Fall Semester: Working Toward My Goals

This internship will help me gain leadership skills as I will effectively be producing the podcast. I will be in charge of organizing recording sessions, editing scripts, and editing the audio, so I will hold much authority over the finished product as well as within the team. This will also require me to improve my skills in instruction which is something I am looking forward to doing. Managing and instructing others in a way that helps them complete what they need to do is an important skill that I need to improve through practice. One other skill this will help me improve is public speaking. Although I will be speaking to a small audience (likely only 3-5 residents), the experience will nevertheless help me become comfortable speaking as an authority in front of others. I will also gain the skill of using audio editing software which may be helpful in my future career as podcasting is a form of media I am interested in. Additionally, I would like to gain skills in advocacy. I will have the opportunity to do this by attending activities that will help me learn about how best to advocate for healthcare related issues. I also hope to learn more about what kind of work environment and work I enjoy. This internship offers a wide scope of duties so I will be able to participate in many different types of work and learn what I would most like to do in a future career.

There are a lot of aspects of this internship that I am excited about. Mostly, I am excited about the connecting with individuals and the community. In connecting with those I meet through my internship, I can start to build a network and explore areas that I may be interested in pursuing as a career. Additionally, working with the community and learning more about the ways I can best serve the community is something I am very passionate about. This internship gives me a great chance to learn about some organizations that work with the community which may help me discover different career paths, passions, and/or ways to get involved in the community.

As of October, I have become far more confident in my skills of collaboration, teamwork, and adaptation of knowledge. Every aspect of this internship requires me to collaborate with others, including my supervisors, co-producer, and the residents. This affords me the opportunity to improve on these skills and learn how to listen to the needs and views of others. This directly relates to my skills in teamwork as well. Since many of my responsibilities revolve around facilitating collaboration, I have been able to improve my skills as a team leader. This internship has also provided a great way for me to develop my skills in applying the knowledge I have learned through coursework to the real world. This internship has challenged me to adapt concepts I have learned in my study of communication to the creation of the podcast and has helped me find where miscommunication with listeners may occur.

I would like to improve my problem solving and perseverance skills. Though I have definitely seen a positive change with respect to these skills since starting this internship, I do think it is something I need to work at to improve. When I am faced with a difficult problem, I have a tendency to try to solve it entirely on my own even when I run into a wall. This only serves to make me frustrated with a task. Having another intern at my site has helped me a lot with this issue. In the future, I plan to reach out to my fellow intern and supervisors after my independent attempts at solving a problem have failed. To hold myself accountable for this, I will set a time limit for how long I will allow myself to work on a problem alone, and if I haven't found a solution I will reach out to someone who may be able to help.