Tenth Week Of Pathways

My tenth week of Pathways was great. The counselor in my high school recommended me to an internship at A & A Automotive. Its a shop located in Sausalito. I met with Mike, the owner of the shop. We talked about the days I'm available and what I can bring to the shop. I said that I'm a good listener and that I like hands-on working. I go to the auto shop every Wednesday now and I think it's a cool shop. I met with Frank, he has worked for A & A Automotive since 1976. He used to go to IVC as a student and he also taught classes over there as well. He's helping me give cars basic check-ups and tune-ups. He talked about the invoice paper that he uses to write down recommendations and costs of parts fixed. He writes down basically everything he does in the shop. I checked the fuels in the car, the brakes, and the tires' condition, the wind-shield wipers' condition, and all the lights of the car.

Ninth Week Of Pathways

10/18/2013 My ninth week of Pathways was okay. I took a test in class on Tuesday in my Auto Collision Repair Class and another test on Thursday in my basic fuels class. There were some questions on the test that the teacher hadn't covered. The students that stayed in that classroom longer had more knowledge than me. I asked the teacher about those questions that he didn't cover and he said to not worry and to answer as much as I could, because he knows this is my first year of auto class. I think I did really well on the test because I found questions that I already knew the answers to, so I felt comfortable. I hope to get an A or an B on the tests I've taken.

Eight Week Of Pathways

10/11/2013 My eighth week was great. I'm taking notes in class and studying a lot for the midterm test that will take place in class this coming Tuesday. The test will check how much I learned in the auto shop so I'm going to try my best to get everything correct. This week in my class, I learned about keeping records and invoices with you at all times, writing down everything you did with detail to help your customer with his or her vehicle. The instructor also taught us how the invoice form should be set up. I'm going to try my best to pass this test. This ACRT class is really fun. I'm learning new things every week.

Seventh Week Of Pathways

10/4/2013 My seventh week of Pathways was really good. I learned how the PCV pipes in an automotive vehicle works. I helped another student in class this week; I helped him sand the hood of the car with an air sander. By sanding the car, I found punctured holes in the hood, so I used car sealant to fill in and cover the holes.

My Sixth Week Of Pathways

9/27/13 My sixth week of Pathways was great, I was learning about how the fuel injection system works and how it creates energy for the car to move forward. We learned how the fuel injection system creates nox, which is the pressurized energy that the motor releases. We continued to practice how to use the smog machine that tests how much smog the car releases. We studied more about what smog is made of and took notes. Also, I helped a student sand the back bumper of his car. I used the air sander to sand the paint off the bumper because he was looking for any dents and wanted the bumper repainted to the original color. The teacher was happy when I was helping around the shop. This week was great. I'm learning how to fix car parts and checking where to check where it's damaged and check if it's possible to fix at the shop.

Fifth Week Of Pathways

My fifth week in the auto collision class was great. I learned how to check the smog a car produces. Everybody in my class had the chance to use the smog tool that goes into the exhaust pipe of the car. We read how much smog the car produced, checked if it produced a lot of smog, and if it gave out too much, it wouldn't pass because it's bad for the environment. We all took notes and studied the car intake, and about the use of the intake valves. We learned about the basic tools used in the shop, and the safety instructions of handling certain tools that could be dangerous if not used properly. I'm studying and learning new things when I'm in that classroom.

Fourth Week Of Pathways

9/13/13 My fourth week of the Auto Collision Repair class was pretty cool. I learned how to use the air sander gun to remove the paint off the car instead of using the actual sander that rotates in a circular motion with a layer of sand paper. I learned how to properly use the air sander, like how far away to be from the part of the car I want to sand and how to hold the air sander gun at a certain angle to blow off the paint. We learned about the safety procedures for this type of tool. We would wear a face mask and gloves. I learned how much of the fine grain should be used. I also learned that when you use the air sander gun, it shouldn't be used on high power because you can use up all of the grain at a higher rate.