For two years at Longwood, I worked in the microbiology lab in the biology department and prepared numerous lab materials each week. Since this was a job for me, I considered it a professional setting and I learned a variety of skills that I will be using as I continue with my career in biology. Every week I had to prepare a certain amount of plates and tubes with inoculations according to a lab prep plan created by my advisor. I learned a variety of skills such as time management, organization, attention to detail, and problem solving, which I can take with me after I graduate.
In multiple semesters for plass projects, I presented my work during Longwood Research Day. Whether this was a poster or an oral presentation, I learned how to effectively communicate my scientific findings to a wide variety of audiences. One of my poster presentations was for my GEOG 275 class. Here, I feel like I learned a lot about how to explain a concept like GIS that most are unfamiliar with to a non scientific group.
The most professional setting I have performed in was for the Virginia Academy of Science in 2022. I had a poster presentation and learned a lot about how to present advanced scientific information to other scientists. I also learned a lot about viewing other people’s presentations and asking relevant and thoughtful questions to engage. This was a three hour poster session so I was able to learn a lot about how to be professional and engage for an extended period of time, which I feel is an important skill going forward.