CAS Blog

CAS Blog (9/20/22)   C = Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. This summer some of my close friends and I decided to begin a self-owned business. We dubbed this new endeavor "WATERWORX" and it was a pressure washing service for local driveways and patios in the surrounding neighborhoods. We planned to use our individual power washing machines to tackle the different neighborhoods that we lived in and compile the profits. At first, it was a rocky start, but we managed to begin by doing some jobs for our friend's houses. We learned how to power wash by learning from the Internet and even practiced on our own driveways. However, as it turns out, it is very difficult to find interest in a teenage self-owned power washing business that was relatively new. We didn't have enough outreach to get many customers, and m...

CAS Blog (2/27/22)   C = Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance Learning Outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. This week I had a great idea to help out my job by using my talents in another way. Social media outreach. Truthfully, being active on social media nowadays is more of a negative thing rather than a positive, however, in the lens of business, it is a great way to reach a large mass of potential future customers. Because my restaurant's social media activity has been minimal in the last few years, I came up with a proposal to manage all the accounts for the various socials (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as both a hobby I enjoy and a way to highlight the food. Instead of the dull captions and poor-quality pictures, I would use catchy messages and vibrant pictures to give a truer perspective of what we do there. As screens and social media prominently dominate the mod...

CAS Blog (2/13/22) A = Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. During the last week, I began my first shifts at my job at Samurai Noodle. From day one I realized this would be a big jump from all the forms of work experience I have had in the past, such as volunteer work and internships. This job required me to work in a fast-paced environment, performing an extensive number of tasks independently. For example, I had to memorize acronyms to write down orders faster, learn how to set up the restaurant, take orders from customers and seat them, clean tables, and many more. It needed a lot of focus to keep track of so many responsibilities, especially as the restaurant would hit a full house and my co-workers left me to handle all of them since we are short-staffed. However, despite this new challenge, I was surprised to say that I enjoyed it a lot. Time passed quickly...

CAS Blog (2/6/22) S = Collaborative and reciprocal community engagement in response to an authentic need Learning Outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in a fieldwork experience. This Saturday I had the opportunity to volunteer at Asia Society's annual Lunar Festival Celebration which was hosted in their own building. The event had a number of activities, ranging from arts and crafts, live performances, and the famous dragon dance in the plaza. As with last week's blog, this event really strengthened my connection to Asia Society, and I'm glad I agreed to do it. However, there are some key things I learned today regarding perseverance.  I was assigned the task of helping to "print" buttons in the Houston Public Library event bus; an activity that was very popular among the children. The task in itself was simple, operate a button printer of sorts and guide the children to make their own creations to immortalize in a button. However, the volunteer who was ...

CAS Blog (1/30/22)  C - Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance Learning Outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. This week during my internship at Asia Society I had the opportunity to finally begin working on one of the big projects the organization is planning during the next few years. The concept is to build an exhibit featuring a train that uses screens to stimulate different sights around the world. However, the train is only "visiting" popular Asian landmarks, in every country imaginable. Some examples include China, Japan, Vietnam, India, Pakistan and eventually ending by visiting Asian places in local Houston. This is similar to an exhibit I saw in Chicago over summer break, so it was easy to picture what the finished result would look like. Additionally. Texas Society plans to make a collection of Asian culture-themed LED lights to be presented in the cafe area. We, ...

 CAS Blog (1/23/22) C -  Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance Learning Outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. This weekend I had the opportunity to go to my first interview for a paid working job. Before this, I only had experience in volunteering for various organizations such as the Beacon and the Houston Food Bank. As well, I interned at the Texas Asia Society as an Education and Outreach intern with the task of managing outreach projects, like reaching out to schools in the Houston area for a summer camp. Although my internship does enable me to learn about how to function in a workplace and to demonstrate leadership skills, there is still a difference from an actual job in which the work solely relies on you and your team members. There are far greater responsibilities and skills needed for success. For the interview, I came prepared with copies of my resume and a mental list of questions to ...