Women's Day

The woman I appreciated today was Janis Joplin, a very famous blues and rock singer born 1943. Like many rockstars she died at the age of 27. Not before leaving behind an immensely inspiring and powerful legacy. Hailed as one of the greatest singers of all time, her career took her from her first recording in 1962 to performing at Woodstock 7 years later. Joplin has had an effect on anyone who has ever thought of dabbling into music. Especially my girlfriend, who follows a very similar trend, starting with listening to old old blues musicians, picking up a guitar and letting it carry you away. My favorite quote would be one from her highschool days, "I was a misfit. I read, I painted, I didn't hate niggers".

Sarah Blog 2/25

It isn't hard to deny the US was a white supremacist country. It was true, white owned and abused black for a very long time. I don't it still is supremacist. I believe enough generations have passes that people are incredibly more accepting.
I don't have evidence. It's an opinion. As far as I know, it's the truth.

Internship #16

This internship held a great deal of personal weight. In some way I feel that it was luck that I re-encountered these feelings of fascination and wonder from my childhood. I learned a lot about what I need to do, want to do and will do for my future.

Internship #15

I've been learning about dozens of kinds of marine animals, but one of the most fascinating is the mollusc. One of the first kinds of life, molluscs date to the Pre-cambrian era arpund 500 million years! Today molluscs range from a common sea snail, to the collosal squid, cuttlefish and chambered nautilus shown above. Maybe I'm just a geek but the history of these animals is immense and they can tell us much about the past. They truly fascinate me.

Internship #13

These jaws belong to Megalodon. A shark that lived over 20 million years ago. A massive predator that went extinct millions of years before humans took over the planet. When I see things like this it allows me to see in perspective. That life was struggling and evolving for hundreds of millions of years, but in the course of a few thousand, humans took over. It's an eye opener for how signifigant and sudden our impact was.

Stereolepis Gigas, the giant sea bass. A once mighty and plentiful creature. Now endangered. One bass can live to 75 years, weigh over 600 pounds. With it's size came its sport value. Within the course of 40 years they were fished nearly to extinction. Humans have a weight to every action we take. We took far too many of them and they almost disappeared, we created marine reserves and their numbers are replenishing. Every action we take makes a difference. I know that now.

This is a shot of La Jolla shores. When I see this I think of what it must have been like thousands of years before people changed it. I imagine it without the hotel and roads. I am grateful that it is still in the condition that is, but I believe everyone can learn something from contemplating the earth's condition without Man's existance.

Internship #12

In one day, I normally only work directly with 2 to 3 people. Indirectly, if I do my job correctly, I'll be helping any person who uses my powerpoints.

If I am directly working with someone I will most likely be helping in a class, or setting one up.

Hopefully my work will help future volunteers understand the classes. The better the classes run, the more the kids learn. So maybe I'm helping kids

internship #11

This week I spent most of my time at my desk editing powerpoints together, but a couple times per day I sat in on classes and would take pictures. I enjoyed helping out and watching kids learn about the sea. It was a memorable week. I started re reading my biology books and had a lot of fun.

Internship #10

This internship has re opened my eyes to the wonders that inspired me as a kid. Ever since I started here I've been wondering about our oceans and what the future holds for them. I want to study them and do what I can to preserve them the way they should be.

1. Tell me some things that you did in order to get where you are today.

2. Are you passionate about what you do?

3. Were you thinking about being here when you were my age?

4. Were you ever torn over what you wanted to become?

5. How did you know what to do when you were faced with challenges?

Internship #9

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend internship today, so I will do this post tomorrow.

Internship #8

During this intership I've recently rediscovered my appreciation for the ocean and all of its creatures. Just being around so many live animals, and sitting in on classes and seeing the way the kids are facsinated by everything.

Internship #7

Site: Birch Aquarium

Department: Education Department

Project Title: Volunteer Training Manual

Description: I am updating a manual for volunteers that explains the set-up and lesson plans for school classes that are taught daily.

Learning: I am learning a lot just by attending the classes, as well as working on the descriptions.

Organization: The Aquarium needs new volunteers to understand how to set up classrooms and handle animals. The advantage to remaking the manual in a digital format is that instead of having only one binder, now volunteers will be able to access the information from anywhere.

Schedule: I am on my own schedule, as there are only 2-3 classes per day it will take a while before I see all of them, or at least enough for the manual.

After the first week at the Aquarium I got to see all kinds of animals, dissect a squid, and meet all kinds of people. I didn't expect for so many people to ask me about the shark feedings, but I guess that comes with the volunteer shirt. All in all I really just kept my head down and did my best to learn how everything worked.

Internship #6

During the interview I'd like to learn what kinds of things I can do towards a career in this field. I want to know what steps I have to take in order to be successful. I would ask my mentor what she did, and what choices she made to end up where she is today.

Internship #5

Description: I am updating a training book for Aquarium Volunteers. The book is centered on training for classes that are held daily for school kids. I am making each of the individual lesson plans into a powerpoint presentation, so instead of having only one binder, anyone can access the information at any time.

Each day a different class is being held. I plan on attending as many as I can over the course of my internship to gather information.

All of my work is saved into individual folders for easy access and organization. When this is over I should be able to present a fully updated training manual.

Internship #4

Some academic skills that are useful for this kind of project are basic collaberation and experience with Powerpoint.

I would have to be able to split up the work evenly and work effeciently with multiple people.

I will be able to use my skills in powerpoint, and with a camera, in order to document the activities.

I can learn everything that is being taught in the classes, and anything else that I pick up around the aquarium.

To share my work, I'll be posting the new lesson plans online, and I will also be showing them to volunteers.

This will help the Aquarium because now people will be able to access this information instantly from anywhere, instead of needing the binder.

Internship #3

I'd like to learn a lot more about fish and ocean sciences, and learn how to assist aquarium techs and teachers. I like working here because I like studying the ocean. When I'm working here I get hands on experience with both animals and researchers. My mentor needs help updating a volunteer training manual. The manual would be about the school classes that are held almost every day. I would be attending those classes, photographing the lesson and writing summaries about them.

Internship #2

To actively start out on the right foot, I was sure to be polite and on time with my mentor and the others that I work with. I think this is going to be a good experience for me, as I find myself taking on any extra work or opportunities that come my way. To help my site progress, I'm taking on a large project that will be quite useful for new volunteers at the aquarium. I plan to work hard in order to make sure everything is as good as it should be.

Internship #1

On the first day of internship I woke up to a broken alarm clock an hour late. I ended up skipping breakfast and running out the door. I made it to the Aquarium about half an hour ahead of time. Over the course of the day, I got a tour of the building and 2 volunteer shirts. For lunch I had some bacon cheddar potato skins and a grape soda. My afternoon was cut short do to a power shortage. I'm excited about working in a field where I learn new things about marine science every day.