CTP Skill Center

Today was a pretty simple day working on the BerkMart Google Slides presentation. The last two Wednesdays we held mock interviews in class, so this was a good opportunity to hunker down instead and practice with Google Slides for the whole session.

There were a few things that were more difficult for me when I was making the presentation. For instance, changing the layout from the ribbon wasn’t working. So if I needed to change the layout, I started using right click on the individual slide, scrolling to “Apply Layout” where the changes could be made. I’m not sure if maybe my computer is low on resources or Google was simply glitching today.

I also saw a few new features I haven’t seen on Google Slides, which include Generate Image from AI, which didn’t end up working. I think the Nano Banana feature locks up at a certain point, and Google asks to pay or upgrade to use these AI features. Anyway, unable to generate certain images, I focused my attention to using appropriate or visually stimulating transitions between slides. There were about 7 varied slides in the final presentation to showcase my Google Slides skills.

Today, my main responsibilities as an administrative associate are my daily task for the day to research and post job listings onto the CTP skill center website, and my main tasks for the day is to research general emails and contact information for foundations from a provided list, and then send email messages to the applicable foundations, as well as send out fundraising emails to former CTP graduates from a provided list using the provided email template to message them. I also started calling former CTP graduates with the call and voicemail script.

I messaged around 5 more foundations using the provided email template, and I sent 5 emails to former CTP graduates using the provided email template.

The beginning part of today’s class session was overwhelming, but I still plugged along and multitasked between today’s lab project and typing details about it on osTicket. Just like in Computer Skills Bootcamp, I installed Bodhi Linux onto the computer I remotely controlled.

Arrived to class on time and have been better at being early before the official shift begins.

Today I began typing unit certification on typing.com, and it has actually been very fun. It is aiding in remembering what the rhythm of typing was in elementary school (they put fun SpongeBob boxers over our keyboards on the G3 iMac computers).

After typing, we continued our project on the BerkMart Investor Conference. When we were halfway through day two, I realized I made a mistake. I was slightly stressed about providing the first portion of the project. Today I realized and was gently notified that I did not interpret the information correctly. The first list on page one is a lead-in; I took it as the first task. After taking two classes to finish what I thought was the first task, I realized I stressed myself with fear of failing expectations; that I was too avoidant to check in- even with general encouragement to do so. Not trying to go too deep, but this was definitely a beautiful chance to log-check for p.o.s.i.t.i.v.e self-growth. Awareness of kid Tiye traumas can be met with growth because this world is s.u.p.p.o.r.t.i.v.e . Speaking up for personal clarification is not always met with belittlement or harm. Thank both of my instructors for their encouragement today; it really unhooked an Anchor I’ve been refusing to let go.

August 4, 2026: Today, I got introduced to a lot of new programs. First was Homebase, which allows me to clock in and out during the beginning and end of a class session. Second was GuardWire, an application allowing the user to remote control another computer. Finally, there’s osTicket, which lets users send notes of various priorities to others. For example, if someone needs their computer to be repaired, they can notify others using osTicket.

Started the class by clocking in with Homebase. In the first 15 minutes of class, I did a practice typing. I continued working on the BerkMart Event Project from Step 5 to Step 7. After Step 7, which is the summary email I sent, I have fully completed the BerkMart Event Project. I had a very productive day completing the project. Before the class ends, I did a “What did I do today” post, and then after the class ends, I will clock out of Homebase.

Whoohoo, today’s class time is over. It was interesting working on the spreadsheet and being able to complete a realistic, but fictional, project. The data entry in Sheets is probably my strong suit, even though usually in excess, I don’t like doing it. It was good practice following the steps and checking in with the instructor up until step 8, which was the extra credit mail merge.

After putting the Avery Labels Merge add-on into my google docs, I could find and run the extension, pull the data from the google sheets I had just created, and neatly display mail merge information on the name labels for the investor conference. I like feeling like a lot of computer work has been accomplished with a click of a button, so I enjoyed this part.

It being Tuesday, I feel like I also have a head start on my accountability homework due on Thursday. I’m spending some time answering the questions to help improve my knowledge and ability around focusing. I don’t feel like a particularly struggle with focusing, but I do try to work on similar activities throughout the day to improve my overall productivity.