Third Interview Questions

Content:

Post 10 open-ended questions for approval you want to ask an expert in the field of your senior project.  The first question should be your essential question and the other nine must be about the foundation of your essential question or help you answer your essential question.

1. How can a nonprofit best promote High School Graduation to socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Los Angeles?

2. In your experience, how does a solid education affect an individual's ability to be a functioning member of society?

3. In your experience, how does an individual stemming from a lower income environment differ from an individual stemming from a higher income environment?

4. Within a business or organization, how does one best satisfy its clients?

5. How can an individual best promote an idea to a client?

6. In a community aiming to progress itself economically, what issues must it address first?

7. What powers does a nonprofit [business] contain that may affect the behaviors of its consumers in modern society?

8. In your opinion, what issue is the United States facing that currently limits the job market and economy?

9. How can the United States as a whole, best prepare its labor force for the future job market?

10. How can the United States as a whole, best progress society so that the aforementioned issues are resolved?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I am completing my mentorship at Edwards Jones' Financial Advisory.

2.   Who is your contact?

My contact is David Bower, a financial broker.

3.   How many total hours have you done?

I have completed 11 hours.
  
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

The service I have completed so far has mostly involved observing and talking to my mentor about what his job entails, and how he works with clients both on a personal and intellectual level.  I have learned a lot from him about how to deal with clients, and how working in any financial field is both extremely competitive and structured. Of course, we have many future plans ahead of us.

Senior Project, The Holiday.

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Over Winter Break, I have completed a number of pages in my infamous Independent Component - the Comic Book of Business, and I have completed over a day's worth of mentorship under my mentor, David Bower, asking him various questions pertaining to my independent component as well as assisting him in any way I could.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

The most important thing I learned was the art of creating visual elements, and effectively implementing both educational and entertaining elements together. The source of what I learned was the result of experience messing with designing my comic book in Photoshop, stacked with a list of resources my mentor had given to me.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

I would ask any questions about my topic to my mentor, David Bower, because he has been an enormous help with my project, and is very educated in not only his own topics of business and administration but also in the realms of education; He has a very unique perspective, and I would enjoy the chance to be able to explore his perspectives further.

Post New Years.

 "The more that you read, the more that you will know. The more that you know, the more places that you will go."

- Dr.Seuss

 

This January, I had been suggested by an unknown soul to continue on my mission of education by looking at the world's leading examples, and comparing them to ourselves. My search has led me to examine the educational systems of Finland, Singapore, and China. So far, Singapore and Finland seem the most likely candidates, but Singapore has major problems with income distribution, and I would not like to further complicate my issue. Finland has its own distinctive cultural problems, but I feel it has more to offer because of its unified and exemplary education.

"Learning and Competence 2020: Strategy of the Finnish National Education Board" was a recent article I examined, and it revealed stirring revelations of Finnish success. As it turns out, the recent successes have only really taken place in the past 10-20 years, as the system was barely implemented in the 1970s as part of a cultural reform. Finland still has strong cultural stigmas within its culture that may hinder its educational system from staying the world's best in the future.

Finland owes multiple things to its success. All teachers require a Master's Degree, and the teaching profession is a very competitive, prestigious field viewed in the same way that we currently view lawyers and doctors. In addition, it seems to be fed by the demands of the job market. In other words, if the demands of the market changes, so do the curricula of the children in the Finnish system.

Overall, my holidays were fantastic. I learned a lot about foreign educational systems, and how we may be able to implement them here. Cheers!

Mentorship Update!

Over the past couple of months, I have steadily been working with my mentor, David Bower. Initially, there were some restrictions as to what I could do for the agency, seeing how financially secure everything had to be, and I was primarily restricted to 1 hour conversations about finance towards running operations. However, after several weeks of having my trust earned among administration, I was finally permitted to assist the office with clerical and secretarial work involving clients, and I had an opportunity to see how actual organizations were run.

In a word, precise. Precision is everything in an organization, especially around finances. Everyone has to be on top of every situation and every arising situation there can possibly be - Excuses are not an option. My mentor himself has a very detailed way of arranging meetings and laying out his schedule, being sure to leave room for any complications that may arrive at any given time. To clarify, it's not actually my mentor who schedules his time - It's his secretary.

I have now visited my mentor a number of times, and have earned the trust to sit in on professional presentations and assist the company similar to how an intern would. Admittedly, I sometimes have a bit of trouble comprehending some of the financial and organizational terms thrown out in the open - Mr. David is extremely, extremely knowledgeable. However, in the future, I will be able to assist my mentor in gradually bigger things, and perhaps even work with clients.

I am still figuring out how to add photographs to my experience, though. I think taking pictures of a secure financial office would be frowned upon, in the least...

EQ

Content

1.   "I have reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

• Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
• Takes a stance (Allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
•  Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

2.  Review the following EQs and tell us if it meets the rule of 3 criteria, and why it does or why it doesn't.

 a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?
This essential question is simply too vague. It does provide a slight framework for studies, but does not take a stance, and is not specific enough to make the senior project specialized.


 b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?
 This essential question would make a good one because it takes a stance, is specific, and provides a framework for future research. Though, in order to reach maximum potential, this EQ would best work reworded into something slightly more specific - such as "What is the most significant factor in securing a conviction in a homicidal criminal investigation?" Needless to say, that's only an example.

 c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?
This essential question is perfect! It is specific, takes a stance [satisfying a customer], and provides a solid framework for research. Again, it would be beneficial to get a bit more specific.

 d.  How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?
This EQ needs to be more specific in order to take a stance, namely - What type of chronic pain? Chronic pain ranges from acute bronchial infections to irate skin conditions. This is too vague to make a solid foundation for the essential question.

3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.

What is the most effective way to promote education through visual media to teenagers in Los Angeles?

The Complexities of Administration.

This month the article that had captured my attention the most was an entry entitled "Review of Weighted Student Funding" - a dense, though official report made by the National Educational Policy Center. Through it, I learned that California's current educational financial structure focuses on children in need more than the average student - namely socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.

Though I initially found this to be quite pleasing, as I had read further into the article it was revealed that a large portion of the money designated towards these causes do not actually reach their destination, presumably because of concerns with administration. The article also demonstrates that socioeconomically disadvantaged students may not be ideal candidates for a bonus of student funding because of a plethora of external factors such as the environment, specific school, and misleading statistics that may skew their scholastic performance to be better or worse than students within other regions.

It was also revealed to me through this article that the money that has not gone to the designated areas where it was supposed to is very difficult in pinpointing who is responsible for the respective failures in performance. The educational budget system, and in fact, most government operated systems that revolve around public affairs are extremely difficult to understand in terms of implementation, much less to pinpoint when and where exact financial mishaps have occured.

All in all, it just goes to show you - Educational Administration is run by a very complex system that is simply too complex for an operation that is aimed to assist its people.