Mentor Log 5

5/2/2008

11:00-1:00



This was the day that things really needed to get done. Time was of the essence and my mentor was going to be leaving in four days. We concluded that we needed to spend a little more time than we usually did on this day than any other. We got to the Tate Center and started talking about the presentation that I have to give. I asked him if he could give me some pointers on public speaking and how to keep things moving along. I told him that I really wanted to grab the judges attention and keep them from getting bored.

He gave me some general pointers about public speaking and told me that the best thing that I can do is practice behind closed doors by myself first, then to a friend or someone I know. Then, I will be a little more secure and I can make adjustments and know where my weak spots are. He said that every little bit of confidence that I have during my presentation will count a lot and that people will be able to sense it. Then he told me the old classic tricks about looking at the wall behind the people. He said that imagining them all naked did not work well for him because it made him laugh and that made him insecure because everyone would wonder why he was laughing. I found the practicing tip very helpful and I think that it will help me a lot in realizing what I need to work on. Also, it won't be the first time that I will have done it and I will not feel so unprepared.

After the discussion of the presentation, We folded an origami snail, which took about 30 minutes (it was really hard) and we folded an origami beetle. The folds were getting a lot more complex so we could only finish three in this amount of time and discuss my presentation. The last origami that we folded was a tyrannosaurus which also took about 30 minutes. They look extremely simple but are actually really hard to get all the little folds down.

When we finished , it was about 1 o'clock and my mentor said that he had to go. He said that he would send me an email telling me what would be a good time to get together and do some more hours before he leaves on the 6th. I told him that that would be fine that I was sure that my teachers would let me leave school to meet with him if that was what we had to do. Unfortunately, he never sent me an email and I assumed he was very busy moving and getting his summer arranged because I never heard back from him. I am going to pick out a foreign Japanese movie or something to complete my last 2 hours and 15 minutes. This session completed 7 hours and 45 minutes with my mentor.