- Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.
My project is an educational internship during the Spring Semester of 2021. The ultimate goal is to promote the benefits of an Amazon Prime Student membership; specifically, my role is to showcase to students how Prime Student makes college life easier, stress-free, and more enjoyable.
- What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?
While completing my STEP signature project, my understanding of the world has changed. Before my project, I struggled greatly with living in the present moment; I was always thinking about my future and what I was going to do next. However, this project has transformed into thinking with a different view. I should focus on what opportunity is right in front of me or what step I am on in life. My chance for an internship with Amazon where I was located in Florida does not come around everyday, so a gratitude that I have never experienced before came about during this project. I now know to focus on being present and that the world is a precious place that I should not take for granted.
- 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?
Between the students I have met at Ohio State due to this internship, the content and event creation for Amazon, and my family back at home, I have been able to utilize all of these beyond what I could imagine in order to transform my personal view on the world.
One way that I have been able to live more in the present moment is through making connections with other students. This internship has resulted in lifelong friends that were built upon engaging and involved conversations; I did not take the time for meaningful interactions before my project took place.
Both the events and content I have created for Prime Student have allowed me to focus on my task at hand. From creating content for Fashion Week to creating content for March Madness, I have been living in the present time period. Since these events were both time sensitive, it affected my ability to think in the moment instead of what was happening in the next steps of the program.
Lastly, my family relationship from a distance has allowed me to be present. Knowing my futuristic, change-loving self, I knew it would be hard for me to appreciate the new environment I would be surrounded by in Florida. Since I may never get the chance to work in Florida again in my life, I wanted to make sure I live in the moment. While this means staying in touch with my family, it does not mean I should worry about my life waiting for me at home. I now see that my family has given me a great foundation and support system growing up, and they have made me the woman I am today. This internship has allowed me to spread my wings and grow personally, professionally, and academically, while also making a difference in the world. I have now overcome the problem I have had with not being present.
- Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
This transformation of being able to focus in the present matters to me in my academic, personal, and professional life. Academically, this change will allow me to focus on getting excellent grades and getting my degree successfully instead of thinking all about post-graduation. Personally, I will be more effective in building relationships with others. In the past, I have always been in a rush to go to the next task or event and didn’t often make much effort to talk to my peers. Being present for me will make me delegate time out of my day to create lifelong relationships. Lastly, being present will help me professionally by letting my desire to be what I want at that point in my life. As one can see, this internship has transformed me in a way that I didn’t even know I needed to be transformed in: being present.
