Year in Review
Year in Review
Upon completing my first year of college, my biggest areas of growth were independence and discipline. Since this was my first time moving away from my family, I had to learn and adjust to solely taking care of myself without the help of my parents. While I have always been very independent at home, at college I needed to learn to be responsible all of the time in order to accomplish all of my tasks and maintain good grades. In addition to my newfound independence, I also had to become more disciplined with myself since I did not have an outside source telling me what to do and when. In order to stay on track with all of my academics and extracurriculars, I made a detailed schedule at the beginning of each week. I would add all of my mandatory events first (such as classes, meetings, and work), and then I would schedule in studying, assignments, and personal events, such as going to the gym. Having a detailed plan for my day helped to keep myself accountable in completing everything each day. While there were unexpected events and delays on occasion that would prevent me from completing all of my planned tasks, I would adjust my schedule for the remainder of the week and allow myself some grace to prevent burnout during the semester.
In the next school year, I will be taking more difficult classes and have added responsibilities, so I will need to continue to improve my discipline. Since I am taking many of the same classes as my friends, I know we will all need to encourage each other to study which we can all do together as that is another great study strategy. Having another person to motivate me to study and complete tasks will help to keep me accountable, especially on the days where the last thing I want to do is study. Additionally, I plan to utilize the Learning Commons for supplemental review and tutoring and visit my professors during office hours to build relationships with them and for extra help. As for improving my independence, I will already have a good foundation of taking care of myself from this past year, so next year, I plan to network more within my future career and try to gain more real world experiences that will help to build my resume and future medical school application.
Over winter break, I was able to travel to Cusco, Peru for two weeks with the organization Global Health Alliance Volunteers Around the World, VAW, to volunteer in a free clinic for local families to receive basic medical care. Without VAW and their volunteers, many of the locals would not be able to afford yearly check ups or to get proper health care and medications. During clinics, I was able to help with patient intake and obtaining basic personal information from patients, taking their vitals, handing out medications prescribed by the doctors and shadowing the doctors during their examination with the patients. Being a small part in this process of providing care to people who do not have the ability to regularly receive medical care was very fulfilling. All of the patients were very grateful for us, but I was also grateful to them for getting this opportunity to learn more about their culture and healthcare system. Experiencing another healthcare system and talking with the doctors about their experience in Peru was very enlightening, and it made me very appreciative of the opportunities I have in the US to specialize within the medical field to pursue a career I am whole heartedly interested in.
Prior to this trip, I had not traveled much, but it is always something I have dreamt about being able to do once I have the income to support it. Having the opportunity to spend two weeks in Peru only made this dream even bigger in the places I want to travel and how I want to experience this world. While in Peru, we stayed with a host family, so we were able to eat home cooked meals, practice our Spanish, and experience daily life in Peru as opposed to staying in a hotel or hostel in a “touristy” area of the city. While there were certainly adjustments to our usual lifestyle, most notably not putting toilet paper into the toilet, I enjoyed experiencing their culture in a more authentic manner, and it has encouraged me to seek out this experience in my future endeavors.
I would love to travel more while in college, potentially on a study tour through UHP. We are lucky to have such diversity in our world, so I plan to take advantage of any opportunities I have to experience as much of it as possible. Traveling more will help me to become a more culturally competent and sensitive person and professional for my future friends and patients. In the upcoming academic year, I am looking forward to strengthening my leadership skills through my new position as an SRS coordinator through the Learning Commons. I will also be a UHP and College of Allied Health Sciences Ambassador, so I can improve my public speaking and social skills.
This year, I was able to work as a Supplemental Review Session (SRS) Coordinator for the Learning Commons. I have worked as an SRS Leader since the Spring of 2023, I decided to apply for the coordinator position where I mentored new SRS Leaders through their first two semesters in the position. While I have had previous leadership and mentor positions, mostly during high school, this was my first such position in the higher education atmosphere. I was ecstatic to be selected for this position as I have been very passionate about the SRS program and the services the Learning Commons provides to UC students. In this role, I facilitated weekly 45 minute small group meetings with my “protégés” (new SRS Leaders) where we discussed our sessions, problem solved any issues that had arisen in sessions, and work shopped SRS-specific skills and professional development topics. I also had one to two individual meetings with each of my protégés to get to know each of them on a more individual basis and learn how I can best support them. My small group meetings and getting to know my protégés was my favorite part of this position because I was able to create an inclusive and supportive community for our program where everyone felt comfortable working through their struggles and celebrating their successes.
Additionally, I was also responsible for observing SRS Leaders in one or two of their sessions throughout the semester. This was the most challenging aspect of this position for me, but also what I grew most from. During my first few observations, I saw so many areas where my protégés could improve upon, not for their lack of trying but because I knew how much potential they had as SRS Leaders and how hard they were working to achieve it. When I would review the session with the SRS leader, I would find myself giving lots of feedback, to an overwhelming extent because I wanted them to grow to their fullest potential. Once I had reflected on how these observations went, I realized that what I had wanted to be goal-oriented, encouraging feedback had come off more as a laundry list of critiques. After this realization and discussions with other SRS coordinators on their observations, I modified my feedback to focus on the most important aspects of SRS, such as questioning, active learning, and engaging sessions. I also tried to gear specific feedback to issues the SRS Leader has previously mentioned in our meetings. I have taken this into my personal life to meet people where they are at and not where I want them to be at. Everyone has their own goals and challenges to overcome, and I want to encourage them on their journey.