ay in 1. Being a student is difficult and I have found that successful time management is important when balancing work and personal time. Last year I was a full-time student in my senior year of college and also working a full-time job. In addition to school and work, I needed to make time for my family, relationship, and pets. It is important to me to stay organized so I don’t miss important deadlines or appointments. I have found that my phone helps me stay organized because I am able to set appointments and recurring schedules for myself in the calendar, make notes and lists, or even set reminders. When I am not working or in class, I try to spend my free time for personal time wisely and reduce the number of time wasters I include, such as watching TV or playing on my phone. Another thing I have had to prioritize is my commute to work and school. I live 30 minutes away from school and work so I try to be productive during that time. For example, instead of listening to music, I will convert my school notes to an audio format and listen to them on my drive. It has been hard to find a healthy balance between all of my commitments but staying organized helps keep me on top.
2. Within the customer service industry complex and difficult problems are a part of the job. When faced with a problem it is easy to place blame or feel like you need to find the right answer immediately. The first thing I do when approaching a problem is figuring out the root of what is causing the issue. This involves making sure that I know as much about the situation as possible. After I know what I am dealing with, I put together a plan of action which starts with the most important issues standing in the way and work my way towards finding a resolution. Preparing for the unexpected and being flexible is also necessary when faced with problems to help avoid frustration and a feeling of failure if I’m not able to achieve my expected outcome. Being prepared for the unexpected is also important because having a plan in place does not mean everything will go according to that plan and I need to remain adaptable. Staying motivated helps to resolve the problem successfully and even if the problem is not resolved with my desired outcome the situation will be okay in the end.
3. A plan I originally established and ended up changing was what I wanted to do with my undergraduate degree. At first, my plan was to get my degree in Exercise Science and go on to Occupational Therapy school. During my internship, one of the projects my preceptor assigned me to work on over the summer was a detailed plan of action for my future. After thoroughly researching schools nearby, it didn’t look like attending an Occupational Therapy school was possible with my commitments in Jacksonville. A career in nursing has always been a thought in my head. When I told my preceptor about my new plans, he allowed me to shadow nurses and get a better idea of what nursing was all about. It wasn’t my original plan, but I am very excited to start a nursing program and have already started gaining hands-on experience as a certified nursing assistant at a local hospital.
4. During my first year in college, I learned a very hard lesson about not taking school as serious as I should. It was my first time living on my own and not having any type of parental supervision. I wasn’t as worried about my classes as I should have been. In high school, I was used to earning easy A’s and didn’t realize how different college and high school would be. After taking my first few exams in my classes I was brought back to reality and realized I needed to focus on what was important in my life which was being successful and making good grades. Getting poor scores on these exams opened my eyes and inspired me to work harder in school. After my first semester, I put the extra work in and studied hard and was able to make the Dean’s List and President’s list multiple times throughout the rest of my undergraduate career.
5. In the hospital setting, many patients spend their stay alone and receive little to no visitors and only interact with members of their healthcare team. I like to try and show my patients that I care for them by being a person they are able to talk to and by remembering the little details they tell me about themselves. A lot of times we forget that our patients are human beings and not just a diagnosis. By spending the extra five minutes with a patient asking them about themselves and how their day is going shows that I care about them not only as a patient but as a person. This is such a simple task that doesn't take away from my time helping other patients. Another large part of showing that I care about people is actually listening to what they are saying to me and not just waiting for my turn to talk.
6. Throughout my schooling, it was very obvious to me that I enjoyed my science-based subjects over other subjects such as English and Literature that I needed for graduation. A way I handle being interested in one subject more than the other is to try and find a way to make the subjects I am not interested in relatable to something that does interest me. An example of this was in order to graduate, I was required to complete a research methods class for my undergraduate program. The purpose of this class was to teach me the basics I would need so I could better understand the assignments and research articles covered later on in the program. This class was different from the subjects that I was interested in, so I had to find parts of the class I could adjust to make it more relevant and interesting. I did this by choosing topics I enjoyed and was able to make the class relatable. By looking at the bigger picture and digging deeper into the subject I was able to find similarities between the two and this allowed me to see the benefits provided by each.
7. As a Certified Nursing Assistant at Baptist Beaches, I am constantly surrounded by those in need. A rule I follow when I interact with my patients is to leave them better off than when I first saw them. I do this by fulfilling their requests for snacks or blankets and helping to tidy up their rooms before I leave. When I first started working at the hospital I had the opportunity to shadow the team members on the Medical/Surgical unit. During my observations, I was able to see how the nurses and nursing assistants interacted with their patients and develop my own approach for patient care. I am able to apply this rule of assisting patients with all of my personal interactions. I enjoy helping others and working as a CNA allows me to help in a patient's time of need when they need help the most. This rule is flexible and varies depending on what the patient needs at the time.
8. If I am being mistreated, I will typically bring the situation up to whoever is causing my mistreatment. If this does not work, I will bring it up to a manager and have them mediate the issues I am faced with. An example of a time where I felt as though I had been mistreated is when I was received my first work schedule at the hospital. I checked the schedule and saw that I was scheduled to work every weekend despite being told I would only be scheduled every other weekend. I felt as though they were putting me on the less desirable weekend shifts because I was the newest employee on the unit. I talked to the nurse managers who create the schedule and expressed how I felt about working every weekend. They were able to explain to me that I wasn't being singled out to work every weekend and was only scheduled due to the limited availability of staff members. Communication was key in this situation as I was able to resolve my concerns about the schedule and knew that I wasn't being singled out or purposefully mistreated.
9. While pursuing my undergraduate degree in exercise science at UNF we were required to give three oral presentations to the class over the course of the two-year program. The exercise science program was made up of a cohort of 60 people split into two groups of 30 and we would take our classes with only members of our program for the next two years. There was an exception during the second semester of my first year in the program, I was in a group for my presentation with another person who was not a member of the program. I felt I was at a disadvantage over the other members of my program, as my group partner was unfamiliar with the expectations set forth by this professor. I had to step up and demand more than what he was used to from his previous presentations. The problem with being demanding is getting the work done without being seen as bossy. My group was able to communicate effectively and my inexperienced group partner was receptive of my demands. I was able to get my group on track and accomplished a successful presentation despite that fact my group partner had no previous experience with a presentation in the exercise science program. I don’t think others would describe me as aggressive, but I think I could be described as assertive. During my group presentations, I was an assertive leader that helped keep the group on task and finish strong.
10. One of the systems I use for organizing details for use and recall are putting the items I need to know in lists. I believe writing things down that I will need to remember and being able to cross them off help me achieve more. When I am given tasks to do, writing them down allows me to organize my thoughts and actions and allows me to accomplish things in a timely and orderly fashion. Another device I utilize in studying is written flashcards. I am able to study the material and use keywords on flashcards to remember what I need to know about the subject. The last system I use for detail recall is creating silly mnemonic devices. An example of this is during my undergraduate program, we were required to memorize the order and functions of the B vitamins. Creating a mnemonic device helped me to learn these quicker than I would have by just reading them and trying to memorize them.
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