By LaTeara Bryant
If I could tell anything to the girl I was back in August, I would tell her to be happy with the goals she has accomplished and the progress she has made. I would also tell her that nothing has to be 100% perfect. If she could make everything perfect, she simply wouldn’t be human.
I say this because I was always obsessed with striving to be absolutely perfect. Everything had to have zero mistakes. This showed especially during summer training last year. Doing the minimum was never enough for me. Not only did I do what was asked of me, I also made sure I went above and beyond. I often added lots of extra details to make sure my work really stood out. Whenever I got feedback on my status reports, projects, speeches, or other action items, the first thing I always did was beat myself up about it and see what I could do to improve. My program coordinator and my technology trainer often reminded me that the work I did was incredible, but I was never happy with it until I saw the 100% marking. I wanted to be the best that there was. I was always asking myself, “How can I improve this to make it better?” or, “What can I do next to top this?” Even after I accomplished a big task, whether it was a project at work or a huge assignment at school, I was always moving onto the next thing without actually taking time to appreciate the hard work and effort I’d put into it. While it was important to push myself to keep improving, I sometimes lost sight of all that I had accomplished.
Around mid-February this year, after a conversation with my supervisor, I started thinking about how much I’ve gotten out of my journey at Genesys Works. Completing eight weeks of Genesys Works summer training and earning the internship alone is already a huge thing to be proud of. It took a lot of perseverance and dedication to run through summer training projects, presentations, status reports, and group activities. I remember how much work I put into one of the technology presentations, and how far I went to make sure I knew the content, memorized my slides, and delivered them with confidence. I also reflected on some of the work I’ve done in the internship since I’ve started. I quickly got accustomed to the daily workload as a business segment liaison and was always ready to learn something new. I’ve brought fresh ideas to my supervisor for ways to improve some of the outdated methods of location support we provide, successfully worked through huge numbers of App Store requests in short amounts of time, and brought group activities to team meetings. Even though I only worked 20 hours a week, I made the most of every single one of them. It’s amazing how much work can go unnoticed when we’re so busy looking to the next task or project. Even though there were times during my internship when I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, I definitely was, and for that, I am proud of myself.
As I am approaching college, I’m working to change my way of thinking. This past year, I’ve learned that nothing is ever perfect. It’s important to strive to improve and to want the best for yourself, but it’s also important to reflect and appreciate everything that you’ve done. Little progress is still progress, so celebrate it.
About the Writer
LaTeara currently attends Cooper High School, does dual enrollment at North Hennepin Community College, and interns at Optum Technology. She will be going to Jackson State University to pursue a degree in Mass Communications with hopes of becoming a journalist.
