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CLIPBOARD
Sources:
On
learning how to learn
Freddie:
I got to do a lot this year. Anything I was interested inI worked
on the stock market, economics of slavery, what will people do for money...
Now youre motivated, because there is something you want to learn.
Im learning adult things like how to act, important words to use,
correct English and all that. They try to teach you that in other schools,
but then again they just slip down and let you do anything you want. I think
I learn more here, because they give you more experiences to learn off of
than just learning in the classroom. [2]
Nadia: One thing that I think is helpful is how we learn to seek
for resources, since when were doing projects we ask, will
you help me obtain this for my project or for my exhibition?...I
dont think that a lot of high school students have that, because
they havent had the opportunity, or they didnt need to ask
or to search and like weve learned, just get the information, get
whatever you need from anyplace that you canthe library, Internet,
wherever... That helps a lot, because when you are in college, you dont
have a teacher making sure you have everything you need. Or you dont
have a teacher making sure youre understanding everything that hes
explaining. I mean, sometimes they do try, but its not the same.
So knowing how to seek for resources and how to basically get what I need
to get out of the course and raise my hand if I have a question and not
be shy to attend any study groups or even organize any, I think thats
something that has helped me a lot and is something that we practice here
at The Met a lot. [1]
Maya: Compared to other kids, Im more involved, I guess.
Im more aware of what I want. I always compare myself to my twin
sister. Were completely different people. [But] I used to be like
her. We were just messy people, dont keep ourselves organized. Now
I cant live without my calendar, I cant live without my journal.
I just cant go without it. Her, its like, Ill
remember. I say, trust me, youre not gonna remember.
The Met has changed me, it really has. My god it has. If I had gone to
a regular school, I would not be like this, no way, no how. Id have
dropped out. [2]
On
persisting
Mentor
[about Carlita]: At first Carlita didnt understand that showing up
meant more than being a warm body. It means being productive, preparing
for team meetings, and finishing your workbecause people are relying
on you. At school, showing up unprepared only hurts you. But our work is
highly team-focused, so when youre unprepared it hurts everyone. She
learned these lessons quickly and made great contributions to the team.
[3]
Advisor [about Loretta]: Note: Some students do several shadow
days before finding an LTI that interests them. Most find an LTI by November,
but for others it takes longer. Loretta was scared to make [phone]
calls. With the help of a fellow student, she set up informational interviews
with some stores she liked at the mall. I gave her the name of someone
there who had mentored another Met student, but she had left for another
job by the time Loretta called. Loretta was so upset that she walked out
of school for two days. After that she refused to make calls for a few
weeks until her friend stepped in to help. Eventually she did some interviews
that went well, but right before her first shadow day the business called
it off because of her grunge-style clothing. Loretta was devastated. Shes
a great artist, though, and in the end she got an LTI with a graphic design
company. [3]
Advisor [about Jake]: Many things you love also have parts you
hate. Students need to learn that. Jake wants to be a marine biologist,
but hes disorganized and hates writing. His internship mentors convinced
him that he needs to overcome those barriers to become a scientist, so
he wrote a 15-page research paper on the winter flounder. His mentors
needed the information for their work. Jake hated every second of it,
but he did it. After a dozen drafts he ended up with an amazing, college-level
paper. If you get students hooked on their interests, sometimes theyre
willing to do the less appealing parts. Sometimes they even end up enjoying
those parts. [3]
Mentor [about Cesar]: For Cesars photography project, he
wanted to capture the unique relationships among his friends. But in the
end, he had little more than random snapshots. We provided lots of support
and resources, but he rarely showed the self-discipline to study the techniques
he needed. He didnt develop the photos in time for his exhibition,
and he was unable to speak with any expertise about the parts of the camera
and their functions.
So I gave Cesar two weeks to improve the project and redo his exhibition.
And he really did improve his project. It turns out that the pictures
hadnt come out because he hadnt loaded the film right. We
shifted gears, because it was too expensive to start over again, and because
I had underestimated how much difficulty hed have learning to use
the light meter, adjust the aperture, and all that. Instead, Cesar went
through a number of photobooks, picked out several pictures that he felt
were powerful, and wrote a beautiful one-page analysis of each one. He
discussed the symbolism of each picture and also some technical aspects
of the photographyangles, lighting, and all that. It was clear that
he had developed a real interesthe wasnt just getting it done
to meet a requirement. [3]
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