Blog Post #0 December 7th
Site Visit Day and the Actual Visit
I did not visit my internship on the Internship Site Visit day because my mentor had personal reasons. I am to visit on Friday the 7th of Dec. I did take a look at the outside as I passed by the building and it was a small building between other businesses on the street. On the Internship Site Visit Day, I stayed at school and work on Biology Honors (drawing anatomy diagrams, writing stages of decomposition, and writing/drawing the development of the human embryo). As drawing may be involved in interning at a comic book studio, it was somewhat like daily practice. I also studied content for the Math 1-16 test of that Thursday. The day also consisted of Kahoot (Latin Roots and SAT vocabulary) and another hour of daily drawing at the end of the day.
My internship site visit on Dec. 7th went quick but overall good. Alonso, my mentor, explained what tasks I will be doing. Such as organizing the comic book shelves and going to meetings with him. He also showed me previous projects done by other interns in the past, which were very cool. They took place on the walls which had some kind of art.
Blog Post #1: Tuesday, January 8th
Hopes, Dreams, and Fears
My hopes for this internship are that I fit in well with my fellow workers. I hope that I fit in because I would feel out of place and uncomfortable very quickly and I hope I don't get jumpy. But my mentor was very friendly and another guy was there (He is probably another worker) and they were funny. I think it won't be a problem. I also hope that I gain some knowledge regarding comics and drawing because I have never been taught anything involving drawing since middle school. So I hope that I gain something. My dreams for this internship I am not sure about but maybe for this month to go smoothly? Also having a good project that involves my drawing skills or something like that. My fears for this internship, like my hopes, I want to avoid getting uncomfortable and jumpy around others. It will probably happen around the first few days, but it will go normal later on because of the calm environment I felt when I stepped in the building.
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/9/2/89923105/published/img-8255.jpg?1547152550)
Blog Post #2: Wednesday, January 9th
Who is my Mentor?
My mentor is Alonso Nunez, who is the Executive Director of Little Fish, is also the lead instructor. He went to School of Visual Arts in New York and he graduated with a major in Comic illustration. He came back to San Diego and achieved his goal opening of Little Fish, which teaches the art of comics. He loves comics, as you can tell, and teaching others who want to make comics themselves. He is a very positive guy who is professional and funny at the same time. He is very open minded and a helpful person. He has many conversations about characters and stories, as he did with another intern and I who were there.
Who is my Mentor?
My mentor is Alonso Nunez, who is the Executive Director of Little Fish, is also the lead instructor. He went to School of Visual Arts in New York and he graduated with a major in Comic illustration. He came back to San Diego and achieved his goal opening of Little Fish, which teaches the art of comics. He loves comics, as you can tell, and teaching others who want to make comics themselves. He is a very positive guy who is professional and funny at the same time. He is very open minded and a helpful person. He has many conversations about characters and stories, as he did with another intern and I who were there.
Blog Post #3: Thursday, January 10th
Interview with a Co-worker Because my mentor was out for a pest problem in his home, I interviewed the only other person in the building with me, who is another intern. His name is Alexander, who is a senior at St. Augustine High School, which is a private school for young men. He is learning Spanish and he has been to many cities and towns in Italy. He applied to this internship because is interested in comics, animation, and drawing since fifth grade and he told me that he two months ago he was into comics. To get this internship, he had to apply for a general internship, then meet with a teacher (internship advisor), then give some specifics on what he is interested in. He said he is interested in comics and animation, and BAM! Alexander is here at Little Fish Comic Book Studio. He also had to talk to Alonso about being an intern there. He is focusing on getting a job with animation for his future career. For college, he wants to go to DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, which is a private Roman Catholic university. Outside of school, he is making a short film called Little Italy with his friends. Describing himself, he is not the partying type of person, like myself, and loves hanging out with his friends instead. |
Blog Post #4 Friday, January 11th
First Week Reflections In this first week of internship, I was most surprised by the trust that Alonso had for Alexander and I because he would not be in the building for some times and he would let us stay in. We just do some work and Alonso would let us know that he going to go somewhere quick. But I also find it not surprising because he is treating us like adults and he knows that we wouldn't do anything bad. Overall, this week went quick and smoothly. I was left alone in the building a few times while my mentor had to step out and when Alexander had to get food for lunch. It's very quiet in there, even when there are people in there. Alonso or someone else would break the silence. |
Blog Post #5 Monday, January 14th
Social Atmosphere
The social atmosphere varies. It gets quiet among us, but it is not awkward, to me at least. People do their own thing, and we all sit at the tables in the middle of the room. The social dynamic does not really impact our work. Alonso, my mentor, is usually on his computer responding to emails and talking to us at the same time. When a teacher comes in for the evening classes, Alonso talks to them about whatever that comes to his mind. When there are students, Alonso would help them and we would all talk about something that someone brought up. Board Member President of Little Fish, Matt Dunford, would come in and talk to Alonso about news and what he's doing. Conversations are open, people speak aloud, speak your mind. It is a good atmosphere for me, but for others, someone would want to break the silence with something and have the conversation running.
Social Atmosphere
The social atmosphere varies. It gets quiet among us, but it is not awkward, to me at least. People do their own thing, and we all sit at the tables in the middle of the room. The social dynamic does not really impact our work. Alonso, my mentor, is usually on his computer responding to emails and talking to us at the same time. When a teacher comes in for the evening classes, Alonso talks to them about whatever that comes to his mind. When there are students, Alonso would help them and we would all talk about something that someone brought up. Board Member President of Little Fish, Matt Dunford, would come in and talk to Alonso about news and what he's doing. Conversations are open, people speak aloud, speak your mind. It is a good atmosphere for me, but for others, someone would want to break the silence with something and have the conversation running.
Blog Post #6 Tuesday, January 15th
How do I see myself growing or changing over the course of my internship? Great question, I do not feel like I am changing, but I am being influenced by my surroundings. Of course, I am growing by getting knowledge of the real world. I think that jobs like mine, with flexibility, are less stressful. I know that some jobs put pressure on people and it makes the employee lose themselves in the stress. As it is the second week of internship, I cannot really tell what has already changed in me. I am growing use to being around adults that I met briefly. I am comfortable in the work atmosphere and I am glad that I am not jumpy. Drawing-wise, I notice the art styles of a variety of comic books and graphic novels. At home, I am suppose to work on portraits for people but I usually procrastinate. So, I am doing it here at Little Fish during my lunch break. One of the instructors for an evening class liked my drawings in my sketchbook. |
Blog Post #7 Wednesday, January 16th
What are my fellow interns doing?
To Irvin Ocotitla:
Hey! It's great that you are taking photography/videography as a passion. Having someone you know from school at your internship is cool, you are not alone, It is also cool that you want to have your own DSLR camera in the future to keep your passion going. What is something you want for a career?
To Abril Arredondo:
Wowwy! Your internship is very interesting! The constant translating in your brain sounds very tiring. It's cool that you are able to go out of the US and be able to use another language that is not English. It's good that you are growing, somewhere that is not school. My friend was raised there and he wants to teach me German, he really wants me to have German conversations with him haha. Is this something you want to do in the future?
To David McCabe:
Hoot! Your internship is neat. It seems very average, like you said, but it is an experience. While it may not be exotic and fun, I think you will be able to gain something and hopefully you will find a cool place for senior year. You should have reminders to take photos haha. I think you would be a great nurse too! My aunt's school has a nursing program if you are interested. It takes time to learn, but are there other jobs you are interested in?
What are my fellow interns doing?
To Irvin Ocotitla:
Hey! It's great that you are taking photography/videography as a passion. Having someone you know from school at your internship is cool, you are not alone, It is also cool that you want to have your own DSLR camera in the future to keep your passion going. What is something you want for a career?
To Abril Arredondo:
Wowwy! Your internship is very interesting! The constant translating in your brain sounds very tiring. It's cool that you are able to go out of the US and be able to use another language that is not English. It's good that you are growing, somewhere that is not school. My friend was raised there and he wants to teach me German, he really wants me to have German conversations with him haha. Is this something you want to do in the future?
To David McCabe:
Hoot! Your internship is neat. It seems very average, like you said, but it is an experience. While it may not be exotic and fun, I think you will be able to gain something and hopefully you will find a cool place for senior year. You should have reminders to take photos haha. I think you would be a great nurse too! My aunt's school has a nursing program if you are interested. It takes time to learn, but are there other jobs you are interested in?
Blog Post #8 Thursday, January 17th
Describe/Brainstorm Project I thought about my project everyday, thinking about what I can do. When I talked to Alonso about what I can do, he gave an idea of doing something about the back room. The back room right now is a storage/kitchen thing. Alonso gave me some ideas of making it into a break room, or a workspace, or something like that. So far, I have done sketches of the room without the storage stuff on the table, desk, and microwave. The ideas I have are to make it into a work/break/chill space. He also told me to write some things to add in the room. For that, so far I wrote to have some lighting, wall decor, and maybe a small bookshelf for the extra graphic novels in the room. The skills I would be using are creative, organization, and I do not know what else. Alonso said that the other intern, Alexander, will be helping me as well since he has no project to do for his internship. I will probably develop some interior design skills but not too much. This project will benefit the place because the room was probably once used as a break room but then it became a place to storage comic boxes, equipment, and dust. It can also benefit the place if it were a quiet workspace for people who want to work quietly on something. |
Blog Post #9 Friday, January 18th
Challenges so far... The biggest challenge I am facing in my internship is coming up with some other ideas for a project. It was challenging because I had to think a lot about what I can input in the building. My mentor, Alonso, and fellow intern, Alexander, gave me great ideas to include in what I should do. I asked Alonso what was something I can do to help the place and he said the back room could use some change. Alexander gave me some ideas of making use of the kitchen part in the room and adding some wall decoration. I added their ideas in my "project proposal". At my internship, I do not think there was a challenge that arose with the work because "no two days are the same" as what Alonso would say. Maybe the pest problem at Alonso's house that is making him step out of the studio and leaving Alexander and I here? I am not sure that this problem has been solved because pest control is at his house. He also gave ideas about the actual learning area and thinking about rearranging the desks and shelves. |
Blog Post #10 Monday, January 21st
MLK Day
There is no blog Post for today.
MLK Day
There is no blog Post for today.
Blog Post #11 Tuesday, January 22nd
Overcoming limits during internship
I have many limitations in myself that I want to overcome not just during internship but anywhere. My internship is helping me ask questions for clarification, which is something I do not really do. I normally observe intently at my surroundings for help but I also ask someone that I knew for a while. When my mom asks me to ask a stranger for something I get really nervous and I always refuse but I have to. This internship is helping me with that, although there are name little bit of people in here and I am usually alone, because I ask my mentor, Alexander, and sometimes other people who work here. Another limitations is being quiet. When there is a group conversation with my mentor, Alexander, and sometimes other staff, I stay quiet unless someone includes me by asking me something for my opinion or answer to a question. But I like that I am alone most of the time because I am by myself doing things I need to do and getting work done.
Overcoming limits during internship
I have many limitations in myself that I want to overcome not just during internship but anywhere. My internship is helping me ask questions for clarification, which is something I do not really do. I normally observe intently at my surroundings for help but I also ask someone that I knew for a while. When my mom asks me to ask a stranger for something I get really nervous and I always refuse but I have to. This internship is helping me with that, although there are name little bit of people in here and I am usually alone, because I ask my mentor, Alexander, and sometimes other people who work here. Another limitations is being quiet. When there is a group conversation with my mentor, Alexander, and sometimes other staff, I stay quiet unless someone includes me by asking me something for my opinion or answer to a question. But I like that I am alone most of the time because I am by myself doing things I need to do and getting work done.
Blog Post #12 Wednesday, January 23rd
Internship vs School The school week is much busier than work week because of all the students around and all the noise. While work week is quiet and more solitary (whenever my mentor leaves me in the building by myself, which is often) and I go on small field trips with my mentor and Alexander. My internship will influence the next semester because I got use to the quietness and I have not seen my friends during the month, I do not really feel like I miss them, I feel more like "I'll see them later". I like being alone and school has many people, which is something I do not look forward to but it will be alright. My energy will drain much faster and I will want to be left alone but it will be alright. School will influence the next time I intern/start a career by feeling the aura of the atmosphere of places that contrast each other. By that, I mean that bits and pieces of the atmosphere are always there when you do not realize it. It probably does not make sense to you but I'm writing what I am writing. School will influence me the next time I choose somewhere to work because of what I already feel about what kind of place I want to work at. Right now, I like being at my internship than school because of the quietness and solitude I feel when I am doing my work. |
Blog Post #13 Thursday, January 24th
Places I went to and today I have officially lived on this planet for 17 years...Celebrate? Some days I went to places with my mentor. Day 1: I went to Nativity Prep Academy, Alonso had to give a comic lesson to 8th graders. Day 4: I went on a tour of KPBS. It was really cool! It was the first day of KPBS changing their logo and I got to see the studios, prop room, podcast studio, where people work (cubicles and no cubicles), and where the KPBS shows are monitored. The picture is of me in the new room with the new logo. Day 6: I went to Southern California Comics to get some sets of comics for Little Fish. Day 7: I also went to another comic book store called San Diego Comics, which is kind of across the street from Little Fish. There we also got some comics. Today: I am going to IKEA with Alonso and Alexander to get some supplies for the back room and shelf arrangement stuff. |
Blog Post #14 Friday, January 25th
Project Update My internship project has been alright. We went to IKEA to get a dish rack for the back room and we are figuring out how the closet will be arranged as a storage. There is also a mini project that has to put do with the bookshelves which kind of connects with the backroom so I hope that the two work out together. At IKEA we got also got caster wheels for the bookshelves so they can move around, which also has to do with the classroom arrangement. Based on the sketches I did of the back room, Alonso is also thinking about having shelves in there but we will get those after the organizing or after we get the image in our head of where they would be. Some skills I gained were interior sketches of what a room looks like without stuff the clutter and playing around with possible ideas. During this project, I think that Alonso is a great idea giver, it's great to have someone who is flexible and open minded, If he was not, then I say it would make me feel awkward. When my mentor gets back with another teacher, we are going to work on the bookshelves and next week will be the transfer of storage into the closet. |
Blog Post #15 Monday, January 28
Another Round of Social Environment
From the people around me, I want to be able to be more social and make conversation. Alonso is a talkative person and gives friendly/welcoming vibes and Alexander likes to make conversation with us when it gets really quiet. I want to develop those characteristics because I struggle with making conversation (probably because talking to adults is awkward, at least to me) and I prefer to listen to others around me than including myself. Since I am alone most of the time, I like the quiet atmosphere. In my future, I would like to work independently but also connect with people. I do not know what I would not like having in my future. If I could change one thing about the social environment, it would be to nothing because I am fine with how it is now. I like the quiet time and I would not change anything.
Another Round of Social Environment
From the people around me, I want to be able to be more social and make conversation. Alonso is a talkative person and gives friendly/welcoming vibes and Alexander likes to make conversation with us when it gets really quiet. I want to develop those characteristics because I struggle with making conversation (probably because talking to adults is awkward, at least to me) and I prefer to listen to others around me than including myself. Since I am alone most of the time, I like the quiet atmosphere. In my future, I would like to work independently but also connect with people. I do not know what I would not like having in my future. If I could change one thing about the social environment, it would be to nothing because I am fine with how it is now. I like the quiet time and I would not change anything.
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Blog Post #16 Tuesday, January 29
Free Post Day So far I have been cleaning out the back room and it now has a lot of space. The stuff that was in the room is now on the tables and in the corner so now I have to store that somewhere. I have done some drawing, Alonso told the other intern and I to draw some people from comics and inking some stuff. Image one is something I had to ink for Alonso for a project The image next to one is an assignment my mentor told me to do which is make a character and make a short story in the four panels. The bottom two drawings are Marvel characters, Alonso told us to draw a character and draw a headshot and the full body. They are Nightcrawler and Death Stalker. I have been doing portraits of some classmates and some personal drawings in my own sketchbook during my free time: |
Blog Post #17 Wednesday, January 30
IPOL Prep Part 1
My presentation will cover a short summary of what I did each week. My daily morning routine of getting there early then cleaning and what I did after. I will show assignments I did, where I went with my mentor, and the project process. I will cover what I learned/gained from this internship, I am thinking about doing a presentation on my laptop but I can ask if I can connect my computer or share my presentation to my mentor to present on the TV. If I present on the TV, my advisor and advisees would be in the middle or sitting down. I will probably present in the middle of the classroom. I will do a presentation or a verbal presentation while showing them around. I think that the questions that will be asked will be about what I liked/disliked the most, what I think about the future from this experience, stuff like that but if there is no questions then no questions.
IPOL Prep Part 1
My presentation will cover a short summary of what I did each week. My daily morning routine of getting there early then cleaning and what I did after. I will show assignments I did, where I went with my mentor, and the project process. I will cover what I learned/gained from this internship, I am thinking about doing a presentation on my laptop but I can ask if I can connect my computer or share my presentation to my mentor to present on the TV. If I present on the TV, my advisor and advisees would be in the middle or sitting down. I will probably present in the middle of the classroom. I will do a presentation or a verbal presentation while showing them around. I think that the questions that will be asked will be about what I liked/disliked the most, what I think about the future from this experience, stuff like that but if there is no questions then no questions.
Blog Post #18 Thursday, January 31
Internship and College My internship has not inspired me to think about college, I did not really think about college during my time here. For courses I would like to take, I will want to focus on the arts. As for majors, I am not sure what I would like to pursue because there are many. If I choose an art major, it is possible that I can travel and meet other artists in different countries and be exposed to different art styles. I know that college will be in my future because my parents want me to go to college and I feel like I have to. My internship can kind of relate to my plans in the future because comic art is a form of art that I may learn in the future. My dad talked about his dream of having a studio of art and video. He also told me that I can work there as well and I would like to help him achieve that dream. |
Blog Post #19 Friday, February 1
What did I do? This week was mostly cleaning, organizing, back room cleaning and organizing. While I was working by myself, I listened to some true crime/conspiracy podcasts. Today I listened to one about the 27 club, and I got this quote from www.historicmysteries.com, "But the 27 Club phenomenon is well known among music business professionals and fans of popular music...The 27 Club is the name given to a group of unfortunate musicians who have died at the young age of 27, and usually at the height of their career.". So people like Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse. The podcast talked about them, fame, and other celebrities who have died also. It was interesting. Today I went out for lunch with Alonso and Alexander because it was Alexander's last day interning here. Ate some pizza, drank some lemonade, talked about comics, talked about a drowned mammal Alonso's wife found, and yeah. Alonso passed on a gift card to me by the board president of the college area business district, it is for a place called Woodstock Pizza. That is where we went for lunch today. It tastes good. I am feeling alright, just a bit tired. While writing this, I am listening to the Death Note anime soundtrack, I like the intense instrumental emotion of the character themes. I like blasting it at high volume because it makes me focus. |
Blog Post #20 Monday, February 4
Things to be Thankful for
In my internship experience, I am thankful for the exposure of the real world. During my time at Little Fish, I felt welcomed and I enjoyed my experience. I am also thankful for seeing Alexander because I recognized him from somewhere and that was in karate class from many years ago. I am glad to see he is doing well. After seeing many art styles, I am thankful for the comics and manga for giving me the appreciation of my own art style. After many years, I have had many attempts to see what works for me and still am, but I hope that as I continue to grow, my style will grow too.
Things to be Thankful for
In my internship experience, I am thankful for the exposure of the real world. During my time at Little Fish, I felt welcomed and I enjoyed my experience. I am also thankful for seeing Alexander because I recognized him from somewhere and that was in karate class from many years ago. I am glad to see he is doing well. After seeing many art styles, I am thankful for the comics and manga for giving me the appreciation of my own art style. After many years, I have had many attempts to see what works for me and still am, but I hope that as I continue to grow, my style will grow too.
Blog Post #21 Tuesday, February 5
Advice to Future Interns Future interns, the advice I will give you is to choose an internship that is or related to what you want to do in the future. That way, if that job did not work for you, you have another job within the same field you can try. For your internship to be a successful experience, I would say it depends on you. You should probably have some sort of experience in the job but it does not have to. For me, it was a success because it was not a stressing environment and I was comfortable here. So I say, feeling comfortable is very important. A skill you will need to make your internship successful is to be aware of your surroundings, but it may be hard for some people who focus on their task/themselves. I am the type of person that always observes the people around me, which helped me because I tend to do that anyways everywhere I go. By being observant, I mean knowing when someone was going to ask something, reading their actions to see what they are about to do, and having your senses be on alert. I know it sounds probably hard but using these really helped and I do not really know how to rephrase it. You can develop these skills at school or outside of school. I have been practicing them for a time but you can do it! I also give the advice of contacting multiple places. It did not need to go as far as calling them, but I suggest emailing them multiple times. The location and transportation is also a thing to look out for when choosing places to intern at. |
Blog Post #22 Wednesday, February 6 Looking into the Future Again The skills I will take with me in the future are the observations I make on the people around me. I will continue to also practice my drawing skills and other forms of art for my future career(s). I think I may be in contact with Little Fish and my mentor but just as a connection/network for future opportunities. Cleaning will always be in my life, from internship and into the future. From this experience, being in the outside world seems stressful but I think it depends on how you function and the career you have. As I said in a previous blog post, I would like to help and work for my dad in his future studio that he wants. |
Blog Post #23 Thursday, February 7
Reflections on Internship Project My internship project went alright. The back room right now has organized comics in their boxes. There is now a shelf in there to put some storage and the closet is now cleaned and organized. The boxes are still out, and they were suppose to be displayed in the classroom as another section but we cannot because the castor wheels were sold out for the other shelves. Overall, I have accomplished the main goal of cleaning stuff out and giving purpose to the backroom, except that there are now only boxes out. My reflection of the project is that it was something that my mentor wanted, it was not just me who made the idea, but Alonso thought of something he wanted to happen and gave me the opportunity to do it. What I would have done differently is tell Alonso to get more caster wheels earlier because he went two days ago when there was a sale, and when we went earlier, there was a whole row of wheels we could have gotten. What stood out to me was when my mentor was going through comics in the closet and there was so many he forgot about and are now the comics in the boxes in the back room. There were so many! He wants to use those comics as a "get free comics when you bring a bag of supplies for an organization that helps minorities/migrants" and it was a good idea. That stood out to me because he had a good idea for those comics. Before you could not walk in the closet but now there is more space. |
Blog Post #24 Friday February 8
IPOL My POL went well, I was nervous but in the end I was glad to have finished it. My presentation was on connected to the TV and I had some of my drawings as visuals. Some questions I got were "do I want to make comics", "do you want to go back to school?", and such. My mentor mostly asked if I want to explain who some people were that he has mentioned before. I answered with what I would like to focus on with my future and Alonso talked about himself and his works. I was excited to talk about the project because of the transformation with my organization skills. I was least excited to talk about nothing because I had to say what I had to say. My last day was good, I hope to go back someday. <- I drew that when I went to Monarch school yesterday with Alonso |