Journal 38

CST 462S: March 3 - April 25

Wow, it's been a long time since writing in my virtual journal. Two more classes have come and gone, and I've learned so much. For my CST 426S course, I completed just over 28 hours of work the Eat for the Earth service learning site. I worked on redesigning the website for a non-profit that promotes veganism for the health of the individual and of the Earth. Not only did I gain some great hands-on experience, I also learned a lot about working in a team, managing time effectively on large-scale projects, and even a few plant-based recipes. 

Admittedly, upon starting the project, I felt a bit in over my head as I had never used WordPress before, and would need to learn not only a new program, but also would need to learn how to make websites without coding. Coming straight from the web development course right before this class, I felt very strongly about my web design skills and actually found that I really, really enjoyed making websites, hence why I signed up for the web development project. Little did I know, it was not website building in the way I knew it, and I often found myself fighting WordPress's AI website builder (lol). Despite my struggles and having to acquaint myself with a new program, I eventually got the hang of things and set out to do my work. 

During the course of the project, we had a few hiccups in communication and working as a team. A few of my teammates were not communicating with Saria and I, and one of them stopped responding all-together. We decided just to send weekly emails to our site supervisor to keep in communication and ask questions. While this lack of teamwork was a hinderance, I do admit that it gave me good skills and practice in navigating the situation should anything like this occur in the future at a job. Although we were not able to get all of the work done, I am still proud of the portions Saria and I made, and we often joked about "girl power" and "women in STEM." I am very happy that we helped Beth get her site almost completely done, and I think her cause is one that is both very important and very impactful. I really resonate with her passion for helping out lower-income communities and offering her programs in other languages to help spread healthy recipes and practices to many people.

For future SL students, I recommend that even when there are times when things may get tough in your work, always reach out to your site supervisor and the professor for assistance. Also, keep in mind that you are contributing towards something meaningful and also getting hands-on experience, so do not take it for granted.