Here at the Center for Young Workers at GTRI, we are still continuing the process of creating digital media and online materials to compliment the live training we do. One project that ties in well with the live training are the safety scenarios we film and edit ourselves. Earlier this year we have done two, and most recently, we began the production of two more scenarios to add to our collection.

The two filming scenarios we filmed last week were a distracted babysitter who accidently starts a kitchen fire and a lifeguard who suffers from a heat stroke. When filming the lifeguard scenario, we coincidentally endured conditions that made the filming of this scenario a real-life lesson. Apparently this past Wednesday was marked as the hottest day of the year. With us filming the scenario midday, we endured very hot conditions. However, we took the proper measures to ensure that we didn’t suffer the acted parts of the lifeguard undergoing a heat stroke.

First, and more importantly, drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated and cool when outside. Second, stay in the shade as much as possible, wear a hat and/or apply sunscreen to prevent damage to your skin while outdoors. In addition, take breaks to rest from activity you are doing under the sun and heat.

Despite the conditions, Dylan Demyanek, my student co-worker, and I were able to gain a lot of great footage without the need of extra equipment such as lighting sets. In addition, we were able to film with two cameras to capture the same scenes from different angles, which effectively cut down the time to film everything we wanted. A special thanks goes out to the Center’s children for being extras in the scenarios, which effectively established the scenes as well as the potential severe consequences that could occur in the babysitting scenario.

I am looking forward to getting into the postproduction of these scenarios, as I had a fun time filming and editing the previous ones. I hope to be able to film all the safety scenarios that are in the training modules so that the live training we have is fully complimented. 

Earlier this month, I traveled to Memphis with my family to visit my brother, who is interning at Youth Villages, helping troubled teens. In addition, some relatives from Puerto Rico were visiting. All eleven of us took a nine hour-long trek via two cars through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Despite the long trip, it was worth it to see my brother and the sites and sounds of Memphis, as well as try out the barbecue!

Before our trip started, my family, relatives and I spent a day in Atlanta to visit the famous Georgia Aquarium. I have been to it before (and even interned there), but it’s always a good experience to see the exhibits. My one-year-old cousin definitely had fun pressing his face against the glass and seeing fish, penguins and other animals. 

After spending the night in Atlanta, we began our trip to Memphis. While passing through Alabama and Mississippi, we witness the end results of the tornadoes that touched down there earlier this year. Even though it has been months since the disaster occurred, many parts of those states were still picking up the pieces. It was a bit depressing to pass through seeing how barren the towns were.

Soon enough we arrived in Memphis and stayed at a hotel downtown. After settling in and taking a dip in the pool, we toured nearby sites during the evening. We checked out the Confederate Park across the street and saw horse drawn carriages, a modern multicolored bridge and the Mississippi River right next to the park.

The next day, we decided to visit the Mud River Island park across the Mississippi along with my brother who we picked up. Taking a monorail trolley, we arrived to the park. One of my favorite things about the park were the views as well as the scale model of the Mississippi River. The model had topographic designs as well as street maps of famous and popular cities and towns that lined the river. The model was also filled with water that went down the model’s course. My family and I decided to walk all the way down the model until we reached the model of the Gulf of Mexico, which was a large pool and fountain.

Afterwards, we got ready to visit one of Memphis’s most popular barbeque joints, Corky’s. Memphis is known for its unique dry rub barbeque, which features no barbeque sauce on it and emphasizes on spices. I ordered fried catfish, but also had a few dry rub ribs. After tasting the flavorful spices of the barbeque, I would have to say that dry rub, Memphis style barbeque is now my favorite style!

After spending another night in Memphis, we proceeded to head back to Augusta where my family lives to spend the last few days of my relatives’ visit relaxing and watching old home videos. I would have to say that this trip was the highlight of my summer as I was able to travel and have fun, and, most importantly, be with my family and relatives who are the most loving and caring people in my life J

With my graduation coming up in May 2012, I have been looking around for prospective jobs I would be interested in, so that I wouldn’t be waiting last minute and possibly jobless when I graduate. I have been preparing for future interviews in various ways.

First off is my online portfolio. This summer, I have been constantly updating it with content, new designs, projects and blog posts (including this one!). I felt that keeping it updating whenever I am able to will end up being the best plan since I don’t want to spend time near graduation updating everything at once, which would cause stress when it clashes with classes and work. I’ve also been updating my resume on LinkedIn. Seeing as many people use it professionally, I decided to link it on my online portfolio so that job recruiters may not only see my resume, but see recommendations that my colleagues and coworkers have written. I’ve also been designing a business card to go along with my resume that has a cohesive design to my resume and online portfolio.

With the extra time I’ve had this summer, I have been seeking design opportunities free of charge, such as graphic designs and web development. Though I will not earn any money from doing these, it will pay off in the end as I will be able to show them off to employers on my online portfolio.

In addition to having my resume on LinkedIn, I have been looking at job opportunities that the website posts. Many are very interesting (such as Sapient Nitro, Lockheed Martin and NASA) and are in locations I would like, such as New York City and Silicone Valley in California. While most of the jobs are looking for people way before my graduation, I will definitely be sending my cover letter to put my name out there, so that when I near graduation and I am looking for a job, they will have some sense of who I am, my skills as well as the improvements of my skills and craft once they review my resume later on.

clientsfromhell:

A client sent me a low resolution image of a 40 character key I needed. The image was of such low quality I couldn’t read the actual characters. I asked for the client to simply copy and paste the needed text. This is the reply I got:

Client: Do the CSI thing and say ‘enhance.’ That should do it.