Hudson's December Week 3 Reflection
Reflecting on your job performance, what factors (e.g., environment, intrinsic motivation) contribute to your productivity? Please briefly explain how so.
The two main factors that affect my productivity during my shift are how I variate my workplace environment and how positive my mood is when transitioning from school to my home workspace. Because my tasks can often get monotonous (since it mainly orients around data entry), it’s very helpful for me to change my surroundings when I work to add a feel of dynamism throughout my shift to energize myself; from changing the lighting of my room to switching the Spotify music playlist I play in the background. How I’m feeling when exiting the school building also impacts my performance, since I tend to feel more energetic when my day at school is more exciting and relaxed instead of stressful.
Interviewees often ask the interviewer about the company culture during interviews. Reflecting on your placement experience at U+, how would you describe the U+ company culture?
I’d describe the U+ team culture as relaxing and friendly. I recall my first few days at placement getting slightly anxious over forcing myself to sound as professional as possible, since I wanted to ensure I come off as someone who’s committed. However, as I interacted more with my supervisors and fellow co-op students, I realized that mainly everyone at U+ Education comes off as friendly and non-judgmental. Professionalism was definitely still encouraged of me to continue out of respect and appropriate communication. However, I found that I could take it easy on myself when I conversed with others since I found the overall team culture very friendly and welcoming.
What are two things you are grateful for that is related to your placement? (E.g., an opportunity to work on a certain project, making new friends)
Firstly, I’m grateful for getting to work on the Nationwide Virtual Volunteering Campaign Setup as a long-term project because it gave me a significant opportunity to heighten my skills within outreach. From developing contact lists of Canadian mayors to finding booking & rental space details of many event venues across Canada, I was able to work through intensive research as I developed my ability to find information and opportunities (with event venues). Secondly, I’m grateful that my placement provided me strong insight on what it’s like to work remotely. From using Slack & Google Calendar a lot to having lots of data-entry oriented tasks, I gained a lot of insight on computer-based work, which will be very helpful in determining what kind of job I’d like in the future!
Our sister organization YRES has a mascot called Nova, a big horned sheep. There are no other details about her other than she always wears a red kerchief and that she is always ready for an adventure. What do you suppose is the backstory of Nova?
Since YRES and U+ Education share similar aims of running educational camps, I’d suppose Nova’s backstory would be a sheep that has adventured through mountains to explore the many subjects of languages and STEAM! Continuously, I’d assume the sheep holds interests in hiking to climb up tall terrains (including mountains) and now wants to reach the “peak” of learning languages and STEAM with everyone!
