Hi everyone,
First I would like to apologize for the little delay in posting this post but the past couple of days have been a little crazy. Moving places and a serious increase in workload.
I hope you all enjoyed my last Blog and Vlog. Last weekend we were visiting new parts of Boston and discovering part of the Freedom Trail, Pauls Revere House and were treated by the Office of Global Services to some delicious Mike's pastries. To catch up you cant watch the vlog
This past weekend was less relaxing if we may say as Josie, Lukas and myself moved to our new flat. You can see our our Boston moving experience here:
Not everything is about our week-ends and discovering more about the culture in Boston, It is also about meeting our goals and expectations as well as completing and finishing tasks on time.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on creating content and presentations for student wanting to go on Global Co-Op. In the past week I have been attending info session that global co-op coordinators present to their students to inform them the international co-op procedure, etc. This was a really big eye opener on the American culture and the way some student think about going internationally.
It is great to see that many students are wanting to experience work in different countries in order to find that exact thing they want to do. I am seeing it as something that I personally want to achieve; as it will, open door and opportunities in the future .
I also attended a workshop entitled 'Providing feedback on co-op students learning outcome'. This workshop addressed the essential elements of learning outcome statements and how Co-op faculty can facilitate students’ drafting and revision processes of their goals throughout their Co-op.
Those types of events are really relevant to me as I am still enrolled as a student in Glasgow. I felt that through those events I have been able to adjust and improve expectations I have with my position and role at GER, GEO and Career Services.
Covering the front desk over 15 hours a week, I have been learning how to manage my time really effectively and effectively learn to multi task.
What do we really expect on a Co-op (internship for my British readers)? On such an experience, we can expect positive outcomes on the way we learn as well as on our career. Connecting with our employers, can increase self-directed learning through the refinement of outcomes and having a team dynamic promoting and encouraging deeper exploration of self-assessment.
So far in my first 2 month, I have learned about the importance of work ethics, specifics required skills, industry awareness, self awareness, communication, social and soft skills as well as reflecting processes, problem solving and work environment skills.
All those skills just remind me of the importance of taking the rights risks. Taking the right risks to me means, focusing on specific goals, challenging myself the right way and frequently enough to meet performance criteria.
I believe I will meet all the goals I have set-up for the first quarter of my internship, and I believe that the help of my supervisor, allowed me to make them Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Any of you noticed? SMART goals.
Hope you enjoyed this blog and I will catch you up in a couple of week after celebrating my 2 months anniversary in Boston!
Thanks for reading!
See you soon
Alexandra
PS: Feel free to check my social media
