “Never Picked Up” box. This work is extremely tedious and takes a very long time, and is also not rewarding at all. It is these sort of tasks, the ones that take a very long time, but are very easy and don’t give me any good experience, that I really don’t like for I feel as though I am totally wasting my time. Though the way I deal with doing these tasks is I remember that these trivial tasks are actually very crucial to the radio station, and someone has to do it. When I think about it like that, it helps me get through the less enjoyable tasks.

Blog Post 9

When taking an internship at KJR sports radio, I did consider the fact that one day I may want to work in a radio station similar to that of KJR. So I thought this internship would give me a good idea of what it was like in this work environment. I already know though that if I was to work at a radio station in the future, my place would not be in promotions. It is evident to me that my writing skills would not find any good use in the promotions branch of radio. Though almost everything else about promotions I enjoy, and would otherwise want to possibly pursue as a careers in the near future. The all around vibe I get in the promotions department is a very collaborative one, rather than competitive. Everyone is working together in some way, and we are all a team really. Even if I am just making phone calls, I know that probably three other interns are doing the same, all so that all the prizes won can be filed and picked up in an orderly faction. Many times I have teamed up with other interns to tackle larger projects. I remember one time a fellow intern and I had to do extensive research into the top college prospects for the NFL. By combining our mutual knowledge of football, we were able to successfully work together and finish the project quickly and produce quality work. This feeling of collaboration is something I really admire about KJR promotions. In addition, everyone seems to get along with their co-workers at KJR really well. It seems that most the people who work their have befriended their co workers, no matter how high or low they were in the chain of command. As an unpaid intern, probably the bottom of the food chain, I received the same respect as an executive would. This have the office a very relaxed and friendly vibe that I have really enjoyed. As far as the relationship between customers and staff I found mixed results. Most of the communication between the two is over the phone, and while on the phone all of the workers sounded very friendly, though occasionally once the phone was hung up they would give their very honest opinion about the customer they just talked with, and when I say honest I mean they would let the office know they didn’t like the person they just talked to. I think because making calls is 90% of what they do in the promotions department, the workers are naturally tired of it, and are more easily set off by a rude, or unintelligent customer. This did bother me a little bit, but for the most part the workers were very genuine to the customers. So I couldn’t really see myself working in the promotions department of a radio station in the future, but really only because I can’t use my communication skills. Almost everything else about sounds appealing to me.  

Blog Post 8

Social media has completely revolutionized the way that we communicate with each other. Now anyone, anywhere, at anytime can be contacted via twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and numerous other social networking sites. Social networking has also changed the way business is done. Now a businessman in New York can attend a presentation or interview in Dubai, without ever having to leave his desk through Facebook video chat. Social media has also proved very useful for various businesses, for social networking has proven to be a great way to promote a business. Also, you can find almost everyone on social media, which has allowed childhood friends, or loved ones who live overseas to connect with one another and get a look into what is going on in their life. Social media has brought along a lot of positive things to it, though as with almost all technology, there are some negative repercussions. I think that with so many ways to communicate through social media it has begun to take the human element out of communication. Instead of meeting face to face, or at least talking on the phone, many choose to communicate through the keys on a computer. True, it is more convenient, fast, and less intimidating then talking face to face with someone, but communicating through social media takes away from the real human connection during communication because it is so impersonal. Also, everyone needs practice talking to people in person, for it is very important to have good speaking skills in the business world, and just life in general. I believe social media has become an easy alternative for people to communicate, for when chatting online or sending an email you always have time to think of what to say, and usually your in your own comfortable environment. Though, the easy thing is not always the right thing to do. Now people are not getting that same practice of socializing face to face as they would otherwise, thus many are not very good at retaining real-time conversations. For me, there have been a few times when I would just rather email my boss then have a potentially awkward interaction face to face.  I don’t think my use of social media has totally undermined my ability to retain real-time conversations, but I definitely think I would be better at it if that was the only way I chose to communicate. I actually try to call during business situations, for I believe that calling someone or talking to them face to face, even though it may not be the most convenient, is the most effective way of communication. At my internship at KJR I actually have never used social media in my work there. All of the communication I have done there has either been face to face or over the phone. I am very grateful of this because it will only give me more practice for having real-time conversations.

Blog Post 7 DWYL

The concept of DWYL is a very good thing, and something that everyone should strive for. “Do what you love”, it just sounds like happiness, the perfect middle, where you make money doing something that you would want to do even if there was no pay. And of course in a perfect world, everyone could achieve the concept of DWYL. Though, as we all know, this world is far from perfect, and most people in the world do not achieve the concept of DWYL. So, as for my thoughts on DWYL, I think it is a great concept and is something that everyone should strive for. Though, it can be an unrealistic goal and to make it realistic you have to work hard at jobs you really don’t love.  Also, even though it is not at all detrimental and rather good for one’s well being, I don’t believe achieving DWYL is essential to it. For example, when I worked at metropolitan market I really didn’t like it. Everyday I went I couldn’t wait for the day I decided to quit. Though at the same time I had a strong feeling of achievement and confidence after a long week of work, and I found comfort in the fact that I was producing an income. So was my job at metropolitan market detrimental to my well being even if I didn’t like it? The answer is no, because it brought me many other things like confidence, an income, and experience in the workforce. Many people will say that they don’t like their jobs, but they will still say that they are happy. Happy they have a job in this tough economy, happy that they can pay for a roof over their head and for food in their bellies, and happy that they are being productive with their lives even though it may get boring.  Though I was happy during my job at metropolitan market, there were many times that I did not feel so happy. I noticed that some times I felt trapped, trapped by the schedule I was given for working, that I was no longer in control of my life. This was  a very sobering concept I ran into. Though, during my summer job, which consists of laying in the sun renting out paddleboards on lake Washington, I didn’t feel this way at all. Even though I did have a job that restricted me from things I might otherwise do, I didn’t have that same feelings of being totally trapped as I did at Metropolitan market. So, in all, I believe that DWYL is not necessarily something that everyone will achieve or even need in their life. Though, DWYL can free you from some of the restricting and detrimental feeling you get from doing what you don’t love.