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

My STEP project consisted of myself having the opportunity to determine what I want to do as a future career.  I always have had an interest in space and rockets.  This past summer I interned with Aerojet Rocketdyne for 9 weeks in the Rocket City of Huntsville, AL as a quality engineer.

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

Before I participated in this internship I was lost as to what I wanted to do as a future career as an aerospace engineering major.  I had no idea what kind of industry I want to work for or what I want to do and not do as a career.  This summer I was able to figure out what I want to do in the future by talking to other interns, co-workers, and by learning about the different opportunities I have with my degree.

After talking with other people, throughout the summer, I have been able to narrow down what I want to do in my future.  This is crucial as I will start applying for jobs within the next month or two.  This also benefitted me as in my final year at Ohio State, I will be completing my Capstone Projects.  I will be able to use my industry-learned knowledge and bring this into my projects, while also being able to mold them into my new interests.

During this internship, I also learned about how companies work regarding funding, timelines, and most importantly teamwork.  These are important aspects of any project and being able to now understand them, based on my experience, is a valuable skill to have.

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?

At Aerojet Rocketdyne, the intern program was very inclusive with an event occurring at least once every two weeks.  These events allowed networking within the company and being able to meet other interns at the Huntsville location.  Intern Week at Aerojet was incredible as we were given multiple presentations with speakers across all the programs and locations of the company.  Aerojet covers both main sectors of aerospace: the defensive and space side.  Being able to learn about the different locations and what each does was beneficial as it allowed me to start thinking about where I could potentially live in the future.  During intern week, Aerojet brought astronaut James “Vegas” Kelly to speak to us.  To hear from him was inspirational and motivational as he has seen the world from a different point of view.  Outer Space.

The relationship I was able to build with my mentor and manager was beneficial in a multitude of ways.  I was pushed this summer in ways that allowed me to break out of my comfort zone and grow intellectually, socially, and professionally.  My mentor and manager always provided guidance and motivation when I was confused or stuck at a roadblock.  There was a tremendous amount of satisfaction when I had their support when I was presenting my projects to different engineers and committees throughout the summer.

One aspect that held me together, socially, was interacting with the other interns.  I lived with two other Aerojet interns this Summer in Huntsville.  It felt as if I was a freshman in college again meeting new people from across the country, but the only difference was that each intern I met had the same focus and goal.  Each of us is interested in the space industry and making an impact with that fundamental desire to learn.

Each week we would hang out and do something new in Huntsville whether it be an outdoor activity, night event, or simply getting ice cream.  Being able to learn about each of their backgrounds and make a solid group of friends is what made this summer go by fast.  Most of us were not from Alabama, so no one knew anyone making the desire to make new social connections a necessity.

On the topic of exploring Huntsville, being able to visit the U.S Space & Rocket Center was one of the best things I did this Summer.  Having an incredible passion for rockets, it was a defining moment to see these rockets with their true size and might.  It put into perspective why I am studying aerospace engineering and what I could work on in the future.  Possibly one of the rockets I work on in the future will make it into this same museum.

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

Aerojet Rocketdyne is one of the most recognizable rocket companies in the industry.  Having the opportunity to intern at this company is one I will forever be grateful for.  The skills I learned this summer will not only benefit me as I complete my Capstone Projects this year but also in my future career.  I not only learned new software skills and strengthened my technical skills, but I also strengthened my presentation and communication skills.  These are critical as being an engineer you must know how to communicate to everyone at all levels and change your dialogue for whether you’re in communication with another engineer, politician, or investor.

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

My STEP project was a 13-week remote internship with Hyland Software. I worked on an intern project focusing on updating an already existing portal. I also participated in Scrum activities such as Sprint planning and daily standups.

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

Over this summer, my view of not only myself but my view of the software industry changed. I had to learn how to ask questions when I was stuck and accept help when I needed to. While working remote, I also had to learn how to become a better communicator. As well, since this was my second internship, I was able to take on more programming responsibilities. The full-time developers at Hyland also showed me that the software industry is all about communication and being able to ask for help when you need it. They were always willing to help and showed how important it is to learn while you get work done. These changes in my viewpoint have helped prepare me for real work in the industry as I get ready to graduate in December of 2021.

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?

One of my biggest struggles as a developer is asking for help when I need it. It can be especially hard in a remote setting. Learning not only how to get the courage to message someone for help but to do it in a timely manner was an important lesson for me to learn. At least a few times a week, I had to ask questions not only to my mentors, but to other people who worked on my Scrum team. We also had a smaller intern stand up every other day to give more opportunities for me to ask questions. By the end of the summer, I was able to communicate with anyone and everyone who worked on my team. I now feel prepared to enter the industry and work as a full-time developer with others.

I also completed a summer internship with Hyland in summer 2020. It was only part-time, working 20 hours a week. I was given a very small project to work on during my short time there. This summer, I was given a full-time internship as well as a bigger project to work on. This added responsibility only made my programming abilities stronger. I was able to learn more about how to work on front end development. I was also able to work on back end development, something I had never done before this summer. This was a great experience to help me round out my coding knowledge. This extra work showed me how ready I am for real responsibilities after graduation.

The full-time developers were always willing to help me out when I needed it. I would not have been able to complete my project without them. As previously stated, this internship was the first time I had worked on back end development. Specifically, I worked with a programming language called GraphQL. I had never heard of this before starting my internship. I was always able to ask for help when I was stuck learning this language and they were willing to put down their work to help me out with my project. This showed me how important learning is in the software industry. As well, it helped me grow in my ability to ask for help when I needed it, but to also that a willingness to help is expected.

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

These transformations will be very valuable for my future career as a developer. Learning how to collaborate and ask questions is one of the most important skills a developer can have. As well, this summer gave me added responsibility, similar to what I will be seeing in my future career. I also got to improve my existing coding skills and gain some new ones. Learning GraphQL and how to work in the back end of a program will be very beneficial to me. I will be able to carry all these skills with me after I graduate.

These are some of my additions to the portal

The largest lessons I took from my co-op were the importance of initiative and asking for help. When working on projects initiative was crucial in staying on task and finding solutions to difficult problems. Asking for help, possibly the greatest lesion I will ever learn and practice, was crucial in moving through obstacles. Whether I was unsure how to proceed with a project or had a question on how to write a piece of code, being willing to ask for help always proved beneficial in solving problems.

Initiative was especially helpful when I developed an algorithm in MATLAB to track Teflon consistency. For about a week, my supervisor was unable to be in the office and I was tasked with maintaining and optimizing existing projects. During that time, I had done my best to use MATLAB in my free time, to better my skill with the software. Through my interest in MATLAB and trying to better understand polymer structure, I came up with the idea of using MATLAB to track Teflon consistency across the pressure seals and began working on the code to have something for my supervisor when he returned. My supervisor thought the idea was great, and for the next month the project became top priority as I wrote and re-wrote the code to be better optimized and collect better data.

The project was not without its difficulties, however, requiring me, begrudgingly at first, to ask for help. My opposition to asking for help was born out of a desire to impress my superiors, however proved to be ineffective when my knowledge base was not enough to tackle a problem. For example, very quickly I began to try and make my code collect as much data as possible, resulting in slow run times and irrelevant data collection. Asking my supervisor for feedback on the state of the project and explaining my difficulties in narrowing my search proved highly beneficial as I was able to pull from his knowledge base, allowing me to push through obstacles of scope more easily.

Asking for help was even more beneficial when I had questions relating to code. Although I had taken numerous classes involving MATLAB, I had yet to use the software for a large project. I therefore had gaps in my knowledge that required the humility to ask for help in the form of online forums and coworkers. At first, I was skeptical that I would receive meaningful help, or help at all. Quickly, however, I found myself pleasantly surprised at not only the speed at which I was helped, but the quality of the help too.

The lessons I learned this summer have already had a tremendous, positive impact in my life, as I now look forward to working with others, entering projects with the humility to ask questions. I also relish opportunities to take the initiative, not only in my professional and academic life, but in my personal life as well to better whatever situation I find myself in. My co-op with the Ariel Corporation has provided a means for large amounts of personal growth, and I look forward to seeing the man I grow into because of the lessons I learned.

Cold mounted pressure seal sample

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

I had the pleasure of interning with The NRP Group LLC in multi-family real estate development. I was able to gain knowledge on the process of developing both affordable and market rate housing through shadowing project managers. My tasks consisted of helping with a low income housing tax credit application and doing research toward their Healthcare and Housing Initiative. I also had the opportunity to shadow developers to experience their day-to-day looking for sites and being active in the community. 

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.

Going into this internship I was nervous, because I did not have any prior knowledge of real estate. However, I was proud of myself for stepping outside of my comfort zone. I had no expectations other than learning a lot of new information and networking. Once I arrived at NRP I was overcome with gratitude. I could not believe that I had come across this amazing company as a public health student. 

I went into the summer with a goal to learn something new everyday. I was always excited to go to work, and that showed me that when you have a passion for something it will definitely create motivation. Throughout the summer I found that I was able to use my public health background and lived experiences to relate to the technical side of affordable housing. This allowed me to provide a different perspective to developers as well when they discussed their reasoning behind selecting affordable housing sites. By the end of the program, I was so proud of myself. I had proven that I could do anything I put my mind to as long as I put forth the effort. Overall, this experience changed my career trajectory and showed me that I can create the career that I want.  It also affirmed that it is okay to pivot professions and try something new. There are no rules saying that you are confined to one career and one profession. This is my life, and I am creating the lifestyle and legacy of my choice. 

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.

Throughout the summer I shadowed a different project manager every week to learn about their daily tasks. I was able to sit in on all of their meetings as they kept track of multiple projects at different stages in their designated region. Attending these meetings with architects, engineers, finance executives and other teams exposed me to the in-depth process of development. I was able to learn from each part of the company to see how they all came together as a team to get a project on the road to construction and lease-up. This experience gave me my base knowledge of development, and helped me to feel more acclimated to the pace of work. It also gave me a space to have conversations with professionals and not be intimidated by a title. I felt like I was able to be myself in the corporate environment. 

After shadowing for a few weeks I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. with two of the project managers to see the construction sites and leased up apartments in the area. We spent two days riding around with local developers to learn about the market rate and affordable sites. During this trip I was learning from the perspective of the developer, and I was getting to see how they make decisions on what is a good neighborhood for an affordable or market rate site. I started to apply the knowledge that I had learned in the office, and I felt really good about being able to hold a conversation and actually understand the work that was being done.  

Another moment during my internship that was transformative for me was my week with the developer that works in Ohio. We spent a lot of time out of the office driving around to sites in both Cleveland and Columbus. As a native of Cleveland, Ohio this was very personal to me to see the affordable sites that would be built in the neighborhoods I had grown up in. Everything had come full circle in that moment, because I was on my old street talking about city master plans and city revitalization plans. I was standing in my purpose. I knew that this was the work that I wanted to do in my community in the future, and this internship gave me the push I needed to see that it was possible.       

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.

This change of pace was significant in my life, because I felt like I was walking in my purpose this summer. I felt like I was taking the steps to an alternative career path. While some days were really challenging and I had feelings of impost er’s syndrome, every morning I still woke up feeling excited to be in the office. I felt like I was creating the life that I have envisioned for myself. I love healthcare and I am very passionate about affordable housing. This company is doing the work to build affordable housing while combating the social determinants of health in the community. They helped me get a better idea of a career that would align with my passions.

After taking in the knowledge that I obtained this summer, I have been interested in the career of a developer. I want to revitalize Black and Brown neighborhoods in Cleveland, Ohio through affordable housing and health education and prevention. I want to use my education to pour back into the communities that poured into me as a child. I plan to use the connections that I made this summer to guide me on the path towards my main career goals. My ultimate goal in life is to create generational wealth and create a legacy, and a career in real estate will put me in rooms with the people who know how to obtain that. I am optimistic about what is next after graduating in the Spring of 2022!

Touring the construction site of  affordable apartments and town homes in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Celebrating National Intern Day! NRP Group’s internship has been rated one of the Top 100 Programs.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

I worked with the pharmacy team of Doctors Hospital in Columbus to reconcile patient’s medications when they came to the Emergency Department, to compound medication IVs following sterile compounding techniques, and to maintain stock of medications throughout the hospital. I got to work alongside technicians and pharmacists, and my work with them is fostering relationships to mentor me as I continue through pharmacy school and to expose me to more than what I would just learn in school.

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.

My view of the world changed drastically during my STEP Signature Project. Working in a hospital during COVID-19 has changed my perspective on myself, on healthcare, and on my future in this profession. I have seen a total of three surges since starting to work full-time in May, and the stress it puts on the staff has been remarkable in the worst way imaginable. I am proud to work in healthcare and be on the right side of this pandemic, but seeing so many people still refuse vaccination and end up hospitalized tears at my heart. It has taught me the compassion I hold for the patient population I work for, but it has also made me angry. Learning to balance how emotional it has been has made me stronger, and I am so thankful to continue to grow in healthcare and fight this pandemic. I have and will continue to grow into a strong, determined, and compassionate pharmacist that can still flourish in the position.

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 had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Dr. Jeremy Taylor, the infectious disease pharmacist at Doctors Hospital. He talked to me about how throughout the pandemic, he worked a total of 63 days in a row. He came into work every single day to try and save lives of those suffering from COVID-19. He has a wife, a daughter, and a son. The commitment he displayed in fighting the pandemic, and in still balancing being a husband and father was heroic. He displayed so much compassion, empathy, and hope for healthcare and the people workers are fighting to save. He has been my biggest inspiration at this internship.

Just last week a 21-year-old patient was admitted with COVID-19 Delta variant, and they were unvaccinated. For the last two weeks our Emergency Department has been overwhelmed as we are being forced to board patients since we have no empty beds for admission. I have now seen Ohio Health buckle down and require vaccination of its employees to try and aid in stopping the spread of the Delta variant, but it is just another weight that the healthcare system is forced to bear since not enough American citizens will vaccinate. There have been so many ups and so many downs that I have lost track, and this side of working at Doctors Hospital has contributed to my angers and frustrations. However, I know I am growing stronger because I am learning how to balance every feeling I have about the situation.

The comradery within the pharmacy, and even outside of our staff, had made such a lasting impact. We track the cases and follow the rules, but we still find time to lean on each other for support. People have cried, but the next day people still manage to laugh. Working healthcare right now feels like being sixteen again and having more hormones than I know what to do with, but the support from my team and leadership has strengthened my love for myself, helping others, and being a front-line worker.

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.

I think the bigger the heart can grow, the more love it can spread. I hope that having to learn to take the anger I have experienced and still provide optimal patient care will carry through the rest of my career. Beyond that, I hope I can love more people than ever. The healthcare field is full of compassionate people, but I have seen them be tested within the last year. I want to continue to pass that test and grow as a person to make the world a better place on big and small scales

The hazardous medication storage in the IV room

This is a weekend shift with four pharmacists, one technician, and one intern along with myself pictured. I have loved developing relationships with them.

My STEP project consisted of an 11-week internship at Battelle Memorial Institute as a Material Science and Engineering Intern. I worked on a few different projects in the lab during my time that included lots of coatings work, such as developing a formulation and process for creating rubber articles using a dip coating method, and performing and measuring surface modifications of titanium. I also programmed and performed some iterative calculations in MATLAB for material evaluation.

Being in a professional environment, like an internship, I was able to understand how to balance being independent and taking initiative in my projects while also knowing when to ask for help if I was struggling. As an intern I had come in with the mindset of wanting to be largely independent in my work to demonstrate I had the technical knowledge and capability to take on any task and work on any project. But I had learned that asking for help or insight into issues you may be having with a project does not necessarily mean you are not capable of the technical difficulty of the project, but understand that there are more experienced scientists and team members that may have run into the same issue that you can learn from.

During my project, and oftentimes in the research industry, I would run into several roadblocks in my project that I would not necessarily know how to overcome based on my prior academic and internship experience. I would take the initiative to go back into the literature and research what the root of the issue may be, test some other solutions that I had found, and sometime still come up short. It was a frustrating to feel as if you had tried every possible alternative and still the problem was not solved.

Reaching out to my project manager and supervisor helped me work through the problems that I was having with my project. They had offered advice based on their academic and research background and brought up points of view that I had not thought about in the past. We were able to work through the issues I was running into on the project.

Not only did I talk to my project manager, but other scientists in the department. Everybody I had talked to were not only willing to help, but were also genuinely interested in the work I was doing. Even having a casual conversation about the project helped brainstorm solutions that I had not previously thought of.

This change in my understanding on how to work on technically challenging problems is valuable because it’s inevitable that I will encounter other technically challenging work throughout my professional career. I’ve learned that now, although the first step to solving a problem is still to double check your work and go back in the literature, it should not discourage you from reaching out to other people with the roadblocks in your project. Their help will increase the productivity of the project, in addition to being a learning experience for yourself as a scientist.

During the summer of 2021 I travelled down south to Texas to pursue one of the most unique internship experiences within my field: learning under the on-site engineering staff at Cooper Tire’s proving grounds in Pearsall, TX. Because most test tracks for both tire and automotive companies are staffed by mostly maintenance crews and drivers, being able to witness engineers working hand-in-hand with the testing process at the track itself is something only a few companies offer, one of them being Cooper. The willingness of the staff to help me learn the more hands-on approach to vehicle testing on top of the physics behind it combined for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that surely enhanced my learning beyond what even the average automotive intern gains.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s Proving Grounds

Over last century or so of engineering becoming a larger part of daily life, the divide between engineers and those who manufacture and use the things that are engineered has only grown. Because of this rift, there is a great deal of work being done behind the scenes to bring the technical knowledge of engineers and the practical knowledge of technicians closer together. For example, OSU requires its mechanical engineering students to complete a course in machining to better understand how the parts they design and draw up are actually created. However, the stigmas still permeate throughout the field. It’s because of this mindset that I feel my internship at Cooper was so impactful: I gained a new perspective on how the effort gone into engineering a tire actually results in definable success.

This is not to say I didn’t gain valuable technical knowledge while with Cooper Tire. On the contrary, my experience began with a month-long course on advanced vehicle dynamics topics and the applications of them on-track with trained engineers and drivers. Vehicle dynamics is notoriously a difficult field to grasp, especially without demonstration. With actual guidance from industry experts, a good amount of previously vague information was brought to the forefront. However, I feel that the greatest gains from my internship were from interacting with drivers and technicians: the people who regularly deal with the actual running of vehicles and setup of tires. Understanding this perspective of how the car and tire come together in a practical sense gives a better background to more effectively test, as pitfalls and quirks can be identified earlier on the in the process instead of being stumbled upon halfway through a program.

During my co-op, one of Cooper’s technicians made a remark along the lines of “If you want to make a car as good as it can be, keep engineers as far away from it as possible.” He was half joking of course, but the source of the humor emphasizes the misunderstanding the practical and technical side of the automotive industry have of one another, and why it was so important for me to learn both. Engineers are stereotyped to be overthinkers that make components too complicated to work with while mechanics and technicians are painted as morons who don’t understand how the physics of the vehicle actually work. Both sides are of course wrong, but with each failed attempt at connecting the two halves of knowledge the divide grows.

This technician and I actually ended up forming a close bond throughout the co-op, helping to mend that engineer/mechanic relationship just a bit. Not only was he crucial in helping me get vehicles prepared for testing, but he also helped me work on my own car after hours on his own time. In return, I was able to give him some perspective on the engineering going on behind the scenes of the vehicles so that he could work more efficiently around problems. Our team at Cooper Tire emphasized the concept of working towards the same goal; since we all work for the same company and the goals of the facility are all aligned with our jobs, there’s no reason for significant conflict to arise between employees.

Cooper’s philosophy was ever-present throughout my internship, and I was extremely grateful for it by the end. During my time with the company they went through an acquisition by Goodyear, causing an understandably large amount of stress across departments. Some employees decided to leave, while others felt they should hold out to see what the future would hold for the new combined company. Yet through that time the mentality stayed the same: everyone was working towards the same goal. This began to apply to presenting the team to Goodyear: if the goal was to look good for the new management, then there was no need to not try and work together to make the facility and group as a whole appear as good as it could be. It was a team I was proud to be a part of, even temporarily, because their approach to work is something I know I’ll strive to have no matter where I end up.

       Setup for On-Vehicle Testing done at Cooper Tire’s Proving Grounds

My chosen career path is a difficult one to break into; vehicle dynamics and motorsports specifically are technical specialties within the field of engineering, and aside from previous connections the best way to market oneself is to show prior experience in the field. The catch-22 in that is finding that first experience: somebody has to take a chance on you to give you the building blocks to build a career on. I feel that Cooper Tire did that for me this past summer, and I’m ecstatic about it. Cooper has a unique internship experience at their test track by letting young engineers work directly on-site. Within the tire and automotive industries, it’s already strange to have test development engineers on-site at a company’s proving grounds, but Cooper Tire takes it a step further and allows co-ops to work at the tracks as well. Having such a unique experience is sure to make my resume stick out from a crowd, as not many people outside of racing can say they’ve worked with the vehicles hands-on. It’s not unlikely to me that my internship with Cooper Tire could be the start of a long career in the field I’ve dreamed of being in, and for that I’m forever grateful to the company and the people I worked with for being a part of my journey.

For my STEP project I completed a 11-week internship with Cleveland Cliffs, a flat coil steel manufacturer, in East Chicago, Indiana. I worked with the quality assurance team, so my main tasks involved identifying and containing defects, analyzing data regarding reprocessed and rejected coils, as well as resetting the calibration standards for the manufacturing plant’s magnetic properties testing equipment. I worked with a lot of different types of people and engineers within the team on different projects.

This experience helped me learn a lot more about myself as a professional and what I want out of a future career. I thoroughly enjoyed the job that I was working, the people that I was working with, and the work that I was given helped me see that I want variety out of my future jobs. I was not working on the same project all summer and many of my tasks would pop up based on the way that production was going. I found that different types of work and projects was fulfilling and kept me focused and mentally engaged. I also found that I enjoyed my work consisting of a mixture of utilizing both my technical metallurgy background and knowledge and general problem-solving skills. Other positions within the materials science background may only involve the use of technical knowledge, but in the manufacturing industry sometimes the projects solely require the use of problem-solving skills to fix an issue within the mill processes. I also felt more confident in myself as a professional because I felt like I fit in with the work I was doing and the team I was on and was able to produce good work on the tasks I was assigned.

Throughout my STEP experience I had a great supervisor who kept me involved in his own work

during the summer and led to me getting an immersive experience within a manufacturing career. Working with him I was able to ask plenty of questions and gain a full understanding of the responsibilities of being a quality assurance engineer particularly with Cleveland Cliffs. I also feel confident that I would fit in well in a manufacturing setting and in steelmaking as well because I feel like I completely know what to expect out of a career with Cleveland Cliffs specifically, but the tasks I would be given in other manufacturing environments as well.

At the end of the internship, I was interviewed by professionals in different sub-sections of the company (Quality assurance, sales, steelmaking). This was a 3-hour interview which involved speaking with each of the three interviewers for one hour each. This experience really boosted my confidence as a professional who is nearing the time of applying for jobs an choosing a career path. I gained valuable interview experience, felt more comfortable speaking about myself and explaining the past work I have done, and learned more about some of the other roles in the company that I didn’t get to see much of. I also received an offer resulting from my work this summer and the interview.

Near the end of the internship, I presented a summary of my summer experience and some of the main projects I had worked on to some of the higher up managers within the company. Completing a successful presentation and seemingly having the audience intrigued and involved boosted my confidence about my ability to succeed in my field and my presentation skills. I received a good number of questions from the audience but came prepared and thought I did a good job at fully explaining the impact I made on myself and the company throughout this experience. Presenting to higher up managers made the presentation seem to have high stakes and receiving positive feedback showed me I was capable in my field as a professional.

Gaining confidence in myself and experiencing a manufacturing setting within my college major was extremely beneficial to me as a professional. I have one more semester before I will have to choose my future job and this experience helped show me things I am looing for in my career. It is also extremely nice to have an offer on the table as I go through the job search process. Working with some of the people on my team and asking questions gave me a better idea of how I want my career progression to look like within the company that I eventually work for and they highlighted some of the things that I do well and qualities that would make me a good fit in certain company roles. From this experience I have also found that I think I would like to pursue a managerial role at some point within my career because I believe I do a good job at working with many different types of peoples and personalities.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three

sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

My project was working as a software engineer intern at Epic Systems in Madison, Wisconsin. My work consisted of developing functionality for doctors and nurses to save custom workspace configurations for common workflows.

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.

One assumption that changed is I realized that good habits are just as important as skill in software engineering. I saw that even good habits unrelated to work can have a positive impact on professional performance. I also realized that soft skills are just as important as hard skills in software engineering. Regarding myself, I learned that I have the discipline needed to sustain good habits over an extended period of time. I also learned how to enjoy independence and adjust well to a new environment.

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.

My work experiences this summer taught me the importance of good development habits as a software engineering professional. This transformation is largely a result of the relationship I had with my assigned mentor, another software engineer on my team. My mentor was assigned with reviewing the code I wrote at various checkpoints during the summer. At the first round of code review my work was functioning properly, but my mentor flagged some parts of my work for syntactical issues such as naming conventions or incomplete documentation. She pointed out that I needed to reference other developer’s work and documentation to get my added functionality working. I realized then how crucial consistent development practices are to achieving a functional project and productive team.

Software engineering is a technical field, so I always assumed that hard skills were more important than soft skills. I learned that the ability to communicate technical creations is just as important as the ability to develop them.  Towards the end of the summer, all the interns gave a presentation on their projects to an audience of doctors and nurses, who are the end users of the company’s software products. I put a lot of effort into my presentation and as a result received a great deal of positive feedback and excitement from the audience. Other interns had projects that were just as technically challenging and offered useful solutions, but they did not experience the same engagement from the audience. I realized that one could create a great software solution, but end users or colleagues could not be receptive if the developer is not able to communicate the product. Going forward I will continue to work on my soft skills as well as hard skills.

This summer was my first experience working full time and living on my own. At the start of summer, I would often get very fatigued at work and would not be very active in my life outside of work. To combat this fatigue, I began to exercise more regularly and eat healthier. Overtime, I saw that the discipline needed to sustain these good habits led to a more enriching life outside of work.  Similarly, I found that actively staying on top of errands and house chores reduced anxiety and made me more productive. I found that I feel this experience helped me to achieve a more independent, healthy lifestyle.

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.

As I approach graduation and enter the workforce, I feel it is very important to develop both personally and professionally. My experience with my mentor made me think deeper about all the different factors that affect the quality of software. This experience’s stress on soft skills as well as hard skills has given me a comprehensive idea of how to be an effective employee. These two lessons combined are important to my professional goal of not just being a good developer but a resource and leader to others. Personally, I strive to live an active lifestyle that compliments my professional goals. My focus on healthy habits gives me the energy to focus on my interests outside of work while staying on top of personal responsibilities. I feel this summer internship has been a key step in growing towards a cohesive, productive post-grad life.

This summer I interned at G2G Consulting, which stands for Government2Growth. The founder and President is Liz Powell, a highly accomplished individual. G2G Consulting is a government affairs company that works at the federal level and state of Ohio level. Most of their team, which is about 7 people, is in Cleveland and a couple are in Washington D.C. They specialize in representing innovation, with a particular emphasis on healthcare issues. As an intern I gained experience, knowledge, and connections.

This was my first professional job, so it gave me confidence to know that I can make it in a professional workplace. Additionally, I learned significantly more about my career field of politics. I learned a great more about how things work on Capitol Hill. Finally, my view of lobbying has become more favorable.

The greatest skill I gained was knowledge of the Hill. Before this internship I knew nothing about appropriations and how to lobby. Now, I understand that it requires meeting with Congressional Staffers and writing bill language for them to bring to their bosses. I also learned some technical skills, such as Microsoft Outlook scheduling and tips for BloombergGovernment (BGOV) website.

I made a great impression on my bosses. I routinely churned out quality work, and they would regularly praise me. This gives me the confidence to know that I can have a successful career. I would regularly sit in on meetings, which was a great experience. As a result, I would listen and learn about how to influence. This means that I learned about how people in DC operate. Another benefit of sitting on meetings is that I feel like I have expanded my network.

I fit into the mission of the organization by making content that can be distributed to clients and team members. Often, I would be responsible for researching and taking notes on newly introduced bills, hearings, or webinars. The G2G logo would be added to my notes and it would be sent to clients, which adds value in the sense that the company is showing they care about clients’ priorities. Additionally I would schedule meetings between my boss and Congressional staff. This helps G2G advocate for their clients by allowing my boss to present an argument for why the client should be appropriated money.

This project was important to me because I want a career in politics and I have to start somewhere. I felt like this summer was a really great first step in my career. Specifically, I feel like what I learn in class has more meaning because I see the value in what is being taught. Additionally, I am more skilled with talking to others, which translates to a better personal life. Finally, I did such a good job that my internship site has offered me an extension. Because of this internship, it has led to post-college opportunity.

It was rewarding to work on political issues and get paid for it. I love politics and would have done this for free because I was so desperate to find an internship and gain experience. Another rewarding part was when the company paid for me to go to a fundraiser downtown at Pins.