Marisa Rafter
1804 Alameda Ave. Alameda, CA 94501
(510)367-6965
marisa.rafter_gmail.com
Education
Alameda Community Learning Center
210 Central Avenue Alameda, California 94501
(510) 521-7543
2007-present
Graduation date: June 13, 2011
GPA: 3.70
College of Alameda
555 Ralph Appezzato Meml Pkwy, Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 522-7221
Spanish 1 - 5 units. 6/2008-8/2008
US History Since 1865 - 3 units. 6/2009-8/2009
Anthropology 3 Social/Cultural - 3 units. 1/2010-5/2010
Art History - 3 units. 1/2010-5/2010
Psychology 3 Personality Theory - 3 units. 1/2010-5/2010
Berkeley City College
2050 Center Street Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 981-2852
American Sign Language 1 - 4 units. 1/2009-5/2009
American Sign Language 2 - 4 units. 8/2009-12/2009
English 1a - 4 units1/2011-5/2009
Total: 29 units
Experience
The Hobnob Eats and Drinks
Busser: August 2007-December 2007 Clear tables, refill water, other general restaurant work
Skills Utilized: Good work ethic, came to work on time
Newsmaker Home Daycare
Daycare worker: June 2008 -August 2008.
Skills Utilized: Ability to work with children, creativity for coming up with games and projects, good work ethic, ability to manage parents for collecting checks
ACLC Halloween Fair
Organizer: October 2008 and 2009. All profits went to the Ultimate Frisbee program.
Skills Utilized: Organization, working with other people, time management, money management
Cal Shakes Theater
Intern: 3-8hr work days, September 2009. Made props for A Midsummer Nights Dream
Props were nominated for an industry award
Skills Utilized: Good work ethic, creativity
Benefit Concert for Child Soldiers in Uganda
Coordinator: April 2009, Made Schedule and managed bands during the concert.
Skills Utilized: Time Management, working with and organizing people
USA Ultimate CA Middle School State Championship
Tournament Director: March 2010, In charge of teams and keeping tournament on schedule
Organizer: Made schedules, programs, field layout, got food and water, tents, and medics in case of moderate injuries
Skills Utilized: Time management, Organization, Ability to communicate and plan ahead, ability to handle unexpected events.
Hannah Camp
Counselor: Fall 2008 and 2009, Leader of a group of new students over the course of three days.
Coordinator: Co-Organized Hannah Camp 2010 in October.
Skills Utilized: Making Schedules, organizing children, coordinating food and shelter, money management, time management, responsibility
Skills
Good with working with kids
Good with computers- comfortable in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher.
Creative
Strong leader, effective team member, responsible, organized, friendly
For my internship, I worked at Cal Shakes Theater in Berkeley. I worked three eight hour workdays across two weeks adding up to a total of 24 hours. Cal Shakes Theater is a local theater production company based in Berkeley, California. I was able to intern at Cal Shakes Theater through Seren who does part time work making props for various theaters throughout the Bay Area. My time spent at Cal Shakes theater was making props for the production "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The play ran from September 16 through October 11
Today is my first day working at Cal Shakes. Seren showed me around the building which is, I imagine, quite different from the typical workspace. Instead of cubicles and water coolers, the space is extremely tall about two stories high with big shelves dividing the space in two. On top of an office type room is piles of old props from previous shows. Inside the "Office" room is actually a work space with a computer in the corner and walls lined with various materials. In the second half of the giant space, on the other side of the huge shelves is a construction workspace. In this area about five people were constantly at work building the intricate stage that had boards of various sizes and colors.
For my first day, I mostly watched Seren do her work. My first task was to try and peel off wine bottle labels so that they would be completely blank for new labels to be glued on, and some left balnk. It seemed that every part of the labels were glued down and therefore impossible to remove, but I had the genius idea to run it under the sink and scrub it off. Not exactly typical work, but as the building was buzzing with people it was really interesting to see creativity in action.
After mostly shadowing the first day, it was time for me to spend the time doing some actual work. My duties were assigned by Seren and were mostly objectives in doing prep work for the props. Today, I had to trace a huge template onto even bigger pieces of fabric. In addition there were two different sizes of pillows. It sounds like something simple, but it take much more time than you'd expect. The purpose of tracing these templates was so that someone else would be able to easily cut them out later and make them into giant pillows and pillow cases.
Generously, around 12:00 Seren took me to lunch at Berkeley bowl. Everybody has an hour
break for lunch whenever they want it, and a few 10-15 minute breaks throughout the day.
After lunch, I finished up the pillows and pillow cases and started on a new, and even more tedious task. Instead of spray painting chairs gold, it was decided that they should actually be gold leafed. I only got to work on it for a few hours before the day was up, which was enough to finish most of a chair.
Today is my third, and last day. So far my hours have been spent working on the same task for hours. Though that may drive something insane, its something I absolutely enjoy. Intricate tedious tasks are something I've always found some solitude in, so this internship and the work I have done thus far has been a lot of fun. Today was no different from the last few as I spent almost all my time applying gold leaf to plastic chairs. Since I had to use spray adhesive to get it to stick, I had to be near an open window, which would then let wind in that would make it very hard to control the gold leaf. It was made even worse by the fact the spray adhesive finds it's way onto everything, including my fingers.
However, I found a way to make it work and finished as many chairs as I could. Real gold certainly looks different from the sprayed on gold paint. To spruce things up a bit, the middle of the back rest and the seat had copper leaf on them instead. It was a bit harder to apply though since they were long strips of plastic instead of a single flat surface. Other than that, every surface on the chair was covered. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished product, but it turned out really well!
Overall, I would say this internship was a very good experience. It's definitely something that will end up on my resume. I think it shows that I have a creative side, and working eight hours should certainly demonstrate my work ethic. Although I always figured I might end up with a more traditional job, this experience will resonate within me. If I ever feel that perhaps I am not headed in the right direction, I think this is something that I would seriously enjoy doing. It's also nice to know that I directly contributed to the play, and that my chairs were actually used, and my fabric turned into giant pillows.
For the first semester's final project, we had to make a project related to the book we had recently finished The Crying Of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. We were allowed to do the project in pairs and I worked with Michael Cao. Together we made a website containing four pages explaining our ideas. The basis of our project was the relationship between Freud (and his ideas whish were popular at the time) and the novels main character, Oedipa. We explored a few basic freudian concepts about the Oedipus and Electra Complexes, as well as fairytales, then related those concepts to Oedipa and her behavior.
One of the most famous of all physics projects is the roller coaster. Each group has four people and has to build a coaster that meets certain criteria. In addition, most groups create a theme for their coaster. My idea was to create the seven original wonders of the world. I made all seven pieces as well as a large bay that went under the Colossus's legs, connected to a river through the space between the great pyramid and mosoleum and finally around the light house. Our coaster tied for first place. Though it's worth noting that in the case of a tie breaker the coaster with the longest track time is first, and ours had the longest time. In addition we had more loops. However this rule was conveniently lifted.
Anthropology 3
MWF 9-10am
Ancestral DNA Student Project
I. Explain the concept of "Deep Ancestral" DNA Testing
Studies on the DNA of people around the world have shown that all 6,697,254,041 of us can be traced back to a common ancestor who lived in Africa 150,000 years ago. With a simple swab of the cheek, one can give a sample of hundreds of cells containing their DNA. This is what is often referred to as "Deep Ancestral" DNA testing, as it finds where your ancestors moved tracing back all the way to our common ancestor in Africa. Women can trace their maternal lineage through their mitochondria, that is, a direct line of mothers and daughters going back thousands of years. Men can trace their maternal lineage as well, but in addition they can trace their paternal lineage through Y-DNA, a direct line of fathers and sons. Scientists are able to differentiate someone's ancestry through finding genetic markers and categorizing people into haplogroups. These genetic markers occur naturally through small changes in out DNA over time, they act as a stamp giving us a time and a place of our ancestors. The changes that occurred during our ancestors ancient migrations resulted in haplogroups which have been identified by taking the DNA samples of indigenous people who have lived in the same place for thousands of years. Haplogroups give us a timeline of how people moved, and where they moved, from 150,000 years ago.
II. Define each of the following DNA Markers and their prescribed roles in determining an individuals "Deep Ancestry."
A. Mitochondrial DNA Markers
Mitochondrial DNA, often referred to as mtDNA, is used by genetic scientists to study maternal ancestry. mtDNA has a strict inheritance pattern, that is, it passes down from mother to child relatively unchanged every generation. Scientists call the human race's most recent common matrilineal ancestor "Mitochondrial Eve" whom we all got our mitochondria passed down from over thousands and thousands of years. Over that time, changes in our DNA have happened allowing scientists to identify every person in the world with a haplogroup.
B. Y Chromosome DNA Markers
Y-Chromosome DNA, often referred to as Y-DNA, is used by researchers and scientists to trace paternal ancestry. Like mtDNA, Y-DNA has a strict inheritance pattern: it passes down from father to son, generation to generation. Through Y-DNA testing, scientists are able to identify anyone in the world with their paternal lineage from thousands of years ago. At the top of the human family tree is "Y-Chromosomal Adam," the man who is the most recent common paternal ancestor of all 6 billion living humans.
C. Haplogroup Markers
Haplogroup markers have developed since our ancient migrations thousands of generations ago. Over time, when humans were spreading around the world, small genetic changes happened in our ancestor's DNA. These changes in our unique pattern of genetic markers are called "SNPs." Once an SNP develops, it becomes a marker that is passed down to all future generations. People who have descended from the same ancient clan have inherited the same pattern of SNPs, and therefore can be identified into haplogroups that tell the story of their ancient ancestor's migration.
D. Sub-Clade Markers
During our ancestors ancient migrations, people of the same haplogroup went different directions. Sub-clade markers can classify people into different categories within their own haplogroup. Anyone in the world can get a Sub-clade SNP test in addition to the typical mtDNA or Y-DNA test that shows them the finer branches they belong to in the phylogenetic family tree of all humans. Sub-clades are classified using numbers and lower case letters following one's haplogroup letter. With the use of sub-clades, one can identify their ancestry at an even deeper level.
III. Identify each of the Haplogroup/Sub-Clade markers that are associated with your specific DNA test results and the bio geographic identities such patterns infer for your "deep" and "more recent" ancestors.
With the DNA found on a cheek swab sample taken weeks ago, scientists were able to code my DNA and discover my unique genetic markers. Through these markers in my mtDNA, they were able to classify me into five haplogroups: N, H, A, G and D. Mitochondrial Eve lived 140,000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia, she was the woman from which haplogroup L emerged. 70,000 to 100,000 years ago, haplogroup L3 erected in Africa and the Mediterranean region. This haplogroup is one of the most significant, since it's descendants went on to populate the rest of the world, creating all of the non-African haplogroups today. 60,000 to 80,000 years ago, a woman living in the Mediterranean region had a genetic mutation creating haplogroup N. This haplogroup is responsible for the descendants which created all of the European haplogroups and many Asian haplogroups.
Haplogroup H is a European haplogroup originating from a woman who lived 20,000 in the Near East/Caucasus region. Descendants of this line can be found throughout Europe, however studies on haplogroup h show that descendants of this line can also be detected in places outside of Europe. That is where the rest of my haplogroups come in. Haplogroup H is the only European haplogroup detected in my DNA. The woman who founded Haplogroup G lived 50,000 years ago in East Asia, her descendants are found predominantly in northeastern Siberia. However my DNA shows genetic markers A and D which are 2 of the 5 genetic markers found in indigenous people of the Americas. My great grandmother was an indigenous woman living in Mexico, my genetic history from haplogroups A and D match up perfectly with my known family history. 60,000 years ago lived a woman in Asia from which some descendants migrated throughout Asia and into the Americas 20,000 years ago. That very same woman who created the Haplogroup A line is the direct female descendant of a woman belonging to the Haplogroup N. Somewhere in Northern and Eastern Asia 60,000 ago lived a woman, who would be the founder of Haplogroup D. Her descendants would go on to migrate throughout Asia and eventually over the Bering Strait into the Americas 20,000 years ago. They would go on to migrate southward to Mexico, Central America and eventually South America; populating the continent as they went. Therefore, descendants of this lineage can be found in North East Asia and also in Native Americans. Each haplogroup can be further sub-classified into sub-clades, however there were no sub-clades included in the mtDNA test that I took.
IV. Based on the comparative Haplogroup DNA distribution patterns identified in the "The Journey of Man" or "The Human Family Tree" documentary videos produced by Spencer Wells and our various class discussions concerning modern human genetic similarities of 98.5%, briefly access the scientific value of the following social theories
A. Biological Determinism
Biological Determinism is a belief that our genes define every aspect of our being. Those who advocate biological determinism believe that all of these things are predetermined and that environment and social factors cannot influence or change them. However due to genetic research, scientists have found that all humans are 98.5% similar genetically. They have also found that there is the same variation between people of the same race as there are people of other races. Therefore it is safe to conclude that people's genes do not define them, since all living human beings are 98.5% identical.
B. Eugenics
Eugenics is the study and practice of selective breeding applied to humans, with the aim of improving the species. Aside from possibly being able to help with inherited genetic disabilities such as hemophilia, albinism, and certain structural abnormalities, the possibility and chance that Eugenics can greatly better the human population is low. Genes switch on and off and are often unpredictable, in addition, "weeding" out the bad genes and keeping beneficial ones would take an incredibly long time. Not to mention, many genes are recessive and may pop up later down the line. From what genetic scientists have learned, humans are not very different, in fact they are 98.5% identical. Therefore trying to optimize the entire 6.6 billion growing human race through selective breeding is a bit redundant.
C. Social stratification predicated on traditional concepts of race and racism.
All over the world there has been social stratification based on concepts of race, especially here in our own country. Throughout the beginning of our country's existence, many people owned slaves with the belief that those slaves were their property and they were not equal to them. They believed that an entire race was inferior to them because of their different skin color. In Nazi Germany, propaganda spread the preposition that Jewish people were inferior. In the past, the Japanese have been known to have a superiority complex over the Chinese and Koreans. However, despite all these beliefs constructed over false pretenses regarding race, science has shown that we are in fact 98.5% similar. In addition, all the humans around the world originated in Africa and share a common ancestor from which we migrated and populated the earth. In the face of American discrimination, Nazi prejudice, the Japaneses believed superiority and the countless other examples of racism, all of the worlds races are no different aside from appearances. Ostensibly we are all extremely different, however on a genetic level, we are all the same.
In the spring of 11th grade, I took three classes at the college of Alameda. One of the classes was Social and Cultural Anthropology. For our final project we could either write a very long and boring research paper, or find out our maternal ancestry through a discounted DNA test! Of course, I opted for the DNA test. After we received our results we had to write a report in a specific format addressing various things. This was clearly demonstrated in my own report on the left. It addresses basic concepts, definitions, as well as the results I received. Though the writing part was not particularly interesting to me since we had to follow a strict format, the project overall was very rewarding since I got to learn about myself.
Being a senior is almost unreal, I remember being in 7th grade and the senior class seemed so old. Its hard to believe Ive been here for almost 6 years. My life, my friends, and my habits are all defined by the interactions and things Ive learned here at the center. I wouldnt trade my experience for everything, and although I may say I'm bored, or I dont feel like doing work, I am completely grateful for all that ACLC has enabled me to do.
Something my dad has always told me, is that I am self-righteous. Not in the sense that Im overly moralistic or intolerant of others, but that I stand up for my beliefs, and have an extreme sense of equality and fairness. Its not something that I consider a bad thing, however, being disappointed by the unfairness gets a bit old. At the same time, its something that empowers me to make change, and to aspire to be a better person. It would be hypocritical of me to whine about inequality if I myself dont exhibit the treatment I expect from others. As such, I try to be understanding and listen to other opinions as I would want them to listen to mine. It is my responsibly to try to relate, and put myself in their shoes to achieve a better understanding of the situation to make better decisions. Throughout my time at ACLC, Ive had a lot of big group projects where I had to learn how to manage my time and set goals as well as work with others. The qualities Ive picked up, and learned to manage will come in handy when I reach the working world someday. You have to learn to work with all sorts of personalities and makes decisions with others and ACLC has prepared me for that.
Since the summer after 9th grade, Ive taken 5 years of languages. I took Spanish 1a over summer before 10th grade, and then took Spanish 2 and 3 at ACLC. In addition, I spent 2 semesters taking American Sign Language(ASL) at Berkeley City College, the equivalent of 2 years of high school language. Though I technically took more years in Spanish, I find that you become conversational in ASL a lot faster and consider myself to be better at signing than speaking Spanish. Ive learned how to communicate better in other facets of language as well, such as public speaking. Ive improved a lot through making announcements to the school and learning to communicate with others in general. You dont really understand how to listen until you are the one speaking. When youre in 7th grade and want to spend CCC talking to your friends about Justin Beiber, you dont really care about the people trying to get your attention to make announcements. Its only once youve had to stand up and talk to a few hundred people by yourself that you really understand how nerve racking it can be. Although I am technically missing a year of English, I feel like I have really developed as a reader and writer through taking college classes where I've had to write papers longer than anything I've written at ACLC. I had to read more challenging material, in various subjects that forced me to learn how to make meaning. Ive always found that when I become a better reader, I become a better writer as well. Early on, I took a lot of classes including two sciences my freshman year: Chemistry and Biology. I finished my science requirement my sophomore year by taking physics. Last year I took my last math class, Pre-Calculus. As for history, after Modern World History in 10th grade I took it upon myself to take US History since 1865 at College of Alameda the summer before 11th grade. Currently I am taking Government/Economics at ACLC which teaches us about political processes and a free society. In 9th grade, I took Art, and later in my junior year I took Art History at COA.
Having planned out a lot of projects over the years, Ive learned how to visualize my goals and create ways to accomplish them. Ive always been a creative person and like to bring my creativity into many facets of my life. In addition, Ive learned to be decisive and set achievable goals for myself so I can make progress. I understand we dont live in a perfect world, and Im doing my best to learn how to operate in such an environment and be adaptable. When it comes to problem solving, I think Im more than competent. Being able to think creatively, and simultaneously be flexible to the opinions of others makes a good environment for coming up with solutions.
Through Ultimate Frisbee, Ive developed as a leader, improved my communication skills, and learned how to help newer players learn the game. Through teamwork in Ultimate as well as group projects, Ive developed the ability to cooperate in a group, work hard with others, and motivate myself and those around me. Though as a child I was always very stubborn, Ive become much more flexible and open. Ive learned that defensively arguing almost never leads to a good compromise, and to approach people in a way that will come up with a solution that everyone can agree to.
In this day and age, its crucial to be able to work well with a variety of technologies. Ive always been good with computers and programs, and personally I find technology very interesting. I read a lot of technology websites, and having grown up using computers technology is second nature to me. At ACLC we use a variety of technologies, like PowerPoint's, to present our knowledge to our class.
I feel like ACLC has prepared me for the future far more than any other school could. Ive picked up a lot of skills, learned how to deal with people and most importantly Ive learned how to be an effective adult in the future. I want to continue to grow and learn new things, and generally just be a good person. I want to be the best that I can possibly be, and ACLC has set me in the right direction.
The year is 2031, and 37 year old Marisa Rafter is approaching 40. Of course, she still looks 25. Shes been married for nearly 10 years, and just finished celebrating her eldest sons 8th birthday. Shes retired and has almost too much money, though she still lives in a modest house and mostly uses her millions to buy cool gadgets, and go on vacations to her summer home in the Bahamas. In her younger years she traveled throughout Europe, doing various engineering jobs. She still does a lot of cool things, like woodworking, and DIY house improvements. She spends some of her time hanging out with her friend Zemen Franco, and her husband, James. Their kids like to play together, but not basketball for obvious reasons.
Young Marisa was very ambitious. To save money and ease into things, she decided to go to Berkeley City College for two years, but ended up finishing a semester early. She was then able to transfer into the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley where she earned her degree. It was tough at first, but she was more that ready and powered through in two years. She decided not to go to grad school and go straight to industry. The times were tough and the salary boost for a PHD didnt really compensate. After all its not the degree, but the engineer. It turned out to be a good decision because she got a job right away, worked for two years saving up and then went to Europe for 8 months to see more of the world. She had spent her whole life in the Bay Area and just needed to leave and see new things.
In Europe she found amazing architecture, beautiful landscapes, new people and good times. She found local Ultimate Frisbee teams and played with people who could hardly understand her. She stayed for a while in different countries, but kept on moving, kept meeting new people and kept learning new things. She came back home just in time for the holidays, she never missed Christmas or thanksgiving. Family is the most important thing to her, and she made an effort to let her family know by planning her trip around the holidays.
She was now 26 years young and still enjoying life. Her boyfriend proposed to her and they would get married the following year. They bought a house in the Bay Area and started to settle down. Marisa ran into her old friend Zemen Kahsai who happened to be pregnant and married to the actor James Franco, they would catch up and become good friends all over again. Marisa and her husband would have a few kids and have an awesome fulfilling life full of happiness.
