In Gateway to University Honors, I was taught what reflection is, and why it is important. In high school and prior education, I was never required to look at past experiences and actively think about the importance of the experience. The learning acquired through an experience is enhanced by your reflection. The way we learned about reflection was by writing a significant life event timeline, exploring our passions, and by writing a mock self-designed learning experience. I learned that my past experiences were much more valuable than I thought in regard to contributing to who I am today. I hope that using the reflection techniques we were taught I am able to get the most out of my learning experience at UC. I hope that reflection will help me be a better employee one day as well as growing me as a leader so that I can become more successful wherever I end up working. I hope the reflection process makes each event in my life more meaningful, and will help root what I learn deeper. The artifact is my passions write up, which explains what I’m passionate about and how I plan to explore my passions more deeply.
Passions and Interests: Reflecting on passions and interests using the What? Now What? So what? format.
What?
I have broad range of passions, which aren’t all related. My two biggest passions are people/animal and technology. My smaller passions are competition and cars. With my passion for people and animals I hope to volunteer at an animal shelter. My smaller passion for competition is connected to rugby, which results in another major passion of mine, rugby. My passion for technology is what helped me pick my major and it has given me an opportunity to intern at Kinetic Vision, which connects to my love for people because we had to work in teams to finish projects. My passion for rugby is fed by my passion for competing, but the rugby community is what keeps me involved in the sport.
So What?
My love for animals started at a young age since my family has always had pets. This passion is significant because it is such a big part of my life now, dogs show unconditional love 100% of the time. I am still amazed that an animal would give its own life to protect you. My love for technology started because of my curiosity. I wanted to know how everything worked. My dad would always help me take broken toys or computers apart and answered the questions I had. Since then I’ve always had an urge to figure out how everything works. Rugby developed my leadership abilities more than any other activity I’ve done.
Now What?
With my passion for animals I hope to one day run an animal shelter. I want to be able to rescue every abandoned dog in the country which is clearly impossible, but I want to do my part in helping animals and raising awareness. For my love of technology I’m pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer. I want to design and build the world’s future one invention at a time, this is also a very lofty goal but I know it is attainable if I work with the right people. My passion for working with people and my passion for rugby I plan to pursue rugby coaching. Rugby gave me so much in high school and I believe it’s my turn to give back. I think rugby is the greatest sport in the world, and I want every school to have rugby as a sport for students.
College: College of Engineering and Applied Science
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Title of Project: Kinetic Vision Engineering Internship
Thematic Area (choose only one): Leadership
Expected Project Start – End Date: May 2015 – August 2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project. WHAT?
I’m interested in engineering and what it takes to work in that field. I’m going to pay attention to the way the people who work above me communicate work, so that when I’m an engineer one day I can be a successful business leader.
WHY?
The business world is extremely competitive, so the small things that make a fantastic leader make a huge difference when it comes to promotions etc.
HOW?
I will read The Prince by Machiavelli and I will read other books concerning leadership, and continuously paying attention to the ways different people lead the different projects I work on:
oKeeping track of higher up employees ways of leading
oReflecting on styles of leadership that I think are effective/ineffective
TIME?
My time will consist of work and reflection. I will be working between 40 and 50 hours a week and reflecting for 2 hours a week; the following is a breakdown of my time:
40-50 hours per week
160-200 hours per Month
Months of May/June/July/August
Total hours = 640 – 800 hours
Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above) Possesses knowledge of various leadership theories and identifies with the characteristics of leadership.
To explore this outcome I will research successful leaders in the business world, and examine the ways they lead. I will classify their type of leadership, then I will evaluate the effectiveness of each form of leadership. I will also explore this outcome by reading various texts concerning leadership. I will keep track of the various leadership strategies I encounter while I’m interning and explain how each one was used.
Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers.
I will explore this outcome by looking at the different resources used to communicate, especially during meetings, training sessions, and business reports.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate) A.This project relates to my development in many ways such as:
This project will add to my academic, future, and personal goals. My academic goals are developed through the learning I uncover throughout my internship. Many programs used at Kinetic Vision are used at other companies and even classes at UC which will add to my academic success. My future goals and personal goals are connected and they are reached because the internship gives me the opportunity of future employment which will help me become successful and able to support a family.
B.Theories and Readings I plan to explore in my project:
I will read books on how to be a better worker and leader. I will read Machiavelli’s The Prince because it contains fundamentals about leadership. Other books on leadership I will read are The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell and Steven R. Covey. To become a better worker and employee I will read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
The initiative and independence go hand in hand since I will be the youngest employee, but I will be given the responsibility of COOP employees. I will be responsible for certain projects that I will have to lead to ensure they are done correctly by the deadline.
5. Reflection During the internship I will record the different ways I’m lead and the ways I led, then I will come up with leadership theories in the corporate world. The data will then be recorded in a spreadsheet and graphed, which will show the frequency of certain leadership styles and their effectiveness. However, the content of my work will remain out of the journals because it is confidential information.
6. Dissemination At the end of this project I will write an essay concerning leadership, and the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different scenarios. To write my essay I will read additional books and research online about the forms of effective leadership in a corporate setting. The essay will be posted to my Learning Portfolio and I will publish a copy for the honors lounge.
7. Project Advisor (list the person’s name, title, and contact information) Jim Topich Director of Engineering and Design [email protected]
8. Budget
The budget is not applicable to this project because I'm being paid during my internship.