Jenny's blog

[sycep-jh]

"Discuss who and what positively influenced your SYCEP experience. Be as creative as you would like!"

Week #6

Looking back on my experience at SYCEP, it was fairly interesting in a way. On days that I began not being in the best condition for my health, I found some strength through the people I worked with in the office: the receptionist and the nurse. Whenever we get some downtime in-between patients, they always found a way to make me smile. I specifically bonded with the receptionist since I was mainly around the front desk most of the time. She's such a likable person that if you met her in person, you would love her positive energy regardless of the mood you're in. The best way I can describe her is like a timid shy friend who will burst into joy after you get to know more about them.

On top of that, the optometrist that I shadowed every now and then has made some of my workdays even better. She was a gentle soul with much sternness and confidence. Whenever I got the chance to have a long talk with her, she would give me words of wisdom in such a way that it was like saying, "I know that I'm your boss, but I have the concern of a mother." On top of that she acted as a teacher as I was guided through the subject of optometry, and explained the material down to the level I was able to comprehend her explanation. I must say due to her, she made so that I would enjoy my work and gain the most experience for my summer. 

Overall like every summer, it was a good learning experience. I was expose to an environment where I had to learn to adapt quickly and moderate myself through different people. Regardless of where I head now, this experience will be in the back of my mind to help me as I move on to hopefully another job.

[sycep-jh]

Discuss in at least four paragraphs on how you will use your worksite experience to pursue your future academic, professional, and personal endeavors.

Week #5

As the program comes closer to an end, there has been a lot to take from the experiences that I had at my workplace although I did not do much at worksite some days.  What I am grateful for this summer is the professional skills that I have developed over the span of the past five weeks. For instance when I began to schedule patients for yearly routine eye exams, through the computer system you enter he/she in a specific time slot and then go into their preferences to change it so that their numbers would be able to receive phone calls and text alerts notifying them about their appointment.

One major skill that I picked up and used efficiently was patience. From the first couple of weeks, there were a handful of patients that always knew how to tick off either the receptionist or the nurse. I learned quickly that it would be easier not to argue with the patient and tell them what you know based on what you know from their health insurance benefits. I mean there were days where certain patients just pissed me off, but I also learned not to let the small things bother me so much like if I screwed up on something small or had a patient yell at me over the phone for something I did not hold know of beforehand. The easiest way for me to deal with that is to dwell on it for a little bit, and then just acknowledge that it happen and know not to do it again. With future work experiences, this skill will help me not to think about the small details and focus more on the big picture- my main goals that I want to accomplish with this job/experience.

Another skill is communication within the workplace. In the office there are not many people working; usually it’s just the two nurses, a doctor, and maybe the guy who makes the glasses occasionally (aka my supervisor). At all times, every single person knows what each person is doing or what they are responsible to do. As I got more adapted to the atmosphere, I practically knew what I was responsible for along with where everyone was if someone came in asking specifically for one person. From a different perspective, it was important to show patients that I understood their concerns and tried as much as possible to help them out with my limited abilities (or redirect them to someone who can).

These are just a few of the skills that I learned within the office. As it is applied to the future, patience comes in when there are coworkers that I might personally not like and might need to tolerate at the workplace. If it gets out of hand to the point where I cannot deal with a certain coworker, evidently I would need to talk to the person individually or take it up to someone higher than me to take care of the situation. The overall goal is have these new developing skills make my next employment more pleasant and enjoyable, all on top of learning what hasn’t been learned of course.

[sycep-jh]

Describe your dream job and why.

When I was four, I wanted to be in the entertainment industry. By the time I was ten, I wanted to be a dancer. Thirteen and I persisted on wanting to become an astronaut. Catching on to a pattern here? Although I wanted to pursue so much my parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents only saw one type of “dream job” for me: Doctor. Honestly, the idea of being tied down to one specific career for the rest of your life always scared me. What if 20 or 30 years down the line you don’t have the same passionate drive for that career as you use to and well… come bored?

As I thought about writing to an organization for my “dream job” in my cover letter, there was reoccurring thought. “What if that job position was for the Peace Corps or American Corps?”  The pay would be enough, you would get to meet new people constantly, travel to various parts of the world, and also get hands-on learning experiences –hypothetically speaking-. In the end, for my dream job I want it to be a career where I’m constantly learning something while hands-on work where I am working with people who need assistance. Although the pay might be as much as I hope for it to be, I hope that would it be enough to have a stable lifestyle.

By the time I was researching for college, again I was not sure of what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be stuck with a useless degree that won’t get me a job. Then again, I don’t want to be studying something I despise just because it a practical degree that would make me money. So I looked into what I was good at and what I enjoyed doing; that resulted my interest in research. Every lab project that I had in high school was the most fun experience ever (especially because it was a learning experience of its own).

In the end, what I want to say is that I don’t have a solid “dream job” or career destination where I want to head to. As I grow older, there are factors in my life that I would make me think “are you sure you want that as your career?” All I can say currently is that my dream job right now is to do research for a major organization like the American Corps or successful companies like Johnson and Johnson. Who knows where I’m headed?

[sycep-jh]

"Discuss how you can develop your StrengthsQuest strengths, within and outside your work sites."

Week #3

Restorative: to further strengthen this quality I put myself in situations where there would be a challenge for me to solve, especially on days where I’m shadowing the optometrist. She gives me details about the medical situation of the patient and asks me what are some practical solutions for it. For example, there was a medical emergency patient that came in with two styes on her left eye. Dr. Nguyen explained to me that it’s like a pimple with puss, only you can’t pop it because the infection would get worse. I told her the simple solution of just warm compresses to calm down the swelling would help dramatically. From there, she also explained to me about certain medication that would potentially help flush out the puss.

Individualization: not every patient that comes into Krystal Vision Eyecare is there to get an exam for glasses/contacts. Some are follow up’s that Dr. Nguyen likes to keep updates on patients that are usually there for medical visits. On top of that, there are patients that are Spanish or Vietnamese speakers. To help individualize a person instead of generally grouping them, I accommodate to the patient’s specific needs. If the patient needs a translator, I’ll be more then happy to step and speak on their behalf.

Responsibility: like I have said in my previous blog post, the electronic system that is used to keep records of patients is designed in a way where you know who is responsible for what. When I am logged into my account and scheduled appointments for a specific person, not only is it already under my name but I keep little notes to myself within that appointment system to show what I have already done so I know what to tell my supervisor later on. Like I’ve previously said before, if it’s under my name and I screw up then I’m the one that will take full responsibility for it.

Achiever: since day one working at the office, I always made little goals for myself so I would always have something to do. When I first walk into the office in the morning and I have nothing to do, I always ask if there’s something anyone would need help with or if I could do a small task for them so they could do something else. When I do have a pile of work to do in front of me, I work at pace fast enough where I could get most of the job done but it is spread out enough so I don’t have two hours left of complete boredom for the rest of the day. Now that I know typical tasks that I have been “trained” for, it’s much easier for me to come in the office and tell myself what I need to do for that certain day. I remember on the second day of work my supervisor had told me that “I was one of the few interns” that he believed “were the best” he had so far. Along with that, the receptionist that I work with had told me that he rarely smiles while he’s at work but it was only recently that he did. I guess I must be doing something right :3

[sycep-jh]

Talk about how you keep yourself accountable especially when you are continuing to adapt to your work site.

Week #2

Recently my supervisor made an account for me on their electronic database of patients which means that I am able to see a patient’s demographics and whatever is accessible under their name. That also includes managing appointments and calling patients. The system is designed so that everyone in the office knows who is accountable for what… aka if I screw up, everyone will know pretty quickly. 

At first it was scary mainly because of the fact that if I screw up, then it’s all on me (aigoooo >.<). The system is how I hold myself accountable for the tasks at work since that is specifically what I am suppose to be doing. The main tip that my supervisor gave me was to write down everything that I did; it would range from whether I left a message, called a patient, or noting that a certain number is out of service. I did most of my noting on paper then would transfer my notes into the computer. 

In addition to that, accountability does not always have to relate to the work that needs to be done. There was this one day I was working and I had a series of constant cramps and stomach-aches. Even with the consistent and perseverance to just wanting to get the materials finished, I knew that I would not be able to continue without doing a sloppy job… which would lead to my fear of messing up on the job. Eventually I had to stop and start taking care of myself before the pain got any worse. The point I’m trying to make is that you also need to be accountable of yourself in terms of your own personal needs- whether it’s needing to take a break or taking care of your health.

Overall, the second week evidently gave more opportunities for me to expand my know and develop more practical skills that can be very beneficial and useful in the future. Although it’s only the second week, I still have that feeling of intimidation sometimes when I see the amount of phone calls I have to make to patients. I never was really comfortable with talking to strangers on the phone, but it is slowly something that I am getting use to since after all… I am responsible for doing so. I hope my pronunciation skills improve as well; I feel so embarrassed when I accidentally say a name wrong.

[sycep-jh]

Describe the challenges, obstacles, and rewards of beginning work as a new employee of your work-site. How important is adaptability in transitioning into your work-site?

Upon the first day walking in, I didn’t know what to expect. I only expected to do some simple tasks since I didn’t know much on the first day. Meeting my supervisor was lovely, he was very chill and informative. He introduced the staff and also gave me my first task: filing papers. The only challenge I found very consistent throughout my first week was the fact that I could not get access to the same material as the other staff did. Like if I need to look up contact information of a patient (because sometimes the phone number listed is incorrect), I wasn’t allowed to do that unless I was on someone’s account. My biggest horror and fear at the time was calling patients at the time. I didn’t know what to say or how to exactly answer specific questions about their conditions because frankly well… I honestly didn’t know. Therefore in all, the obstacles I had personally were the lack of resources and the fear of perceiving the wrong communication skills with patients. Luckily by the second day I understood the routine better. I started filing documents, imputing data, organizing cabinets, and calling patients since I became more comfortable with it after a couple of tries. I was working at a good, pretty decent fast pace. Sadly, it was a little but too fast since by the afternoon I had nothing to do. That’s when the rewards begin to start coming in. I had enough time to learn more. By then, my supervisor was able to make an account for me so I would have electronic access to patients’ information. The receptionist at the front desk also taught me how to fax papers (which was really cool :D), write down prescriptions for glasses and interacting with the patients. In my personal opinion, you need to learn to adapt to different worksites so that you know you can have different experiences. It helps in the transition from being a character at home to a character at work; having different styles of your own self. It also helps in being able to see what you can handle in terms of things like workload and stress. For example, Journey Home and Krystal Vision Eyecare have two different styles. At JH I would be sitting/laying on the floor with comfy blankets and at Krystal Vision I would be on my feet and sitting in chairs. Also JH had many discussion-based questions- at work now is a bunch of small talk between the staff. These two different worksites have two completely different personalities, but equally I have learned something from them for experience. Ergo, adaptation is important.

-p.s. What is with the heat this week .___.