April Blog

Basically all of my April was spent doing my Independent Component, as you can see below. I have started preparing my slides of my final senior presentation. I have my activity ready. I have thought of some extra things to include in my presentation just to entertain, and also further inform, my audience. No matter what, I feel confident. In all honesty, I just want to get it over with. I know what I am doing, and I feel ready to graduate.

Independent Component 2

Literal
(a) I, Caroline Salinas, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 31 hours of work.
(b) The "Wellness and Health Fair Planning Guide" from ModaHealth.com really helped me to follow the correct procedures and tasks needed to organize a successful health fair.
(c) My Independent Component 2 Log is updated.
(d) I organized a Health Fair at the West Covina Senior center on April 8, 2015.

Interpretive

• For my Independent Component, I had to work closely with the West Covina Senior Center's director, Adrian Reynosa, to organize the event. I had to gain permission for the use of one of the senior center's buildings. In collaboration with Adrian and my mentor, Augustin Alvarado, I was able to schedule 13 booths. This was the longest portion of my project because I had to research the various organizations that could come, and I had to call them each and wait for responses. Organization is long and tedious, but vital for any successful event. The booths that attended my health fair included local health organizations and businesses. A spread sheet of these contacts is included below.

• Afterwards, it was time to start the advertisement for my event. Through my research, I have found that currently the best forms of communication with seniors is through paper announcements and work of mouth. This is also my third answer for my senior project. 

• As a part of my advertisement, I really emphasized that a raffle would be held during the health fair. I really cannot express how much seniors love free stuff! I asked many of the booths to bring something to raffle off a part form the free trinkets (pens, bags, etc.) that they would be passing out.

• As another form of advertisement, I noticed that mainly seniors attend city council meetings and watch in on tv, this is based off of my personal experience in local politics. Because of that, I decided to announce my event at the city council meeting. I got permission to speak before the council and the audience to tell them a little about my project and invite them to attend my event.

Me speaking before the West Covina City Council

• As you can see in my flyer below, I made the font big and only included the information necessary. This way, seniors can read my flyer quick and easy. I placed several at the Senior Center from desk so many seniors can get a copy.

• As each senior arrived I had them sign in by writing their name on a blank list that I had, and when they signed, they received a free raffle ticket. After counting all the signatures at the end, I concluded that over one hundred seniors had attended my event. I was very proud of my accomplishment. 

• The day started early and it had been a hectic week, even though it was my spring break. The day before, I had to call and confirm with each booth again that they would be attending, and keep in contact with the senior center employees. The morning of I made an announcement on the microphone at the Senior Center reminding them to check out my fair. I also had to help set up tables that morning and bought coffee and donuts for the booth representatives and senior center employees, just as a thank you.

• Below are some pictures from early on in my event.

 Augustine Alvarado and I.

• Right above is me with West Covina Mayor Sykes. It was really cool to have him attend my event. FUN FACT: I had the chance to speak with him briefly a few months ago, and he mentioned to me that his daughter is an IPoly Alumna. The West Covina Community Services Director was also in attendance.

• On April 21st, during a City Council meeting, I had the honor of being recognized for my Health Fair. My whole project has been a cool experience. It is really neat to have people around the city know my name.

Special thanks to my friends Desiree Zarate and Hannah Tran, who came to support me.

• Did I stress out during this project? Heck yes. Was it worth is? Totally! I helped out my community and promoted a healthy lifestyle for seniors. I am very proud of all the hard work I put in for this successful event.

Applied

• This Independent Component really helped me find my third answer for my senior project. I had to find the best forms of advertisement for my event because there would not be one if nobody showed up. That is where the city council announcement and flyers played a role. I learned the best forms of communicating with seniors and adults. Planning an event for the senior citizen audience required me to investigate what attracts them, which helped me answer my EQ. A big example was learning how much they love free stuff, which I followed through with a free raffle.

• It wasn't easy having to make so many phone calls to businesses and organizations, going from contact to contact, to schedule a booth at the fair. I learned various forms of communications through phone, email, and in person. These skills and experience will help me not only in my intended major of Communication, but also in any career I choose to pursue.