Questioning the Mentor

I was able to sit down with my mentor (which was hard enough to find time since she is always running from one meeting to another) and had the chance to ask her questions.
I only had about five minutes so I chose just a few that I was really interested in learning.
The following is what I found out:

What types of challenges do you face?

budget cuts, and meeting deadlines since they are constantly changing exhibits every six months.

How do you deal with deadlines stress, difficult people and internal politics?

She said that she uses good sense of perspective that allows her to step back and see the bigger picture and to be thoughtful. Also with dealing with difficult people, she said that she usually tries to be diplomatic and use tact and patience and she also tries to consider the fact that people tend to react with emotion and react from that.

What do you like or dislike about your position?

The museum is dealing with budget cuts and so her answer included her frustration with that. She also said that she dislikes having to deal with staffing and the decisions that come with that area of management.

What is your ideal work environment?

She really enjoys the environment she's in which has mutual respect throughout the employees, one that allows creativity and problem solving, good communication and functioning teamwork, and lastly, one that allows flexibility whether she is working on the road, at home or in the office.

How has your education and experiences prepared you for your position?

While getting her BA, she was able to have a teaching position that taught her how to make lesson plans and to change the content according to the audience whether child or adult.

Lastly, Who do you most respect?

It was a three way tie for her.
Sr. David Attenborough and E.O. Wilson both for their great job of educating people about the natural world and what's really out there.
Ricky Gervais, a British comedian because humor is what keeps her going.

I have really enjoyed working directly with her and all that I have learned. I am very sad that my internship is coming to an end. I wish that I could continue in this position because she has her hands in everything and has something new everyday to learn or teach me. I have really appreciated Arizona Museum for Youth for the opportunity they have given me.

Make sure that you make a visit there...it's really worth seeing whether you are a child or not.