NCUIRE Event 4/20/23

 Hello everyone! In hope you week is going well.

I wished I was able to stay at the NCUIRE research symposium but I had a doctor appointment later. I was not able to network or talk to mentors. But I did get to see some of the presentations and it was so cool. I was really intrigued their research. 

I dislike how awkward networking can be, I feel like after talking it's like "what's next?". Do I have to continually talking to them? If I had any questions for the person I want to network with, I would forget it before asking them. 

I think some good strategies for networking is to first think of the reason you are wishing to network and find a person who would fulfill your goals. Also write down all the questions you have and ask the person. Also don't forget to advertise yourself if it's a position you're trying to aim for.

Cultural Intelligence

Dr. Renee Bhatti-Klug gave a presentation on cultural intelligence and the strategies taken to be more inclusive.

My understanding of cultural intelligence is the knowledge and the actions taken to understand people from other cultures. My understanding of cultural responsiveness is the actions we do in response to being inclusive for other cultures.
In my future professional and personal life, I would incorporate asking people how can I accommodate them to be more inclusive. 

Professional Identity

    Ms. Dakota Webber from ASU’s Career and Professional Development Services presented to us on making a good LinkedIn profile and networking. My understanding of a professional identity is how you appear in a professional setting online and in person. 
    The professional identity needed to successfully pursue a career in STEM is networking and an updated profile. I saw the importance of networking but never really actually tried to network. I was always shy and just didn't know what I was doing. Now that I learned LinkedIn makes networking easier, I'll definitely use it more often. Some ways that networking is made easier is that you could request to follow people in your fields of interest and even people in organizations that interest you as well. It never hurts to shoot them a message if you want information or opportunities.

TRAIN Mixer 2023

    I did come late to the train mixer due to traffic when I took the shuttle to the West campus. So I did not get the pleasure of talking to any of the new TRAIN transfer students.

    But I can offer helpful tips on relieving anxieties about transferring. I would say to embrace the change. It would be helpful to talk to advisors and get a tour of the campus. Joining clubs to meet people is a very good idea to not feel alone on campus. In the area of stress and anxiety, getting a support system is very important. There were a lot of times in my academic career where I wanted to give up and drop out from school but it important to remind yourself why you are here to keep going forward.

About Me 2023

    Hello! My name is Burabari Akeeh. I am a currently a senior at Arizona State University. I am a Biology major.

    This semester is my last semester. This semester, other besides this STEM Success class, I am taking a internship class and a class about the Mexican Foods in the Southwest. I am excited I already got assigned to ASU's Wellness Center to help make wellness resources available for the ASU community. The class on Mexican food in the Southwest is a B sesion class, but I am very interested on how the class will be conducted and learn more about the cuisine.

My goals this semester is to finish strong and be more active in the on campus clubs I have signed up for but never got to attend. Another goal of mine this semester is to rest and take it easy since obtaining this degree has very stressful.

Database Project Reflections 12.2.22

Describe your understanding of relational databases versus spreadsheet

Spreadsheets have raw data that are categorized. Spreadsheets can be used to do calculations with the data. Relational databases can connect the data from spreadsheets and show the relationships between specific pieces of the data. 

Provide an overview of the database class project
The database project was to create a database from data found on the corgis site. After picking a topic that you were interested in (I picked broadway), we used DB Browser for SQLite to make the database. We arranged the data in an ER diagram and used the ER Diagram to organize the data into csv files. We created tables and queries with commands. Then the csv files were put back into the database to fill in the tables.      

What did you learn about databases through the application of the concepts on the project? 

I learned that organization really matter. I put my table in the csv in the wrong order and it did not match up to the order in database table. Also that consistency matters. You can mess up the data is you change the name of a category or even spell it wrong.

Has learning about databases influenced your future plans? 

I am not sure if I can say it has. It was interesting to learn but in my whole degree, I have never learned how to create a database until this class. I think the lesson we had on spreadsheets were more beneficial to me and my future path. But now I can say I can make a database and can add that to my skill sets.

Reflections 4.22.22

    I plan to be able to continue caring for my physical and mental health. In recent years my health over has declined and I really learned to treasure my health. I plan to continue my journey to overcome my digestive issues, get fit, learn to deal with stress better, and burnout. 
    My career goals has stayed the same since I started college. But sometimes I do feel regret not pursuing an art degree because of this workload of being a Biology major. I think that is just self doubt due to being so close to graduating.
    The advice I have to give to my peers in STEM is let it go. If the assignment or task can still be done tomorrow, just go to sleep. It's good to find a trusted person to get emotional support from but let that person be a licensed therapist, the help is way better. Also get a posture brace to perfect posture when sitting and working on your laptop. Also find a hobby or anything that makes you happy and indulge yourself in it. Lately I have been getting into nail art to satisfy my creativity needs and listening to music I loved back when I was in junior high to high school.

Persistence in STEM 3.25.22

     After reading the book Daring Greatly by Dr. Brene Brown, the topic that just stuck to me was scarcity and never enough. I am always saying I don't have enough time to: sleep, workout, relax, study, and practice selfcare. The only thing I would get out of saying these would be me just staring at a wall when I finally get some time to rest.

    I am very hard on myself because of this lack of time and I find it hard to own up to my vulnerabilities. I do compare myself to others a lot especially when it comes to graduating. Many of my peers from highschool had already got their bachelors. I even started to doubt myself and think I wasn't smart enough or hard working enough. I know I'm still young and I am only slower than them by 1 year; it's a struggle to fight off the feminine urge to have your whole life put together by the time you're 25.  I hate being vulnerable with a passion because even sharing a bit of my emotions is embarrassing. Even writing this post was too much for me. I am working on this though and the book was a great addition to my growth.

    Her ideas are able to be applied to persistence in STEM by understanding people are feeling the same way you do. That it is important to own your vulnerability. Being a perfectionist looks great but in the end you're just stopping growth and opportunities. Instead it's okay to try hard and put yourself out there even if you're unsure of the outcome of your work.

Influencing Factors 2.18.22

     I am a first generation Nigerian American. I definitely feel like my upbringing had influenced my educational journey. My whole family are refugees and my parents have both went to college and my dad has a Master's degree. I feel like a lot of POCs can understand the pressure of your family back in your homeland puts on you if you do not become successful while living in America; not going to college wasn't an option. My parents have instilled hard work into me and have encouraged me to pick careers that makes a lot of money. Hence why I am here. 

    My identity has influenced my feelings of belonging in STEM. I believe I am just as smart but my first goal was art. I always wanted to be a singer with a fashion design line as a child. Because of that dream, I noticed I am not as enthusiastic about STEM as my peers but I still love biology a lot. Also it is not rare to find another Nigerian or African person in STEM but they are mostly males. It's hard to even find other females of different ethnic backgrounds in STEM, so I do feel out of place a lot.

Mindset? 1.21.22

     I personally like to think I have a growth mindset. There are times where my mindset can be fixed if I am in a pessimistic mood but I'm working on that. My educational journey has influenced my mindset. I am a very competitive naturally and growing up as a gifted child made me have a fixed mindset. I gave up when things don't come easy to me and felt miserable when I met a person I thought was better than me. But going to through college has made me unlearn that because I still want to be great and the only way to get better is to keep trying. I learned it is okay to look "dumb" because admitting I do not have the knowledge yet will make me more readily to absorb more knowledge. My growth mindset has impacted my success a lot. I am no longer afraid and embarrassed to ask fo help. I notice I work harder and feel great after achieving what I set my mind to do.

Employer Desired Experiences 11.19.21

Hey guys! I hope you guys are still pushing through; we only have like 2 weeks left in the semester! We can do it! This week we have been discussing traits that employers are looking and how to develop our skills.

Traits that employers would be looking for that I possess are problem solving, communication, and multi-tasking. I worked as a server, a sales associate, and a lab intern and I had developed all these in those job experiences. I feel like these are the some of the most important. You will be always having to be able to talk to people and solve issues that arise in a workplace in the best way possible.

Degree Plans 11.05.21

Hello guys!

I am getting a degree in Biology and I will be graduating soon! Yay! It is no surprise what I want to do when I graduate if you had been following my blog for a long time. I love skin, everything about it. I plan to use my degree in skin research whether it is in beautifying the skin or the care of it. I plan to do research for any company that makes skin care products or on how to combat skin cancer.

Desired Online Presence 10.15.21

 Hey guys :D! 

I hope this month has been treating you guys well! I feel like there was no time to rest. I have been having tests back to back :(.

This blog post is on my reflections on my current and desired online presence. Personally on my current online presence, I am dissatisfied. A lot of my social media are not updated. My Linkedin is bare and no pictures are on my instagram. But lowkey I freaked out a bit that my sister's classmate stalked my page and realized we were related. It did not occurred to me I was stalkable (if that's a word?) and really made me think of my presence on social media. Maybe I should have not dressed as Naruto for Halloween two years ago. 

My desired online presence is a LinkedIn profile that is thoroughly filled out and up to date. I want employers to think well of me and know my current skills not the skills I had in 2019. I want a job in my field but my LinkedIn says I’m a server and I keep getting Food Industry jobs. So definitely my online professional presence needs a lot of work. 

9.3.2021- What is my current on-line presence?

 Hey guys!

    It feels so weird to be on campus after being strictly Zoom University (for like 3 semesters straight I think?). But I am really excited to see what this semester will give me and actually seeing you guys in person! If I can provide any help to you guys for anything, do not be afraid to reach out :).

    My current online presence is mostly social media. I have accounts on most sites you would expect of someone my age. Mostly they are used to interact with my friends and content of my favourite celebrities. I also have a Linkedin that is collecting dust. That is definitely something I need to update and fix to look more professional. 

I wish all of us good luck on all of our endeavors this semester and the next ones as well :)!

Blog Post #3 4.23.21

 1. What are your professional goals, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years into the future? What will accomplishing these goals let you do? How will accomplishing these goals impact those around you and what will it make possible for those in your community? 

My goals in about one year is to have a pretty filled up resume with loads of experience. In about 5 years, I would like to be in graduate school. I think it will impact those around me because I want to give back to my community and give hope to little girls that look like me. 

2. What are societal challenges that matter to you that you think it's important to deal with now? What do you think are the challenges that will matter 10 years in the future, and 20 years in the future? How do you think these challenges will be addressed, and what will need to happen to make sure that they are?

Societal challenges that matter to me are racial and gender equality in work, education, and social spaces. Environmental issues are what concerns me because I'm afraid what the next 10 years will look like, corporations like money and the general public is not informed and sometimes the better option isn't cost effective. I think we will need more activists and people speaking out and wanting to make changes.

3. What is something that makes you optimistic about the future, and why? This could be something big and impersonal (improving price of Li-ion batteries) or something small and personal (a new pet). Please describe how it feels to focus on this thing that makes you optimistic, and discuss whether you think it is a good idea to be intentional about being optimistic. 

Something that makes me optimistic about the future is thinking about my goals and how I am going to achieve them. Also Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2, Demon Slayer Season 2 and their video game is what keeps me also optimistic. I have these to look forward to.

Blog Post #2 4.9.21

 1. What did you know about your field 3 years ago, and what have you learned about that has 'wowed' you? (Supplemental questions: What did you used to think was an advanced topic in your subject, and what do you think is now? What was the experience that you feel you learned the most from?)

Three years ago, would have been 2018 and I would be in my second semester of community college. I did not know anything, all I knew was I liked Biology. Definitely what wowed me was working on my skin bacteria project and learning microbiology. I thought an advance topic was lowkey anything with plant biology. That subject could not stick in my head. Now genetics is wild lol. Th experience that I feel like I learned the most from was last and this semester. It really taught me to take what I can handle and focus on myself.

2. What do you want to learn about over the next 3 years? (Is it scientific or personal? Why do you want to learn it? How do you plan on developing this knowledge?)

What I want to learn about in the next 3 years is more personal. I still want to learn more about bacteria and skin. But definitely I want to learn more of myself and work myself. I want to work on my health and self to set more boundaries. I want to learn this because as I am almost 22, I feel like I had not spent time enough time with myself. I plan on just spending time with myself and keeping a diary.

Blog Post #1 3.26.21

I am grateful for my siblings because they have always been by my side since I was born. Any time I needed help with homework, life advice, and even emotional support.  It had impact me because I have not been an adult for long and they are older than me and I seek guidance from them.

Advice I would give my younger self is to fight hard for what you want and surround yourself with people who genuinely make you happy. Back when I was younger I would notice that my friends weren't the best company but I stayed with them because of the fear of being lonely and being an outcast. I would consider myself a very lucky person (my middle name Leesi means good luck) but I lacked discipline in many areas of my life since I knew i would make it out in the end. I would definitely tell myself that it is great to have fun but never forget hard work. I think a lot of people can benefit from this advice especially kids transitioning to college. Because if you do not have a set schedule and know how to balance work and play, then it will be very hard to adjust and move forward.

November Blogpost

 Hey guys!

We learned about our learning styles. It was a great reminder that I can't be lazy and just relisten to lectures because I am in no way an auditory learner. I'm so excited for the semester to end and fingers crossed we all push through successfully.

This semester/year was a trainwreck and I'm so glad it's going to be over.

I got rehired at Forever 21 again and you guys should stop by. I need to sell more credit cards haha.

Overall I'm so excited to only have 1 final and an essay to do before I'm done with this semester.

October Blogpost

 Hey guys!

Hope you guys are doing well. This year is really getting hard to adjust but we will get through it!  I miss being in person in school, the lab and the smell of nasty bacteria haha. 

I have been having a really hard time this semester. Fun fact actually really, really sad fact that I did not know is not crying makes you physically sick. Learned that the hard way lol. It is important during times like this to get a support system. Not going to lie this semester has really been a learning moment for me about myself physically and mentally. I have been really trying to take care of myself and focus on what makes me happy! I have been recently trying to beautify my island of Sunnyhill in Animal Crossing New Horizons and that has been keeping me sane.

September's Post

 Hey guys! It feels great being at ASU. My first semester has been very demanding.  This is actually the first tie in my life that I need to study. I like that all my classes are online but it is a struggle to gain focus. I've been really grateful about the resources given in school. In this class reading the growth mindset had really helped me see the positive side and build myself after a struggle. My career strategy class gave us a test that is to discover our learning style and it really works. I am excited to try out the suggestions. I wish you guys luck this semester!