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Zoom University

10/31/2020

So far, all my classes have been going well considering the new mostly-online class schedule. I have enjoyed the flexibility which has accompanied this year’s online-format. Deadlines are known ahead of time and I can fit my personal and work schedule to my class schedule, particularly the large workload it encompasses this semester. I have found it challenging on some days to stay involved and motivated with my classes though. Not having the personal and social aspect to my classes has left me desiring the environment which we all experience when actually in the classroom; to me it makes working with my peers and engaging with them easier and more effective than the online-format. Not to mention the online format does not allow for easy connection (on a social basis) with the professors, especially for someone new to UNM like I am with no prior acquaintances with the teaching staff. I do look forward to the day where classes can return to a more on-campus based format. But for now, I will keep pushing and working my way through this semester. Does anyone have suggestions on how they’ve found a way to engage better and more personally with their peers and professors during this semester’s online-format? I’d love to increase that side of my academic experience this semester.

Alexandra Schoeller

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Mari's Summer 2020

10/4/2020

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With events and programs getting canceled, trying to manage the COVID job search landscape, and new opportunities arising, my summer was a wild ride. I had an internship program that canceled on me, failed the job search, took two classes, and ended up landing a small internship at the end. What started as a dismal summer ended up being a productive one.

Last spring, I enrolled in the Facebook Career Connections Fellowship program that trained me on social media and digital marketing skills and would match me with local businesses in Albuquerque for an internship. The program consisted of a summit, four-week training, an interview process, and a final matching. I didn’t know much about internships at the time, so I thought this would be a good program to train me and get me a local internship for the summer. I had attended the summit and gone through the four-week training and felt pretty good about my chances of getting an internship.

Two weeks before the end of the semester, I was notified that I wouldn’t move on to the interview process because of complications with COVID-19. At this point, I had two weeks to find another internship or a summer job before the spring semester ended and my summer began. And so began my frantic search for a job or internship. I spent two weeks sending in dozens of applications. I received three interviews, one call back, and zero offers.

As the semester rolled to a stop and my summer began, I had landed a few interviews, but the businesses didn’t offer part-time work, which I would need because I signed up for a couple of summer classes. I was extremely disheartened that I couldn’t even get a temporary part-time job, but understood that the pandemic has significantly impacted the number of jobs available. I decided to move on with my summer and instead focus my efforts on summer classes and personal projects.

I took a 300-level statistics class that helped me move forward in my degree and an interview prep workshop that helped me prepare for technical interviews. Both classes went well, and I am really glad I took the time to take them. To make the most out of my summer, I decided to work on some personal projects.

Let me tell you, doing personal projects is hard.

I spent more time trying to find an idea and plan out a way I can do it within a summer with my abilities than actually doing the projects. I got stuck and couldn’t find help on one of them. The other two are partially done.

Hiking with a friend back home

Side note: exercising during a pandemic is DIFFICULT!! It was hard for me to find the motivation to go outside and run a little or try to do workouts at home. Fortunately, cases were low in Montana (where I spent my summer) so my pool opened June 1 and I was able to swim once a day for two months of my summer. Props to all you people who did some sort of exercise or self-care over the summer.

In the middle of June, I got a message from the Career Connections program (yeah remember them from the spring?). They didn’t have paid opportunities anymore, but they had a few businesses that were looking for interns who still wanted experience. I was already set on a good steady rhythm for the summer and didn’t really want this to mess things up more…. But I decided to give it a shot.

Five interviews later, I got matched with a business that runs STEM camps for kids. They were extremely understanding of my commitments and were willing give me flexible hours, and they were excited that I was in SWE (you should definitely join SWE if you haven’t already!).

My daily schedule during the latter half of my summer looked something like this:

5:00 am: Wake up
5:30-7:30 am: Swim
7:30-8:30 am: Breakfast and sit outside in the nice weather
9:00 am: Nap (yes I took naps at 9 in the morning)
10:00 am: Study Japanese (or at least try to)
10:30-11:30 am: Statistics lecture over Zoom
11:30-12:30 pm: Homework
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30-3:30 pm: Internship work
3:30-6:00 pm: SWE work or Projects
6:00-7:00 pm: Dinner
7:00-9:00 pm: Homework or Projects

My days were packed and the first month of summer was full of stress and worry, but it ended up being a productive summer. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that were given out to me during a stressful time. There were many things I wasn’t happy about, but I’m grateful to have a home to go to and thankful for the support that I had.

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Karina's Summer 2020

10/4/2020

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This summer was...strange. I have a feeling we can all agree on that, no matter what we were up to! As the opportunities I had been intending to participate in started to fall through, I grew more and more anxious that I wouldn’t find work at all. Then a fateful email came in one day, and I happened to be staring at my phone right as it did. It was a local engineering company searching for interns and I emailed a resume in response in all of about five minutes, unconcerned with the type of work I would do at this point. In a day or two, I had done an interview over the phone and triumphantly informed my parents that they wouldn’t be able to put me to work in the yard all summer because I was a workin’ gal now!

The company was quite a wonderful company to work for, and I am incredibly grateful for the learning experience I got from them. I had decided to work from home because, although the workplace was open and near my house (and I had my own office so I would be able to socially distance), my entire team was at home as well. I figured, why sit in a little office by myself when I could just sit at home and have my puppies, kitchen full of food, and all the other comforts of home with me while I work? Unfortunately, there were a few things that I did not realize, but that I would come to learn very quickly.

For one, comforts of home also means distractions of home as well. It was pretty easy to accidentally while away an hour “quickly” doing the laundry, making lunch, or taking a break to read outside, especially when it was absolutely beautiful weather outdoors. On top of that, I came to discover that I cannot stand sitting inside behind a computer coding for eight hours a day. Whoops. That was exactly what I had signed up for. Not to mention, I took a rather difficult online summer class, so after work, it was time to spend a few more hours on the computer studying. Ha! My brain was absolutely not a fan of that.

As the summer went on, I tried my best to squeeze in exercise into each day—always very important—but it just wasn’t enough to balance all of that time indoors. I also tried to maintain a positive attitude because there were so many individuals who were unable to work and because we were all together facing a very tough situation, not just me. But it certainly wasn’t always easy.

Now, you might be thinking, Uh, news flash, most (computer) engineers have to sit inside all day, whether there is a pandemic or not… and to that I’d say you are absolutely correct and I am now scrambling to try and find a way to still do the work I am passionate about whilst somehow being outside… It is a process, as I am sure it is for everyone, and always a hard lesson when you realize that simply enjoying something isn’t quite enough. It might seem great to design video games, for example, but are you able to stare at a computer screen for 40+ hours a week? Sometimes I think that maybe I should just completely switch it up and become a zookeeper or forest ranger or something. But, before I go that far, I am working to explore all of the opportunities out there.

A few things that really helped me keep my peace of mind, in the summer, and now as we all learn to navigate “Zoom University”, were hobbies such as roller skating, hiking on the weekends, running outside with my dogs, and yard work (believe it or not, despite what I said before, I actually really enjoy moving dirt and mowing lawns!). Essentially, I partook in anything that would get me outside in a safe, socially distanced way. Some other things I did that didn’t require me to leave the house included journaling, reading, learning something new (more coding languages and baking!), and practicing time away from electronics. I am very thankful for the opportunities I had this summer and I hope that everyone was able to relax and learn during their summers as well, whether that was through an internship, a new hobby, or just enjoying some slower times with family! Now, I aim to find the positive and appreciate this fall semester as much as possible, though it is a challenge for me personally, and I am sure for many others. No matter what, it is always a learning experience and a good adventure!

The pictures include my two [home] office buddies, Shelby (the fluffier one) and Lincoln, a very fun hike, and an out-of-office buddy, Danzereno. (:

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