- A Brief Description of My Project
During the fall semester of 2020 I used my STEP fellowship to perform undergraduate research at the OSU Battelle Center for Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. In this roll I performed GIS analysis, wrote software, and did literature reviews for several projects that covered a wide variety of subjects
- What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?
The biggest way my understanding of myself changed during my Signature Project was I began to suffer less and less imposter syndrome. For those who are not aware, imposter syndrome is the feeling that you do not belong in a job or educational institution and are an “imposter” that will be discovered and fired/kicked out. While I didn’t suffer from very bad imposter syndrome before my project, it did manage to creep up at times. While doing my research this summer, most of my work was done unsupervised, leaving important decisions and task up to me to handle. This freedom of direction was daunting at first, but I grew to appreciate and enjoy it. Through this freedom of choice, I decided to take on tasks in an area that I was unfamiliar with, and that was coding. Most of my imposter syndrome came from my inability to code. I felt like everyone I knew could code easily and effectively. My signature project allowed me to take on several coding projects and familiarize myself to the point where my coding imposter syndrome has almost completely vanished. My Signature Project gave me the opportunity to do incredible work and take a risk trying to learn something that always made me uncomfortable not knowing, and in the end I was successful.
- What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during tour STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?
The main activity that helped to facilitate the change in my confidence around programing was a research project that the Battelle Center took on over the summer and continued to work on throughout the semester. The project is currently under NDA, but it involved lots of data science and machine learning, something that as an Aerospace Engineering major I had not familiarity with. I first learned how to use data science python packages and then moved on to using python machine learning tools to train an elementary classifier. The great thing about learning in this way is there was no pressure to hurry or go to fast, which allowed me to gain a better fundamental understanding of the processes, and therefor have a smoother time applying them to the actual work of the project.
The main relationship that led to my increased confidence in my coding abilities was the one I have with my boss Sam. Sam is a research scientist at the center and was responsible for managing me as well as the projects the center was working on. Sam’s leadership and mentorship were invaluable in allowing me to gain confidence not only coding but as a person. Sam chose to allow the undergrads to work on things that were interesting to them and made sure to involve the undergrads in every step of the process. This inclusion and nonverbal “vote of confidence” from a scientist as brilliant as Sam did a great deal to improve my sense of self-worth on the projects and allowed me to better see the value that I added to the project.
The main interactions that allowed me to build more confidence as a coder and as a person were the interactions, I was able to have with brilliant people both at Ohio State and other institutions. As a research assistant I was often doing work on several projects that the center was working on. While working on these projects I was exposed to and able to work with incredibly bright and driven people. Though they were nearly always my senior, my interactions with professionals from all sorts of fields were nothing but positive and helpful. Nearly everyone I met went out of their way to give me some advice on my coding problems, point me towards resources that helped them, and just be generally available for questions if I had any. My time as a research assistant gave me the opportunity to interact with and learn from incredible people who helped to guide me as I learned how to code and how to work in a STEM heavy environment.
- Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
By transforming my confidence in my abilities, specifically in coding, in the workplace, I set myself up incredibly well for the future. This fall I accepted a full-time aerospace engineering position, and the work I did at the center, especially the coding portions of the project, set me apart from other aerospace engineering applicants who would not normally have those skills. More importantly my time, relationships, and experiences at the center allowed me to be more confident in marketing who I am. In job interviews after my Signature Project I was able to confidently and clearly describe who I was, what my skills were, and how I thought I could be a positive addition to the company. Prior to my signature project my imposter syndrome would sometimes lead to me downplaying or even omitting my accomplishments during interviews. By changing my imposter syndrome to confidence during my Signature Project I was able to land a job for after my graduation in the spring of 2021, which is incredibly valuable to my life by any metric.