My Internship

Learning and Skills

A skill that I have gained early in life was organization. I would carry a planner, create to-do lists, and try to develop routines. I strengthened this skill by utilizing it in the office. When given a list of tasks, I would create a to-do list and write them down in order to maximize the amount of work done in the day. Additionally, before breast tissue collection events, I was responsible for organizing together the packet that contains the important tubes and vials needed to collect the blood, plasma, and serum that would be processed in the event lab and would become the samples requested by breast cancer researchers. After events, I organized tissue donors' and volunteers' paperwork to keep on file. Not only did I work on organizing items, but also organizing myself to keep on top of tasks and get them done in a timely manner. Similarly, my time management skills were also put to the test due to taking part in this internship along with being a full-time student and being a Social Justice Residential Assistant.

Furthermore, I worked on my communication skills and fluency in Spanish to educate potential donors at recruiting events. I was able to speak to a wider range of potential donors about Komen Tissue Bank's mission. My mostly used and improved skill has been the skill of communication. Not only did I utilize it during collection events, but also in my day to day in the office. Before collection events, I would communicate with the team on what my tasks for the day were. That could include organizing paperwork, labelling tubes and kits, getting donor bags ready, etc. Upon working on collecting mammograms, I also had to communicate with hospitals, via phone call or through fax, to gather donors' information. 

A new skill that I gained from the internship was networking skills. Through team gatherings I was able to connect with people from different areas. I was able to meet and talk to Jenny. She works on the data analysis of the normal breast tissues that are collected from the events. She sorts the samples by age, gender, and ethnicity and tries to find trends among the data. During our events, I was able to speak to doctors, researchers, scientists, and nurses about their work as well. Later on in my internship, when I expressed an interest in Law school, my supervisor Alison connected me to Sam. Sam had gone to law school but decided to not pursue it and instead work at the Komen Tissue Bank. Alison also connected me with a connection of hers who works at the IU McKinney School of Law. 

My role on the team has been focused on the tissue collection events that the KTB is able to have now that the COVID restrictions have been lifted. The collected samples were being sent out during that time but the need to collect tissue was great. I worked at two events during my internship and participated in two different roles. I was a Surgeon Assistant in the November 2022 collection event. This was the first time the KTB collected tissue from men in addition to women. My role as a Surgeon Assistant allowed me to help the collection of tissue run faster and smoother, resulting in more participants to donate! In our January event 2023, I worked in the lab. Helping in the lab allowed us to collect and store plasma donations under strict protocols to maintain the integrity of our samples. I have also assisted the staff in community outreach efforts. During these recruiting events I spoke with potential donors about the KTB's mission, goal, and collecting process. I was able to use my Spanish ability in one of these events. This internship has given me an opportunity to practice my Spanish skills and practice my interpretation. For the Komen Tissue Bank, it is important to recruit minorities. Studies have shown that breast cancer affects people of different ethnic groups differently. I feel honored to be taking a part in helping use my Spanish to help educate more Hispanics. 

The Workplace

Being a part of the KTB I have observed how close they are as a team. They have a team meeting once a week that allows them to communicate constantly. This allows for transitions in events to go smoother. Additionally, this gives everyone an opportunity to report out on their roles and challenges they have come across. I value this because it gives a chance for more introverted coworkers to get to talk more.  Additionally, the KTB holds gatherings where staff from all over University Hospital that helps with the KTB are able to come together to hold celebrations. There was plenty of time to build rapport with my supervisor Alison as well as the rest of the team. In the future, I hope to be a part of a work culture much like that at the Komen Tissue Bank. 

So far, I have been more on the learning aspect, receiving constant instructions from Alison and going step by step. Alison has given me individual intern projects that deal with the organization and filing of volunteers' and donors' paperwork. Additionally, I was able to label and organize collection tubes, as well as the kits. Having that individual work with Alison being there to help me when needed was able to help build my confidence. During events, I was also able to perform tasks as a surgeon assistant and lab processor. During the event, if I ran into a problem, I was able to communicate it out to the Communication and Outreach Manager, Kathi.  

Sucesses and Challenges

Throughout my internship I have accomplished small and big successes. Those small included making my first phone call to a donor without stumbling, talking with potential donors and seeing their desire to want to learn more, and seeing how my role on the team impacts the success of the collection event. A big success I had was being a surgical assistant and a lab processor at our collection events. I heard so many stories about why each woman was donating their healthy breast tissue. It reminded me of how important our work is and the impact it has. Our collection events have been especially inspiring for me. 

Challenges that I have faced were having to do repetitive work that I felt were not challenging enough. Some of that included organizing papers or labeling things. It has been hard to do these tasks because when I am comparing my work to those of my peers, I feel like I am falling behind on skill building. Although, it all made sense when I went to my first collection event. Having labelled all those tubes and on collection day seeing how smooth things ran reminded me of how important my role on the team is.