My responsibilities have included performing administrative tasks, such as organizing and communication meeting information using applications like Microsoft Teams, transcribing videos of interviews held with participants, presenting study progress at our monthly lab meetings, and compiling information across the span of several interviews for the team to be able to discuss. These are all pertinent to the progress of our study in that the completion of these tasks allows for the team to be able to communicate more effectively and analyze relevant data to determine what steps to take going forward.

Throughout the year and even now I always strive to build on my existing strengths by taking advantage of the opportunity I have to learn from the new experiences an internship like this has presented me with. Being in a new professional environment has allowed me the chance to improve in areas that I may not have had much experience in and reinforce the skills that I already have. Skills including but not limited to analysis, communication, organization, time management, and critical thinking, were all areas that I hoped to improve upon throughout my internship and research experience, all of which I felt like I was able to in one capacity or another. This experience has allowed me to build on my previous strengths by equipping me with all of the resources and tools that I would need to flourish in those spaces. Whether this meant the guidance of my supervisors, or regulatory study documents available to me, or the responsibilities that I was able to take on and use to take note of what what went well and what to do better next time, this year has provided me with ample chances to take the abilities and knowledge I have and run with them to take them to their full potential.

I have found that there has been numerous times where I have been able to apply the skills I have learned from my internship to what I have been learning in my courses. One example of this was the final project I completed for the Intro to Medical Humanities course I took last semester. The project was largely based around interviewing individuals, allowing me to transfer my knowledge from the interviews we have conducted for the lab's study, especially when it came to having to summarize the interviews and take notes of the main takeaways or responses that seemed to be reoccurring between different individuals. My internship allows me to gain a deeper understanding of my coursework by strengthening my ability to pay attention to detail and being organized when completing tasks. This has come in handy from things as routine to taking notes in class, where keeping up with recording minutes during meetings has become transferrable to keeping up with the lecture being presented and learning to sometimes jot down what is most essential, even if brief, to later revisit and fully flesh out. 

My contributions have impacted the goals of my internship team in that I have completed tasks needed for us to be able to progress forward with officially launching the study. Specifically, this involved transcription of the "pilot" or test interviews we held was something that I was responsible for doing and achieving this was necessary for us to come together as a team and analyze the responses we were receiving in order to determine if there were questions we needed to revise prior to the start of the study's launch. One of my favorite experiences throughout that process was being able to listen to the interviews held with the pilot participants and hearing how one question could evoke so many different responses from people depending on their background, beliefs, and upbringing. 

Discussing upcoming plans and updates with the members of my lab team is one of my favorite aspects of this experience because there are so many qualities and skills that they bring to the table as people who come from different walks of life and have different experience levels, and every time I work with them I leave having learned something new. One thing I have learned from working with my groupmates has been more about communication in professional settings. As a professional and a teammate I would like to be recognized as someone who is insightful and able to be depended on. I would like to grow as a professional and teammate by contributing more during group discussions with the lab team as this is something that I still have ample room to grow in. I plan to accomplish this by pushing myself out of my comfort zone and making a regular habit of doing in order to gradually grow accustomed to it over time. My internship experience has been different than what I initially expected in that I had not really been aware about what sorts of tasks I would be performing on a regular basis as opposed to now where I have become much more familiar with my individual role and responsibilities. 

I feel that my attitudes and beliefs have been impacted by working with people with different backgrounds throughout this study in that I have become more mindful and aware of how every individual brings their own lived experience and a story of their own to the table that is so crucial to the process of working together to reach a common goal. This applies to my internship team who are all able to contribute to our study through the lens of their own unique perspectives and research background, but also to the participants in our study whose personal experiences they are gracious enough to share is so essential to contributing to our goal of being able to uplift and acknowledge voices that are often overlooked. I have grown as a professional as a result of these interactions in that I have come to appreciate the collaborative process and how it can highlight everyone's ideas and personal knowledge far more than I think I did prior to this experience.

The workplace culture of my internship team is one that I really appreciate because of how easy it has made the transition into my first professional research experience. I feel encouraged to be able to share my thoughts and ideas and ask questions regardless of how trivial they may seem. My supervisors regularly check in with me and ensure that I have the resources and support I need to be able to fulfill my responsibilities. I feel that the workplace culture at my internship is very similar to what my ideal one would be in that all of the aforementioned qualities are things that I value and would hope to be a foundational part of the culture in any future workplace of mine.

At this point in the year, I have been able to perform different tasks that have presented the opportunity for both success and challenge. An example of a time I felt successful as an intern has been when I completed a summary document that I had been adding to over the span of several weeks as I had spent a lot of time putting it together and formatting it. Actions I took that led to this success included asking my supervisor questions regarding how to complete it so as to ensure the final product was polished and easy for the rest of the team to follow. I can apply what I have learned from this to academic and career goals in that communication is always key no matter what it is you are doing, whether it means sending a professor a clarifying email or running something over with a manager to ensure you are both on the same page. I have also been able to take on more responsibility as the study has progressed which is something I would consider a success as I am able to be entrusted with more tasks due to the experience I have gained throughout the year. The most challenging part of my experience so far has been trying to complete tasks such as transcribing in a shorter window of time than I have been as that is an area that I have ample room to grow in. Support that I have sought out to overcome this has been discussing it with one of my supervisors during a recent check-in meeting where she provided me with suggestions to implement going forward.