Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

I’m most proud of the information I put out in my presentation without stumbling very much. I am also proud I made time limit with everything that I wanted to talk about. Notecards really helped me with what I wanted to say, so I wouldn’t blank out during the presentation.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.


I would probably give myself a P, because I did all that was required by context and time limit. I presented my hook, EQ, went in depth with Personal Injury Law, talked about my mentorship and interviews, cited an article, interacted with the audience, dressed appropriately, and made the time limit.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

If I could go back I probably would bring in props and/or books to give my presentation more visually pretty vibe. In my lesson two I will change that and bring in a book or two.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

I am mentoring at my mentors law firm. I am somewhat shadowing my mentor. Sometimes I will just follow my mentor around and see what she is doing, and other times my mentor will give me a task to do such as helping her with cases. I also help her paralegal and do work with her in cases. All these tasks are related to my topic because all the cases are personal injury. Yes there are many lawyers that work in her law firm, such as her paralegal.

2. How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

My mentor is a family friend and all I did was ask her and she said sure no problem, as long as I am willing to work.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

I would say I am very comfortable with my mentor, but I have a professional relationship with her in a way. I’ve grown to really respect my mentor with what she does because she puts in so many hours, with hard work, and really loves what she does.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

My mentor has been really busy these past two weeks and hasn’t really had any time to be interviewed. But, my mentor was willing to do a short interview with me. I need to work on thinking of follow up questions under pressure. When I’m being recorded I get nervous and I can’t ever think of follow up questions.

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

I do currently have a mentor, Personal Injury lawyer, Cindy Hafif, and I already have completed the interview.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.  

I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to narrow down my topic to because it is already narrowed down. What I have been thinking is:

How can a lawyer make a client happy and give them what they deserve in their case? This can be narrowed down to professionalism, executing a case as fast as possible so there won’t be stress on the client, trustworthiness, and truth.

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

I will next go to the law library near my mentors firm and pick up books about my topic. This will help me get reliable and updated information about my topic.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

Some possible essential questions I have been thinking about are:

How does a personal injury lawyer ensue the best outcome/overall satisfaction of their client?

How can a personal injury lawyer earn trust with their client, remain professional, and execute their job with quality and results the fastest?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I plan on attending my mentor’s mediations and depositions. These usually go on from 4-5 hours. Depending on how long they are I should attend from 4-6 of them. The rest of my hours, probably the remaining 5-10 hours will be writing up on what happens during the mediations and depositions.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

To show my evidence, I will log all my hours on the blog and will write up a “summary” of what is said during the mediations or depositions. I have summary in quotes because I need to talk to my mentor on seeing what I can make public and what I cannot.

3. Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

Hopefully during these mediations and depositions I will be attending will let me expand on what happens in the field of law and what can be thrown around. I will be experiencing this live and be able to start figuring out what I like about it and what I dislike. I get to learn about people’s lives and it’s all very exciting and different.

4. Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Sounds good and I will keep on it.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

My mentor is Cindy Hafif and works at Hafif and Associates. My mentor is an expert Personal Injury Lawyer. She owns her own law firm and has many lawyers that work for.

2. What five questions will you ask them about their background?

·      What did you study in college?

·      How did your education prepare you for becoming an attorney?

·      What made you want to be in the field of Personal Injury Law?

·      How did you start out your career and what was your journey that made you become successful into owning your own law firm?

·      Considering everybody you have met throughout your career, what personal qualities are essential for success?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

My mentorship has worked really well so far. I am able to see all the work my mentor does and see some of the paperwork and steps required for a case. My mentor is willing to meet with me and doesn’t mind helping me out with her cases because there is so much work that goes into it. This experience has been positive so far because my mentor is so kind and helpful. Any time I have a question, I just ask her or her paralegal and they will take the time to explain anything to me. So far I am enjoying my mentorship and I am learning many new things.

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

Some difficulty I am having is I feel like I don’t really know anything about what goes on in a courtroom. I would love to go to court to watch my mentor speak her case, but her trials are always early in the morning during school hours. I need to find a time to watch a trial, because without it, I feel like I am not really experiencing what a lawyer does. I will need to go over with my mentor all her court dates and figure out a time where I can go with her and watch one. The senior team wouldn’t be able to help me on this because it is between my mentor and I. I am also having trouble figuring out where I want to go with my project. My mentoring only shows me so much. The senior team might be able to help me figure out what road I should take next in this project.

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

Now I need to call my personal injury lawyer.

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

The most important thing I learned from my interview was, you really need to love what you do. My mentor would not be where she is today if she didn’t do what she enjoyed. Even though my topic may seem like a lot of work, and it is, the end result makes a huge difference. Every time a case is resolved, you just helped out an entire family or one important person, and that is the greatest feeling in the world.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

My mentor gave me many options for resources and contacts. She told me about a law library, which is just up the street from her law firm, that I can check out books and learn a lot of things about my topic. My mentor also told me about free legal services that are right outside of the library. This service can answer any questions and give me information and insight on my topic. My mentor told me I could also interview them for one of my interviews. The last contact she gave me was her paralegal, which is very important. Her paralegal literally does everything. Any time a lawyer in her firm needs help, the paralegal is there to assist them so their work isn’t as strenuous. My mentor’s paralegal would be a perfect person to interview because the paralegal dips into different cases with different types of lawyers all the time.

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My mentor who I interviewed is very qualified because she works in the topic that I chose for my senior topic. I got inspiration from her to approach this topic and do it for my senior project. She is very successful with her cases and owns her own law firm. She is a professional in personal injury law and she gave me great insight on what she does and what I can learn from it.

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

Wanting to achieve my goal by accomplishing my dreams. But first, I have to take a big step and go up and over mountain tops to be successful in life.

Write a short explanation of what you are hoping to accomplish through your senior project topic.

What I hope to accomplish this year is figuring out what I want to be in life or what I want to do as a career. Mentoring at my mentor's law firm this past summer and this year will hopefully let me figure out if law is something I want to pursue as a career. So far, law is quite interesting for me. There are some aspects that I enjoy, but there are some parts that I don't like as much. Hopefully, this year by digging up more information, doing independent components, and conducting interviews, I will be able to come to a conclusion on how I relate to law as a whole. This year, I also hope to find new meanings to life. What I mean by that, is finding the deeper picture of how I want to grow up and what I want to be as a person. This senior project will help me with that because mentoring with my mentor this year will show me discipline, how to work with people, and conducting work professionally. I hope that this mentorship will bring a new outlook for me and show me away to a bright career.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

 

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?

           

I plan to interview Cindy Hafif, my mentor. She is the most reasonable person to do my interview with because my topic is about what she does for work. Since, I have mentored with her during the summer, she is the only person in mind that I would even interview.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask. What additional questions do you plan to ask? Ask open-ended questions.

The five questions that are assigned are:

1. I’m interested in studying accidental law. What can you tell me about it? 
2. From your perspective, what could I study that would be significant to other people? 
3. Who else would you recommend I talk to? 
4. What kinds of places or activities do you recommend I do for the mentorship component? 
5. What materials should I read in this field? Who else can I interview?

Some questions I’m going to ask my mentor are:

1. How many personal injury cases have you taken to trial? What were the results? 
2. How long does it typically take to resolve an injury case? 
3. How many cases are you currently handling? Do you think you take to many at a time? 
4. Do you have help with any of the cases? If so, how many people on your team? 
5. Do you enjoy your practice of law? Why?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

My mentor is in the middle and her daughter is on the right.

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

Cindy Hafif
(909) 291-2439
Executive Law Offices, LLC

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?

Cindy Hafif is an extraordinary woman with her bachelors in business and doctrine in law. Mrs. Hafif is an Experienced Accident Lawyer. She owns and runs her own law firm called Executive Law Offices.

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.

How would I be able to get in a law practice?
How can I be a successful lawyer?
What does it take and what are the expenses to start a law firm?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from this summer mentorship is that it takes compassion and dedication to become successful in anything in life. Over my hours of mentoring, I witnessed the hard work my mentor put into her career. Mrs. Hafif was always working on a case, never off the phone, and made sure everyone was happy before she left for home that day. She puts all this hard effort into her career because “it’s what I love to do” says Mrs. Hafif. I have learned whatever I stumble upon in life, I must put in all my compassion and dedication into it if I want the best results.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

My senior project is going to be in law. I’m not sure what field of law yet, but I will make my decision as my mentorship progresses. The mentorship helped me make my decision because I spent most my hours at a mediation, which was quite interesting. The mediation showed me a different aspect of law and made me want to learn more. The other part of my hours was working with my mentor’s secretary and I got to learn how to communicate with prospective clients.

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1. What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?
   1. Entrepreneurship
   2. Social Work
   3. Network Marketing

Entrepreneurship was a really helpful lesson to see because Ronny Rodriguez taught me what Entrepreneurship was and what an Entrepreneur does. This gave me ideas on how to start up my own business or how a business works in general. Ronny also provided me information of the ins and outs of successful businesses. Social work was a very interesting topic and helped me realize how important it is. Nathalie Iannetta did a great job with teaching me what social work does and how it can affect so many people’s lives. Social work in itself, is a type of business that helps me think of ways on how to work with businesses or create businesses. Network marketing, was by far my favorite presentation to watch. Christopher Figueora did an amazing job with explaining what network marketing is and how successful it can be. Christopher proved that he was passionate in his topic and showed that he actually went into depth into understanding what network marketing is. Christopher taught me that network marketing is a business that anyone can get into as long as you’re passionate about it and actually achieve for the best by working hard.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

The senior project interviews were very helpful to me. With the two seniors I interviewed, I got the basics of what senior project will be. Now, I know this may not seem like a big thing, but one senior told me to work with two separate planners. One planner will be the general core work for all four classes during the year. The other planner will just be for senior project alone. This planner will have all the deadlines, when things are coming up, and a checklist of everything I will have to do and what I did do. This was very insightful for me and I am definitely going to do this for senior year.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

I am considering two topics for senior project. One topic that I want to do is law. The reason why I am interested in law is because I have always been passionate in law ever since I was a little kid. I have always dreamed about becoming a lawyer, winning cases, owning my own law firm, and making a great income. As a back up plan, I would like to do figure skating. Figure skating is something I am very passionate about. I have skated ever since I could practically walk. Both my parents grew up figure skating and traveled around the world doing ice shows. Now my parents coach figure skating. My parents are the reason why I got into skating and I have loved every minute of it since. The only reason why figure skating is my back up plan is because it doesn’t provide a great income, only the average wage of an American.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

For my law topic my EQ could be, "How can you expertly provide for the clients needs successfully?"

An EQ I can choose for figure skating could be is; "How can skills be taught to the ability level of a skater through communication and demonstration?"

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

Summer mentorship should be pretty easy for me to find. For law, I have a family friend who owns her own law firm. She also has a law and business degree. She will be able to be my mentor if I choose to do law. In figure skating, my mentor could be either my mom or dad. They both have professional experience with the figure skating world and could help me build a career out of it.

That's me!