Empathy

I believe empathy is a skill that is vital when working in a profession that requires you to help others. For me, recognizing human emotions can help me understand what a person is going through in their life, which can be used to navigate the way I talk to them and present myself. I was volunteering at my local Hospital in the General Rehabilitation unit, where I aided physiotherapists and rehabilitation assistants in their work to rehabilitate patients with injuries and prevent further injury. Empathy becomes necessary in this field due to the injuries the patients have suffered, which have altered the way they live their lives; a lot of patients fear that they will not be able to go back to their normal lives. I find that I am competent at empathizing with the patient’s different struggles by recognizing their emotions and using the best method to communicate them from giving them. This ranges from providing them words of encouragement when they are conducting rehabilitation exercises with the physio, sitting down and listening to what they are going through or reflecting on their past. I find this helps them feel more at ease in this new unfamiliar environment, which can be scary for many. 

Artifact: Volunteer Vest.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a skill which seems mandatory for pursuing a higher level of education and having success in a career. Being proficient in critical thinking has helped me: understand instructions, perceive what is fact and misinformation, and analyze a problem, then act on a decision. In today’s society, where misinformation seems like it cannot be avoided, I am able to use my critical thinking skills to determine whether the information that is presented to me is fact or fiction. I often utilize the UFV library database and Google Scholar to see published articles and journals in findings, which helps me expand upon my critical thinking skills. Working at a pharmacy has enhanced my critical thinking skills as it is a demanding setting, for example, during peak hours there could be numerous patients waiting for their prescriptions, asking questions and having insurance issues. It is up to me to recognize what needs my immediate attention and how I should execute my following tasks. The knowledge I gained from KIN481 was invaluable to how I operate at the pharmacy, as I use the Biomedical Principles, which are autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice, to guide my problem-solving.

Artifact: Experience.

Cooperation

My journey at the University of the Fraser Valley has granted me a lot of experience in working with others on a group project for classes, which has helped me develop my cooperation skills with others. Prior to these experiences, I felt that I was severely lacking in communication skills since I graduated at the height of the pandemic resulting in being isolated from my peers and working primarily by myself. I am pursuing a degree in Kinesiology, which focuses heavily on working with others, especially for course final projects. I am pleased to say that the many groups I have been in have been successful from a grade and cooperation standpoint. These group projects have helped me develop my cooperation skills and understand the vital components to help a group succeed with regular communication, shared goals, passion, feedback and interdependence. My experience at UFV has shown how important these components are to have success in a group setting, which it has for me since many of the groups I have been in have been very successful from me keeping constant communication with the members, assigning course work fairly and selecting a topic we are all passionate about. I have utilized cooperation in many classes, ranging from a Company Analysis on the Molson-Coors Company for BUS100 to Testing the Effect of Caffeine on Maximal Strength Output for KIN270. These projects have resulted in great marks due to the cooperation within the respective group. 

Artifact: Assignment and Grade.

Flexibility/Adaptability

As a university student who volunteers and works it is an important skill to be flexible by adapting to changing and unfamiliar situations with little impeding my performance. To be honest, this is most likely the weakest out of my four selected skills but that is just a sign to improve on my skills and figure out ways to do so. I was able to adapt from an in-person learning setting to an online learning setting in March of 2020 when I was in high school, I performed well in both settings and displayed to me that I could be adaptable to an extreme change. It was not until late 2021 that I faced another case of extreme adversity in which I transitioned from a year at UFV online to being in person on campus, this is where I learned that the degree I was pursuing was something I was not passionate about which was a Bachelors in Science majoring in chemistry, plus the floods which occurred in the Fraser Valley region made it difficult for me to communicate with my professors and keep up with the online activities due to losing my Wi-Fi connection. Eventually in December 2021 after discussing my options with my family members, professors and peers I decided to pivot degrees to a Bachelor in Kinesiology. This transition was amazing for me as I am very passionate about the topics in Kinesiology. Forwarding to the present I am able to balance my school work, volunteering, work, exercise and social balance pretty well, I can attribute this to learning from past experiences and being resilient when it comes to stressful and uncomfortable situations.

Artifact: Organic Chemistry Set and Kinesiology Tools, signifying my degree change.