EMILY HOOK
Academic Development
My time and experiences at IUPUI have helped me develop and strengthen a variety of skills that will continue to help me in the future. In this section, I will explain how I developed as a communicator, problem solver, innovator, and community contributor.
Communicator
There are many aspects to being a good communicator that goes far beyond just the way you speak. You must be able to convey the message you are trying to get across in a way that allows your audience to understand exactly what you are trying to say. This involves taking into consideration who your audience is, what they may already think or believe, and finding the best language to use when addressing them. As people, communication is a huge part of our everyday lives and you must approach communicating with someone like a boss in a different way than one of your good friends. Although being able to speak well may seem like the only important aspect of good communication you must also be good at non-verbal and written communication as well as be a skilled listener. Being a good listener is also more than just hearing the words people say to you, you have to actively listen and engage with what they are saying.
I learned how to be a better communicator when taking my English courses. In the first course, Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I, we had to write a variety of different essays that each served a different purpose. I learned how to change the tone and language of my writing based on whether I was writing a personal narrative or a persuasive essay. As a science major, I had become used to writing scientifically. In this type of writing, you do not want to show your thoughts or feelings about the topic, you are just stating the facts. I enjoyed having the opportunity to write about my personal experiences or argue my opinion. My second English course was Professional Writing Skills. In this class, we wrote a variety of pieces including emails to your “boss”, advertisements, an employee handbook, and a recommendation report. By creating so many different types of documents, I learned the importance of considering your audience and how to choose the appropriate style and content to effectively express your message. One of the most challenging aspects of this course was to write concisely and only include necessary information. I tend to write with a lot of details that do not need to be included, so I initially struggled to produce short documents that were straight to the point. I think this skill will be very beneficial in my future career because when corresponding with someone it is much more time efficient to write in this way.
Problem Solver
I believe most of my lab courses really helped me strengthen my problem-solving skills. When conducting experiments, there are many unexpected problems you may face, and you must determine why these occurred. For example, in a chemistry lab, you may make the wrong product or make none at all. You have to use your knowledge of the reaction and the chemicals used to find out what might have gone wrong. Was there a mistake in your calculations so you didn’t add enough reagent for the reaction to go to completion or was the hot plate set too high with low boiling chemicals and they evaporated? Although facing these issues is frustrating in real-time, they do force you to think critically and use what you have learned to solve the problem.
When I took my Professional Writing Skills class we had a large project that was very valuable to building problem-solving skills. We were split into teams and had to work with a local business or organization to identify and offer solutions to a problem they were facing. We were tasked with conducting primary and secondary research on the issue so we could make a recommendation report to be sent to the business. We worked with the Fathers and Families Center (FFC) which was facing issues with low recruitment. First, we conducted an interview with their CEO to learn more about the organization itself and its current recruitment strategies. After learning that their only advertisements were on the radio or city buses, we decided to focus on finding more effective ways for them to advertise. Individually, we found credible sources discussing various marketing and advertising strategies. From these sources, it was clear that social media could be an inexpensive, powerful marketing tool. Next, we created a survey that would be distributed to current and previous members of the FFC. The survey gave us vital information on how these individuals were recruited, the most popular programs offered, and their social media use. We discovered that a great majority of the individuals had learned about the FFC from other members. This led to us recommending that the FFC discontinues their bus and radio advertisements, as they were costly but not effective. We used the social media data to determine the most used platforms and recommended that the FFC begins marketing on these websites. Finally, we recommended heavily marketing their employment training programs, as these were found to be what the majority of the surveyed individuals had been a part of. This project helped me gain many valuable skills, especially problem-solving. I really enjoyed getting to be a part of something that could potentially help a local organization. Although many of my courses have helped me become a problem solver, having this experience solving a real-world issue has definitely been the most valuable to me.
Innovator
I believe that having to adjust from high school to college life helped me develop skills that strengthened my innovation. Living on my own for the first time taught me to be self-reliant. I no longer had a parent who would make sure I was doing my homework, keeping my room clean, or eating good meals. The much more difficult courses also made me learn time management and organizational skills so I could finish all the work I needed to do. The challenging coursework also made me more resilient. In high school, the work had always come easy to me, I didn’t spend much time studying but always received high grades. This was not the case in college. I remember taking a chemistry mini-exam a few weeks into school and receiving a C. This was a big wake-up call, but instead of letting it discourage me, I studied harder for my next exam.
During my second semester, when I had finally become more comfortable with the new life I was living, there was another curveball- Covid-19. Being forced to take all of my classes online made me more adaptive. It was hard for me to pay attention when watching lecture videos or attending online lectures, so I had to be more responsible for making sure I was learning the material. I developed more self-motivation, to keep me on top of my work, even when we no longer met for classes in some of my courses.
I believe the skills I learned during my time at IUPUI will help me to approach new situations in my future in an innovative way. I learned that although something may seem impossible at first, there is always a way for you to overcome the challenge. I am confident that these skills will allow me to face any challenge and find a solution to solve them.
Community Contributor
Many of my experiences contributing to my community come from being a part of the Hall Council for University Tower when I was a freshman. The Hall Council is made up of a group of elected students who meet weekly to discuss any issues in the dorm and plan community-building events. I served as the secretary, so I was responsible for taking meeting minutes and attendance at meetings and events. One of the biggest complaints those living in University Tower had was about the food in Tower Dining. Although we could not do much about this, we met with a few people from Chartwells, the company that provides food service on campus and brought to their attention the complaints we had received. Luckily, this was one of the few problems we had to face, so we spent much of our time planning events for our dorm. As a freshman dorm, our main goal when planning these events was for those who attend to be able to get to know each other. Our first event, and one of my favorites, was our Postcard Party. We bought blank cards, envelopes, stamps, and craft supplies to allow people to create a card to send home, or to whoever they would like. We also had some board and video games set up so that once people finished their cards they had another chance to meet and interact with others. This was early in the year, as we were all adjusting to living away from home, and had a great turnout. The week before finals we put on a stress-relieving event, which was another one of my favorites. We had a DIY stress ball activity, cookie decorating, a movie playing, and even a quiet area for studying. I really enjoyed my time in Hall Council and was very upset it was cut short by COVID. I was struggling being away from my family during this time, so I loved being able to plan events to encourage people to get to know each other and hopefully help those who were feeling the same as me.
When I become an optometrist, I want to give back to the community. At my job, we participate in a program that offers children in need a free eye exam and pair of glasses. I would love to be involved with a program like this in the future. My job has opened my eyes to how truly expensive it can be to get annual eye exams and new glasses. I have been lucky enough to have been covered by vision insurance my entire life, but I was unaware that this is not necessarily the norm. I was shocked to find out that eye exams are not covered by the vast majority of medical insurance plans and vision insurance is something you have to pay for additionally. Being able to see clearly is critical to having a good quality of life, and I really want to help ensure that everyone who needs corrective lenses is able to access them.