Lauren Williamson's Portfolio

Exceeding Your Expectations

Dazzle Me Parties

Service to Self Esteem through Makeup

I have worked as an event planner and party host at Dazzle Me Parties for over a year and I mainly set up events, host them, manage customers, and deal with payments. Most of the time, the parties are for younger girls from the ages of a few months to fifteen years old.  This job is important to me because our goal is to help these girls feel empowered and pampered at the same time. I get to teach these young girls though my passion for makeup to udnerstand themselves and still have fun. I also love working with children and I learn so much from just having simple conversations with them. Some principles it relates to is the idea of teaching acceptance.  At work, we pamper the girls with mani/pedis and makeup/facials but we always remind them to be themselves, love themselves, and respect themselves. These values not only apply to the children but also to me. I also learned the skills of being in charge of other workers and customer service.  Customer service has taught me how to stay calm and maintain professionalism at my workplace. This skill has even transcribed to my real world and in corporate spaces. What I have learned here is that one has to maintain an image to make sure the customer has a good time. There may be some days I am not in the best mood but as soon as I walk through the door I have to think about where I am and sell the image.  This has made me realize that sometimes that's what you may have to do to get a point across or provide entertainment to others and satisfy their needs. This job impacts myself and how I teach younger girls to love themselves and it impacts my life because it teaches me how to connect with kids on a level that is different than their connection to an adult or family member. These girls come in as strangers and leave as friends and it has made me realize how much I love to work with children and how I need to incorporate that in my field of study.

SpelReads

Next Level Tutoring

At Spelman College, I have volunteered with the SpelReads Program which aids young students around the elementary/middle school area to learn more through reading to enhance their literacy and comprehension skills. At the schools, we team up with a student or two and go through multiple games and learning activities to build their skills. This is important because the education system seems to be failing when it comes to benefiting children through education and helping those children who are behind.  Especially in Atlanta, there are a handful of students who are behind and our job is to help them. This volunteering helps me realize the values it has to the community. The values I have learned is the aspect of actually caring about the younger generations enough to want to help. These younger generations look up to us to build an example for their future and if I do not have a planned future or try to encourage one, then they won’t be able to have an idea of what they see in their future. In addition, I have learned the skill of patience. Patience is key, especially with children and teaching, people go at different paces, understand through different examples, and accept information in different forms. Also, within this experience there is a lesson to be learned from the students we tutor.  Sometimes the weakness in their education is not by choice but because of their environment. Some students do not have the capability to attend school everyday let alone do the homework, therefore it is a real eye opener to learn when we want to understand why. This community aspect really focuses on the group as a whole. It is a teaching experience but also a learning experience from the student perspective and as a unit, it's an experience that benefits the future. This is important to my future because it made me realize I love children so much that I am willing to teach and I think that’s also a good factor to have when choosing a dream job for my field of study.