This past year has taught me a great deal of things, but some of the most important lessons I’ve learned have been directly linked to the time I’ve spent working for netlogx. As a current senior men’s basketball player at Franklin College and part-time Project Coordinator (PCr) at netlogx, I have learned a lot about my professional skills in order to accomplish all of the different tasks that have been assigned to me.
First, communication has been the biggest lesson I’ve learned in this whole process. Whether talking to my netlogx Organizational Team Lead (OTL), my professors, or my coach, communication must be quick, clear, detailed, and concise, but most importantly all parties must be aware of anything which might affect them. These lessons have kept my co-workers, professors, and coaches well informed on my schedule and satisfied with my progress on each of their individual projects. Ultimately, communication has been where I put most of my effort.
Second, I learned time must be micromanaged. My schedule has been very packed since the beginning of the semester, but I learned it is very important to keep it up to date. My class schedule could be considered another form of communication because it is very representative of what my whole day looks like and if someone wants to know what I am doing, my whereabouts would be contained in my schedule. I quickly learned that every detail I add to my calendar, even down to the time it takes to prepare for practice or games or travel time to class, only helps me stay on track. My calendar has been my best tool to keep my work planned out and communicated.
Third, I learned to be flexible with my array of different obligations. I learned that I have to plan my time in a very flexible manner. In some cases that meant planning a little more time in my schedule to accomplish my obligations or working some on the weekends. Unfortunately there were times when obligations had to be distributed to someone else, which brings me to my final point.
Fourth, I have learned to identify my priorities and how to organize my obligations to represent those priorities. Obviously being a student has always been my first priority. The problem comes with work and athletics. There have definitely been times during the semester when I have had to review and balance between my work and athletics to determine at that time which obligation had a higher priority. The item that has most assisted me with my determination is my well-kept tight schedule. When I can see that I have time to put work ahead or behind my athletics it makes for an easier decision on what to do.
In conclusion, the lessons I have learned have been very beneficial to my professional development. By learning these lessons while still in college, I feel I have an advantage over my competition for future job opportunities.
