Goals
Internship Goals
Form relationships and collaborate with others for networking and collaboration.
This will be achieved by having my internship training of various tasks and processes being done by different people who specialize in those areas. If there is an activity in the lab I have not had experience doing or wish to learn more about it, I would simply ask someone who may have a lot of experience performing that task to allow me to watch them or to have them explain it to me. During the first month of my internship, I have worked with three or four other lab technicians across multiple departments in the building. I have expanded upon my basic pipetting skills and also gained the skills of working with a new machine that caps and uncaps 96 tubes at once in the nucleic acid lab! I have toured the building and the various labs within to view how they store their samples in the freezers and how their methods compare to the labeling and organizing methods in the sub-aliquoting lab. I have not had much experience during my college career to collaborate with others at a more professional level. So, I look forward to developing my skills and relationships through collaborating with others. Developing collaborative and communicative skills are crucial to any career. The skills I learn and the goals I accomplish will be invaluable to the opportunities I will have in the future.
Demonstrate learned material from the classroom in the internship and vice versa.
I will find situations where I can use previously learned information to understand how to do new things. Since I have taken, and will take, an array of science and math courses, I will surely be able to encounter scenarios in the internship where I will be able to apply material I have learned in my classes. I have been able to understand the terminology used in the workplace because of the material I had been previously exposed to in my classes. Any of the materials and skills I learn in classes and the internship will also follow me out of college and into my career!
Perform well independently in lab tasks.
I will demonstrate proficiency in lab tasks. Mastery of these tasks can be measured by machines and equipment that are able to display data, which can tell how accurate the process was that I ran. I will have to learn a lot of new processes, but I hope to be able to perform them successfully on my own eventually. So far, I have been able to perform tasks on my own. I have been left to pipet and use capping machines by myself, and also processing samples of serum and plasma. The sample processing included repetitive work that is very prone to error, but has several methods of checking the work done. The multiple methods I can use to check my work has made me feel more confident in what I am doing. It also has allowed me to work more independently, as I do not need to ask someone if I am doing the process correctly, since I have a few computerized methods to check my work as I go along. Most lab skills are mandatory in all labs, such as pipetting and understanding the purposes of various processes. These are skills that are crucial to maintain, but since they are core skills, I will be performing them often.
Career Goals
Gain experience in a variety of fields.
I will research sites I would be able to apply for an internship or job at to gain experience and apply some of the skills I have learned in this internship. Additional experience in areas relating to my career interest will make me a better candidate for more permanent, long-term options in the future. Through my course selection in college, I have been able to take classes I enjoy and that provide me with foundational skills I can build upon later if I wish, such as working with databases, analyzing data, and lab work.
Identify what I want to do as a career.
I have the general idea of what I am interested in, which is microbiology, but there are jobs that do specific things with the general scope of microbiology which I need to consider. I would enjoy studying the relationships between microorganisms and the environment, such as microbial ecology. So, I am very open to what I may end up doing, and will need to see what's out there for me!
Develop meaning in my work.
With my work, I want it to have a purpose. Whether that will eventually be working towards a common goal as a team in a lab, or developing my own research campaigns. Satisfaction in a career begins with doing what I enjoy, but also feeling like my work is contributing towards something meaningful and not just being tasked with busywork. Establishing my skills and abilities will help me end up in a workplace that is the best fit for my personal and career goals.
How sure am I that this career is for me?
I have an idea of what I want to do as a career because of what I am passionate about in terms of learning and exploring new things. Because I have an interest in all of the topics that make up my career interest, I am able to say that I am set on it! I also have an optimistic but realistic viewpoint on what I believe I can do, so I am able to gauge if my goals fall in line with that.
What will I do during my time at IUPUI?
During my final semesters at IUPUI I will be wrapping up my major, meaning that I will be taking more Biology courses that I am interested in, as well as working towards a minor in Environmental Science, and beginning my Capstone research project. In addition to just my courses, I will also be very involved with making connections with professors and others who have the same area of focus as I do.
How have my goals changed throughout the internship?
My initial goals set for the internship have not changed, as they were about areas for professional development and transferrable skills. I have reached these goals, which were discusses previously, of collaborating with others, demonstrating learned materials, and performing lab tasks on my own. I have had several opportunities to work on these goals throughout my internship, and have successfully completed these goals.
What will I do during my second semester of the internship?
I will set my schedule for the Fall semester and consider my post-graduation plans. I will determine if there will be an opportunity for me to have a job after graduating, or chances for me to gain more experiences in a lab setting. I am going to need to develop my skills in researching opportunities that I am eligible for as well as finding out what it is that I exactly want in a job experience, which my internship has provided me with some ideas.
In addition to it being the time in my college career to think about post-graduation plans, having an internship has allowed me to decide to pursue a minor in Environmental Science and stay the full 4 years instead of graduating with just the Biology B.S. and graduating the end of next Fall. With working in a lab at my internship, I have also determined that the single semester capstone research paper is not an ideal choice for me, so I have opted for the two semesters of research in a lab, which aligns with my career interests and goals as well. Since beginning the internship, I feel significantly more confident in determining what is best for me educationally and professionally. Just being in an environment where others have gone through schooling already has helped me determine what path is best for me.