Today was the day I began on a different story. I was assigned to write about the Chinese Ph.D. student, Ms. Yanyan Guo, who recently won the Langmuir Award in Research Excellence.
This was a new mission. I had to research what the Langmuir Award was, who Ms. Guo was, and find out who to contact. My first bets were to find emails of all of these people, the professor who nominated her, graduate office, etc.
It was not that difficult to find information about the award; I had a hard time with patience waiting for email replies. It wasn't until after work was over that I received emails from both Dr. Zhang and Ms. Guo. We set the meeting for Thursday at 1 p.m. This worked well with my scheduled interview at 2 p.m. with Dr. Matt Heizler.
I wrote most of the story for the Langmuir Award through the research I picked up about it. Now for the next day to interview these people.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Day Two
I had an interview with Annine Gabaldon at Physical Recreation today. She was my second interview for the Student Association Appreciation Awards. I was quite happy getting her interviewed. My previous work with Annine has been with the Student Association and she is familiar with me and my line of business.
I spent a good half-hour interviewing Annine and getting some good quotes for the article.
I also went to Thom to give him some more updates on my progress. I finally got a return call from Dan Jones and scheduled a meeting with him for the article about La Raj. It's important for the Tech community to know what goes on on our campus.
In the meantime that I was giving Thom updates, I received an email from Vanessa Barela about the Student Appreciation Awards--she's on vacation in Europe. So an interview in person or via phone isn't going to work. I replied back requesting that she send in a couple of good quotes, such as why she was inspired to help, and etc.
Thom and I corresponded via email and first thing tomorrow morning we'll look at my first article for the Public Information Office.
I spent a good half-hour interviewing Annine and getting some good quotes for the article.
I also went to Thom to give him some more updates on my progress. I finally got a return call from Dan Jones and scheduled a meeting with him for the article about La Raj. It's important for the Tech community to know what goes on on our campus.
In the meantime that I was giving Thom updates, I received an email from Vanessa Barela about the Student Appreciation Awards--she's on vacation in Europe. So an interview in person or via phone isn't going to work. I replied back requesting that she send in a couple of good quotes, such as why she was inspired to help, and etc.
Thom and I corresponded via email and first thing tomorrow morning we'll look at my first article for the Public Information Office.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Day One
My first day at the Office for Advancement was quite interesting. I arranged my paperwork in order to get paid for the job. Thomas Guengerich is my internship boss and he is the Public Information Officer for New Mexico Tech.
After getting the paperwork to Thom, we discussed a few topics of interest to begin writing articles on behalf of the school. I jotted down a few ideas, among them were the Student Association Appreciation awards, academic awards, and graduate awards.
Since this was my first day on the job, it was kind of slow because Thom needed to talk to a few other colleagues to get more ideas and information. We talked to Kathy Hedges, she updates the Tech website and calendar. She gave some more ideas, such as the construction effort being done in La Raj.
Thom gave me two assignments to work on. SA Appreciation Awards and Construction Update on La Raj. I emailed the three award winners and requested an interview with them, and emailed Dan Jones, architect at Facilities Management to get information about La Raj. I received a response from Dr. Claudia Wilson thirty minutes after sending her the request for an interview--which I promptly responded and interviewed. She was leaving for D.C. the next day and it would not be until next week that I could catch her.
I asked Thom for some guidance and advice in interviewing people. I may be good at talking and approaching people, but I'm shy at asking the right questions and getting the right responses from people. I don't want to misquote them or misrepresent their thoughts in my writing. He suggested that I ask "open-ended" questions and let them answer for me. I also asked what I should do if a person talks to fast and I'm unable to jot down their info. He said to politely ask them to slow down so that the info gets noted down.
Before the day was over, I went to Dr. Claudia Wilson's office and interviewed her and gathered details for the article. I really enjoyed talking to her and got to know a new person. I mentioned that she is my first interviewee for my internship and that this is something new that I've been doing. I at least gave her some background so I didn't feel so awkward for being there--that seemed to help.
We'll see how this goes. First day and I get my first interview.
After getting the paperwork to Thom, we discussed a few topics of interest to begin writing articles on behalf of the school. I jotted down a few ideas, among them were the Student Association Appreciation awards, academic awards, and graduate awards.
Since this was my first day on the job, it was kind of slow because Thom needed to talk to a few other colleagues to get more ideas and information. We talked to Kathy Hedges, she updates the Tech website and calendar. She gave some more ideas, such as the construction effort being done in La Raj.
Thom gave me two assignments to work on. SA Appreciation Awards and Construction Update on La Raj. I emailed the three award winners and requested an interview with them, and emailed Dan Jones, architect at Facilities Management to get information about La Raj. I received a response from Dr. Claudia Wilson thirty minutes after sending her the request for an interview--which I promptly responded and interviewed. She was leaving for D.C. the next day and it would not be until next week that I could catch her.
I asked Thom for some guidance and advice in interviewing people. I may be good at talking and approaching people, but I'm shy at asking the right questions and getting the right responses from people. I don't want to misquote them or misrepresent their thoughts in my writing. He suggested that I ask "open-ended" questions and let them answer for me. I also asked what I should do if a person talks to fast and I'm unable to jot down their info. He said to politely ask them to slow down so that the info gets noted down.
Before the day was over, I went to Dr. Claudia Wilson's office and interviewed her and gathered details for the article. I really enjoyed talking to her and got to know a new person. I mentioned that she is my first interviewee for my internship and that this is something new that I've been doing. I at least gave her some background so I didn't feel so awkward for being there--that seemed to help.
We'll see how this goes. First day and I get my first interview.
Disclosure of Information
This post is to inform anyone who visits this blog about the disclosure of information.
I will try to keep this blog as professional as possible and maintain a high level of quality while blogging about my internship at the Public Information Office of New Mexico Tech.
It is noted, we are people and we act in a familiar fashion--make mistakes, work in teams, express emotions, and communicate.
Most of my items here are about the people I work with, the people I interview, and the people I am in contact with. There is so much to gain from reading the experiences of others, but it is important to understand that people act like humans and continue to do so until the end of humanity.
Basically, this is to cover my bases on the acts of blogging about a job. I have informed my employer and he was interested in how the blogging will be.
I will try to keep this blog as professional as possible and maintain a high level of quality while blogging about my internship at the Public Information Office of New Mexico Tech.
It is noted, we are people and we act in a familiar fashion--make mistakes, work in teams, express emotions, and communicate.
Most of my items here are about the people I work with, the people I interview, and the people I am in contact with. There is so much to gain from reading the experiences of others, but it is important to understand that people act like humans and continue to do so until the end of humanity.
Basically, this is to cover my bases on the acts of blogging about a job. I have informed my employer and he was interested in how the blogging will be.
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