Sarah Relyea

My STEP Signature Project consisted of working with the space planning team on preparing for a product line review for their Traditional Cleaning and Commercial Cleaning product lines. I partnered with a planogram analyst intern to complete competitive shops, planogram and space productivity analysis, and consumer insight research to develop go forward recommendations for the Traditional Cleaning and Commercial Cleaning programs. 

I think my work with consumer insights made the largest impact on the way that I view the world. Throughout my education in interior design, I have taken part in a lot of discussions regarding the way that decisions made by the designer can really impact the way a user experiences a space. Within my internship, I was actually able to look at this process from the other end, which really broadened my perspective. I was looking at a final space that has been rolled out, and then analyzing the consumer response to this space to identify areas that need to be changed. 

I was able to leverage multiple data points from different perspectives to create a well-rounded understanding of the way a consumer was interacting with the space, which allowed me to gain a much better understanding of how specific choices can impact behavior. One example is that I analyzed a neuro study that was completed that had consumers shop the overall cleaning aisle, as well as the air care bay within the aisle. This provided key information regarding what areas of the brain were sparking based on different stimuli, as well as what specific areas of the aisle or bay were drawing the most attention. Based on this information I was able to make recommendations to clarify the categories within the aisle as well as diminish background noise to allow consumers to have an easier shopping experience. 

Being able to apply the information that I have previously discussed in my classes in a real life setting really altered my perspective because it provided that moment of realization that the theoretical things discussed can truly make a difference. I feel like moving forward in my practice of interior design, I will have a better understanding of the way people experience space, and of specific methods that I can apply to provide the intended effect.

One of the key connections that helped lead to the shift in mindset that I experienced throughout my internship was with one of the consumer analysts based in Lowe’s. Not only was I able to work with a consumer analyst who was able to provide multiple different types of data, but she was also specifically focused on the cleaning program. This provided laser-focused research based on the program that I was working on, and also allowed me to discover how different data points can become key based on what type of space you are analyzing. The information that she was able to provide me with included who is shopping at Lowe’s for cleaning, what factors play into the decision of where a consumer is going to shop for cleaning, what the current Lowe’s DIY and Pro business looks like for cleaning, and how we are comparing to competitors in terms of the success of our cleaning program. This type of quantitative data really allowed for my increased understanding of how different decisions Lowe’s was making were impacting the consumer.

Another key connection was that of the intern that I was partnered with for my project. She was working as a planogram analyst intern, and was going to school for marketing. I feel like her perspective coming from a marketing background really played well with mine in interior design, as both are looking towards making an influence on people. My fellow intern was someone that had a lot of experience working in retail with marketing influences, and was going back to school to complete her degree, so I think that wealth of knowledge from her experience really contributed to my understanding of how influence can be created. 

Finally, I think the interaction that I was able to have with the head merchant of cleaning was really influential on my understanding of how space decisions can impact the consumer. The lens of the merchant really provided me with a lot of information based on the trends of the market in cleaning, which can sometimes largely contrast some of the data we are receiving from the consumer end. Thus, I think that my ability to leverage all of the different perspectives from the connections that I made really helped me think holistically in terms of the best decisions to make to impact consumer behavior when shopping cleaning at Lowe’s.

I think this mindset shift will be extremely important in my life moving forward, both professionally and personally. In terms of my professional life, I definitely think that some of the analysis skills that I learned, as well as the insights I gained about consumer behavior, will really help me when making decisions about spaces that I will be designing. I feel like I have a better understanding of what questions need to be asked when trying to plan a space to meet specific needs, and I also have more strategies to understand and formulate decisions based on the information that I can gather from my intended audience.

I think I will also experience a change in my personal life from what I have learned from this information in two ways. First, I definitely feel like I am beginning to look at my own consumer behavior in this type of light, and am now much more conscious of how I experience spaces and how I make decisions. This will not only make changes in my personal life as I become more conscious of my consuming habits, but also the analysis of my own decisions can be applied in my practice of interior design. Secondly, I feel like I am able to better understand people around me based on what I have learned. Psychology has always been something that is interesting to me, particularly in reference to interior design, and I feel like I will be able to better interact with others in my future academic, personal, and professional endeavors. 

Final go forward recommendation categories for the PLR process for Commercial and Traditional Cleaning at Lowe’s.

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

My STEP project was my actuarial internship with Erie Insurance.  I completed three actuarial projects over the course of my internship in three different areas of actuarial concentration: Dynamic Financial Analysis, Commercial Pricing, and Modeling.  In addition to my independent projects, I also worked on two group projects with other interns both in the actuarial department and across the company.

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

I think my understanding of the impact actuaries can have on a corporate environment has drastically changed.  Prior to this internship, I feel that I had a good understanding of the role actuaries can have in insurance pricing, but I did not have a good scope of the opportunities for actuarial impact outside of pricing.  By working on the DFA team I gained very valuable insight into how actuaries play a key role in enterprise risk management in both monitoring an organization’s risk tolerance and providing insight into optimal risk mitigation methodologies. My intern project on Live Event Reporting demonstrated how actuaries can use catastrophe modeling to anticipate the impact of a severe weather event on an exposure footprint.

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? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

I think by completing the Live Event Reporting project I was able to experience first-hand how important conveying the information that populates out of an actuary’s analysis is.  Over my project I was able to work with the Catastrophe Operations team to better understand how the information populated through the catastrophe modeling process is used to provide better service to customers living areas impacted by reported weather events.  Not only does the information detail which individual policyholders are at risk, but it also provides important operational details such as which geographic regions will have the highest impact severity.  This information can then be used to more efficiently mobilize resources to help policyholders when they need support the most.

Working with the Catastrophe Operations team was very transformational for me because it allowed me to think about my work within the actuarial department in a broader scope.  Seeing the broader impact of my work and that it will help Erie Insurance aid to individuals who might be experience a devastating loss made me feel empowered and excited about the opportunities to make an impact from an actuarial department.

Furthermore, I spoke to my supervisor following my project presentation and he mentioned that my project was generating a lot of internal excitement due to the cost saving potential as well.  The organization had looked for an external reported system for multiple years but could not find one that fit all their needs.  By building the procedure and reporting system inside the organization as a part of my internship, my manager stated that I also saved the company a large amount of money that would have gone towards an external reporting system.  Hearing that my work had the potential to help policyholders receive improved service and save the organization money made me extremely excited about future opportunities to continue to make a difference.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

Prior to my internship, I wasn’t sure that the actuarial career field would be a perfect fit for me, and I was hoping to learn about other opportunities inside the career field outside of the standard pricing positions.  I certainly feel that this internship has given me great insight into other opportunities outside product pricing and changed my view of how actuarial work is used across a company.  This internship has been very transformational for my understand of what an actuarial job entails and has made me very excited to enter this career field after graduation.

For my STEP project, I was able to work an internship this past spring semester at an Architecture and Design firm, Design Collective Incorporated, where I was able to get first-hand experience on what I want to do professionally when I graduate. This was my first work experience in my major, and STEP gave me the extra support I needed to really focus and engage with this valuable experience of learning the design process and all the things that go into creating the end result.

During this experience, I found out that although I had a good foundation of skills that I have gained in class, there was so much to the industry that I wouldn’t have been able to understand until I was out there experiencing it. I realized how much more technical things went into a project from start to finish. In school, design is all about creativity and projects that usually don’t have a limitation in things like budget, client taste, structural requirements, etc., which is something that is highly considered in projects. In school, as we are given projects, you don’t really see the client side of designing. In my projects in school, I’ve designed for hypothetical clients, but all the decisions I made are ones I think are the best decisions and have no feedback from the client. This opportunity really showed me how involved the client is in the process, and how important their feedback and thoughts are in order to make such an impactful design that blends what you want and what they need together.

This experience also taught me about myself how important it is to be honest about what I know, and very honest about what I don’t. I think going into it, I thought I would be much more prepared from school to jump in, but I learned quickly that there are so many things that I hadn’t had the chance to learn in classes yet. I’m always one especially to want to know how to do everything and be good at what I’m doing, but here I learned the power of being honest and asking questions, because it benefitted me the most in the long run and I was able to learn things from people who had all been in my place before.

There were so many valuable experiences and people who helped guide me in this transformational experience. When thinking about my experience from start to finish, I remember in the beginning just watching and learning from people who were willing to help me that really allowed me to get off on the right foot at Design Collective. I began with more simple tasks, and having people show me different tips and examples of what the tasks were and the easiest way to do them, and how they help get the project get to the overall result. I was able to help with small things in construction documents, learning how these documents instruct the contractors to bring the project to life. A couple times I was able to go to a site where a project was under construction and see how the little detail items I would make really helped them understand how exactly things were meant to be built and see how the details on these documents and the diagrams and notes become this language from a designer and client’s vision to those constructing it.

As time went on, I was able to do more and more as I was getting used to the tasks, and just being in the working environment I was able to pick up on things much quicker than watching videos or lectures in the classroom. After being more knowledgeable of how the design process works, and getting practice in various activities, I was able to go to a client meeting and be involved in those very first steps to understand what they need in the space, and what they would like the end result to come to. This was a super transformative experience because I felt the respect that I had worked hard for and felt very connected to the project I then was able to work on. I was able to take notes on what they said they needed and translate it into space plans and proposals for their future office. This was my first experience being involved in a client meeting and then getting to translate this into my own independent work. This was one of my favorite experiences due to the way that it made me feel like I was directly making an impact and making choices that had the client’s needs and wants on the forefront of my decision making which is something I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do without Design Collective and STEP.

Lastly, one of the biggest transformative factors to this experience was the support I received from my STEP mentor at Design Collective. She always included me in experiences and brought me to do some really amazing things. She brought me to meetings where I was able to network with other people in the various parts of the industry and was there to always answer questions or give me support in any way possible. In the beginning of my internship, I wasn’t sure how important things like networking was, or how important it is to meeting furniture dealers, or carpet and textile reps, but I learned through her how important these people are as well and how building a good relationship is, because they are the people who contribute to making our vision come to life.

This experience, to say the least, was completely transformative and really has helped propel me to a great start in the industry I am passionate about. This experience introduced me to people, activities, and tasks that I wouldn’t have been able to receive any experience in without working first-hand in the field. I was able to take what I was learning as time was going by and continue to apply it to future activities and build upon my knowledge. I can now take some of these skills and apply them to my projects, specifically my capstone project this fall as I now have a new way of looking at projects, and I have learned so much from seeing how my coworkers approach a project, and how they are involved from beginning to end. This experience was just the beginning of a great career I feel more confident that I can go on to have. As this experience was coming to an end, I was actually able to apply to a global interior design and architecture firm where I will be working at their headquarters in Seattle Washington. I feel as though my experience at Design Collective was the reason that I was a strong candidate, because of all the things I was able to say I was involved with and the knowledge that it gave me in the industry. This semester was the most transformative one so far for my professional life and academic life, and I am so grateful to Design Collective for the experiences, and STEP for the support they provided me as this experience is already opening doors to the places I dream to go.

1. My STEP Project was an internship with Sarnova, a company located in Dublin, OH. For my internship, I worked as a part of the IT Support team for Sarnova, which is a company that supplies necessary medical equipment to private and public companies. My main responsibilities were to close tickets by troubleshooting computer hardware and software issues. This included repairing and installing programs, troubleshooting network connections, and fixing hardware issues such as the internal computer speaker.
2.  Throughout my internship, the biggest personal growth I accomplished was that I became more comfortable asking for help when needed. I learned that it was necessary to ask others for help, especially when I didn’t know how to do things, and I learned that most of the time people are willing to give a hand and teach you how to do new things. It changed my understanding of the business world because the senior leadership team was always very welcoming to me, and invited me to reach out if I ever had questions or needed anything. This experience perfected my skills communicating with others and recognizing when to ask for help. I overcame some of my personal anxieties about being rejected because I realized that most of the time, people like to help out if they can. This change was crucial to my professional growth because it prepared me to be confident in interviews and to feel comfortable asking for what I need.
3. The relationships I had with my team were monumental in helping the transformation that I described in #2. The IT Support Team was a small, close knit team, so I was fortunate to have a good relationship with all of the other team members. I had a good relationship with the other intern, which we formed because of an important project that we worked on together at the beginning of our internship. Our internship started about the same time that the pandemic and quarantine began, which caused our company to transition to working from home. The first project that we worked on was setting up laptops for all of the other employees so that they were able to efficiently work from home. We worked long hours together and were able to complete the project a month earlier than the anticipated end date. This helped us form a close bond from the get go, and it was comforting to feel like there was someone else that I could ask for help. With that, the senior support analysts on the team were helpful when I had to close tickets. Our team worked primarily from a ticket queue, which received requests ranging from a program install to fixing an application that wouldn’t open. The senior staff on the team was helpful in answering any questions I had and even accommodated for working remotely by screen-sharing to show me how to troubleshoot an issue. I’m grateful for all of the things they taught me over the 10 months of my internship because it allowed me to have a much better understanding of technology. They also helped me with interpersonal communication by proofreading emails, newsletter articles, and instructional documents to make sure that they made sense to others.
4. This personal development matters because it helped me gain confidence in myself and my abilities. At the beginning of the internship, I was not comfortable solving many of the technical issues because I was afraid that I would do something wrong. By the end of my internship, I felt confident in the skills that I had learned, and felt proud of how much I had learned over a short period of time. This development matters in both my professional and personal life, because it also helped me realize that I needed to give myself credit for all of the things I accomplished. Working from home during the pandemic hindered my confidence in myself because it felt like I was doing mostly independent work. I didn’t feel that I was accomplishing enough because I was working alone and didn’t have others around me to verbally acknowledge what I was doing. Through a heart to heart conversation with my supervisor, he recognized the work I had accomplished during my internship and praised me for how well I was doing and for all of the things I learned. He also said that if I was doing anything wrong, they would ask me about it, which made me feel better at the time. It put things in perspective for me because I realized that I didn’t have to feel overwhelmed with work, when there wasn’t anything I was doing wrong. This advice was one of the most valuable things I learned at my internship because it is also applicable to situations in my personal life. It put situations in my personal relationships and friendships in perspective, to appreciate the things that were going well rather than worrying that I wasn’t enough for other people.

1. My STEP signature project was an internship with Campus Service Officers, the place I work. As Campus Service Officers, we strive to improve and maintain the overall security of the Ohio State campus by making sure OSU properties are secure, providing a first response to medical emergencies, alerting the OSU Department of Public Safety of criminal or suspicious activity, advising the proper authority on safety and maintenance needs on campus, and building relationships with the community at large. My project really focused on finding the most effective route for our nightly building checks and compiling statistics to determine which buildings had the most security issues throughout my internship.
2. During my STEP internship, I realized how much I want to make a difference in the world, and I realized that I could really make this impact if I went into law enforcement. With everything going on in the world involving law enforcement recently, I was able to experience first-hand what it felt like to be on the other side. As an organization, we pride ourselves with being able to connect with students as we are all students ourselves. However, these past few months there was a disconnect. Especially last semester when we were patrolling east of high, many students really didn’t appreciate our presence. I really struggled with how to make my fellow peers understand that our presence wasn’t to cause them any trouble, but rather to help them if they got into trouble. With this in mind, I really feel like I know that the biggest impact that I have to being part of the solution is to help them understand where I’m coming from. The best way that I know to do that that I’ve realized from this internship is to go into law enforcement in some manner and show them the good.
3. I believe that the interactions that really led me to this transformation was really with the public and the people I met at my internship. A lot of the time when we patrolled on campus even, people almost seemed like they didn’t want us there. However, when we would actually approach them and talk to them and really show that we are here to help they would be more open-minded and we were able to have good conversations. Due to the fact that we were allowed to patrol east of High St. last semester, there were situations that occurred where we had to coordinate with CPD in order to get students the help they needed. Through these experiences, I was able to directly help students and provide them with the proper care while also improving upon my communication capabilities. Coordinating with CPD and even EMS really helped me build my communication and teamwork skills and test my abilities of being able to apply the knowledge I have gained. Being able to succeed in these scenarios really allowed me to gain confidence in my abilities to handle situations. Being able to actively patrol campus and conduct building checks allowed me to realize that I don’t want to sit in a lab all day – I want to be more proactive. I would still like to possibly do an internship in a crime lab to see if it would still interest me, but if I would be able to combine both that would be the perfect job. During this internship, I was also able to meet many people that have inspired me to go into this field of work. I made many friends and built connections with many people who have shown me what it is like to want to be the change. They have opened my eyes to the fact that there are many good people in law enforcement who really want to just protect and serve their community. Many of them are going into law enforcement or the military or themselves are police officers. They are an inspiration to me and made me realize that I owe it to myself to pursue what I love despite the criticism of others.
4. This change/transformation was very significant to my life because it allowed me to really determine the career I want in the future. It also opened my eyes to the realities of going into law enforcement and the hurdles that I would probably face. It also allowed me to understand what kind of path I want to take for my career. I’m pretty confident that I don’t want to be a police officer, but I also don’t want to sit in a lab all day and analyze data. My perfect job would be a combination of those two. Therefore, I believe that I would like to be able to be a criminal investigator of some sort. I would be able to be active in the field as I would be collecting evidence and trying to piece things together, but I also would be able to use my background in biochemistry and biology as it does require scientific expertise.

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

My STEP signature project was my architecture internship at Kime Design in Toledo, Ohio. I helped out on the residential side of things mostly with renovation projects. I assisted my boss with site measures, modeling, plans, elevations, and renderings, as well as final construction drawings.

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

My internship at Kime Design was my first professional job in architecture. The whole experience really made me think about things more realistically, financially, and functionally. My education in architecture has been very conceptual and design based. While this has been a good start to learning about architecture and design, the professional world is much more practical. Every day at my internship I would have experiences that would help me think about architecture in a better way.

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?

On one of my first days, my boss asked me to sketch out a plan of a bathroom including a bathtub, toilet, and sink. I sketched it out thinking it was a pretty simple task. My boss proceeded to move things around and explain how there really is only one way to place everything that makes sense for function and to be most cost effective.

After this activity, my boss proceeded to explain to me what I’d be working on throughout the summer which would mostly be assisting him with home renovation projects. My first few weeks I worked on an addition for a family that wanted to add on a master bedroom as well as extend their kitchen, dining room, and pantry. This whole project for introduced to me the process of architecture between producing drawings, site measures, designing, and meeting with the clients, and finances. There was really just so much more to even a simple addition that I had not thought of before.

On the last day of my internship, my bosses surprised me and had planned for me to ride around with a common home builder of theirs. He took me to five different houses in the Toledo area his company was building all at different stages of construction. I had never had much of an interest in construction before but I was truly fascinated by it seeing it up close and with the builder explaining everything to me. It was also really cool to see him and his employees referencing the kind of drawings that I had been making all summer.

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

As I said previously, I started my internship with Kime Design after my junior year of my undergraduate degree in architecture. Since my freshman year, I have strongly questioned if architecture is for me. My interest in the field never seemed to align to my classmates or my professors which has really been a struggle for me. I have always had a gut feeling that the professional world is where it would click and would be where I would thrive. My internship entirely confirmed this for me. Even after just my first week I had a new confidence in myself and in my career in architecture. This confidence allowed me to have my best year academically, as well as the ability to start planning and getting excited about my life after graduation!

A rendering and plan of one of the home additions I worked on.

1. My STEP project was an internship with TicketFire. This was a part time internship where I helped manage the eTickets, website, and android application for the company.
2. Not only did it transform my technical knowledge, It also changed my view on what it means to be a business and how I might want to conduct business in the future. It made me want to start my own company in the future rather than just getting a job at a big company. Working in that Start-Up environment really made me want to do that again in the future, but rather than being the intern I want to be the CEO. The experience transformed what I think of the business world and how people can succeed in it.
3. There were a couple of people that helped shape the transformations that I had experienced in this time. The first of which was my manager. He was not just the person that gave me my day-to-day work, he also encouraged me to explore and take part in other aspects of the business.

At the beginning I was not too sure as I was only expecting to take part in the technical part of the company, but I was happy that my manager encouraged me to take part in the other aspects as it broadened my knowledge about the eTicket industry and how businesses in general function. My manager then told me that it might be fun and that he thought I might enjoy it. After a couple of times, I decided to attend one of the business meetings and that experience changed what I thought about the business side.

The other transformational part was the technologies that I learned. I learned many different technologies in the computer science field. I deepened my knowledge in many technologies that I had already worked with. I also learned new technologies that I have not experience in my classes at OSU. These are some technologies that I have leveraged in interviews and other personal projects and having these in my arsenal have been life changing.

4. Like I mentioned at the end of the last paragraph these are valuable to me and my life because I get to leverage those technologies and the knowledge in my day-to-day life whether it be through personal projects, or through professional experiences.

I get to use the technologies in my personal projects, like the android app I am creating. Without these technologies I would not be able to do that. I also get to use the business knowledge I learned to hopefully one day create my own business, as this internship inspired me to do that in the near future.

My STEP Signature Project was centralized on the internships I completed during the 2021 Spring Semester. I completed two short internships with Extension Professionals. The first internship was partnered with Dr. Kathryn Orvis, a professor, and Extension Specialist at Purdue University and with Dee Nicley, one of the Tippecanoe County, IN 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator. The second short internship was partnered with Kayla Oberstadt, an Ohio State Extension Specialist.

Before I completed these internships, I was not certain what I was capable of completing, and how well I would do my job. I have studied to become an Extension Educator for four years at Ohio State; however, I questioned if I was actually capable of exceling at the common aspects the job presented or if I would be an average intern. Throughout my life I have always compared myself to others and been negative towards myself. However, throughout my experience working with these professionals I was amazed at how well I handled everything I was tasked to and the knowledge and creative mind I was able to use during these tasks. Aside from that, I was in awe of the praise I received from various people around me about my achievements and ability to excel at my work performance. Now, I understand that I am an amazing person, and that I am ready to face the world as an Extension Educator. I no longer assume that I will be average at a task, now I assume that I will be able to transform simple tasks to help and change the minds of others.

During my first internship, I worked alongside Dee Nicley. Dee is an exceptional woman who changed her career from being a teacher to becoming an Extension Educator in her 30s. However, the most exceptional aspect about Dee is her ability to always be positive and energetic. She understands that problems occur, changes happen, but she has learned to look on the bright side of everything. While working with her, her positivity rubbed off on me. I stopped being as negative towards myself and really started to look at the opportunities and applaud myself for the achievements I have been working towards.

Another experience during my first internship that had a deep impact on myself was when I was interviewing Dr. Mark Russell. Dr. Russell is the Head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication in the College of Agriculture. The interview was an informational interview, allowing me to learn more about his career path and his perspective on Extension. Dr. Russell was an amazing person to speak to; he was honest, charismatic, and caring. During our interview we spoke about many things but what stood out the most was his love for helping students learn leadership skills and the way he cared about my future although he had barely known me. Dr. Russell was amazed at everything I had accomplished thus far in my life, he appreciated the work I have done on my family’s farm and he was very adamant about trying to persuade me to obtain my master’s degree in his department. This conversation helped me to realize that no matter what my background and education is, I can truly achieve anything I want in this world; and that no matter where I go there will always be friendly faces who care about my career. Dr. Russell symbolizes what I dream of becoming and allowed my passion for helping others to flourish more than I thought it could.

A third key aspect occurred throughout my second internship with Kayla Oberstadt. During this internship I had the opportunity to teach during a counselor workshop about the different learning styles, sit in on various committee and organization meetings, and create an abundance of survey and evaluation materials. I have always known that evaluations are a difficult task in Extension. Most programs focus on youth, and I know from personal experiences that youth do not enjoy completing surveys. However, I was able to become very creative while creating the evaluation strategies and I found that I had a passion for making evaluations interesting. Trying to create exciting ways to present evaluation surveys and evaluation data allowed me to flourish. I thoroughly enjoy statistics and this form of research is perfect to gain results from activities with the right about of statistics involved. Kayla was very inviting towards my ideas and was very impressed with my abilities. Without this internship I would not have been able to have the freedom and space to make the evaluations and evaluation data sheets like I had and discover my love and passion for evaluations.

These changes and transformations are very valuable in my life. When I become an Extension Educator, I need to be able to explain and agree with decisions I make. Part of that is feeling positive about my decisions and abilities. This internship has allowed me to better understand what I am capable of and allow me to challenge myself to achieve things I did not believe I could. This internship has also opened my eyes to the possibilities and opportunities I can achieve in Extension. Instead of questioning if I belong in Extension, I am excited to jump into my career and allow my education and experiences to push my past what others believe I can accomplish. Aside from being able to explain and agree with decisions I make; I have also been able to let up on my evaluations of my work. I am working on being nicer to myself, which I believe will help me go farther in my life academically, personally and in my future career. Lastly, my development in abilities regarding Extension tasks have allowed me to better understand my interests regarding Extension and will allow me to enhance the areas that I still struggle with while allowing me to also delve into the areas of Extension I have found an excitement for.

These developments matter because they are helping me to transform into the best Extension Educator I can become. They have helped jumpstart the excitment, development and connections I will use in the future.

I’d also like to thank STEP for providing me with the financial backing for this endeavor. This experience was life-changing and I am forever grateful.

Here is a few screenshots from workshops and projects I completed.

For my STEP Signature Project, I completed an internship with the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center. The mission of this organization is to ensure that Ohio and Federal crime victims have their voices heard, are informed of their rights, and that the rights they choose to exercise are protected and enforced. My role as an assisting advocate was to ensure that victims were informed of their rights and to provide any resources that would be beneficial to them. The work I was able to help with was meaningful and intentional; I assisted victims in filing RFA (intake) forms, organized case summaries for Prosecutors in the office, researched and created a document that listed all housing relocation services in Ohio, completed online advocacy trainings, and so much more.

After having completed my internship, I definitely became more aware about what specific crimes are most prevalent in Columbus, as opposed to the organizations’ locations in Cleveland and Cincinnati. I was able to interact with the other interns who were working in these two locations, so we would compare and contrast the types of cases we had coming in. For example, many of the cases I handled in Columbus were domestic abuse cases. However, I also dealt with cases pertaining to elderly abuse, child abuse, theft, violence, and stalking. Having the opportunity to engage in a hands on role in these cases allowed me to understand that every case is different, unique, and must be approached in the appropriate manner.

Before this opportunity, I had believed that all cases were approached in a standard way with the same set of questions for victims, but the victim advocate who I worked alongside taught me that advocates have to thoroughly consider all aspects of an individual and their case in order to know what specific questions to ask. This experience demonstrated the importance of empathy and maintaining an open mind, which are traits that I believe will be applicable in my expected future work as a victim advocate and social worker. Because you never know what a victim has been through and how they may be feeling about their experiences, these qualities will make a victim feel assured that you are there to help have their voices and stories not only heard, but prioritized. My view of the world has shifted because I realize that the Criminal Justice System isn’t always set up to best serve victims. Victims may not receive the anonymity and protection they deserve to keep them safe, and that’s why organizations like the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center are crucial for vicim advocacy. If the Criminal Justice System fails a victim, all hope is not lost; they’re still able to find free and reliable assistance through a victim advocacy center.

One of the experiences I had that highlighted the importance of anonymity and protection, was when I was assigned to work on a domestic violence case. In this case, a woman had been experiencing spousal violence at the hands of her husband. She reached out to our organization for help out of this situation, and we prioritized her safety by approaching her case with care. For example, we would never send emails to her because there was a chance that her spouse would see it and further violence would ensue. We contacted this victim only over the phone when she was able to call us at her convince.

Another project I worked on where anonymity and protection was prioritized was through my work researching housing relocation services for victims. As I researched housing relocation services in the Ohio area that we could offer as resources for victims, I spoke with the representatives of these organizations to ensure that if a victim were relocating to escape harm or violence their information would not be given out. When I created the document listing all of the resources I had to make sure that anonymity was valued by all of the organizations listed. Additionally, I made sure to find relocation services that would cater to victims in need of different services. For instance, I gathered housing relocation services offered financial assistance with rent for victims with little or no income, safety planning for victims seeking a way out of a situation, 24/7 hotline support, disability considerations within the building, mental health services, and many other services to ensure that every victim could find housing that met their needs.

This experience has been beneficial for my professional goals because as a Criminal Justice major, this is the field I would like to enter upon graduation before going for my Master’s degree in Social Work. I believe the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained with the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center will be useful tools that I’ll be able to draw upon in the future. As this internship came to an end and I began applying for jobs as a victim’s advocate, I’ve seen the value of having experience working with victims as it pertains to future job opportunities. Although I was unsure about my abilities when I first began working with this organization, I’ve seen my confidence for helping others exponentially increase during my internship. This confidence boost was exactly was I needed to know that I’ve chosen the right career path to pursue upon graduation. I know that assisting victims and those in need is my passion, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to practice my passion through my role at the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center. While seeing my strengths in action really inspired me, being able to recognized my weaknesses has proven to be just as useful. Due to the fact that I’ve been working with a mentor through the Mentorship Program at Ohio State, I’ve been able to recognize my weaknesses at my internship and work with my mentor to finds ways to address them head on. One of these weaknesses has been how to handle the emotional weight of the cases coming in and not get so invested my own personal life is affected. I’ve learned that balance is key, and having balance in all areas of my life (physical, mental, and social) goes a long way in being able to best help others.

Prompt 1 –

For my STEP Signature Project, I completed a virtual Spring internship with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, where I worked on the Energy Project Team. On this team, I supported energy-focused policy analysts by completing research projects, summarizing legislation, drafting social media posts, and writing a blog post on a topic of vertical farming. I also engaged in professional development activities such as networking with the interns from other teams and attending virtual panels discussing graduate school, the world of lobbying, and more.

Prompt 2-

My STEP project was nothing short of transformational on both a professional and personal level. I came into this internship feeling like a shy “newbie” that felt intimidated to share her ideas in a meeting. I’m coming out of this internship as a confident, well-spoken professional who truly believes that her opinions and insights are valuable and worth sharing. I completely challenged and conquered my old fears of public speaking, making mistakes, and (especially) not interpreting constructive feedback as personal critique. As I look toward graduation in May, I am headed into the workforce with a stronger, healthier mindset that will enable me to make a greater impact when working on the public policy issues I care about.

Prompt 3 – 

Throughout my STEP project experience, I had mentors, activities, and interactions at my internship site that elevated this experience into one of transformation and growth. At the Bipartisan Policy Center, I worked on a team that included policy analysts, grant writers, administrators, social media personnel, directors, and more. Though our team was small in number (less than a dozen people), it housed a wealth of knowledge. Members of my team had experience working on Capitol Hill, in the public and private sector, in academic research, in the nonprofit space, and in consulting. From my incredible colleagues, I gained a wealth of knowledge about energy policy, emerging technologies, the grant process, the innerworkings of Washington DC, the pros and cons of graduate school, and more. The relationships I created were one of the most rewarding aspects of my STEP experience, as I have not only expanded my network in DC but, in doing so, have created genuine and meaningful connections with inspiring people doing inspiring work. This has only motivated me further.

In regard to the activities that facilitated my professional and personal transformation, a few stand out as key growth points during my internship. The first was presenting research on carbon pricing to my team. Public speaking has always been one of my biggest fears and most poorly-executed skills, as I struggle with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, making it mentally very challenging to present. However, with the support of my supervisors, I successfully gave a ten minute presentation with a Q&A session at the end with no hiccups. My team said that they genuinely would never have guessed that I struggled with public speaking in the past; it went that smoothly. This presentation represented a time where I pushed past my comfort zone and delivered and, in doing so, boosted my confidence in my professional abilities.

Another time that facilitated my growth was when I received multiple rounds of feedback on my big research blog on vertical farming. I had never received so many rounds of feedback from so many people on a single project, and while it originally felt disheartening, I realized that the products BPC puts out are held to an incredibly high standard and therefore I would be producing one of my best-ever research projects. Instead of viewing this feedback as criticism (which it truly wasn’t), I pushed ahead and continued to refine my blog post until it was excellent and fit the goals of my organization. My supervisors appreciated my patience with the process and I came to feel the same way. Having had little experience writing in a truly bipartisan style prior to my internship (one of the best hard-skills I learned during my time at BPC), I learned multiple lessons: 1) There’s value in learning to be more patient with myself and 2) People are not expecting perfection on the first go at something, so why put that false pressure on yourself? These are lessons I will carry with me far beyond the conclusion of this semester.

Prompt 4 –

I believe these transformations are integral to my success in navigating my career and (broader) personal life post-graduation. The immense personal and professional growth I gained during my internship (thanks to the STEP program) came at the perfect time, as I know feel more ready and prepared than ever to formally enter the workforce in May. As I plan to move to a new city to pursue a career in public policy, I have the new “hard” skills that have enhanced my professional portfolio and made me a stronger job candidate (in an especially-competitive DC market). I also have new, but equally important, “soft” skills, including increased confidence, patience, drive, adaptability, and gratitude. I will carry these skills with me throughout my twenties, as I try to find work-life balance and pursue a fulfilling career where I can make a positive impact on this world. Thank you so much to the STEP program for allowing me this opportunity for growth. I plan to pay this forward by being an active Ohio State alumni that advocates fervently for the STEP program and all of the wonderful benefits it brings its fellows, especially in the form of the internship path.