COOPERATIVE
This year was unique. For the past two years, I have been struggling to find my footing. My first year, I was trying to adjust to college. Last year, I was trying to find my path in life. This year, I’ve found success in both, and I’m now just slowly pursuing my path. It has been really interesting and a totally new learning experience, which has been great. It was my first full year in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services for Information Technology.
I spent Fall 2016 and Summer 2017 in co-op at Medpace, Inc. I honestly, truly, had no idea what to expect. My friends all had already completed their first (some of them even their second) co-ops, and all had mixed reviews. Some said it was better than classes, some said it was worse. All of them said the pay was nifty and that they missed sleep. Personally, I was just happy that I found one! It was really nice to find one that I was looking forward to working in a trade that could give me a taste of what I could expect after graduation. I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about office life. I learned that the experience is pretty much directly correlated to the people around you. I quickly learned that the worklife did not really depend on how much I had known from my books, but how much I adapted socially. I am glad that I was not subdued and quiet my first few months I was there, else it would have made the job really difficult. I was comfortable asking questions and making mistakes because I knew that my friends/co-workers would communicate with me to get everything straight.
Additionally, in the Fall of 2016, I did something I never thought I would. I joined a sorority! I’m officially a member of Delta Phi Lambda, which is a member of the National Asian-Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association. A goal I set for myself, along with becoming more closely acclimated to corporate life, was to make more woman friends in school. The process to become a sister of DPhiL was cumbersome one, which I really was not expecting at all. There was a LOT of driving back and forth from West Chester to Medpace, to UC. It was frustrating. It felt like a three credit hour course on top of co-op. It became so stressful that I had to find an apartment earlier than expected (I was intending on living my entire co-op semester in West Chester), but it worked out in the end. I love my new apartment with all my heart, and I met a lot of really cool, intelligent women that also shared my culture and values!
Another inadvertent friend I made this year was Grace Hiltz. My boyfriend, Troy, works with her at his co-op, and once he formally introduced us, we quickly became best friends. She and I have so much in common. She loves the arts, theater, crafting, Disney movies, and music.. Just like me! She also likes bright colors and glitter (which I can’t say that I do, but I like her, so I’ll accept our differences). She is also a part of the honors program, and we run in such close social networks that it really doesn’t make sense that we didn’t meet before this! I’m so, so, so happy to have finally made a really solid woman friend here at school. We got to hang out a lot in the spring semester, when we were in classes.
In Spring 2017, I took 17 credit hours and worked part time at Medpace. 15 of my hours were technical based, and 2 of them were leisure based. I really had a nice balanced semester. A lot of my classes weren’t offered at appropriate times as to where I could work, so I ended up taking most of my classes online. In fact, I took majority of my classes online. It was so completely different than in-person classes. I can’t say for sure if I liked it a lot. It was nice getting to work from home sometimes, but it was also frustrating other times. It took a lot of organization and time management, but I’m glad I really honed in on those skills! The best classes I took this year were the leisure classes. I took yoga and voice classes, and I enjoyed getting to push myself in other ways than entirely academic ways.
I’ve also gotten a chance to pursue other hobbies that I never had time for before being in IT. I have learned how to knit and embroider, and I played violin in an ensemble for the first time in two years. That really has meant so much to me, as the violin was a huge part of my adolescence. I’m also trying to get back into piano, and continue my yoga studies. Getting an opportunity to “study” these things has only contributed to my pursuit of being a global citizen scholar. I can’t wait to see how my final years at UC bless me.
I spent Fall 2016 and Summer 2017 in co-op at Medpace, Inc. I honestly, truly, had no idea what to expect. My friends all had already completed their first (some of them even their second) co-ops, and all had mixed reviews. Some said it was better than classes, some said it was worse. All of them said the pay was nifty and that they missed sleep. Personally, I was just happy that I found one! It was really nice to find one that I was looking forward to working in a trade that could give me a taste of what I could expect after graduation. I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about office life. I learned that the experience is pretty much directly correlated to the people around you. I quickly learned that the worklife did not really depend on how much I had known from my books, but how much I adapted socially. I am glad that I was not subdued and quiet my first few months I was there, else it would have made the job really difficult. I was comfortable asking questions and making mistakes because I knew that my friends/co-workers would communicate with me to get everything straight.
Additionally, in the Fall of 2016, I did something I never thought I would. I joined a sorority! I’m officially a member of Delta Phi Lambda, which is a member of the National Asian-Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association. A goal I set for myself, along with becoming more closely acclimated to corporate life, was to make more woman friends in school. The process to become a sister of DPhiL was cumbersome one, which I really was not expecting at all. There was a LOT of driving back and forth from West Chester to Medpace, to UC. It was frustrating. It felt like a three credit hour course on top of co-op. It became so stressful that I had to find an apartment earlier than expected (I was intending on living my entire co-op semester in West Chester), but it worked out in the end. I love my new apartment with all my heart, and I met a lot of really cool, intelligent women that also shared my culture and values!
Another inadvertent friend I made this year was Grace Hiltz. My boyfriend, Troy, works with her at his co-op, and once he formally introduced us, we quickly became best friends. She and I have so much in common. She loves the arts, theater, crafting, Disney movies, and music.. Just like me! She also likes bright colors and glitter (which I can’t say that I do, but I like her, so I’ll accept our differences). She is also a part of the honors program, and we run in such close social networks that it really doesn’t make sense that we didn’t meet before this! I’m so, so, so happy to have finally made a really solid woman friend here at school. We got to hang out a lot in the spring semester, when we were in classes.
In Spring 2017, I took 17 credit hours and worked part time at Medpace. 15 of my hours were technical based, and 2 of them were leisure based. I really had a nice balanced semester. A lot of my classes weren’t offered at appropriate times as to where I could work, so I ended up taking most of my classes online. In fact, I took majority of my classes online. It was so completely different than in-person classes. I can’t say for sure if I liked it a lot. It was nice getting to work from home sometimes, but it was also frustrating other times. It took a lot of organization and time management, but I’m glad I really honed in on those skills! The best classes I took this year were the leisure classes. I took yoga and voice classes, and I enjoyed getting to push myself in other ways than entirely academic ways.
I’ve also gotten a chance to pursue other hobbies that I never had time for before being in IT. I have learned how to knit and embroider, and I played violin in an ensemble for the first time in two years. That really has meant so much to me, as the violin was a huge part of my adolescence. I’m also trying to get back into piano, and continue my yoga studies. Getting an opportunity to “study” these things has only contributed to my pursuit of being a global citizen scholar. I can’t wait to see how my final years at UC bless me.