So this is my first blog post for Albright College’s Experiential Learning and Career Development Center. And my first blog post ever. My name is Amy Rader and I am 22 years old. I am starting my 5th and final year of college and I am studying abroad. I am doing a one month Summer session in Spain, then I will be home for the month of August. After that, I will be studying in Paris for the Fall 2014 semester. I leave for Madrid…tomorrow. I’m only starting to freak out a little, but I’m also really excited.
I am a double language major studying French and Spanish. I figured with that as a major, I would be crazy not to study somewhere. Also, I have this incredibly huge passion for travel and adventure. Once I chose my major, I knew I just had to figure out which city I would choose. Or cities. I decided the only way I was going to master these languages was to take the time and focus on each of them individually. Two cities it was going to be. Paris was the easiest choice ever because I have been studying French since middle school and have been in love with the idea of living in Paris for years. Since I was going to Europe for French, I figured I would open the doors to a second European country. Madrid is the capital and the direct center of the country. And I have a love for big cities. I want to see people, and lights, and excitement, so Madrid wasn’t that hard for me to chose either.
The hardest decision was choosing a company to travel with. I went the Albright’s study abroad fair with high hopes, and left with a huge stack of books and pamphlets from every table. I was even more lost than before going. Until a met a woman who worked for API. She was informative and very kind. She told me all about their company, prices, excursions and reasons why they were a good solid company. After that I made my decision and started the long journey of filling out forms. Forms for API, forms for Albright, forms for loans, it was basically like taking another class. But everything went smoothly (for the most part) and now I am finalizing my packing and getting my passport together.
So like I said, I leave for Madrid….tomorrow. Panic has not completely set in yet. I am very nervous about my language skills and my host family. I will be living with a woman named Esperanza one the 5th floor of an apartment building in the middle of the capital of Spain. She has a daughter who no longer lives with her, and a pleather of animals. There will also be a girl from the same program living there as well. Which I am super happy about because it is a 40 minute commute to the school. I don’t know what classes I’ll be taking yet because I have to be placed into them. I do know that the first weekend I am there, I will be going on an excursion to Toledo.
Tomorrow is the day I have spent months preparing for. I have completed all my requirements and now all I can do is wait. And totally stress out. My goal for this trip is to keep an open mind, open heart, and an adventurous attitude!
So it has already been 2 weeks of tree surveying and it’s been extremely productive! We broke the city into quarters to make it simpler to meet goals. Today, we finished the first quarter! My 3 partners and I have been working together very efficiently making this survey fly by. I have experienced so much in only 2 weeks of surveying in Reading: Always say hello to anybody whose tree that you’re assessing on their property to make sure they know that you’re not just creeping around, when in doubt turn to literature for help ID-ing a tree, and ALWAYS communicate with the people who you work with (most important!).
I never in million years would have thought that I would be on my way to becoming a young arborist. The knowledge that I’ve gained so far from all sorts of professionals around me has been so greatly appreciated. From my reliable, amazing professors at Albright to folks who work with The City of Reading and The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, I would not have the confidence to do what I am doing everyday in the field without them. I just had to give a big “Thank You” shout-out to them! Well, Monday is my first day at my internship with The City of Reading and I am so very eager to post all of my experiences!
Until next time 🙂
This is my partner in crime when it comes to surveying trees, Kyrsten Stanford. Here, she is measuring the DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) for a tree that is being logged as a street tree in Reading. There are a lot more where that comes from!
Well hello there!
I finally figured out how to work this! My name is Alexis Jenofsky and I currently am a sophomore Theatre-English, and Arts Administration major! (Woo that took a lot out of me) A little bit about me! I am involved in many things on campus including being apart of the Domino Players, being a Student Ambassador, working at the Volunteer Center, serving as President for Albrights (ASTEP) Artists Striving to End Poverty Chapter, and CURRENTLY an ACRE research student!
I never thought that I would be spending my summer here at Albright, but I could not imagine it any other way. This summer I am studying intensely alongside Junior Madeline Sedler, and Professor Julia Matthews on the effects of Drama Therapy! I learned about the ACRE program during my first semester here at Albright, and thought that it would be a really cool experience. I figured I would’ve had to wait until my junior year to do one of these projects; but I knew that it never hurt to try and propose one.
Many times you will find me in the theatre lobby. It’s a place that I just love to be in. One day I was sitting in the lobby with my friend Maddie, and we were just talking about some cool project ideas. Eventually we realized that we had very similar interests. Both of our interests pushed us into the idea of researching more deeply into Drama Therapy! We both got super excited, and shared our excitement with theatre professor Julia Matthews who was equally excited, and eager to jump on board with us.
Once we were on board we had to start the application process. The application process required us to dig even deeper into the topic of Drama Therapy. The question’s being… “What do I want to learn, what do I want as a finished product”? After discovering my focus, the application process was a breeze. I say a breeze because I was invested in it. I just kept working hard! Now that the project is finally going, I am excited! Our workshops will soon be starting up, and I cannot wait to see how others respond to them.
Time to get back to studying away!
My name is Milca Mendez and I am a Biology and Spanish (Pre-Dental) major and currently a senior! This summer besides applying to dental school, and taking the DAT, I am doing research at Albright with a program we have called ACRE. ACRE is an acronym that stands for Albright Creative Research Experience. I first heard about ACRE from my current advisor Professor Jocelyn Kolb as a sophomore. I took Professor Kolb’s ART 265 class for my art requirement at Albright, and I thoroughly enjoyed the class. After showing our class the 3D printer, Professor Kolb approached me about the possibility of doing an ACRE together and explained to me how 3D printing was being incorporated into many fields including dentistry. Professor Kolb uses the printer to make different jewelry pieces and gave me the task of determining how I could perhaps incorporate dentistry into the research. After extensive research on the topic and speaking to local dentists, I realized that this is indeed being incorporated into dentistry. Based on articles and journals I decided it would be interesting to compare across the board the advantages and disadvantages of 3D dental models compared to traditional plaster models. Kolb liked the idea and thus we began to formulate the goals of out ACRE.
For our ACRE there are a variety of goals. The first is that I will be learning how to design 3D images to print and become proficient making builds and handling the software. Besides this, I will also be comparing 3D dental models compared to traditional plaster models in various aspects. As I am working on this, Kolb will make jewelry pieces inspired by dentistry, and then we will unite to make piece for me to wear to dental school interviews.
I am very excited for my research! I have never used the 3D imaging software so I have a lot to learn, but I am excited nonetheless. I think the hardest part of my research, besides all the quick learning I have to do, is that since 3D printing is fairly new in the dental field finding information might be challenging. Thus to compliment articles and books I read, I will also be consulting with various dentists and lab technicians as I move forward with my research.
Hello! Hello! This summer is going to be packed with new information and definitely new learning experiences for me but there is no denying looking forward to it! I knew that I wanted to gain more experience in my field in the shape of an internship for the summer right after my last internship in spring 2013. The opportunity for the GIS internship (beginning June 23rd) with The City of Reading was brought to my attention in the beginning of May and I raced to complete the application.
There were multiple things I had to do in order to prepare for the application, however. I needed to fill the written application out and fax it to the appropriate office along with a well-polished, many-timed reviewed resume. But that was the “easiest” part! I also had an interview that I had to prepare for! From an appropriate outfit to copies of my resume and prepared questions and answers I worked hard to make sure the interview went perfect.
All I need to do so far is begin my internship! What makes me most nervous is being able to do and understand everything that my supervisor expects of me. I really hope that I can work to her expectations but yet again that is all about the experience! I am most looking forward to gaining the knowledge from the people that I anticipate being colleagues with in the future. This is an amazing opportunity for me and I am extremely grateful to be part of The City of Reading’s work force! Another learning experience that I am apart of this summer is being a tree surveyor with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources teaming with The City of Reading. I started it on Monday June 9th and it is going great so far! Expect to see pictures of beautiful trees and also my surveying partners!
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