Workplace

My strengths and skills that I have gone into this internship with include my history working in data entry and research, good time management skills, and a passion and drive for the work that I will be doing. I was previously employed at my local hospital in the radiology department imputing data. This skill is helpful to me now during my internship as data entry is a part the projects I am working on. I developed good time management skills my second year of college after changing my major to a more difficult field. Having good time management skills will help me succeed in this internship because it will allow me to balance my work and school life. Lastly, I truly believe that people who have a passion and drive for their work are the people are most likely to succeed. Due to my personal experience with neurodevelopmental disorders, I am extremely driven and excited to be working in this field. 

This year, I have worked on the Early Autism Evalutation Hubs as well as contributed to the India Project. In the fall, my work focused mostly on the Early Autism Evalutation Hubs. This past spring I've been spending more time contributing to the Indian Project and collecting data for ABA hubs across the state of Indiana. My work is often a smaller piece that connects to the bigger puzzle. All of our site's projects require a lot of teamwork. After working on multiple different projects over the course of my internship, I feel like my small contributions to each project have helped our team succeed overall. 

Successes and Challenges

One success that I have had as an intern this fall is learning to ask for help. I have always tried to take on as much as possible and do it all myself, but this semester I realized that sometimes I can’t do it all, and that it is okay to ask for help and let my team know that I am struggling in certain areas. There was a week this semester where I had three exams just days apart. I also had a data report due for my internship site that same week. Rather than trying to study for all my exams and complete the report, I reached out to my advisor to let her know that I had every busy and stressful week ahead and would need help completing the report on time. Another success I have had this semester is improved perseverance. In the past, whenever I was faced with a difficult or overwhelming challenge, my immediate reaction was to give up. This fall, I have found myself facing more of those challenges and working through them. At the beginning of the semester, one of my first tasks as an intern was to create an image that would be used for our team’s marketing. In order to make this image, I had to use a software that I was not familiar with. I was unsure how to complete the task and became very overwhelmed. In past situations like this one, I would’ve procrastinated the task or just not done it at all. Instead, I sat down and worked through the task step by step until it was complete. This spring semester, I have made it a goal of mine to stay organized and on top of my to-do list with school, my internship, and my personal life. I have succeeded in that by making it a priority to plan and prepare for my days, weeks, and months. I have been able to complete assignments and tasks in a timely manner, and I can see significant improvements from my organization skills last semester. 

The thing that has challenged me the most this semester is a personal situation that arose at the beginning of the semester. Because of this, I really struggled mentally as well as with balancing my school, work, and social life. I also struggled to be vulnerable with my advisors and peers about the situation. To overcome this challenge, I have reached out to campus resources for support, as well as confided in my friends, family, professors, and advisors to figure out the best way to succeed while working through this. Another struggle I’ve had this fall is time management. With the rising difficulty of my classes, I have found it hard to balance my time and be successful in all areas of my life. At the beginning of the semester, I participated in IUI’s sorority recruitment. As an executive board member of one of the sororities on campus, this was a stressful and time-consuming event. I had to prioritize my commitment to the chapter over other areas of life that weekend, such as academics, friendships, and selfcare. If I had been more prepared for the busy weekend, I think I would have been more successful in my courses and would have done a better job with my executive position. Next semester I plan to overcome these challenges by prioritizing my mental health, being honest and vulnerable with my advisors by bettering my communication, planning my work hours ahead of time, and setting more specific time management goals. 

As spring semester has started, I have found it challenging to pick up the pieces from last semester and move forward. Rather than trying to throw myself back into my work and academics full swing, I have been trying to move and improve slowly with the help of my supervisors, professors, and advisors. At times I want to speed up or slow down the process, but I do my best to stay on track and make steady progress to reach my goals.