ABOUT ME

When working as a part of a team, good communication and receptiveness to criticism are important to have, given any kind of group dynamic. Good team members should be trustworthy and willing to trust others when working together to accomplish a goal or complete a project.

I am good at respectfully and effectively communicating with others when I'm on a team, and I am generally very reliable when it comes to pulling my own weight. However, I would like to work on my abilities to take criticism and trust my team members when working on any project.

To date, I've had few but very meaningful work and volunteer experiences. I worked in a local restaurant in multiple positions on the staff over two summers, during which I gained very valuable professional and social skills mostly related to being part of a team. I worked with a diverse group of individuals with different styles of work and communication that I learned to accommodate to. I also gained skills in organization and event planning as I worked closely with my managers to plan events and private party reservations. On busier nights, the workplace was fast-paced and higher-stress situations were common. From these nights, I learned to think on my feet and take initiative to resolve problems quickly and effectively. I took away from this experience a preference for working with people and working in an environment where I can be active.

My volunteer experiences were meaningful in a different way, as these experiences were often with community or charitable organizations. In my hometown, I helped with the upkeep a local fair-trade shop, worked school registration at my old middle school, and volunteered at an annual Japanese cultural celebration at a local library - all of these experiences connected me to my community and the different ways in which I can serve those nearby and far away. In Indianapolis, I've been much more involved with the local community, mostly through my involvement with the Latino Student Association (LSA). From planting trees in a neighborhood to text banking in an effort to encourage voter turnout, I've become much more familiar with the ways in which I can be involved with promoting issues like equality and environmentalism. Having these experiences made it very clear to me that whatever work I do, I want it to be to the benefit of others, whether that's in my own community or somewhere else.

I am currently taking the second semester of general chemistry (CHEM-C 106) for my pre-med track. I enjoy chemistry and am comfortable enough with it that I even lead a chemistry recitation for the chemistry course I took last semester. However, this class brought its own set of challenges as soon as it started.

It was really difficult to engage with the lecture and content, and I found myself overwhelmed by the way the course was structured. There aren't even many homework assignments, but the multitude of optional assignments caught me off guard, and I found it difficult to manage and incorporate into my studying.

I struggled with the first two exams. I believed the first exam was just a fluke, since I'm not used to receiving scores as low as the one I got back on that one. I dismissed it and didn't do anything to change my performance on the next exam, since I was so sure I would do better. Then I did worse on the second exam. But, instead of letting it discourage me, I used it as an opportunity to change up my approach to the class.

After that exam, I sat down and planned out what I needed to do to get a better exam score. I wrote down all the optional assignments in my planner and really reviewed all the material for the third exam as it was being taught. I stayed on track, made my studying meaningful, and didn't cram for the third exam. Thankfully, I got a score better than the first two; I was especially proud of this one, since this exam contained more difficult material than the first two. My organizational skills and ability to adapt after recognizing failure as a learning opportunity helped me achieve my goal for chemistry. I look forward to seeing what else I might be able to accomplish in the future by applying these strengths.

I work very closely with empowered and motivated women. It's a very unique experience compared to the other jobs I've had, and I'm really grateful that I'm surrounded with such positive professional role models.

That said, I've observed a lot of very admirable qualities I didn't think were necessarily compatible with the workplace. For one, the coordinators and supervisors I work with are all incredibly thoughtful, despite the fact that they all seem so busy all the time. They don't shy away from getting personal about their work, too, which is refreshing and always very motivating. On top of that, they regularly check in on me about my life outside of work; it's never invasive, and I'm always reminded that I'm valued as a team member.

In a more professional sense, my coworkers are all strong, motivated leaders with a work ethic I hope to emulate. It's very inspiring, and I feel compelled to engage more with what I'm doing when it feels like they are, too. To me, it's especially important to see women like this in the workplace because I feel like there is a space in the professional world that I can fill.

I hope that in my own professional life, I'm able to resemble the thoughtful, hard-working leaders I work with now.

Near the end of the spring...

My internship site has seen a few changes throughout the year, so my role at work has changed in response. I've become more independent in my work, and I've become a more adaptive member of my team as a result of my ability to work independently. This has been handy with the recent change to my workplace, though I've developed a preference for a physical work environment away from home. I think I still need to work on finding my voice and presence on a team - I love the work my site is involved with, and I wish I would have taken more initiative while I was still at my physical job site.