1. My STEP project was focused on an internship I had working as a sustainability intern for Facilities Operations and Development at The Ohio State University. While participating in this internship I completed a project for the Wexner Medical Center (WMC) focused on improving recycling and sustainability throughout the medical center. Me and one other intern completed waste audits at three separate WMC facilities and then installed six pallets of trash and recycling bins throughout these facilities.
2. The main transformation that occurred from this project was my growth as a professional. Before this internship, I had never worked a job that wasn’t food service, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Besides the days when we were physically doing recycling bin counts or delivering/installing the bins, all my work was done remotely so I had to learn how to best manage my time and be an effective worker when there was no one to hold me accountable. I developed skills that will apply to the rest of my career, and I now have a good foundation to build upon. Now I have the confidence in myself to know that I deserve to have internships and work in the sustainability field because of the experience I gained. I used to doubt if I could break into the field of sustainability because of my lack of knowledge within a complex field, but this job went hand in hand with my coursework, proving I’m on the right track.

This experience also helped me come out of my shell. I’m typically quiet and reserved in unfamiliar situations, but I had to learn how to advocate for my project and overall sustainability within the med center and OSU. There were hours of Zoom meetings and countless email chains, and I learned that I do have a voice and an opinion that matters despite only being an intern. There were countless times during the spring semester when there was a direct correlation between my job and my coursework. I had to become comfortable in these meetings to share my thoughts as there were areas where I had more knowledge on a topic than others on my team. Before starting college, I could never imagine myself speaking up in a meeting with a dozen people in it, many of whom I did not know. But now I know that I can do that which will just help me in my endeavors once I leave college.

3. Many different experiences caused this internship to be transformative. The most important aspect was working in a professional setting for 20 hours a week. This internship lasted for eleven months (although my WMC project only lasted for four months), and in that time I was exposed to an entirely new environment. I was not only working with the sustainability team at Ohio State but also did projects for Transportation Management and Finance to name a few. I was continually interacting with professionals who worked for the university and who treated me as a professional. This exposure is what led to the greatest amount of growth because I was no longer being treated like a student. Being an intern for FOD turned me from a sustainability student to a sustainability professional.

Through this internship and my work at The WMC learned I how to be an independent worker. While I was an intern, I had two different bosses that I reported to, but me and another intern took point on the waste management project. The two of us audited three separate hospitals on our own and had to work independently from our bosses. When the pallets were delivered, we were the ones who had to coordinate with the dock managers and the delivery company. This was transformative because we were given a full list of responsibilities and were trusted to complete them without needing assistance from other professionals in our department. This is once again a skill that will help me immensely as I enter the sustainability field.

We also hand-delivered and set up dozens of trash cans and recycling bins. Originally, I was nervous that hospital workers would see us and question what we were doing or if we had the proper clearance. I came to understand that if you know and act like you belong in certain areas, then people will not question your presence. I thought we would meet barriers when having to install bins in restricted employee-only areas as we didn’t have keycard access to them. Instead, we would simply explain ourselves and our project to the administrators and they always were helpful and granted us the necessary access. This was another occasion where I was expecting to be treated like a student and instead was treated like a professional. We encountered many people who didn’t understand why our tasks (or sustainability) were necessary to the WMC, and countless times it felt like we were defending our project to strangers. There was even an instance when somebody complained to us about how we were helping the university waste millions of dollars on trash cans when there were other higher priority things to spend that money on. To us, a sustainability goal should be a top priority, but we had to explain that our whole project was funded by a SWACO grant. Our boss had applied for the grant, and we used the money for a new recycling program that would drastically reduce waste from the med center. We were in a position where money uncomfortable conversations were made with strangers, but it helped me come out of my shell and grow.

4. After graduation I want to enter the field of corporate sustainability and to get a job in that field you almost must have internship experience. So, on the most basic level, this internship has helped me improve my resume and has got me one step closer to my professional goals. I was also able to get a summer internship for the Ohio EPA this summer due to my previous internship experience. As I’ve mentioned, I grew immensely as a professional during my internship and waste management project. I now know how to act in a professional setting which will help me in job interviews and in any future job. I have also gained so much confidence in myself and my knowledge. I’m no longer scared to speak up in meetings when I’m knowledgeable about a topic. I’ll graduate from Ohio State next spring and am very grateful for the professional experience that I’ve gained this past semester. This was my first experience with a bit of project management and that will be a very important skill for me to have once I’m working in the corporate world. I have nothing but positive things to say about this extremely transformative experience.
5. This is a screenshot of how we organized our waste audits.
6. This is a picture of us on bin distribution day. We were on the dock and trying to get two bins separated that were stuck together!