Learned Skills
A lot of the skills and areas of growth that I have developed, have been gradual. There have been a couple of soft skills that I have learned. Soft skills I feel I have grown in are, communication, adaptability, and collaboration. Learning to communicate in a work environment is very important, especially an international one. I think the fact that English is not the first language for any of my coworkers has helped me. When I am writing emails or talking to them I have to be very clear and specific. This has helped me a lot with communication. I think in most environments learning to adapt is imperative. I have learned to adapt to different summer work hours like being in person and then remote. Adapting to being remote has been hard, especially with self motivating. Collaboration is also another skill I have learned. This is a necessity especially when working on the report, and gathering information for B corporation certifications. Developing my ability to collaborate has helped with lots of the work I have to do. All of the soft skills I have learned have been over time and will continue to help me in my career path.
The hard skills that I have learned is how to apply for certifications, and how to continuously meet those standards. I have learned how mock-ups and briefing work. I have learned a lot about the sustainable market and what certifications are important. For example, my company is currently working to get recertified with the B corporation. I have been learning how to get a company B Corps Certified, and what documents are needed. I have also learned about the process of developing sustainable products. Not only is the end product tested for sustainability, the starting materials are as well. I have learned the LCA is important for sustainable products. LCA means “Life Cycle Assessment”, and tells you the cost of carbon from the product. It is important to use third-party testing for this to lower biases in the testing process. The results for the mock-up products does change development.
Vaxholm Day Trip
The program I am here on organized a Vaxholm day trip. While I have been here before for Midsummer, most in the program had not. We were told before hand that this would require lots of activity, ie. running around, climbing, etc.
My roommate and I had planned to go to the beach after the activity. When we first got off the ferry it was raining and very cold, so unfortunately we did not think the beach was going to happen. My group of friends bolted to the nearest coffee/cafe so we could get a warm drink. I got a large chai latte and it was very good, it definitely warmed me up!
It finally started to clear up after we left the cafe. We had to meet up with our group to then begin the activity. The activity is hosted by the company that owns the castle. There is a castle on a small island and that is where our activity was. We were split into groups and had to run around the castle completing tasks. I believe my group came in around 3rd place! We had lunch in the castle basement. I was at first super worried about it with my allergies, after the vasa lunch fiasco. However, the food was absolutely amazing. I had chicken piccata with potatoes, it was delicious.
Now, what my roommate and I had been waiting for, the BEACH! The weather was finally perfect, and not rainy. After lunch my group left for the beach. Evidently, most people went to the beach to cool off after the activity. However, getting to the water was an absolute trek. We followed google maps, which wanted to take us to through construction so we couldn’t enter. We then tried to go around, that did not work. We then attempted to go through the woods, did not work as there was a cliff. Finally, we found the right way, after 45 minutes. Honestly, after all that work I think it made the water so much more rewarding. The water was super cold, but it was very refreshing, especially after running around. Since my friends and I had been to Vaxholm already, we stayed longer and commuted separate from the group. It was a very lovely day, a great end to the week.
Next week is the Helsinki trip so more updates then!
