Reflection

               I am what I am. There is no changing who I am, but I can change how I react to situations. The first round pushed me socially. This round has encouraged my growth in both the workplace and personally in the same manner as the first round- quickly, rudely, and without forgiveness. I have realized that I am not a bottomless well of patience. I am someone who has a “Challenge Accepted!” attitude in the beginning of an adventure, but I will be discouraged and at times, stuck at an internal wall.

                Not having as much personal space as I did last round, definitely took a toll on my spirit along with my job.  As one of the database developers, I helped create the Project Board. I have no background in HTML, SQL, JQuery, or Javascript. As one can imagine, I was rather fearful, but excited. Working on something that will revolutionize how FEMA Corps teams are utilized, made me feel as if I was doing something so much larger than myself. It reminded me of why I joined the program- to help others (by ensuring future communities have the opportunity to utilize FEMA Corps teams) and to get things done.

                Imagine for a second- you are given a strange tool that whirls around and occasionally lights. Every time you hold it, it does something different. It turns out different temperatures influence the color of the light. Your grip on the tool also influences the movement and sometimes the color of the light. But you are given a quick explanation that these factor into the tool. That the tool is great for leading people to the perfect team for the job. But you have no idea what grip means makes it spin like a top. Or when you think you have the correct temperature for a yellow light, it turns red. Then, your POC (Point of Contact), asks for the tool to shoot out glitter whenever the light was an emerald green and you didn’t even know the tool could shoot out glitter. This is what it felt like to work on WebEOC. We were given explanations on what factors came into play and we knew it was to lead people to the right teams. But the job was a constant testing of everything we did know because it might do something different due to a factor we didn’t even know exist.

                I learned about HTML and WebEOC specific tags. I learned that sometimes your best isn’t good enough. I learned to make as many mistakes as possible, one at a time. I learned that I can make dropdown lists in HTML. I learned that I hate being stuck in a small office with too many other people. I learned that Trivia Night can be fantastic way to break the monotony of the week. I learned that having sidewalks to walk away from the ESA does wonders for the mind, body, and soul. I learned that while I am curious in coding, I am not proficient and probably never will be. I learned how to eat pho. I learned I am not who I thought I was. I learned to accept who and what I am.