About Me

My name is Samantha Derisse and I am a junior at IUPUI. Things I like to do when I'm not stressed out during the semester include reading, playing video games, writing, drawing, painting, playing my Bb clarinet or electric keyboard, and attempting to dance like no one is watching.

As a college student nearing graduation, my academic journey has revolved around the pursuit of knowledge and understanding in neuroscience and the Japanese language. With a switch in majors driven by a newfound passion for addiction neuroscience, I find myself eagerly seeking opportunities to deepen my understanding of the field. Thus, I am highly interested in applying for the psychiatry internship, as it aligns perfectly with my ambition to become a psychiatrist and my recognition of the significance of mental health.

My journey into neuroscience began with curiosity about addiction, particularly in the realm of addiction neuroscience. The more I learned, the more I realized the profound impact that mental health has on individuals and families. Witnessing the challenges faced by my own family members, who have dealt with mental health issues has made it more important for me to want to explore this field.

Throughout my academic pursuits and also during my time at IU Health, I have consistently worked to increase my skillset related to my future career. I must acknowledge that burnout has become a concern for me. Recognizing the importance of self-care and mental well-being, I am committed to taking care of my mental health first while continuing complete my degree.

Teamwork

My strengths include being reliable, flexible e.g. adapting well to new situations, being determined even though I am introverted, networking, and making connections with others. I've also had different jobs that have helped me grow and develop my skill set.

My Experiences and Skills

Achievements

I am a junior at IUPUI.

Strengths

I can stay at IUPUI for three years.

Goals

I want to graduate in 4 years.

(September): My experience is composed of two internships at IUPUI(Project STEM/SEED and LSAMP) as well as two professional jobs at IU Health(Lab Assistant I and Operating Room Assistant) The skills I have gained through these positions are data/specimen collection, preparation and storage. I have gained additional clerical skills as well as communication skills. Common themes to these skills include those that are interpersonal. Pictures were not allowed at any of my workplaces. I enjoy learning new things about thr brain! I am very good at communicating one-on-one, I work well independently and within a teamwork structure with clearly defined roles. Additionally, I am good at mediating conflict, but still struggle with conflict resolution. I like to engage with discussions about pressing matters with open-mindedness and impartiality. With everything I do, I want to see the results of my work meaning I could not do a job that felt meaningless or severly repetitive as it would be unfulfilling for me. I am not very fond of physical labor or environments in where I have to engage with the general public outside of a healthcare setting.

Learning and skills (October): I completed my self-evaluation. The skills on the evaluation that I feel I am confident in are related to my work ethic. Normally, I feel that I can tend to be mostly self-driven in the sense that I work better independently. That's how I felt before I had a group project partner do an amazing job that made me realize it is who you work with that makes a difference. I would like to work on my teamwork skills because every job at some level works on a team. I realize it is time to get away from that mindset that only I can finish something right.

Learning and skills(November): One way that this is similar to what I am learning in class is that I was tasked with reading a scientific article for one of my classes and after learning how to read scientific articles in my internship, it came a lot easier to me than it would have before. My internship could help me gain a deeper understanding of my coursework by allowing me more time to assist with collecting data hands-on. I feel at the moment some of the skills I desired to gain are on hold at the moment because everything is online and I am struggling with that, At the moment, the main skill I have learned is how to read scientific articles. There is an assortment of forty-one articles that I have been tasked with reading and coding. So far, I have learned about how exercise science intervention programs have been created to help elderly people and the difficulties that exist with it. I have learned the importance of communication. I find it hard to communicate my confusion on certain topics as I feel it reflects badly on me, but I am beyond overwhelmed this semester and don't know if I will be able to understand everything in time for me to present anywhere. I am not sure I will even be able to present anywhere due to my busy schedule. I am learning the value of learning one's limits this semester more than before. My favorite experiences has been meeting with the team in-person and getting to talk with them. They seem like amazing people and I am glad to be working with them.

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