Month: August 2022

Dressing for Success

 

Reflection 1:

My STEP Signature Project focused on partnering with Dress for Success Columbus to understand how the non-profit operates and gain the skills to help the agency fulfill their mission. I learned about their quality standards when managing inventory, worked one-on-one with clients as their personal stylist for their suiting appointment, and assisted Dress for Success staff in putting on special events, namely the Fill A Bag Sale and Dine, Drink, Dress.

Reflection 2:

While completing my STEP Signature Project, my view of the world was transformed. Through interacting with clients at the agency, I became more cognizant of the barriers women who are different from me face in trying to enter the workforce. I have become more appreciative of the unique story that each woman has by engaging with women who live in the greater Columbus community one-on-one through personal styling appointments. Working with Dress for Success to complete my STEP Signature Project reinforced and reaffirmed my personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I am inspired to continue to break down systemic barriers for women who are trying to enter the workforce.

Reflection 3: 

Building relationships with the Dress for Success staff as well as the women who volunteer with the agency has led to my transformation. Seeing the passion each staff member has for empathetically elevating each and every woman in Columbus on a daily basis is moving, and I hope to one day emulate their collective heart and spirit. Furthermore, being much younger than the staff and the other volunteers (no offense, ladies!) allowed me to recognize how I brought a diverse perspective to the organization simply through my age, and I began to leverage my perspective to make a unique contribution to the organization. I am so grateful that from the first day of my project, I was welcomed to the agency with open arms and treated as a valued member of the team. As I began to work with everyone more closely, I felt like I joined an empowered sisterhood of women who seek to empower other women. Being part of a group of women who actively pour into each other and support each other has truly been one of the most impactful experiences of my undergraduate career. I can’t fully articulate what the guidance, support, and mentorship I have received from all of the women involved in Dress for Success has meant to me over the past year, but I certainly will not forget the impact they have made on my life.

Serving as a personal stylist and working one-on-one with clients from various backgrounds different from my own also facilitated my transformation. Hearing about each client’s story – their background, professional goals, and what brought them to the agency – was so fulfilling for me because I was able to know each client on a personal level and be someone who empowered her to achieve her goals. It has been a privilege to be part of an effort that visibly transforms the lives of the women it serves. Seeing women I have personally worked with leave the agency with confidence and visible radiance is incredibly gratifying.

The considerate and empathetic mindset I have gained through my STEP Signature Project enables me to recognize and emphasize the inherent value in the diversity that each person brings. Furthermore, witnessing the impact that Dress for Success – through its inspiring staff and dedicated volunteers – has on the lives of women in Columbus compels me to continue to be actionable in promoting equity and inclusion.

The theme of Dress for Success’s recent Dine, Drink, Dress Event was “Dress is more.” I think that theme encapsulates what my STEP Signature Project has been. Yes, I supported the agency in its mission to provide professional clothing to women seeking to enter the workforce and attain their professional goals. But an even greater intangible transformation has occurred, both for me and for the clients we serve, through tangible clothing. To me, Dress for Success is more than a project. Dress for Success and all of the women involved in the agency have facilitated an inspiring personal journey of growth for me through its incredible sisterhood and empowerment of women in Columbus. Simply, Dress is more.

Reflection 4: 

The transformation I have undergone in completing my STEP Signature Project are valuable in my life – both personal and professional – because I have gained the cultural competence and interpersonal communication skills to meaningfully connect and engage with members of my community who come from various backgrounds. The skills I have refined through my STEP Signature Project will allow me to provide thoughtful, compassionate health care to the diverse patient population I will serve as future doctor. Furthermore, when I am a doctor, I want to advocate for health equity and shape health policy in order to improve patients’ lives, especially those who are underserved and have been systemically marginalized. Overall, my project with Dress for Success sparked a passion for actionably advancing equity through inclusive efforts to uplift all members of society.

Post-Project Reflection: Volunteering at UPMC Horizon Hospital

I volunteered at the UPMC Horizon Hospital this past summer and got to experience more of what it is like to work in a hospital and healthcare setting. My responsibilities varied from being responsible for patient transport, medicine/lab work transport. At the front information desk, I was also clerical volunteer and was responsible for filing and organizing paperwork. I helped patients get to where they needed to go, whether it was physically taking them or instructing them. I also was involved in transporting medical supplies between the pharmacy and other departments, such as the cancer center, which I visited often.

My understanding of the world transformed in that I got a better view at what quality patient care is and how important it is. One day, I want to be a part of a healthcare system as good as UPMC provides. Putting patients needs above all else was always a priority. Getting to see the doctors, nurses, and staff doing their jobs to the best of their ability every day was inspiring and showed me how healthcare is vital to humanity’s future. I think I understand how important it is to me to be a part of the cutting-edge medical research and treatments that I witnessed. I also realized how much my seemingly-small help to the hospital staff relieved a lot of stress on them. Seeing people do work is so much different than hearing it, and in a post-covid world, I was appreciative of our healthcare heroes even more. The staff was incredibly friendly and constantly doing their best to make sure patients were comfortable, which like I said is difficult in a world after experiencing Covid-19. It takes a lot of bravery to be at the frontline. The strength it takes to face and treat cancer, for example, every day is inspiring. It inspires me to try harder to reach my goal of being a doctor one day and being someone who makes that difference, saves lives. The volunteers I worked with were also impactful on me. They were majority elderly folk who volunteered at the hospital ever since they retired to keep them on their feet. Learning about their experiences in life in general contributed to my overall volunteering experience, and to know that they willingly spend their free time helping out a hospital who truly needs their help, touched my heart.

My experience volunteering this summer was valuable to me as a pre-medical student who wanted to experience being in more hospital-care settings. I learned how passionate I am about wanting to be a part of the saving lives I saw people do everyday and I realized even the smallest things that doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians, etc. do all contribute to making the biggest difference. I learned a lot also about being human – in the sense that healthcare is so much more than science and it is a lot more about just caring. Caring about each other and helping each other. I hope to carry these lessons with me in my last year of college and hopefully in medical school one day.