Workshop Reflection

I learned a great deal from attending the last two weeks' seminars. In the so-called "Career Development 101" workshop, a lot of emphasis was put on the vast availability of resources across campus. This workshop taught me that, looking into the future, lots of things may seem difficult, especially when it comes to job searching and job interviews. This is why University of Michigan offers special services for preparations of such. For instance, students have the chance to schedule mock interviews so they can get a sense of where they stand and where they need improving. Free business cards are moreover provided and available to anyone. From the seminar, I learned that even though each of these wonderful resources exist, I have to be the one to look for them, and not the other way around. Aside from career development, the workshop taught me the importance of networking. It is always advantageous especially for the future to form connections with the people I meet, whether they are faculty, graduate students, or even fellow undergraduates.
The second workshop, although different from the first, was equally helpful. It pinpointed the importance of scholarly literature in any field of study. It is crucial that I train to become a successful writer, even in technical fields such as science and engineering. One suggestion that was provided to us during this workshop was that reading articles always helps with our own writing. There exist here also various resources for those in need of assistance in their writing and/or editing. The Sweetland Writing Center, for one, gives students the opportunity to read through a drafted version with a professional and correct certain inconsistencies, locate common and repetitive errors, and much more. The workshop also taught me to always keep a positive attitude. Getting published is difficult, and one must therefore not always expect favorable results. Even when one particular journal rejects someone's article, for example, that person should, rather than giving up, attempt to submit it to a different journal, or if constructive criticism is provided, modify the article accordingly. Writing a publishable paper is indeed cumbersome, yet it is by no means impossible.