Blog 10 – Interview 2 Reflection

~The James Webb Space Telescope, also widely known as the Next Generation Space Telescope, is the successor instrument to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope is one example that my mentor, Eric Fodran, talked about during my interview and mentorship on October 30th. 

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)
• Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to spend a lot of mentorship time with Dr. Fodran. Yesterday, October 30th, 2015, was the first time I met him. We spent the entire time going through the historical gallery of the visitors center at Northrop Grumman, discussed about the Aerospace field and talked about ways I fulfill my mentorship hours with him.
2. How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?
• I found my mentor through my first interviewee, Kristina Lopez. After my first interview, Kristina Lopez and I exchanged contact informations and she was able to hand my contact information over to Eric Fodran. Both Dr. Fodran and Ms. Lopez work at northrop Grumman Corporation. Ms. Lopez was the one who had asked Dr. Fodran if he could help me with my senior project; however, it was only after my interview with Dr. Fodran that I was able to fully explain to him what the senior project is and how he can help me.
3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person
• Even though I only met Dr. Fodran yesterday, I would probably rate my comfort level at around 6/7 out of 10. Initially, I was intimidated knowing that he has a PhD in engineering. I was actually afraid of saying or doing something stupid in front of him; however, meeting him in person really helped me because now I at least know what he looks like, how he acts, etc. I think that Dr. Fodran is someone who I can definitely spend time with for my senior project. He seemed to be very laid-back but at the same time, was also very knowledgeable on my field of interest.
• Obviously safety is very important, I had to take in the fact that his workplace is about an hour away from school. Knowing that he does work at Northrop Grumman--which is an American aerospace and defense company--also relieved me of some stress that he is dangerous/someone I cannot trust.
4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?
• I believe that I was able to obtain some very valuable information pertaining to my senior topic. It also allowed me to talk to my mentor about how he can help me with the senior project throughout the year. I think it’s because of how the conversation flowed. Even after I stopped recording the audio(for the interview), there weren’t really any awkward moments in the conversation. He seemed to be very curious about the senior project and tried to think of ways to help me. He tried to think of possible discussion questions I can use for my senior topic, and also tried to think of ways I can do my mentorship hours with him. I believe that for my next interview, I should probably word my interview questions better. While my questions did lead to meaningful discussions, he often had to ask for clarifications on what I was asking. I will be able to do this by using my prep time more effectively(e.g. spending more time thinking about questions I might ask).

Interview 2 Audio

Interview 2 Text