Day 6

Today, I visited the internal and external communications division. For internal, I got to participate in a video watching/critiquing meeting. It was really cool getting to see pre-released videos and giving my thoughts on the problems I saw as well as giving my perspective on how SAS could use each video. It was also really cool being able to listen to the other people in the meeting, since some of them were calling in from Canada and the UK. During the afternoon, all the interns and most of the CA WEP students went to listen to a presentation on data for good. I thought that the idea of being able to help people globally and being allowed to give SAS any data, and have them give you information on that data was super interesting. After the presentation, I decided to go up and ask the presenter how I could contribute, since this project of theirs was still fairly new. He told me how I could start a club at CA, and how he was willing to help in anyway he can to facilitate that process. Today, I really got to be active and be engaged which made the day really fun.

Day 6

Today was my sixth day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program, and I spent the day at building T with the Legal team. Although I did have the premonition that the legal department would be rather bland, I was pleasantly surprised! I was able to hear about some of the department’s more interesting dealings, a particular case of “Patent Trolls” intrigued me. Patent trolls are companies that exist solely to sue other companies in the pursuit of the defendant settling before a trial is ever brought to court – I found this dynamic very interesting! After lunch, I headed over to the auditorium in Building V to an event called “Data for Good,” where speaks talked about how SAS’ Data Analytics was being used to aid disaster relief organisations optimise their work. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a real world application of the product, as the speaker showed how SAS could scan through the data and see what the most common illness was amongst refugees or what camps had the worst conditions. Indeed, I enjoyed hearing about the legal team’s conundrums and quandaries and overall it was a spectacular day!

Day 6: Behind the Smiles

Kid: “Hey, I know you! What’s your name again?”

Me: “My name’s Margaret.”

K: “Oh yeah! Miss Margaret, if I forget your name again, can I ask you?”

M: “Of course!”

*5 minutes later*

K: “What’s your name again?”

One of my goals for this experience was to connect with the kids and learn about them. While I haven’t sat down with the students and talk about their lives, I have heard bits and pieces in passing. What I never really expected was to find myself heartbroken by the stories.

Today, as the students in one class were working on a Father’s Day craft, one student was being particularly uncooperative. This student has been regularly uncooperative in the past, but no one really knew why they were refusing to do this project until they said their father passed away, and there was no one to give the project to.

I also met a sweet first grade girl named Abby whose hair intrigued me from day one because she has a massive bald spot at the center of her head. I discovered that, last year, she battled an aggressive brain tumor and underwent rounds upon rounds of chemotherapy. The teachers and students banded together to create a fundraiser and movement called Abby’s Army that has even reached the attention of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lastly, I met a little girl who moved with her mother and two older brothers from Syria back in the fall. While she is all giggles and cheer now, she was zombie-like at the beginning of the school year and would rarely talk to anybody. One of her brothers developed apparently developed a stutter that can be heard when he speaks both Arabic and English after a bomb exploded next to their house back in Syria.

These children never cease to amaze me. Some never had the chance to truly be a kid. They laugh and play and joke like any regular child, yet they hold so much pain and despair inside. You never know what they hide behind a smile.

Day 6

Today, on the second day at LS3P, I continued to meet many people who told me their journey of becoming an architect. I basically interviewed them asked them all a plethora of questions about college, portfolio and other things related to architecture. As I asked a majority of them about their college life, I screamed on the inside. “All-nighters” “no sleep” “hours in the studio” are just some of the phrases they said. I was so worried that I would experience the college life if I decided to become an architect, however, they also told me the good. The idea to “create something mediocre and turn it into something beautiful” was very eye opening and it also made me realize that being an architect may be my path. Other than the part of no sleep, they also told me about how close you get with other students and that you will be able to do a majority of things and spend a lot of time with them. I think asking all of these questions really helped me answer the unanswered questions I had in the back of my head. They made me feel very comfortable and that no question was too stupid to ask. If I didn’t ask these questions, the reality fo an architecture student wouldn’t have hit me. I would’ve enjoyed a more hands on activity but I think the interview with the different employees really helped me get a sense of reality.

Day 6 – Eric Hemming and WW3P Software Sales!

Today I shadowed Eric Hemming, the director of third-party sales at Lenovo. He is in charge of sales for third-party software world-wide, so he was responsible for communicating with people from many other companies, and so I got to listen to a pair of calls he did with some of his prospective customers and hear how he gathered information and what he could do to make the deal better. They were not finalizing calls, so I didn’t get to hear him actually close the deal (one of which, with a company called MobileIron, was worth $1,000,000!). I did, however, get to learn all about the philosophies by which he lives he work life, some of which include:

“Build a Relationship of Trust”, “Multiply your Value 100-fold”, and also “Form Good Habits and become a Slave to them”.

He also recommended to me a book called “The Greatest Salesman in the World”, by Og Mandino, the e-book of which I am about to buy right now!

Day 6- A Foreign Body

Today’s surgery was on a 2 year old boxer, that had a mysterious foreign body lodged in it’s colon. The Vet techs said they could tell it was a round object from the ultrasound, but wouldn’t know what it was until they opened the dog up. After searching each part of the colon, Dr. Eward finally found the item, and opened up the colon to find it was a squeaker from a chew toy. It had all the vets laughing and had obviously been through it. The boxer was then stitched up and everything went smoothly. Other then that the day at the hospital was a slow one. In my awesome selfie below is a different dog, Hank the golden retriever or as the vets called him “Handsome Hank”.

Lots and Lots of Blood

Today was surgery day! I shadowed Dr. McElveen at Duke-Raleigh Hospital while he performed 3 surgeries. When I arrived I got my scrubs and then we proceeded to the OR. Dr. McElveen performed one ponto surgery and two cochlear implants. The ponto surgery was very fast, done in about 15 minutes. The ponto surgery was just where a hole was drilled into the patients head and a device was inserted that stimulates the brain so that the patient can hear out of that ear. cochlear implants are similar, but are central to the ear. The first cochlear implant went very smoothly (see picture below) and was inserted by drilling into the mastoid and sneaking into the middle ear the back way. The second cochlear implant was more difficult because Dr. McElveen had to make an incision directly behind the ear and go through the actual ear. Additionally, this patient’s facial nerve (nerve that controls your ability to move your face) was camouflaged in scar tissue, making it very difficult to work around it without damaging it. But without a doubt, it was a success! Today was very exciting and educational, and I can’t wait for what’s in store tomorrow.

Day 6 – Under Pressure: The Story of My Ineptitude

Today I learned that I do not know what I am doing. I was coding along, happily formatting a digital model for hopeful future 3D printing, when I decided to check up on my morse code decoder. I plugged it in, booted it up, and was greeted by a whole heap of nothing. The LCD screen didn’t light the way it should, and the LED indicator light did not flash. I unplugged it, re-uploaded and re-verified the code, and plugged it back in. Still, nothing. I didn’t know what to do. I re-examined my circuitry – I had designed the schematic myself, so there was no helpful diagram or useful picture I could pull off the internet to help me out – I had to rely on memory and intuition. I plugged everything back into it’s respective sockets, and the screen lit up. Success, right? Wrong. The screen, despite being lit, did not display the text that I was inputting via the morse key. I was as perplexed as I was frustrated. I decided to just switch out the arduino board I was using with a spare, and I re-wired everything back into the spare. I booted up, sent the code, and everything worked great! I was overjoyed, but there was also a twinge of sadness. I truly, from the bottom of my heart, didn’t know why the first computer hadn’t worked, and why the second had. I thought that I had at least a basic understanding of what I was doing, and I still think I do. However, I’ve learned a valuable lesson; it’s ok to not know what you’re doing.

Day 6

Today was loads of fun, as we hosted the event we spent all day preparing for. The Raleigh mom’s came in for the prepaid ticketed event, where the store was closed to the public for a couple of hours. The highlight of the event was for sure when the mom’s became catty over the gift bags. Since the items put in them were leftover samples from market, and other things that Halie’s used to sell, not all of the bags contained the same things. To us, the bags seemed equal, but not to the customers! Shady comments were exchanged and murmurs over the inequity of the bags was not how I was expecting the customers to act. Little did I know this would be the most entertaining part of the day! (No photos could be taken, since it was an exclusive event)

Day 6

Today I once again got to help coordinate the Mini Wool E’s which is by far my favorite promo event. We found 4 kids around 5 or 6 years old and dressed them up in mini Wool E. Bull costumes. They then ran around with the real Wool E. Bull in a “follow the leader” type fashion on the field between innings. While the crowd only got to experience about 2 minutes of their cuteness, I had the luxury of guiding them, helping them get dressed, and then waiting with them. They were some of the cutest kids ever and although it’s not easy getting them dressed and keeping them occupied for an unknown amount of time, it’s very enjoyable.