Rachel Ma

9/8/17
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 1: Week of 9/8

Objectives
 Read more articles
 Mind map/explore topics
 Startup meeting
Journal

This journal marks the start of my third year of research. I’ve learned a lot from the

previous years, and I want to make the most out of both my internship and my project this year.

That means thinking ahead and planning for success! Next Tuesday will be the official start of

my internship. I have many potential topics I would like to explore, for example: the importance

of/how to foster creativity in relation to entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurial motivation due to

self-efficacy and risk-taking behavior. After reading more, I plan to create a mind map to flesh

out some of my ideas and maybe discover more. I want to sort out the controls quickly so that

my annotations are organized early on.

Regarding my internship, I am excited for the opportunity and curious to learn more.

Because I know little about how a start-up works and what goes on behind the scenes, I plan to

walk away with a great firsthand experience. Ms. Keller and I discussed that my main focus

would be helping with website design and general management. I’m a bit worried because Root

Studios is a fairly new and unique concept, but also glad to have this experience working closely

with my mentors.

I also recently worked with Ms. Heidi Griswold and Ms. Brittany Eltringham from

Hopeworks with my research on technology and teen health this past week, and will be helping

out with their presentation at the Teen Health Summit!

 Rachel Ma
9/20/17
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 2: Week of 9/20

Objectives
 Keep reading articles
 Continue going on site
 Explore more topics
 Figure out schedule

Journal

Thursday marked my first day on site at Root Studio. Overall, it was a great first day on

site! I mainly helped Karen and Racquel with ongoing projects they had for a magazine shoot,

and we’re planning to have more technical work next time related to management. The

atmosphere there is very nice, and I’m excited for what else is in store for me.

Research-wise, right now I am broadly choosing articles on entrepreneurship. It’s

difficult to find concrete studies on how personality, risk-taking, and other factors contribute to

entrepreneurship since it’s not a very well-defined, concrete topic. I want to focus on a single

aspect of it, but it’s hard to pinpoint any single part because entrepreneurship itself depends on

so many factors. For example, a topic that I was interested in was entrepreneurial motivation and

how self-efficacy and personality contribute to a person becoming an entrepreneur/succeeding as

one. Perhaps I should research entrepreneurial motivation and personality traits separately? I’m

unsure of how to start and where I’m going, but getting over this will be the hard part of the

research process.
 Rachel Ma
11/21/17
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 3: Week of 11/21

Objectives
 Keep reading articles
 Update platforms
 Start Eventbrite workshops
 Set up Analytics

Journal

It’s been three months or so at Root, and Thanksgiving is coming up! On site I’ve been

doing research on expanding our social media platforms, exploring options like Snapchat filters,

Eventbrite to organize events, and self-created mass email marketing (as opposed to paid

services like MailChimp). I’ve also been creating schedules to begin posting on Instagram and

streamlining all workshops and events across platforms. In the coming month as workshops are

beginning to become more frequent at Root, I want to begin learning Analytics to look at the data

coming into the different platforms.

Off-site, the past few weeks have consisted of classroom presentations around River Hill

and more annotations on my research. I’ve begun to search for concrete studies on social media

implemented in businesses, but as social media is a rather indefinite area of study and fairly

recent, there haven’t been many specific studies (other than a positive correlation between social

media use and business success). For my upcoming project proposal, I’m thinking of

implementing a case study for Root’s social media in hopes of creating a larger overarching

social media plan.

 Rachel Ma
12/8/17
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 4: Week of 12/8

Objectives
 Prepare for countywide presentation
 Go onsite more!
 Continue research

Journal

The past few weeks have been spent finishing some college applications, my classroom

presentations (Ms. Malone, Mr. Nap, Ms. Casper), and helping out at the GT Information night

on the 5th. I haven’t gotten the chance to go onsite as much as I’d have liked, so my goal for the

upcoming month is to come in more often.

Onsite, we have begun to streamline the workshops across all platforms and Instagram

posts. I’ve been using some Photoshop and Canva to create Instagram posts using a uniform

design, and we’ve begun to start thinking about how to display a consistent brand image and

voice across all platforms. In my research, I’ve begun to also read articles on communication and

engagement on social media, and we’re working towards that as well for each platform to make

sure communication with Root Studio’s audience is a two-way street.

In the coming month, I’m aiming to plan out hours between the stress of college apps and

get more hours in!!

 Rachel Ma
12/21/17
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 5: Week of 12/21

Objectives
 Continue going on site
 Update platform descriptions
 Research brand value/awareness

Journal

These past few weeks have been quite hectic, and I have not gone on site as much as I’d

like to - however, my plan for winter break involves a lot of catching up! So far, I’ve been

working on streamlining Root Studio across all platforms and updating the descriptions and

images that go with it. The Instagram posts are going smoothly, and we are also getting ready for

a first-ever Open Mic Night next month, so publicity is important for that as well.

Off site, I’ve continued researching in the areas of brand value and awareness. An

interesting point I read was that a cohesive brand image prevents audience confusion and helps

strengthen the goals of the business. Root Studio’s message is continuing to evolve as well, and

I’m continuing to think of ways we could better communicate this to a much wider audience. I

want to begin looking into video and analyze how our posts can reach more than our followers.

It’s difficult to start, but I believe we can get there!

 Rachel Ma
2/1/18
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 6: Week of 2/1

Objectives
 Work on outline/paper rough draft
 Project proposal + ideas on site

Journal

I’m currently swimming in work to do, and feel overwhelmed with where I’m currently

situated in terms of my paper and outline. I can’t seem to find enough sources on the topic of

social media marketing to form a long enough paper with different controls; additionally, I still

have to find someone who’s an expert in the field to give some insight, which I’m currently

working on, but haven’t found.

Onsite, Karen has taken over as my mentor for the time being as Racquel shifted her role

to Facilitator, and is in much less frequently. I’ve been streamlining platforms (about sections,

hours, workshop updates) and plan on trying some new things soon… problem is, I’m kind of in

a rut as to where I want to go onsite and in research. I may have to redo my topic altogether at

this point, because I don’t know what I can do with what I have. I’m stuck and at a loss with

what else to do. It feels like I’m limited in my background knowledge but looking up more

sources hasn’t helped. My goals for the coming weeks are to figure this out. But right now, I

really do not know what to do. I’m already behind and everything is going at too fast a pace and

I’m lost.
 Rachel Ma
3/2/18
IM II/6/12 AP
Journal 7: Week of 3/2

Objectives
 Work on timeline
 Update Meetup for Karen
 Finish paper
 Get it reviewed
 Go to new intern meeting

Journal

The past two weeks, I’ve been going on site and working on finishing my outline and

paper, along with brainstorming for my project. These few weeks have allowed me to go on site

more often; I’ve been working on flyers and promotional information to post on our social media

sites as well as updating workshop schedules across Meetup and Eventbrite and on our website.

In the coming week I won’t be onsite due to FBLA States and a piano competition but plan to

make up for it in the week after, because there’s a lot to do on site! We are planning to move to a

new website soon and have been working with a marketing team. I’ve had to edit some of their

social media posts though due to grammar and writing mistakes, and I am not sure if Root is

going to continue working with them, but I have brought up asking them for experience

regarding social media marketing. I also contacted Ms. Lacy Walpert last week; however, she

did not respond to my last message and she might be too busy to speak with me. I’ll try to talk to

her again soon.

Next week I also plan to finish up my paper, which I’ve felt horrible about dragging on

past the deadline due to discussing it with Karen and reaching roadblocks where I have to find

more annotations.