I had a mentor at the beginning of my link, but have gone through at least two that weren't able to commit fully even after they'd confirmed. Now, I have a mentor up at The Independent at FLC that happens to be a student but so far everything is looking good. I have contacted them about schedule issues, and asked a few questions that I have yet to hear back on, but my internships is and sounds secure unless anything happens later, which I hope won't have to happen, but if that were to occur, I've come up with another backup in case and have in mind my internship taking place at Stillwater.
For my anticipation, I'm more worried about schedule issues, and meeting new people in a new environment. I know that I've mentioned that liking your mentor as a person isn't necessary cause you're just there for the experience, but the closer that my LINK internship gets closer, the more hesitant I am to finding out if I can get along or connect with this individual or not. Connecting with people, especially those that are older than me is not a strength of mine either. I just hope my internship meets the requirements of hours and I have a final project to do.
anticipation & preparation - January 11th, 2019
I have a mentor, however I have yet to meet them in person and discuss things but I don't really think that that's important. I know some people would argue that I should, to know if this mentor is someone I will like but I don't think that's important either. I'm treating this as a real life experience, because in real life, yes you will most likely meet the person you're going to work with but you liking them or not isn't going to be the ultimate deal breaker. Realistically, regardless of how you feel, you're going to take the job or internship, because really, they're only one person and you don't know that everyone else that you meet along the way is going to behave that way. So why ruin a chance and experience that could possibly be great over one person? I'm just here for the experience of setting up an internship, and ultimately I'll come out of it with either a good or bad experience, and either are fine because it's an experience. I guess this part is more of my preparation.
As for my anticipation, I'm not really expecting anything 'grand'. I know that this person works as an assistant professor, and their schedule is packed, so I can only assume that I will be who makes the choices of what I want to do, because I wouldn't think that my mentor would have enough time to make a plan and outline for my LINK project idea. I've come up with two ideas already in case that's how it plays out, and I'm okay with that.
anticipation & preparation - november 5th, 2018
So far I have only recently begun to collect information by using my resources, and have accumulated a bank of contact information of people I see as my top prospect of being my mentor. I have looked into the Native American & Indigenous Studies at Fort Lewis College, specifically a professor by the name of Dr. Frances Kay Holmes whose expertise relies in Contemporary Native Issues, Native American History, Research Methodologies, and Education. At Fort Lewis College, I looked at a professor in the Department of Art & Design, Chad Colby that works with Traditions Oil Painting, Contemporary Art, and Studio Art, another interest I have that I gravitate towards too. I also have happened to look into a student led organization called, 'The Independent,' that solely focuses on journalism and reporting campus news, the Editor in Chief being a Senior(?), Alex Semadeni. From the few options that I've managed to slim down, the Native American & Indigenous Studies and The Independent are my top two choices I want equally, and I lean more towards having either Dr. Frances Kay Holmes or Alex Semadeni specifically for my mentor in either option. I have more information for other organizations, and faculty members but most don't come with any suffice contact information, or grab for my attention. I have yet to begin reaching out to any of the people on my contact list, but I have made effort and advancements in writing drafts of personalized emails to each, depending on the specialty of their job(s) that I'm interested in and am able to connect and relate with.
As for the anticipation, I'm not entirely sure how things will play out. If I were to be mentored under the Native American Studies, I think that I would use that time to gain information and insight for more personal educational reasons, possibly even conducting one of my humanities projects up at the college, since it's entirely about Native Americans. For example, maybe the mentor could educate me more on topics I have yet to talk about, and have the opportunity to gain perspectives of individuals who take the course on certain issues, and applying what I've gathered to my project. If I were to be mentored under the Editor in Chief of 'The Independent', I think in the 3 weeks of my internship, I would expect getting small assignments that could improve my Journalism and writing, possibly even getting assigned my own project, like documenting or interviewing people on campus for something for their blog.