What, So What?, Now What?

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the UROP community service event as I had a prior volunteering commitment on that Sunday. I'm still going to attempt answering the same questions, just tailored to my separate experience, so tighten your seat belt, folks. 

I volunteer at the hospital's cardiovascular center intensive care unit at the front desk. For the most part, I sit there and try to look helpful. When I'm not doing that I am helping to maintain a friendly and peaceful atmosphere in the waiting room or assisting visitors in finding patients' rooms. Overall the position is not too intense but rewarding because many of the visitors are facing distressful situations and I am doing what I can to make life a little bit easier for them. 

In all honesty, my shift last Sunday was no different from any other shift. That being said, there wasn't much to observe. Certainly, the work was a little less engaging compared to teamwork exercises and building bikes. Nonetheless, there were still things to be observed. Many of the patients' families spend countless hours in the unit, staying longs nights and any down time from work waiting for their loved ones to recover. Though the dark circles under their eyes protest, they stay awake and alert, waiting. It is heartwarming to see such love and dedication, not just exclusively within their own families, but between the families as well. On Sunday three families shared a late lunch. It wasn't a lively event, it wasn't a feast. I don't even remember what they ate: something like pizza or sandwiches or pizza sandwiches. It doesn't matter. They were just together, taking a short break from the constant worry and anxiety over their family just beyond the doors. They comforted each other. To my knowledge, they didn't know each other before that day. They were complete strangers tied together by a waiting room and that was enough for them to enjoy a meal together. It was simple and probably not something important enough to be noticed, but regardless, I noticed it and found myself glad that they had each other's company.

Being blunt (like always), I didn't learn anything new. I've been volunteering in the CVC for half a year now and each Sunday is more or less the same. I work by myself so I can't really apply any team work experience that I have gained from this volunteering. However, I do recognize the importance of working in a group, especially my lab. I have found that communication is key. There's not much else that I can say about that. I imagine that the major lesson of the bike building was that groups were most successful if they interacted and operated in a very open, positive manner, amirite? Yeah, so this is key in a lab because when Scientist A forgets to/refuses to tell Scientist B that he put chemical X on the bench and Scientist B forgets to/refuses to tell Scientist A that she put chemical Y on the bench (and it just so happens that chemical X and chemical Y explosively react) then they end up with a very unhappy PI and detrimental effects to the progression of scientific knowledge and, really, no one wants that. Things go better when people talk to each other and that is that. 

So sorry that this post was basically about nothing. I swear it would have been more relevant if I had been able to attend the event. Here's a picture of a happy beluga whale to end on a positive note. 


XOXO,
Alex