About Me

My first job was at Fazoli's in my hometown at the age of 15. Here, I learned the importance of a quality team. The job itself wasn't ideal, but my coworkers made the time enjoyable. This job also exposed me to the general public and I learned socialization skills. The job I held after this was in retail, and I took similar lessons from them. My most influential job to date was at the YMCA as a Youth Worker. Here I helped run the before and after school program at IPS School 74 during the school year and worked the Y day camp over the summer. Here I learned that I love working with kids. I also learned how to work with kids during my time in this position. I learned how to program lessons that are both educational and interesting in addition to conflict resolution skills and patience. Outside of this, this position reinforced the importance of quality coworkers and leadership staff. I left this organization because I did not feel valued as an employee. My work experience has helped to create my perspective of a functioning team. I have learned that a quality team makes a job more desirable. My most recent experience with the Y has taught me leadership skills and the importance of making those in your influence feel appreciated.

We live in a society where work takes a primary focus, and enjoyment takes a backseat. This is something I refuse to compromise on since we spend such a significant amount of time in the workplace. This was my motivation behind applying to the LHSI Internship program. I wanted to make money and also work on a project that will prepare me for my future endeavors. Outside of LHSI, I am an Olyanian Scholar which is a research-based scholarship program at IUPUI. I am currently working on my own research project outside of LHSI for this program, but I am able to apply the skills I'm learning here. I am learning to become a scholastic and clinical researcher. Through the CITI researcher training required by my internship site, I built a solid foundation in research principles I have since applied to my personal research project. I am building critical thinking skills and also the clerical skills that go into the entirety of a research project. Outside of this, my experiences in the workforce have provided me with leadership skills such as delegation, communication skills such as code-switching, and interpersonal communication skills such as conflict resolution. My experience with LHSI has advanced my research skills, specifically working with research software. This was something new for me, and it has been a journey learning how to operate this technology. Something I still struggle with is time management. I have numerous assignments and deadlines and I am often found reading over 200 pages in a week. This increase in reading has forced me to realign my schedule and I have yet to find a consistent system.