Hello all I hope that everyone can take a minute and check out my online Portfolio.
Here is the Website to access the Portfolio:
http://racheldepietroportfolio.weebly.com/
Sincerely,
Rachel DePietro
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Where the Future Lies
The future, the future is a scary thing to think about when all you have been thinking about is getting done with school and walking away with your Bachelors. I feel that all I have ever known is school; I have experienced life through the pages of texts books. Please don’t misconstrue what I am saying I love to learn, if I could I would have a degree in Art, Music, Writing, Theater, ASL, Culinary Arts, and the list goes on. I love to learn, I love to feel like a Jack of All Trades. But, I have worked so hard on school worrying about grades and GPAs, that I feel that my passions have gone from, a passion to a forced expedition. I stopped writing for me and did it so I would get the best grade. The future for me has always been the next step in school and now that the end is in sight I feel like life is in slow motion and I am stuck in quick sand. I can’t go back, but I don’t know how to go forward. It sounds silly I know, but I have always been a little dramatic (which works because my AA is in theater). I think before I decide my future I want to experience everything that I saw others experience in the books I read. I want to know I can live the true life I want. No Regrets is the one thing I promised my Grandfather before he passed and that is a promise I plan to keep.
I went to work for Future for Kids because it was something out of my element. I am the creative free thinker who would love to be up all night and sleep all day. I swore I would never work in an office with cubicles, but when I got to Future for Kids I realized that it wasn’t about the office. No it was about the work we are doing for the kids, and I can gladly be up during the day in an office building know that I am doing something that changes lives. Today I got to meet some of those kids and I feel like after one day they have my heart. To see kids having fun, smiles showing in their eyes, it was the most gratifying experience to realize that I am a part of putting that smile in their hearts. It sounds funny, but the greatest thing I hope to accomplish is to spread true smiles and joy. I grew up the odd one out my whole life, all I ever wanted was to feel like I mattered, and when I was with those kids today I felt like finally I was doing something that truly mattered.
When people ask me what I want to do with my future I pause, not because I don’t fully know what I want to do, but because I see so many things I wish I could do I just don’t know how to get there yet. I tell people when they ask me that question two things, I tell them what I would want if life was a perfect world and what I hope to do with the life I have in front of me. My perfect world is a big idea that maybe I will never achieve, but when I stop dreaming is the day I will turn my world upside down just to find away to dream again. Dreams give you goals, goals give you hope, and hope fuels the passion in your soul. Everyone has a dream and it’s never too big as long as it’s what you want. Learn from your past, enjoy the present, and have faith in the future. Never regret where you have been it’s what made you who you are and that is the greatest thing in the world.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know that I am enjoying the here and now. I am glad I chose to work at Future for Kids I think this will be a great experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Always remember there are no mistakes only lessons to be learned.
I went to work for Future for Kids because it was something out of my element. I am the creative free thinker who would love to be up all night and sleep all day. I swore I would never work in an office with cubicles, but when I got to Future for Kids I realized that it wasn’t about the office. No it was about the work we are doing for the kids, and I can gladly be up during the day in an office building know that I am doing something that changes lives. Today I got to meet some of those kids and I feel like after one day they have my heart. To see kids having fun, smiles showing in their eyes, it was the most gratifying experience to realize that I am a part of putting that smile in their hearts. It sounds funny, but the greatest thing I hope to accomplish is to spread true smiles and joy. I grew up the odd one out my whole life, all I ever wanted was to feel like I mattered, and when I was with those kids today I felt like finally I was doing something that truly mattered.
When people ask me what I want to do with my future I pause, not because I don’t fully know what I want to do, but because I see so many things I wish I could do I just don’t know how to get there yet. I tell people when they ask me that question two things, I tell them what I would want if life was a perfect world and what I hope to do with the life I have in front of me. My perfect world is a big idea that maybe I will never achieve, but when I stop dreaming is the day I will turn my world upside down just to find away to dream again. Dreams give you goals, goals give you hope, and hope fuels the passion in your soul. Everyone has a dream and it’s never too big as long as it’s what you want. Learn from your past, enjoy the present, and have faith in the future. Never regret where you have been it’s what made you who you are and that is the greatest thing in the world.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know that I am enjoying the here and now. I am glad I chose to work at Future for Kids I think this will be a great experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Always remember there are no mistakes only lessons to be learned.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Lessons Learned
Of course in school we learn theories upon theories, in communication I learn about Social Exchange Theory, Social Penetration Theory, Communication Accommodation Theory, and so on. Each time you learned a new theory it sometimes would feel like your world was shifted up on end, everything you thought you knew you didn’t and you saw things that you never noticed before some good some bad. With the Communication Accommodation Theory you learn that as much as we think we are studying what a speaker is talking about he or she is actually studying us and then from what they notice about their audience changes how and what they deliver in their speech. Some of the things you begin to notice are amazing and give you a whole new view point about life that you never thought possible. Other times it can make reality and life seem harsh, you begin to notice that people are not who they seem and you start to wonder if anyone really is. Then you turn inward and look at yourself and question everything about you that you have ever known, questioning whether you are truly the person you want to be or not. In all reality it’s a trip, exciting, dangerous, and the most earth moving experience that no matter what, you can’t find a reason to regret the steps you took to get there and the understanding that came along with it.
Ok so I am getting a little intense here, what I am trying to say is sometimes it’s not about what the Theories are, it’s about the lessons we learn from them. And do you want to know something funny, I don’t think it was until this exact moment that I even understood that. Every time someone tried to get me to explain a concept or an idea I learned from school and my focuses, I always thought they had to be something like Social Penetration Theory. Something that was scholastic and importantly earth shattering. But, you know what is doesn’t, I think from my focuses the 4 greatest things I learned are so simple, but you have to look passed what all those Doctoral Textbooks tell you and learn from what you experience with the knowledge they gave you.
From communication I can say that I learned the ability to see from everyone’s point of view, so essentially Team Work. Also I learned that the ability to communicate and communicate well will be your greatest weapon. In Creative Writing I gain the ability to Pay Attention to Details, no matter how small or unimportant they seem, there is something that can be accomplished from the smallest thread of an idea. It also gave me the ability to Think On My Feet, life is always moving, it isn’t going to stop just because you need 5 minutes to get your head on straight. You have to have confidence in yourself and in your abilities to think and be one step ahead of the game.
At Future for Kids I am now ending my third week, so far every day I use all of those concepts on multiple occasions. We always have to be one step ahead, being a nonprofit company we have to be on our game to get attention and keep the company funded and keep the mission alive. When you do a project you may be the one figuring out what needs to be done and how, but you always have to work with others and have them look over your work. Even our Executive Director has use review her work that she is doing such as grants and so on. You can’t be a lone wolf in a company no matter how much you think you should be. Everything we do has to draw attention to those who are willing to help this company and its cause, you have to be creative and think about what is personal and eye catching. The biggest thing is communication, in a company comprised of two head people, three interns and two other part time staff. You a have to know how to communicate, because the Founder and the Executive Director aren’t always going to be there. You will be holding down the fort, talking to investors and board members, companies giving us grants and so on. The ability to think on your feet, communicate well, pay attention to everything going on around you, and remembering that there is no I in team are the greatest assets I could have ever hoped for. I am grateful for the experience that have given me the tools to drive head first into every situation thrown my way. This is what learning is all about, in ten years it’s not going to matter what your grade was in you COM300 class. What is going to matter is the lesson you took from it.
Ok so I am getting a little intense here, what I am trying to say is sometimes it’s not about what the Theories are, it’s about the lessons we learn from them. And do you want to know something funny, I don’t think it was until this exact moment that I even understood that. Every time someone tried to get me to explain a concept or an idea I learned from school and my focuses, I always thought they had to be something like Social Penetration Theory. Something that was scholastic and importantly earth shattering. But, you know what is doesn’t, I think from my focuses the 4 greatest things I learned are so simple, but you have to look passed what all those Doctoral Textbooks tell you and learn from what you experience with the knowledge they gave you.
From communication I can say that I learned the ability to see from everyone’s point of view, so essentially Team Work. Also I learned that the ability to communicate and communicate well will be your greatest weapon. In Creative Writing I gain the ability to Pay Attention to Details, no matter how small or unimportant they seem, there is something that can be accomplished from the smallest thread of an idea. It also gave me the ability to Think On My Feet, life is always moving, it isn’t going to stop just because you need 5 minutes to get your head on straight. You have to have confidence in yourself and in your abilities to think and be one step ahead of the game.
At Future for Kids I am now ending my third week, so far every day I use all of those concepts on multiple occasions. We always have to be one step ahead, being a nonprofit company we have to be on our game to get attention and keep the company funded and keep the mission alive. When you do a project you may be the one figuring out what needs to be done and how, but you always have to work with others and have them look over your work. Even our Executive Director has use review her work that she is doing such as grants and so on. You can’t be a lone wolf in a company no matter how much you think you should be. Everything we do has to draw attention to those who are willing to help this company and its cause, you have to be creative and think about what is personal and eye catching. The biggest thing is communication, in a company comprised of two head people, three interns and two other part time staff. You a have to know how to communicate, because the Founder and the Executive Director aren’t always going to be there. You will be holding down the fort, talking to investors and board members, companies giving us grants and so on. The ability to think on your feet, communicate well, pay attention to everything going on around you, and remembering that there is no I in team are the greatest assets I could have ever hoped for. I am grateful for the experience that have given me the tools to drive head first into every situation thrown my way. This is what learning is all about, in ten years it’s not going to matter what your grade was in you COM300 class. What is going to matter is the lesson you took from it.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary in the Nonprofit World
Multidisciplinary vs. Interdisciplinary which fits the nonprofit world more? Interdisciplinary of course is the ability to take the teachings from multiple subjects and combining them to create a greater understanding from a multi dimensional outlook. Multidisciplinary is the idea that you can have multiple fields of study, but one doesn’t connect with the other they are their own separate pieces that don’t change or grow from the knowledge of another field. In this day and age it would seem too presumptuous to say that there is a true multidisciplinary field. When studying at university maybe, but outside of school and even in school the bases of understanding is learning what different ways of looking at things can teach you. To be a nurse let’s say you have to be able to use math, science, even communicational skill to be a successful nurse. To be a grade school teacher you have to know math, science, art, writing, reading, and so on. Every field helps to move and expand others in one form or another. Life whether how simple, small, or even insignificant as some might think, works in an interdisciplinary fashion, don’t we tell children when they don’t understand something or someone to either walk a mile in that persons shoes or look at things from a different light. To be and live is to be interdisciplinary.
At Future for Kids it seems at first that have one goal one purpose and that is all they want to strive for. As you look deep into their inner workings and the details of the company you see that they are working from multiple angles to create the best outcome for their most sought after goal. Future for Kids is a nonprofit charity for Children, but they also are about sports and teaching the children about healthy life styles. They don’t just raise money they become a part of children’s lives, they hold charity events yes, but they also have camps for the kids once weekly after school programs, and so on. So far I have been working on the camps and the charity events. I have been in charge of setting up media coverage for the events. Getting the food and beverages together for the event and taking care of the registration for the events. When you work in a small, but passionate team you take on the roles of all different types of people. You are the media coordinator, you are the assistant, you are the head buyer, and so on. Each inter will have specific duties based on what their educational background is, such as I am communication and creative writing, so I have been in charge of the newsletters and getting the word out there about upcoming events and projects. As well as being in charge of the media coverage and the promotion of a charity haunted house that we are having in the fall. You being your own unique view point to the company and they want multiple viewpoints showing them what is working for the company and what needs a little spicing up. From day one they tell you that there is basic nonprofit company ideas that they want you to learn, but after that they want you to develop your talents in the best way to help the company, so they can be a well rounded and diverse system.
At Future for Kids it seems at first that have one goal one purpose and that is all they want to strive for. As you look deep into their inner workings and the details of the company you see that they are working from multiple angles to create the best outcome for their most sought after goal. Future for Kids is a nonprofit charity for Children, but they also are about sports and teaching the children about healthy life styles. They don’t just raise money they become a part of children’s lives, they hold charity events yes, but they also have camps for the kids once weekly after school programs, and so on. So far I have been working on the camps and the charity events. I have been in charge of setting up media coverage for the events. Getting the food and beverages together for the event and taking care of the registration for the events. When you work in a small, but passionate team you take on the roles of all different types of people. You are the media coordinator, you are the assistant, you are the head buyer, and so on. Each inter will have specific duties based on what their educational background is, such as I am communication and creative writing, so I have been in charge of the newsletters and getting the word out there about upcoming events and projects. As well as being in charge of the media coverage and the promotion of a charity haunted house that we are having in the fall. You being your own unique view point to the company and they want multiple viewpoints showing them what is working for the company and what needs a little spicing up. From day one they tell you that there is basic nonprofit company ideas that they want you to learn, but after that they want you to develop your talents in the best way to help the company, so they can be a well rounded and diverse system.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Insight Into My Life
Ciao Everyone! It is nice to meet you all, My name is Rachel Marie-Elizabeth DePietro, but you can all just call me Rachel. This is the first real time I have blogged. I tried to use one of those livejournals when I was in high school, but that is about it. So I hope that I can get into the swing of this.
Now let’s see, I am 22 years old, I just turned 22 on June 5th it was a wonderful birthday that I got to send with my friends and family. I am in my 5th year of school, so I hues that makes me a Super Senior. Though, this summer is my last semester of school, yep that’s right I graduate in August. I am excited . . . and in all truth I am scared as all get out. As the time of graduation draws near I am approached with the question of “What are you going to do when you are done?” If I were to answer truthfully after I recover from that “Dear in the Headlights” moment, I reply to them that I really don t know what I want to do and in all honesty what 20 year person does, am I right? One thing I do know is I am on the right path to finding what I want to do thanks to the BIS program. Thanks to this field of study I have faith that my dreams and passion can be combined with real work experience and bless me with a job I will love.
It is so great that we are all BIS students, one reason being you don’t get that confused puppy look that most get when you say you are a Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies major. So since we can side step the explanation of what a BIS major is I am just going to jump into what my focuses are. They are Creative Writing and Communication. The reason I chose Creative Writing and Communication comes from the fact that at one point I had four Majors, those being Creative Writing, Theater, Communications, and Studio Art. I started by getting my AA Degree in Theater and Creative Writing. Thanks to GCC I fell in love with writing it became so much more to me than I had ever imagined it being. So I went off to UofA in the hopes of getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Theater and Creative Writing. So, something happened along the way and I ending up dropping Theater keeping Creative Writing and then adding Studio Art. It seems like a crazy jump yeah? Well to me it was so perfect. I took a communication class at GCC I loved it I want to learn more, but it wasn’t as important as writing was to me. Thus I was only going to have it as a minor, but after taking one more class in Commutations I was hooked and want to dive head first into the study of communication. Once I finally made it to ASU I knew what I want to do and that is how I got studying Creative Writing and Communications.
How these two focuses Creative Writing and Communication descried my personality is a hard and easy question at the same time. First let’s start with Communications, for what I have been told I was always a vocal child, even when I was a baby, I started talking when I was 6 months old. Though if you know me in person you would say just like my family does, that being, I started talking early and apparently those first 6 months is the only time my parents got any peace and quiet, because from then on I never stopped talking (seriously I even sleep talk, crazy right). Also I have always wondered about words, where they come from who decided that an orange was an orange? I think that was also a leeway into writing, because no matter what if it is fiction or truth there is a story to be told about everything. I loved to read I have to read every day or my poor little brain gets anxious. I think I love thinking up stories as much as I love reading them. I can’t even get tattoos without them having a story behind them.
Onto my Applied Studies, I am very thankful to be working at a Non-Profit Organization called Future for Kids. We are an after school program for at risk children. Our home base is in Scottsdale, but our after school programs are all around the valley. I am hoping to come away for this experience with the ability to understand board room procedures and writing grant proposals. Those are the surface facts that I hope to understand, but deeper I want to know how team work and hope help propel a nonprofit company. Also I think that what drew me to this place was the ability to make a difference in a child’s life, I want so much to inspire kids the way my teachers inspired. I am blessed with chance to be able to teach the kids the art of storytelling, I was so excited when I found that out I thought of all the teachers from my past and remember what they showed me to be an art, a passion, and beauty.
So far I have been able to contribute to Future for Kids by being a coordinator for one charity event and on sports event for the children. I have been in control of media coverage for a Charity Haunted House that is holding a preview night in June, but will be in full swing in the fall. Then on June 12th we are hold a free sports camp for kids ages 8 to 14. I have been in control of receiving and contacting kids who are going to be attending the camp. It has been amazing realizing how many kids are so excited to attend and be a part of this exciting experience. Also many of the sports affiliate associated with camp are from ASU, we even are having a visit from Sparky. Lastly I am in charge of the companies Newsletter and Website. I am so excited to be able to have this chance to work with my writing skills and use it to help our company gain more notice and more supporters.
In all truth the most fighten thought is that I don’t know what I fuuly want to do when I am done with school. I am not sure if I want to stay in nonprofit, but I do know that I want to write. I want to write everything I see and experience. Life is something beautiful and every moment is something that is worth living and seeing. So the ability to share experience with the world is very important to me and the ability to communication those stories is just as important.
I am excited, scared and, looking forward to what the future holds. We may not always know what the future holds, but as long as you learn from the past, enjoy the present, and hope for the future then you will have the strength to face anything that life has to throw at you. I am so excited that we have been offered the chance to look at life through and interdisciplinary aspect. It gives us a whole new way to experience life. I want to say good luck to everyone at their applied studies site and I hope everyone enjoys what it has to teach them.
Now let’s see, I am 22 years old, I just turned 22 on June 5th it was a wonderful birthday that I got to send with my friends and family. I am in my 5th year of school, so I hues that makes me a Super Senior. Though, this summer is my last semester of school, yep that’s right I graduate in August. I am excited . . . and in all truth I am scared as all get out. As the time of graduation draws near I am approached with the question of “What are you going to do when you are done?” If I were to answer truthfully after I recover from that “Dear in the Headlights” moment, I reply to them that I really don t know what I want to do and in all honesty what 20 year person does, am I right? One thing I do know is I am on the right path to finding what I want to do thanks to the BIS program. Thanks to this field of study I have faith that my dreams and passion can be combined with real work experience and bless me with a job I will love.
It is so great that we are all BIS students, one reason being you don’t get that confused puppy look that most get when you say you are a Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies major. So since we can side step the explanation of what a BIS major is I am just going to jump into what my focuses are. They are Creative Writing and Communication. The reason I chose Creative Writing and Communication comes from the fact that at one point I had four Majors, those being Creative Writing, Theater, Communications, and Studio Art. I started by getting my AA Degree in Theater and Creative Writing. Thanks to GCC I fell in love with writing it became so much more to me than I had ever imagined it being. So I went off to UofA in the hopes of getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Theater and Creative Writing. So, something happened along the way and I ending up dropping Theater keeping Creative Writing and then adding Studio Art. It seems like a crazy jump yeah? Well to me it was so perfect. I took a communication class at GCC I loved it I want to learn more, but it wasn’t as important as writing was to me. Thus I was only going to have it as a minor, but after taking one more class in Commutations I was hooked and want to dive head first into the study of communication. Once I finally made it to ASU I knew what I want to do and that is how I got studying Creative Writing and Communications.
How these two focuses Creative Writing and Communication descried my personality is a hard and easy question at the same time. First let’s start with Communications, for what I have been told I was always a vocal child, even when I was a baby, I started talking when I was 6 months old. Though if you know me in person you would say just like my family does, that being, I started talking early and apparently those first 6 months is the only time my parents got any peace and quiet, because from then on I never stopped talking (seriously I even sleep talk, crazy right). Also I have always wondered about words, where they come from who decided that an orange was an orange? I think that was also a leeway into writing, because no matter what if it is fiction or truth there is a story to be told about everything. I loved to read I have to read every day or my poor little brain gets anxious. I think I love thinking up stories as much as I love reading them. I can’t even get tattoos without them having a story behind them.
Onto my Applied Studies, I am very thankful to be working at a Non-Profit Organization called Future for Kids. We are an after school program for at risk children. Our home base is in Scottsdale, but our after school programs are all around the valley. I am hoping to come away for this experience with the ability to understand board room procedures and writing grant proposals. Those are the surface facts that I hope to understand, but deeper I want to know how team work and hope help propel a nonprofit company. Also I think that what drew me to this place was the ability to make a difference in a child’s life, I want so much to inspire kids the way my teachers inspired. I am blessed with chance to be able to teach the kids the art of storytelling, I was so excited when I found that out I thought of all the teachers from my past and remember what they showed me to be an art, a passion, and beauty.
So far I have been able to contribute to Future for Kids by being a coordinator for one charity event and on sports event for the children. I have been in control of media coverage for a Charity Haunted House that is holding a preview night in June, but will be in full swing in the fall. Then on June 12th we are hold a free sports camp for kids ages 8 to 14. I have been in control of receiving and contacting kids who are going to be attending the camp. It has been amazing realizing how many kids are so excited to attend and be a part of this exciting experience. Also many of the sports affiliate associated with camp are from ASU, we even are having a visit from Sparky. Lastly I am in charge of the companies Newsletter and Website. I am so excited to be able to have this chance to work with my writing skills and use it to help our company gain more notice and more supporters.
In all truth the most fighten thought is that I don’t know what I fuuly want to do when I am done with school. I am not sure if I want to stay in nonprofit, but I do know that I want to write. I want to write everything I see and experience. Life is something beautiful and every moment is something that is worth living and seeing. So the ability to share experience with the world is very important to me and the ability to communication those stories is just as important.
I am excited, scared and, looking forward to what the future holds. We may not always know what the future holds, but as long as you learn from the past, enjoy the present, and hope for the future then you will have the strength to face anything that life has to throw at you. I am so excited that we have been offered the chance to look at life through and interdisciplinary aspect. It gives us a whole new way to experience life. I want to say good luck to everyone at their applied studies site and I hope everyone enjoys what it has to teach them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)