Reflection Paper

extremely developmental experience. I also had the challenge of organizing work with 5 separate
organizations on my own; negotiating schedules, employment, classes, responsibilities and needs all on
my own. This was a challenging but very fun experience truly leaving all fears behind and finding out
create relationships with patience and persistence.
6) How was the preparation (resumes, etc) and interviewing process (before this co-op) for
you (in general)? What did you learn from previous experience, or class, or peers? What
are some tips you would share with students who are preparing to go on their first co-op?
The preparation process included writing many project proposal, defining research and doing
background work upon what I believe a possible objective could be from my experience. I also worked
very closely with a mentor in San Francisco originally from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil who helped establish
the connections with the organizations I worked with. In addition to academic work I took a lot of dance
classes preparing for the physical and artistic engagement aspect of my research. The guidance I would
give to any new co-ops is stay consistent and persistent with communication when trying to set up any
projects. Often times you need to remind people of the jobs/projects you want to complete with them
because many times they have other projects of their own. Take responsibility.
7) Did you have or encounter any ethical dilemmas – or weird social situations occur while on
co-op? (socializing outside of work, dating within the company, _______, questionable
practices by a co-worker, office politics, etc.)….how did you handle them?
I luckily did not encounter any ethical dilemmas in my job experience.
8) How prepared do you feel you were to be an effective person in this position? What jobs or
volunteering experience helped you in this job?
I felt very prepared and unprepared at simultaneously. I was prepared to teach being a teacher for many
years but I had never taught English to non-English speakers; also while in the process of learning the
language my students. This proved challenging but extremely rewarding. I had never translated before
but working and engaging really helped develop my Portuguese while I was in the process of learning the
language through conversational life. I had a lot of experience dancing prior to my trip but I was dancing
with a very advanced company which helped me develop immensely as a dancer and build on my
foundation. I had never played capoeira but my dance and sports background helped me excel learning.
9) Did any of your previous coursework help you be effective in this position? What type of
coursework do you feel might have been useful prior to this co-op? Will this (and previous
co-op experiences) help you next semester’s classes?
Some of my previous course work helped like history of latin-amerinan society and development, my
research methods course, and my education courses helped me with all my work.
10) How did this co-op help you decide what you want to do next (in terms of career or work)?
Any plans?
This co-op helped me realize I want to work within the creative and cultural industry. I would also like to
continue my work with education of both youth and adults (I taught all adults in Brazil) in some shape or
form. I would like to contribute to, organize, and help support the cultural art community for my
professional life, I just have yet to decide in what specific facet.