STEP Reflection 2018

 

1)Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.

2)What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?

3). What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?

4). Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?

1) For my STEP project, I traveled to Tennessee to shadow a Respiratory Therapist at two different hospitals. I visited St Jude Children’s in Memphis and Parkwest Medical in Knoxville.

2) I think I learned the most about what I am looking for in my future in relation to my career. Respiratory Therapists can work in a variety of settings and this trip really opened my eyes to the different options I have. I thought I knew a lot about my career field going in, but being able to speak to different RTs that went through various programs and who work in unique departments, I realized my area is much larger than I thought. This has led me to rethink what I want to specialize in when I graduate and definitely gave me some insight on all the possibilities that are available to me. This would not have been possible without this STEP project and I know my future self is very grateful I was able to experience it.

3) On my first day of shadowing at St Jude Children’s, one of our patients coded causing a response team to be called and us having to rush upstairs. I have never seen a code before so I was eager to learn what exactly happened in these intense situations. Teamwork is the key to success with these events. Many professionals have to work together to get the right equipment, transfer information to each other, and plan for the next steps. I watched the doctors communicate and create a plan for the patient that would entail moving them to the ICU. Also, their grandmother was watching the whole time and to see how the nurses took care of her and comforted her after was really heartwarming. Although scary, this really showed me I picked the right career because it is fast paced, team oriented, and involves helping others.

Another day at St Jude Children’s I spent some time in the pulmonary function lab, which is another area where RTs work. It is not on a main hospital floor, so it is not as fast paced, but still consists of working with patients. Since this hospital focuses on research, the pulmonary lab runs tests with current cancer patients as well as those that are in remission in order to study what chemo causes permanent damage in the lungs. They perform various breathing tests that produce graphs that the technician analyzes to see if any adjustment in the treatment plan needs to be made. The specific technician I shadowed worked in the lab for part of the day and then moved up to the ICU to finish it. I really liked the idea of that because it seems to make the 12-hour day go by faster and it gives you the best of two of the environments where RTs work. She answered all of my questions and I am really glad I was able to watch her appointments because it really peaked my interest to look into working in these labs in the future.

At Parkwest Medical, I shadowed a RT who was working on the intensive care unit of the cardiac center. Therefore, I was able to see a lot of different cases than I did at St. Jude Children’s because it is not as specific as just cancer patients. I was able to see more of what an RT would do at a normal hospital. One of the main things an RT does is check on every patient with a ventilator and I even was able to see someone be extubated. We work with many different machines, so she even showed me a few of them and gave me the summary on how they work and what exactly they do for each patient. I really enjoyed those shifts because an RT deals with many patients at one time, so I was able to see what a typical day is like and how their rounds work. She also told me a lot about the hospital dynamic between the workers especially the relationship between RTs and nurses.

4) This change is valuable for my life because it sets up my whole future. I will be starting RT classes in the fall and this experience has really prepared me for all the information I am about to have to learn. Starting out in labs, I will already be familiar with some of the equipment as well as the different terminology used. Even though I was only shadowing, this experience taught me a lot about my field which will aide me when taking my courses. Also, when clinicals start and I am actually in the hospital, I will be used to the environment and will feel comfortable interacting with patients. This trip also allowed me to see hospitals in a different state. I love to travel and maybe after I graduate, I will want to move to Knoxville and work at Parkwest. I now have a connection there so this also helped me network and expand my options of places where I could work in two years.

Day 14 (6/14/18)

  • Stand up with scrum team to update our progress
  • Given the task to create a JSON file with info of the overall system
  • Met with our IT internship program group to discuss our current progress
  • Met with Software Engineer Mentor to discuss layout of the JSON file

Day 15 (6/13/18)

  • Stand up again to discuss our progress
  • Finished logging errors to a file and started looking towards NLog for more logging functionality

Day 13 (6/11/18)

  • Sprint brainstorm with scrum team to feed ideas for the system monitor
  • Stand up meeting with scrum team to figure out current progress
  • Met with ITLP employee to discuss my current thoughts on the internship and my future academic plans

Fisher Global Projects – Auckland, New Zealand

Kelly Franz

Internship

For my STEP Signature Project, I traveled to Auckland, New Zealand, as part of the Fisher Global Projects program. Myself and three other Fisher students served as consultants for Auckland Transport, the governmental organization responsible for all transportation needs in the city. We spent a month completing a sprint on lost property on the rail network, which included exploring the issue with subject matter experts, cold calling and interviewing customers and key stakeholders, and presenting recommendations to the Auckland Transport steering committee about improvements that could be made to the current lost property system.

I chose to go to New Zealand because it was my first real trip abroad, and I assumed the culture would be similar to that of Ohio, or my home, Pennsylvania. And of course, I knew there would be no language barrier. I learned quickly that there was more of a gap in culture than I expected. My jetlagged team walked into Auckland Transport on day one, and realized Americans behave much louder than our Kiwi counterparts. Additionally, after a few flat whites and short macchiatos, we found out that their coffee culture is much different (and a lot stronger) than ours. But what stood out to be the most was how accepted people from all over the world were. While at Auckland Transport, we met employees from China, Singapore, India, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the United Kingdom, to name a few. Many that we met had traveled to 100+ countries, even if native Kiwis. The New Zealand cuisine matched the combination of cultures. We got to try authentic foods from around the world, and I believe that even though I only went to New Zealand, I am much more aware of the uniqueness of many cultures and countries around the world.

Living in a new country and adapting to a new culture is a daunting task, and it encouraged a great deal of personal and professional growth. I think more than anything, I learned to value independence. The scope of the project basically focused entirely around teamwork. I spent every work day with my three coworkers from Fisher, and every minute outside of work with my team and the team of four working with the American Chamber of Commerce. But what I learned was that even though my team accomplished so much, there was still a void that only I could fill myself. Knowing that New Zealand was a safe country, I knew that if there was something I wanted to do that no one else wanted to do, I would do it on my own. Or if there was a restaurant I really wanted to try, I might have to eat there alone. I could not rely on others to fulfill the goals I had for this trip, and it was ultimately on my own to accomplish these goals, no matter what it took.

On a professional level, I learned that I have an ability to learn quickly and speak confidently. My team was thrown into a situation that was completely unfamiliar to us. The Customer Central team at Auckland Transport, our home base, completed a unique process called sprints. There were many steps to the process and a great deal of technical information that we had to familiarize ourselves with to be successful with the project. With incredible guidance from our boss, we completed a final presentation to company executives who were incredibly impressed. Despite the unfamiliarity of the process in a foreign city, we succeeded in our exploration and presentation of Auckland Transport’s current lost property process.

Because I was only abroad for a month, I did not realize the strong relationships I could form in that time. However, I was inspired by the connections I made with my closest contacts at Auckland Transport, Anna and Susan. Anna, who served as our contact, took our team under her wing and ensured we understood the sprint process, met people at all levels of Auckland Transport, explored New Zealand, and felt like we were at home. Whether it be travel recommendations or going out for dinner after work, she was always there for us. She even commented that she felt like I always had her back, which was great to see that we had a mutual understanding of respect and trust.

Susan, the head of Customer Central, also had a huge impact on our experience. Ironically, she did an exchange in Ohio during high school, so she knew the areas many of us are from. In addition to welcoming us on her team, she hosted us to dinner with her family. She went above and beyond in creating an authentic Kiwi meal, including classics like lamb, kumara, pineapple and cheese, and L&P soda, followed by Pavlova with hundreds and thousands and kiwifruit on top! Her hospitality showed us the kindness of the New Zealand culture and ensured that we left New Zealand with a better understanding of their culture and desire to learn more about cultures around the world.

Our weekend trip to Queenstown was the highlight of my month abroad, and a great example of my personal transformations in action. Specifically, I was set on riding the shotover jet while there. Everyone I talked to said it was a must do, but no one in my group had the time or desire to go. So, my independence kicked in and I got up early to make the trek on my own. I would have been disappointed if I did not go, and as a result, I learned to be more confident in myself to travel on my own, and took advantage of the opportunity I was presented with. Additionally, on our Queenstown excursion, we traveled to Milford Sound. The six-hour drive each way sounded terrible, but in reality, it was the most beautiful trip I have every experienced. From that, I truly learned that the beauty is not in the destination, but in the journey (even though the destination was incredible, too).

Finally, I was inspired by the celebration of cultures throughout New Zealand. We had cultural exposure on two instances: one on a weekend excursion to Rotorua, and the other while at work. In Rotorua, we spent an evening at the Mitai Maori village. Maori are the native people of New Zealand, and the evening included a show highlighting dances and activities of their culture, a Hangi dinner, which means it was cooked underground, and a nature walk. It was incredible to see the passion and respect to traditions, while at the same time, a great understanding of how New Zealand has changed and their culture has been adapted. Auckland Transport also hosted Pacific Islander Language week. We attended a Samoan kickoff event where we learned some of the language, watched a performance, and enjoyed some of popular foods. The employees were excited about these events and loved exploring other cultures, which is something I would love to see the United States adopt. Their love and acceptance of cultures all over the world was truly inspiring.

Overall, this experience was invaluable to my development from both a personal and professional standpoint. I learned to embrace unfamiliar situations, work on a team while channeling my independence, and strengthen my understanding of life outside of the United States. From a professional standpoint, I am aware of my abilities to learn quickly, and have strengthened my teamwork and communication skills. No matter what obstacles I face in the future, I can look back on the challenges I faced when adapting to life abroad, and remind myself that I can get through any situation. Because of my STEP project, I am confident that I can succeed personally and professionally, and have been inspired to travel the world.

 

 

Day 12 (6/7/18)

  • Meeting about Application monitoring system changes
  • Creating a prototype is the new goal instead of making it a full-fledged app
  • Created a console app to validate JSON files

Day 11 (6/6/18)

  • AGILE Scrum training
  • Played with legos to represent various steps in team development
  • Listend to Carla Harris motivation speech