Goals & Learning

Career Goals Over the Course of LHSI

October: 

My current career goal is to be able to start training in a forensic laboratory when I graduate, and after training is completed, I would like to work in the same lab. Since I want to be in a forensic lab, I need to be prepared for training first. I will learn how to use certain machines and perform certain tasks to make the training for a new lab easier. In order to find out if my internship goals fit my career goals, I will reflect on each month and talk with my supervisor to make sure I am heading in the right direction. I believe the coursework I will take in the spring semester, which is cell biology with lab, will help me so much this internship and my career. 

March: 

My career goals have changed now after weighing out the options that I have. I have decided to transfer to a different school to pursue biology and pre-law and eventually go to law school. I now want to be a patent lawyer specializing in biology. Working in a lab helps me to understand how my clients work in their jobs, which can be helpful when making patents. My internship did not change what I wanted to do, but rather looking at other options to see what else is out there because I am transferring to a school that does not offer forensic science. I always feel like I am confident in my decisions, but having to change something I had decided in high school was hard for me.  

Learning Goal #1: Gain general lab experience

Relevance: 

General lab experience will help me to understand how a standard lab functions. Gaining this experience is crucial to become comfortable and confident in a lab setting, so I can understand how labs function. 

Action Plan: 

Mastering basic skills, learning how to communicate efficiently with my colleagues, learn how to take feedback from my supervisor and apply it to my work. In order to complete this goal, I have been making coverslips, imaging dishes for the microscope, cleaning labware, restocking pipette tips and pipette tip boxes, autoclaving waste. 

Progress: 

I have made a lot of progress in this goal. I have done all of these skills hundreds of times already, so I know how to function in a lab. I don't think I need to make any more steps except trying to find and master new skills that might be essential.  

Learning Goal #2: Gain public speaking skills when talking about science

Relevance: I want to learn how to speak about scientific material concisely. This will help me in a patent law position, and when I need to present my project for LSHI.

Action Plan: Watching and listening to talks about science offered by my lab director, practicing my speaker with my lab director and colleagues, participating in the final project for LSHI. In order to complete this goal, I have been shadowing multiple people in the lab including my lab supervisor, while they are performing the lab protocol and explaining what is going on in each step. By shadowing other people in the lab, I am able to understand what I need to say in order to explain a concept that is unfamiliar to someone. 

Progress: I don't think I have progressed as quickly in this goal as I had wanted to. Before the showcase, I will meet with my supervisor a couple of times to discuss my speaking skills. I will practice with my coworkers and supervisor to work on my presentation skills for the showcase. 

Learning Goal #3: Improve research ability

Relevance: I want to improve my research ability in order to be proficient in researching biological topics. This will be a great skill to use in a patent lawyer position. 

Action Plan: I will use my internship project as an opportunity to improve my research skills.

Progress: I have completed this goal by finishing my project. I do need to work a lot more on my researching skills, but I feel as though compiling the project has helped improve these skills. 

Skills I was already confident in: 

The skills I am using which I am already confident in are communication skills and constructive criticism and feedback skills. I think I have communicated effectively with my supervisor and other coworkers in regard to anything I need explained, if I need to ask off for any reason, and asking for what I need in order to learn and certain task. I have asked for feedback and have received criticism, and I know what I can do to fix the problems which were brought to my attention. 

Skills I worked on during the internship:

I would like to continue working on my teamwork skills, integration and application skills, independence, and confronting challenges and failures. By communicating daily with other coworkers, I can learn how to work with them, and also what I need to do in order to work on things independently from them. By finding out what information is essential for the lab work that I am doing, I can learn how to apply that knowledge to my work to understand exactly what is going on. Lastly, by looking at challenges failures as a positive learning experience, I can use those to prevent something from happening in the future, which reduces the amount of failure I have. 

  This experience has helped me to visualize the amount of work that I need to put in in order to succeed in my field. I have realized that I want to work in a patent lawyer position. This internship gave me an opportunity to figure out what I want to do in the future, and to give me experience in both a laboratory and work on my research skills.