Monthly Archives: August 2010

The one defining experience in my life was my internship at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  I say this not to brag about it but because I believe it to be a turning point. It was the point in my life where I finally managed to grasp what are known as people skills.

Before my internship, I was shy. That was it. There was no argument and it was a fact about me. Once in a while, the more confident side of my personality would slip through and all of a sudden people would look at me like they didn’t know me.  I nearly never volunteered in class, not because I never had anything to say but rather because I was always stressed about the fact that everyone said it first, better, or both. The regret on my part is that I truly feel that that was the environment that I believed that I could have thrived in. IN a high competition environment where everything said was challenged or criticized in one way shape or form.

The problem that I soon discovered was that I was not prepared for this type of environment. I was ambitious and competitive. Of that, there was no doubt. However, I had not yet developed a foundation psychologically to handle that type of environment. Living in an Asian household, I was unfortunately raised on nothing but a diet of books. Every sentence that came out of my mouth would, inevitably, lead back to academics.  The result was that I could have an entire conversation and still not have a clue whom was talking to.

Port Authority changed that and it was due in a large part to my boss, or more officially, my worksite supervisor.  I won’t give his name just in case it somehow leads back to him. As I was a general summer intern, it was all up to the Human Resources department where I would be placed. I was of course hoping for somewhere in Manhattan at headquarters where the center of the action is. That and the commute was excellent given that it would only be 45 minutes. I ended up being placed at JFK International Airport all the way in Queens with a two hour commute. That being said, I wasn’t at all too pleased about the situation. The lesson learned: life never turns out the way you expect it.

Now I move on to the good stuff. I quickly got over my annoyance because it hit me that I would be working at one of the busiest airports in the country. I met my supervisor and the entire department. I was officially placed as an intern at the Airport Operations Division. In short, we handle everything at the airport. We owned the entire place but we leased out the terminals to airlines so all the housekeeping is on their heads. Here, I want to explain something. Power is the most addictive drug on the planet which is a good lesson to learn as early as possible. There was a visible hierarchy of people who had business at JFK. There were the clients, the VIP and the nobility. We were nobility. I flash my ID and state that I’m a Port Authority employee and all of a sudden I’m an important person. Touring the various airline terminals, I have had all manner of people from domestic to the most exotic places come up to me and ask for directions or take pictures with them. I’ve had the pleasure to meet and organize tours for delegates from China or simply talk to people from around the world. (At this point I would like to add on a side note that Brazilian women are H.O.T) It was an awe-inspiring experience to be where America greets the world.

My ID badge also allowed me through security checkpoints at the terminals. This serves a useful purpose. Once I am past the checkpoint, there is an immediate change in scenery and it’s as though I walked into a shopping mall. I took my time window shopping, and on occasion actual shopping when I had a couple bucks to burn. That was definitely a plus.

Working at Airport Operations, I was allowed to work on the JFK Business Continuity plan which is a back-up plan in case the Port could not access the administrative building for whatever reason. I learned a lot from that experience alone as most large businesses will have created something similar and it would be a useful background to have. I audited companies to make sure that they have a right to be at the airport and are paying their fees to the proper authorities, i.e. the Port Authority.

But as I mentioned before, the most important thing I learned at this internship was how to carry myself. I was a shy person by nature. Pairing me up with an outlandishly outgoing supervisor was a blessing. My job as the intern allowed me shadow him and he taught me everything from how-to-walk to how-to-talk in a professional environment.

Firstly, the first time I see my colleagues of the day, the words that come out of my mouth should be “Hi. Good morning. How are you?” regardless of who I was speaking to. Last words of the day should be “Take care and see you later.” When speaking to any one of my superiors, always greet respectfully first, then humorously as a follow up. At morning or executive briefings, always have something to contribute and then joke on comments made by others to let them know I am paying attention.

On how to act casually, this man taught something very valuable. I learned how to report bad news without provoking people into violence. I recognized that it is important to treat everyone with dignity and respect. Although treating everyone equally is an admirable attempt, it is impossible. Acting with dignity and respect is therefore a perfectly acceptable alternative. We also worked on speaking with confidence and how confidence will naturally generate an aura of authority.

On a personal and slightly humorous level, I learned how to shamelessly flirt without causing undue physical trauma to myself or psychological trauma to my counter-part. I was also advised that I should date flight attendants. Since she would likely be gone for days at a time every week, and absence makes the heart grow fonder, the result is an exciting relationship that never breeds familiarity or resentment. In addition, I realized the importance of recognizing office politics and how to avoid offending others while manipulating it to my advantage.

In all seriousness, a great lesson that I learned was how to read others. By doing so, I could try and predict what would be favorable behavior. While others often advise me to “be myself,” that is often not the best of ideas. Rather, I should be professional or sociable. Because in all honesty, being myself would mean being a recluse.

That being said, my college expectations are nothing more than to develop social skills which in turn will allow me to develop professionally. I recognize that there will be challenges whether external or internal. At the Port Authority, we were once stood up by a delegation of 29 Chinese government officials. Considering that we already planned out an itinerary and bought lunch for them, we were thoroughly humiliated when they decided to skip the rest of the tour and go to Chinatown for lunch. But in retrospect, it wasn’t that bad and I got to eat their lunch free of charge. This experience has by far shown me that whatever obstacles I may face, I do have the courage to face them.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Hello My name is Mina Park. Please call me “mee-na” not “min-ah”. Even though “min-ah” is the correctly pronounced korean name I have, I prefer “mee-na” better.

I am 19-years-old, born in August 16,1991. I am a proud immigrant who arrived “fresh off the boat” in 2000. It’s almost 11 years in America. Wow. To tell you the truth, I was fooled by my parents. I “was” suppose to visit my grandmother for winter vacation but ended up living here… But, I like it. I feel so thankful that I live in a society where education is not FORCED on me. Hehe

I live in Flushing with my mom and an older sister. My dad died when I was in 3rd grade due to a disease called Hepatitis B. It was a tragedy back then, but now I feel comfortable talking about it. It’s nice to live with only females in the house. It feels free, really. There’s no hiding things (ladies might understand kk). My mom is a facialist and my sister is currently attending Hunter College, majoring in public health. We are very close and I wouldn’t change them for anything in the world.

Also, I am a Christian. My values and beliefs mostly comes from the christianity background. What I do is to praise God and I am not ashamed of it. Actually, my goal for the future is to major in Marketing, minor in Psychology(for children). Then, go to Graduate school, major in Education and finally owning a Christian after school academy. I love children<3.

However, all that is in the future and what I’m concerned about right now is time management. I love watching Tv and playing video games…. Once I start either one of them, time just flies by… So my hope for this semester is to reduce the time I spend on television and games and focus in reading the textbooks! The professors cover so much in one day that I hardly have the time to read all~ the textbook. TIME MANAGEMENT is what I need now!

Welcome to Blogs@Baruch!

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My name is Lucia Gioiello, I went to Laguardia High School of Performing and Visual Arts. Experiences that have shaped how I am would probably be my living with my dad and twin brother all my life, and also when I went to Japan in sophomore year. The first has affected me because I learned how to do many household chores at an early age. I think that makes me more responsible in general. Having a twin brother made me a lot less selfish because we had to share everything, but also always gave me someone to relate to, but who was also very different and experienced different things than me. My father is also a former hippie, so I grew up participating in various “spiritual meetings,” I’ve been to mormon church, I’ve practiced Korean Taoism and meditation. This has made me very open to different cultures and in my opinion, pretty nonjudgemental.

When I went to Japan for 6 weeks I was completely cut off from my family. It was a strange feeling to be away from my brother whom I had never been apart from longer than a week. It was also obviously foreign and I knew no one. However I learned so much from that experience because I realized past all boundaries it is easy to communicate and relate to anyone. Once you open up and surrender judgements and walls, people usually follow your lead and you can have the greatest relationships.
I expect college to be a growing experience. I don’t think I will be able to do everything I hope for, but I’m going to strive to do as much as I can. I want to use college as a way to get to my higher goals. I hope I can manage my time correctly this semester, and the thing I would be worried about most is getting lost and not understanding assignments, not clicking with classmates, and getting lazy.