STEP Project Reflection

Description:

For my STEP project I chose to intern at Aware, a cybersecurity startup headquartered in Downtown Columbus. Over the summer, I worked full-time in finance and accounting helping the business run more efficiently.

 

Transformation:

While completing my project, I was able to increase my self-confidence in solving hard and unfamiliar problems. In class, you’re shown a problem and taught how to solve it in a safe environment, and any proceeding ones will just be a variation of the first. In my internship, I was given problems I had never had to deal with before and so had no reference for coming up with a solution. This is more reflective of what happens in real life and being able to solve the ones given to me was a big accomplishment.

 

Activities:

A lot of the projects I worked on had to do with process improvements. First, I was shown how to complete a task according to how it’s always been done. Then, I took it upon myself to make it better. This involved a fair amount of self-teaching excel formulas and even learning a bit about coding macros. There was typically a lot of manual input in the tasks to be completed and that’s prone to human error. By automating as much of the calculations and double checking as possible, it not only cuts down on the time it takes to complete, but also the accuracy.

An example of a process improvement was payroll. Previously, we took a payroll summary report in Excel and manually calculated totals to reconcile our accounts. Through automation, a simple copy and paste of the data now completes the reconciliation instantaneously and organizes the data in an easy-to-read format for review.

However, the biggest project I worked on involved rethinking the pricing strategy for Aware’s software. Previously, pricing for each deal was verbally discussed and was not very consistent when similar opportunities were compared. After compiling a list of all current and past customers along with all the characteristics of each deal, I was able to create a data-backed formula to calculate how we should price each customer. This not only made turnaround for pricing requests much faster, but also made it more consistent and prevented underpricing.

 

Significance:

Self-confidence is an incredibly valuable thing to have. In a professional environment, it allows me to take on challenges instead of passing them up from fear of failure. Taking advantage of every challenge you’re given provides more opportunities to prove yourself and can open a lot of doors. Being able to solve problems at Aware has been a great accomplishment and provided be with what I need to be successful.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

I am Long Tran, an honors student at Ohio State University planning to major in marketing and minor in engineering sciences. I am a part of the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) program at OSU in order to develop the ability to communicate across business and technical domains and the ability to enact an inter-disciplinary approach to problem-solving. I am a hard-working and creative individual who enjoys collaboration and challenges. My passion for business, engineering, and helping others lead me to pursue social entrepreneurship as a career goal.