Senior Projects

Friday:

Alrighty, this will be a shorter post, since Friday was a bit more simple than some of my other days, where I was running around a lot more. I will also post some photos from throughout the week, down below. And then on Sunday, I will post my plan for the upcoming week and my thoughts on the experience so far. I feel like this posting schedule is a lot better than the big chunk ones. I worked from 9:00-4:00 and the first thing I did was help set up for the kids’ storytime and then just worked in the clubhouse until noon. I love working in the clubhouse, the kids are so cute and I just get to basically walk around, chat, and hand out stickers, that’s like the perfect job! The new theme for this week is the environment, nature, and the solar system because of the upcoming eclipse, so Maggie read some books about Ellen Ochoa, the sun, and the entire universe. The sun book was pretty funny, the sun just bragged about how great he was, how planets were soooo attracted to him, and how mysterious he was. I told Emily, “Wow! He is just like Edward Cullen from “Twilight”,” and yes, she did laugh! After that, the kids made a space helmet coloring craft (I don’t have any pictures because my phone was dead, rip, literally.) Then I just walked around the clubhouse and picked stuff up, sadly we aren’t putting stickers out because some naughty kids stuck them to the floor! There was this really cute little girl who crawled into one of these big cushion chairs we have that are shaped like a flower and she would hide her face in her hair and then peek out and I would wave and she would smile. It was really cute, I think she was only about 1 or 2 years old. Then she was sitting by the book shelf, so I came and sat down next to her and read a couple books to her. Her name was Adele and she was such a sweetie, she was quiet because I think she was shy, but you could tell she was really smart and aware of what she was doing and me as a reader. Her mom is French and has a very strong accent, and worked as a military doctor in the intensive care unit in France, where she met her American husband, they lived there for a while and both girls were born there, then they came to St. Louis so he could get his PhD at WashU. So, it’s pretty cool to see the international connections at the museum as well as the domestic and hometown ones and just around the St. Louis area as well. I really love working in the clubhouse because it’s just fun! It would be practically impossible to not smile (I am sure stone cold stoic Dobby could manage the epic feat, though)! It’s also really cool to see the kids focused, engaged, and clearly learning. Today, I heard a little voice in the corner during story time and this little girl, maybe 3 or 4, was counting these things on the wall, then saying their color, and then saying if they were big or small. The museum’s approach to early childhood education is very similar to Montessori values and TFS, which is just really cool. I think it is just so special to witness a child learn, be curious, and want to find out why things are the way they are, and these programs that the museum offers are a great stepping stone into it. It’s just beautiful to be apart of this really intimate thing of a child discovering the world for the first time and it just makes me want to be a mom so bad! But do not worry that is not happening until I am at least 25, have a husband, steady job, and out of graduate school. I could definitely see myself going into early childhood education or something in the educational world in a museum for sure, though.

At 1:00, I met Erin Ray, who is the Visitor Experience Manager (who I sort of already met, but didn’t talk to at length, yet) to cover the responsibilities of working the front desk. She just went over the responsibilities and different things to do in case of an emergency, injury, or anything else. After that, I worked with Jenny at one of the desks for 1 hour. She is really sweet and we also just walked through a few galleries to maker sure there wasn’t any trash in them. Then from 3:00-4:00 I worked the front desk with Aslyn. It wasn’t too busy so we just chatted and she told me about an exhibit she’s curating on women in the World’s Fair and it sounded really cool. I also met another girl, (I forgot her name, but she has short blonde hair and it maybe started with an “L” or a “J”) who was really sweet. I also talked with Janelle (I think that was her name, I don’t know I was so excited I only slept like 5 hours last night and it shows) who works the desks and she actually went to Chesterfield Day School with the Fulton kids and was friends with Elizabeth! She said she grew up like a few houses over from them, what a coincidence! After that, I was done working, but I introduced myself to Jason who also works the front desk and went to the gift shop to buy some stickers and a pin for my lanyard and chatted with Jonathon.

Also, can’t remember if I mentioned this in the last post, but I keep running into people I have met before on school trips. I have seen Jason from the Historical Society twice, but haven’t gotten the chance to say hi. There was also this Inidian woman who looked really familiar, like she may have been a friend of my aunt’s or a parent at TFS. And then last night, I saw this one lady, and I gave her a flyer, and I said, “Do I know you? You look so familiar!” and she goes, “Hmmm, I don’t know, but I feel like you look familiar, too. Maybe we just have those kinds of faces!” And as she walked off it hit me like a wrecking ball (Miley Cyrus reference!) it was a lady who curated an exhibited on Medieaval art at the CAM and we met her last year on a field trip for Global Middle Ages with Mrs. Bryan. I think her name was Hannah, maybe? She has shortish blonde hair, blue eyes, medium, height, young, and pretty thin. It’s just so funny to me that I am running into all these people and also really cool!

And then the other day, I didn’t get to introduce myself, but I said hi and welcomed Jody (not Foster) Sowell who is the president and CEO of the museum. He is really nice and appears in their TV commercials! Now, that I have that fully written, I feel like I did mention that, previously? Who knows! It’s been really great and I am looking forward to another week here and meeting some more new people. I was gonna upload pictures, but I am too lazy, so I will put some in on Sunday, maybe, don’t hold me to it!

These days I continued working on my project. Steve, the main lead of the Ronin project helped me work through what mGRS data was and how to a server should serve one function opposed to rendering and calculations. I spent all day Thursday working through one single error the whole day. Currently my front end application runs through a node server and the javascript of the webpage sends a request to a python endpoint that calculates the data. I tried to work through the error that was occurring which turned out to be the formatting of the directory which I eventually fixed later that day. Also, in solving the error I ended up making it worse because I tried to organize my files in a certain manner.

The first three days of week 2 for my project went well. I created a new python server using flask that that intakes data from the front end webpage and converts it to mGRS data and sends it back. During this time the server also rendered the webpage which I later learned wasn’t optimal. This took the vast majority of these days as I ran into some errors that took a while to work through.

To draft the demand letters I talked about in my last post, I used Worldox, CollectMax, and ProLaw. I found their file on CollectMax with their account number, saved the edited documents to Worldox and printed them. I then used ProLaw to docket five weeks from the day I drafted them to notify the attorney to check for a response from the debtor. I then gave the documents to the attorney to review and sign before I copied them and sent them out. Today I drafted about 20 letters and copied and sent out about 40 which took the entire day.

This week I worked on drafting and sending out demand letters for a Collectors attorney in the office. The letter holds two pages, one notifying the person in how much they are in debt for. The second gives them the letter to return to Riezman Berger (RB) with their choice of how to move forward. Most of these people are in debt for unpaid cars or credit cards and sometimes multiple of both. If they don’t contact RB within five weeks, the attorney will file a lawsuit suing them for however much money they owe.

Second half of this week has been the most uneventful thus far, this update’s gonna be a little dry since I’m leaving today for college stuff (don’t worry I cleared it with my employers lol). I should hopefully get back to doing renovations soon though!

I was out sick both Wednesday and Thursday this week, but today, Friday, I continued working on organizing the probono case, but switched to something new soon. I helped a paralegal in listing all the corporate books in the office, about 8 full shelves of binders, and identifying which ledgers and meeting minute books went with each one. They’re labeled by company and owner, and are now in a spreadsheet where they can access them easily. The paralegal showed me the formatting of a corporate book and what’s kept inside, and what it shows about a company. When I finished that, I was recommended to read an agreement between a company and a union, and learn how the two interact and cooperate. Very boring read of about 40 pages.

This week, I was given insight on a probono case where a convicted criminal filed complaints against the correctional institution he was staying at. My task was to go through the 400 page case and match each complaint that the prosecutor made with the resulting document, like the appeal or the response. The client made many complaints, some formally and some informally, so this was a pain. He didn’t keep his claims organized or follow recommended procedure so it was difficult to find the correct documents.

Thursday 4/4:

OK, this is editing mode Ella and I just wanted to preface this by saying this would originally cover Thursday and Friday, but I ended up having one of the best days ever Thursday and it would just be wayyyy too long! I’m serious it is one of my top ten days. Wow this part two is going to be as epic as some of the best sequels, that may even be better than the original, but without the original they wouldn’t really make sense. This post will join the sequel greats like “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (I still don’t understand how this wasn’t the precursor to “Spooky Island”? It deeply confuses me.) and then also some tv shows like season 2 of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Inside Job,” or “Girls 5 Eva”. OK, now I have just given you some great media recommendations and it would be a crime shame if you didn’t at least watch some. Also, maybe this is why my posts are so long? Thursday, I worked from 12:00-8:00, which honestly is pretty exhausting. It’s nice because I can sleep in, but even by 5:00, I am like, “Jesus Christ! I’ve still got three hours left on my shift!” But I still really enjoy it and wouldn’t change it, I just drink a bit more caffeine on Thursdays. So, from 12:00 to 2:00 I worked as greeter in the Key Bistro. There’s not a lot to say about it, but the other day was eventful in the restuarant. So, I normally had worked with Anthony and Pierre at the bistro before, but then there was this new guy (it was literally his first day, no joke.) his name was Dan, and he is very nice. Then there was another waiter, I hadn’t met before, but I forgot to ask his name *insert scream emoji*! But he knew my name because I wear a name tag, but he doesn’t!!!! Shocking. Anyways, he was very nice and I think he was either in college or just out of it, so he was young and I am pretty sure he had a crush on me. Every chance he got he talked to me non stop, he kept complimenting my sweater and hair, anytime there was a table with more than two people he would help carry me carry the waters, and if you need anymore proof here is my first interaction with him: I said hi to Dan and Pierre and began my shift at the greeters desk. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so I will usually work on my laptop or read and then when guests come I greet them. I hear Anthony say this from the kitchen, “Oh, wait, you have got to see her, first!” And I was like, “What?” Then they both like peek their heads out of the corner of the kitchen and they are giggling and whispering like little school girls over Justin Bieber! Then I turn my head to glance at them and they quickly duck back into the kitchen, giggling. It was too funny. Anyways, then at 2:00 I met with Victoria Eudy, her job is to collect data on visitors to the museum and look for ways to improve the museum and I am assisting her in this. So, first I was supposed to watch this training video, but it wouldn’t work so Victoria just gave me the run down in real life (IRL, IRL!) And guess what she is a Bill and Ted lover, too! OK, here’s what happened: we are setting it up the table for the survey and she said “yes, and it will be most excellent!” and she is always quoting famous movies like “Forest Gump” and “Saving Private Ryan” and I was like “woahhhhh, hold on a minute!” and I go, “Did you just say, ‘most excellent’?” and she goes “Yes!” while laughing and I say, “Do you like Bill and Ted,” and she replies “Yes!” I clapped my hand over my mouth and I go, “STOP! I love Bill and Ted! I’ve been telling people they inspired me to be a history major! I wrote one of my college essays about them!” And she goes, “Oh my god! No, way!” (Yes, way, dude! This is a reference to the film if you don’t get it *insert eye roll emoji if you haven’t watched these cinematic masterpieces, yet) and she was like, “you have to send me that essay!” Anyways, the survey was pretty straight forward. I would ask people if they wanted to then hand them a tablet and explain what it was for. It is for a larger study based out of Portland, Oregon and throughout the U.S. and internationally in countries like Finnland, where they ask museum goers why they are here, if they would visit again, etc. and it’s to help us know what to change and improve and also to better understand the importance of keeping the museum free. After they completed the survey they got to spin this wheel and win a prize, which was just museum merchandise and then I told them about upcoming exhibits. I got to chat with this old woman who said you could call her Karen or Sue and at this point she doesn’t have a preference anymore, LOL. She used to work as a greeter at the arch and was super cool! I did this until about 6:00 then headed downstairs to the audiotorium to greet visitors with Lindsay. Lindsay also went to WashU and she is pretty sure she knows me from somewhere else and I was like “I thought the same thing about you!” She’s worked there for 19 years so we probably have crossed paths and she was also an art history major, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. Bryan maybe knows her. Then it was time for the talk. Tonight David Treuer was going to talk about his book on Wounded Knee. I think we read parts of him for a history class at TFS and I remember Dr. Hurwitz mentioning him, I think. I thought it may be kind of boring and I was also really tired so I thought I would probably have to be doing multiplication tables in my head to stay awake, LOL this is what I do anytime I am tired or bored during a lecture and began doing this in middleschool algebra, which may explain why I suck at algebra, but I’m pretty good at basic multiplication. I WAS SO WRONG. This talk was SO INTERESTING. I sat in the back row because we had a lot of people from the UMSL history department there since they read his book for their class. He was captivating, funny, raw, and just wonderful. I actually cried during his talk and I am not an easy crier, you can ask my mom. He went to school at USC where he was an English major with a focus in creative writing and he wrote fiction. He wrote his thesis and had a close relationship with Toni Morrison, if you don’t know her, get out! No, just kidding, but she is a super famous and acclaimed author. I have never read any of her books, but they are on my very long list. Then he became a fiction writer and a publisher he knew asked if he wrote nonfiction on Native Americans (he is a Native) and even though he didn’t he said he did. So, they give him this book deal and he writes it and gives it to the publishers and editors and they’re like “no, this is garbage! We didn’t ask for this, start over, and write something completely different!” David was annoyed, so he wasn’t planning on writing it, but then two things happened that caused him to change his mind. 1. There was a highschool shooting at a school he used to work at and whose population were primarily Natives. The shooter murdered his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend and then proceeded to murder some of his classmates in a mass shooting. At the time, the shooting was the second largest only after the Columbine shooting. If you don’t know what Columbine was, basically there were two teenagers who felt like outcasts and decided to shoot up and bomb their Colorado highschool. I think most of it was captured on film and it was highly publicized, and because of that being the case there was also a ton of misinformation about it. David said he remembered seeing news coverage of the incident at his former school and feeling really angry that the only thing the news was reporting was that this “crazy tragedy struck a small impoverished Native reservation,” he said he was mad because they reported no actual facts or information, where as with Columbine they did. The case was boiled down to a race and class issue because the shooter was Native and so were his victims while the Columbine case had two white shooters and predominantly white victims and they came from an affluent community. Then the second thing that happened was this: about six months later, his grandfather committed suicide. His grandmother who was divorced from his grandfather due to a fight about changing their curtains (no joke), but still lived close found him dead in his trailer. She called her whole family and she asked David to do two things: 1. To write a eulogy for his grandfather and 2. To clean up what his grandfather did, meaning to clean up the blood and everything. His (and I am sorry this is sort of gory, if this is triggering for you, please don’t feel like you need to read on) grandfather shot himself through the head so there was brain matter scattered around the trailer. She asked him to clean up because in her words, “your uncles wouldn’t be able to take seeing this,” David said that he didn’t know why she thought he would be okay doing it, but at the same time felt like he couldn’t stand up for himself and had to do it. So, he literally cleaned parts of his grandfather’s body off of the trailer’s interior and had to completely gut the carpet. He said he sat there after on his grandfather’s old couch with his blood covering his shirt and hands. He said in that moment he knew he had to write that non-fiction book for his grandfather, who was strong enough to fight through World War II, become a policeman, and raise four kids, but in the end could no longer go on living. So, that’s how he began writing historical non-fiction and he is now a best seller, although he does not like being known as a historian and in his words would prefer “to just write books where I get to sit alone and just make s*** up”. During the Q&A, I got to ask him a question on his favorite books and then afterwards I got to meet him. I gave him a sticker from the museum (two actually, one for himself and one to give to a friend), told him about my brother and I’s love for writing, got his USC professor email address and he said he would love to read my brother and I’s stuff, took a picture with him doing the rock on sign (not a gang sign, Coen!), and since I didn’t have a book I had him sign one of my $20 bills! He was so cool and I am so beyond blessed to have gotten to meet him and make a potential connection with him. I was quite literally jumping and shaking with joy, and it wasn’t just from the Peachy Keen Monster I chugged at 4:00!

Today, I left Spain and went home. I was a little stressed going through the airport alone, but everything went smoothly. The food was not the best, but I brought snacks to eat. Next week, I will start working with Mr. Moscicke.