This week was my first week in my position volunteering at the hospital. I was on my way to the hospital, feeling anxious about how the next four hours would go, and I panicked as I realized I forgot one very crucial item: my badge, which is how I gain entry to parts of the hospital where only personnel are allowed, as well as a token of my status at the hospital. I considered going back to get it, but that would’ve made me very late, so I decided to keep going and see what would happen. I arrived, and took the elevator up to the fifth floor where the NICU was located, but I got a little lost on the way since I took a different elevator than before, and had to ask a doctor to guide me to where I would be working. She was so friendly, and was happy to hear that it was my first day volunteering, as many people in hospital were, and got me into the lounge with her badge, wishing me well. As the day went on, I learned about my duties from a young woman who was working before me named Camilla. She seemed to be a student, and sat working on her laptop in the lounge throughout my shift, giving me guidance when I wasn’t sure what to do. I couldn’t have made it through the day without her. I had to face failure throughout the day, as I’m sure is common for anyone on their first day of a job or task. Whether it was forgetting my badge, getting lost (both on the way up to my job and to and from lunch), or being unsure of myself as I allowed visitors into the NICU, failure was a theme of the day for me, but I’m glad it was. Failure has been one of the scariest things to me in the past. Perfection is something I’ve chased my whole life, and I’ve only recently started accepting that failure is inevitable, and that is completely okay. My family has put a huge amount of pressure on me, but it is because I have created expectations for myself that led them to do so. I’m sure they would be glad to hear about the failures of my first day, and be even more happy to hear how I overcame them. Without making the mistakes I did, I wouldn’t have gained as much experience or gained more confidence in the hospital, and I’m looking forward to going back next week.
2 Comments
Seek Momentum Article
At first glance, it seemed like just a typical field trip: my class would arrive in the morning at a company I had never heard of, spend the day listening to their spiel about the company and what they do, and drag through the day until we reached the mediocre lunch, signaling the end of the excursion. I was more than happy to be proven wrong. At the end of the day, I left with much more than a vague recollection of presentations. Instead, I had a framework for the layout of my website, a better understanding of coding, and a new appreciation for web design as a profession, all things I’d consider far from typical of a field trip. On an early September morning, my four advanced classmates, teacher Mrs. Tasha Candela, and I arrived at Seek Momentum, a local web design company based in Clinton Township. We all entered the small office building, unsure of the agenda for the coming hours. We were greeted by the welcoming and casual staff, led by Jimi Plouffe, the CEO of the company. After walking through a single room of small cubicles, we settled in in a conference room with several laptops and a large monitor on the wall. Everyone took their seats, along with name tags and complimentary donuts and cider, and the day began. Plouffe introduced himself and his team, and gave us all a quick description of what Seek Momentum is all about. Starting off as a small team of Jimi and about four others based in metro Detroit, Momentum has grown significantly over the past few years, increasing their clientele to over 100 companies and causes, such as the Detroit Free Press Marathon and Trinity Transportation. I was unaware of the company before the field trip, despite having lived across the street from its office for almost a year. Momentum’s workspace and staff exude a laid-back attitude, yet also a passion for being on the forefront of web design. Our next topic of discussion was the Michigan Council of Women in Technology’s annual web design competition and its requirements, the whole purpose behind our trip. Since the five of us would be competing in the advanced category, Mrs. Candela procured this opportunity specifically for my classmates and I so we could have a better shot at the coveted 12 finalist positions. She wanted us to learn more about coding, give us a better chance at succeeding in the competition, and how what we learned in class could translate directly into a career. I was surprised when I realized how similar some their daily tasks were to ours in the classroom. The web designers at Momentum began teaching us the basics of setting up a website layout. In the next few hours, the team helped us create our layouts, mine including a navigation bar at the top, dual columns for the body content, and a footer. The vision I had for my website came to life in a matter of hours, forming the framework I would build off of for the next two months. My classmates and I had the opportunity to ask questions about anything from our codes to designing websites for a career, and time flew by. Taking a trip to a professional web design company to help you do well in a competition is not a regular occurrence as a high schooler. I truly believe that, by learning new codes and having the opportunity to ask questions through this experience, we all gained an invaluable amount of knowledge. The maximum of three girls placed from my school, including myself, and our trip to Seek Momentum was a crucial step in the process of reaching this goal. I want to personally thank them for allowing me to make the ideas I had envisioned a reality, and for giving me the confidence I needed to complete this strenuous journey. Jimi and the rest of the Seek Momentum crew have definitely impacted my perspective of web design and the technology career field, leaving me more and more intrigued by our ever-changing, tech-filled world. |
Natalie S.I am a senior at Lake Shore High School and I go to Macomb Community College through the Early College program. I play volleyball, basketball, and softball, and I will play softball at Hillsdale College next year. Archives
May 2017
Categories |