Two specific experiences in the past that have had the most impact on my academic and professional goals are being a residential advisor and a student researcher for UHP Discover. I have been as residential advisor for one year now at the UC residence hall named Usquare. This role has helped me obtain leadership skills such as being confident, inclusive, and responsible. The RA role includes task such as being on call, having Bearcat chats with residents, and holding community engagement activities. Through these task that I’ve had to perform, I have gotten out of my comfort zone and I am more outspoken which has helped me with my professional goals. I desire to be a dentist in the future and a good quality to have is to be confident in what you are saying to patients. The RA role also hold a lot of responsibility, especially when being on call because it is our duty to bring safety within the halls. Thus, I’ve been staying on top of what needs to get done in a timely manner. In any professional job, efficiency and responsibility are key factors within an individual. Therefore being an RA has kept me from procrastinating and made me perform my best. This experience of being an RA has also made an impact on my academic goals because it has allowed me to stay focus on my work and achieve the grades I desired for junior. During Bearcat chats I would talks to residents about great ways to study, especially during Covid times. I took some of my own advice and it really worked for me and I did not fall behind with online classes. Overall, the RA role challenged me to balance the duties of this role with classes in a good way. I was determined to want to do well and achieve my goals.
The experience of being a student researcher under UHP Discover made a huge impact on my professional goals. I’ve been wanting to research for a while but I was never interested in researching in a lab setting. UHP Discover was a perfect opportunity for me to gain an insight of what research withholds without having to go into the lab. I was working remotely and the topic pertained to disabilities in Great Britain and America and the Camphill movement. Doing research has been a professional goal for me so I could have that experience to help me be a more rounded individual. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and do research because I was interested in but not as confident in performing well in it. By taking part in UHP Discover I enhanced my communication skills with my mentor and took constructive criticism on how I could do better which both allowed me to reach my academic goals as well. I used my communication skills I obtained and met with my professors junior year to ask questions and go over my exams, so I knew what I could improve on for next time. This position helped me professionally because it was a new experience and new environment I was put in which is a good learning experience to have for any future job.
Academic goals I have for next year are to continue to succeed in all of my classes and as well as manage my time with studying for the DAT for dental school. My goals professionally are to become a dentist and to get there I need to start planning and collecting important pieces for my application.