Allowing Vulnerability in STEM

 

"There is only one variable that separates the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who really struggle for it. It's the people who believe they're worthy of loving and belonging." (Ted Talk, Brene Brown). 

I find it extremely hard expressing my emotions and vulnerability with my peers. Im always on a constant battle of shaming myself for not being where I need to be at this point in my life. Or shaming myself for failing a class. Its interesting to learn more of Brown's research between someone who isn't so vulnerable vs someone who is ok with expressing vulnerability. Finding out those who are more compassionate with themselves and accept themselves for their imperfection, tend to have a higher chance of connection with themselves. 

One of the things I have learned throughout my STEM journey is each career path you may think is meant for you, may not be. And that is ok. My biggest struggle is pretending to be in love with something that may not be what I'm meant for. The STEM program encourages one to explore different areas to seek what may be meant for you. Doing this allows to accept the imperfections of yourself that you may not have had the courage to do alone. Hearing other student's experiences where sometimes you may have the same emotions, gives you a big relief because you know you aren't the only one going through this. 

What mindset am I?

I feel like I have more of a growth mindset than fixed. The reason I say that I have a growth mindset is that I tend to learn as I go. Last semester was the first semester I had not passed two classes. Instead of beating myself up for not passing because I did have a lot on my plate, I ended up learning from failing by trying again and retaking the courses. Realizing I can do anything that I want despite any obstacles that may come my way. I feel like my educational journey has been a huge influence in that sense towards my growth mindset. I feel that I have extremely benefited by having a growth mindset since I have allowed myself to accept criticism, taking failure with a grain of salt and continuing to push forward. 

College Life to Career

 Prompt:  Translating my college experience into employer-desired experiences – pick 3 examples

There are many skills that I have acquired since the beginning of my college experience that has made significant contribution to my employment. Problem-solving, communication, and organization has been the traits that has been the ones at use the most. I have seen these traits bring so much reward into my college/work experience. 

Post Graduation Goals

Hello Everyone, 

I am currently completing my Bachelor's of Science in Applied Computing and minor in Business Data Analytics. After I graduate, I plan to use my degree to pursue positions as a Data Analyst whether that be in Banking, Government, or any other Businesses. You may be wondering what made me find interest in that field? Mid-way through my college experience, I got a position as a Senior Account Specialist at Discover Bank and found myself loving to work with numbers, computers, being detail oriented, and problem-solving. I started to look more into growing with the company and reflecting on the research I have gained throughout the stem program/internships, coming to the realization I have been learning to use excel spreadsheets and qualitative analysis. It instantly clicked with me that I really enjoyed entering in data and create visual graphs for decision making/results and went "well I should probably start switching my major to something that aligns with my interest!" So that is what I plan to use my degree in. I still find high interest in collecting data in water quality so maybe working in Department of Environmental Health Quality is something i'm quite interested in! Who knows!

Reflecting on My Online Presence

 Hello Everyone! 

Lately I have been thinking about my online presence and how I want to be portrayed to others online. Most of the apps that I am currently using are Instagram for social connections with colleagues, friends, and family, but I have thought about emphasizing more on my profile my career interests and research to portray to others of what I am currently working on. 

On the other hand I do feel like I am semi-satisfied with my Link'd In Profile and the networking I have on it. I have connected with so many student's in STEM, professors that I have done research with, and my coworkers I currently have. A lot of my coworkers and friend's have been impressed with the experience that I have with research and work that I have had in the past. 

I do however have a dissatisfaction with how much time I have on social media and feel like it has been impacting my mental health in a negative way. So currently I haven't been paying much time on their to limit my distractions and screen time. 

Welcome Back to Fall 21' :-)

 Hello STEM/TRAIN Scholars, 

For many that are new/returning back to the STEM/TRAIN program this semester, welcome! It feels so good to finally be back and seeing many of you in person again! I feel like my first year at ASU was such an odd experience as we all spent the past year through Zoom meetings and stuck at home. While we are still in the mix of a pandemic, I hope many of you have been staying healthy and well!

This will be my third semester in the STEM/TRAIN program! WOAH... I am actually in disbelief with how time has flown by since I first joined the program back at Phoenix College. It's almost like a bittersweet feeling as my fourth semester approaches but I am excited for the new journey that awaits me. And for many of you that are new, this program will teach you a lot about research, networking, what to expect with your future studies, job hunts, etc! oh and not to forget to mention, the amazing mentors! I spent my first two years at Phoenix College doing a whole lot of Research in Microplastics, working in labs with Dr. Beth Polidoro, collecting/creating data analysis on what I have gathered, to presenting at many different conferences. Doing all of that made me aware of the passion I really have with data! I am now pursuing my Major in Applied Computing with a Minor in Business Data Analytics. I am hoping to go into the Data Analyst Field and who knows, maybe I will want to go towards my Master's in Data Science. 

One of the many questions for our first blog post is what is my current online presence? That's a really great and simple question that requires to sit down and reflect, cause truly what is my online presence? Other than having an Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to socialize with friends and family... it might not be so appealing for a corporation when they ask to look into that. It truly is filled with memes or important political posts that advocate for Global Justice. In other words I do have an LinkedIn where I have even some of my ASU STEM colleagues on and it is super exciting to see them grow and expand their professionalism and skills! 

I hope to hear all from you and the research you guys will be doing throughout the STEM/TRAIN program! 

Best, 

Francisco 

Last Blog Post for the Semester!

1. What are your professional goals, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years into the future? What will accomplishing these goals let you do? How will accomplishing these goals impact those around you and what will it make possible for those in your community? 

Wow! Can you believe we are close to ending the 2020-2021 academic year?! Crazy how fast time has flown! I hope everyone had a good year so far. I know many challenges have came across each and every one of you but it's always good to stay optimistic about our futures while we can. This year I've had a lot of growth within my professional work + school where I finally can see myself doing something that I like. I have four more semesters left till I graduate from ASU with my Bachelor's in Applied Computing. So my hopes in the two years is to have a job as a data analyst whether that be in a government job or for a tech company. 

2. What are societal challenges that matter to you that you think it's important to deal with now? What do you think are the challenges that will matter 10 years in the future, and 20 years in the future? How do you think these challenges will be addressed, and what will need to happen to make sure that they are?

I think some of the societal challenges that matter to me the most is Racial Injustice, Equality and Climate justice. I feel like Racial Injustice is something that will always matter in the future as we continue to unravel lots of work in fighting for equality whether that be wages, opportunities, to discrimination across many different degrees. A lot of the challenges that we are facing today comes from social movements and bring up awareness of this matter just like the George Floyd incident back in June of 2020. Till now we are finally seeing Derek Chauvin finally being charged all three counts, something we highly doubted but finally saw happen! 

3. What is something that makes you optimistic about the future, and why? This could be something big and impersonal (improving price of Li-ion batteries) or something small and personal (a new pet). Please describe how it feels to focus on this thing that makes you optimistic, and discuss whether you think it is a good idea to be intentional about being optimistic.  

I'm very optimistic to having a financially stable future and a place where I want to be. It feels very good to know how far I have came with school and knowing how close I am to finishing. Feelings of excitement and knowing all of this hard work is paying off. But for now it's good to focus on my small goal like maintaining passing grades, having my work being turned in on time, and continuing to create relationships with my peers!