Skills
Adaptability
Going through the steps of university required the ability to adapt and be flexible from the start. However, what truly made me learn these skills and excercise them every day was becoming a tutor at Gators for Refugee Medical Relief. I tutored children ages 5-10 once a week, depending on how many kids I decided to take on for the semester. This was my first time teaching younger children, as I only had experience teaching teenagers and adults. As our tutoring sessions were mostly online through a zoom call, captivating the attention and enthusiasm of children proved to be difficult. Because of this, I had to learn to be proactive and flexible in my teaching -- identifying my students' preferred learning style and understanding their comprehension level so that I could tailor my lessons and be effective in my teaching. Acknowledging the fact that some lessons weren't going to proceed as planned and that some sessions could sometimes be unpredictable, I learned how to take these challenges in stride and be able to adapt to them on the spot.
Leadership
To me, leadership means stepping out of one's comfort zone when necessary, prioritizing the needs of others, and, most importantly, taking care of the team while propelling everyone forward. As one of the Logistics Directors in Rangeelo Raas I was responsible for creating and explaining the competition weekend schedule of 300 dancers and 35 board members. During competition weekend, we have 8 collegiate dance teams from other states arrive in Tampa, and it is our responsiblity to direct them to and from the airport, hotel, practice room, mixer room, and competition venue.
This year we had one of our van rentals get in a small accident (that resulted in no injuries), which unfortunately put us behing schedule and made transportation difficult for our board members and dancers. I, along with the other logistics directors, stepped up as leaders and made sure no one was injured, alerted the van company and rented another van, and updated the schedule for all involved. Although it was an accident none of us could have predicted, it taught me to be a good leader when others needed me.
Teamwork
Although team work skills can be developed through schooling (such as group projects, presentations, and the like), I had yet to experience teamwork in my field of interest until I became an intern at Carson Springs. Becoming an animal keeper intern, our responsibilities included taking care of the animals we were assigned, making their diets, and ensuring their safety and well-being. As we had well over 50 animals, and usually only three keepers and three interns at a time, we had to make sure we worked as efficiently as possible. We started a to-do list for all interns to follow, specifying which person was assigned to what task. Additionally, throughout the day, we made sure to take on cleaning responsibilities as even as possible to ensure fairness. Through this real-life experience, I was able to learn how to work quickly and efficiently as a team, while also having fun and enjoying my time with the animals.
Public Speaking
In high school, I took several acting classes and a college-level speech class. These course taught me to become more confident and learn how to properly speak to an audience. However, after the covid-19 pandemic broke out, with quarantine and safety isolation protocols it was difficult to retain all I had learned in high school. It wasn't until my second year of college that I had the opportunity to practice my public speaking skills once again. I became a Language Assistant at the English Language Institute, where my job was to create and teach English lessons to a classroom of 10-15 international students, all ranging in age and cultural background. As I took the role of a teacher, and had the responsiblity of leading class and activites, I had to quickly become accustomed to not only public speaking, but actively interacting with my audience/students. Being an LA for a year instilled a sense of confidence in me that I had previously lost during the pandemic, and that I still retain to this day.