To me, this course is a surprising treasure because it leads me to forward the first step into the business society. I was a brand-new starter with pure textbook pieces of knowledge in mind, and now I have become asking for myself to reach a professional standard instead of a homework standard. I was able to change my way of thinking and my way of working with a team, and to no small extent, change my attitudes towards life.
Concepts learned in this course changed my way of thinking about solutions. In the past, I always believe that it should be challenging to think of solving a problem, but instead, it is relatively easy to think about the solutions. The most challenging part occurs in identifying the problem. When we tried to think of a project plan for our intended clients, we found everything obscure and unclear. Although we know our goal, we take nearly half of the time identifying the direction. Throughout this process, we received numerous assistance from Professor Vishal and Nicole. Along with continuous communications with our clients, we finally set up a clear path to reach our destination. With enhanced insights, our efficiency of teamwork got improved accordingly.
Another change comes from the way of working with a team. As I had experienced from freshman year to junior year, most teamwork is achieved by putting up work together. Most course assignments have detailed descriptions and outlines, along with the instructor’s clear expectations, so the difficulty of reaching the benchmark is relatively low. However, when facing up with clients, they might not have a clear standard of what we have to achieve since they wish to solve it as soon as possible. Guidelines and project plans have to be stipulated by ourselves, and different from a course assignment, they should be above the professional business benchmark. Therefore, communications within the team are crucial throughout the project. Initially, we assigned different roles to each team member, while as our progress proceeds, the team role is changing. With continuous communications, we better understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we allocate team assignments accordingly. Our team leader also assigns time for entertainment after each milestone has been reached, and our distance among each other got shortened, which makes us more comfortable when completing projects.
This project experience enables me to accumulate more skills and understandings towards my thinking and ways of teamwork and leads to my positive attitudes towards my own life. I was always diffident about myself because I do not regard myself as a competitive student who can step out confidently towards society. After working with clients and teams, I have gained many useful tips when establishing business networks. My career goal got shaped well when I was listening to different speakers sharing their experiences, and with that in mind, I believe I can successfully walk towards my future career goal.
I thoroughly appreciated all the assistance that I received when I tried to accomplish the goal with my team, and I am also grateful for the course itself. This comprehensive practicum helps me better understand the business world and establish my confidence in my personal life. The change is enormous, and also in the right direction, reaching my dream.