Danielle Santos

November 29, 2020

BIPS 410

Reflection

Capstone Reflection

Completing and coming this far within the BIPS program means a great deal to me.

Throughout my college career I have struggled with my focus and my problem identifying and

solving skills. I have always been able to finesse out of the problems I have faced, but I didn’t

think I learned much from approaching these difficulties. I believe I have grown in ways I didn’t

think I needed growth. I’ve become much more disciplined and focused on my work and what I

am really interested in.

The design thinking course was able to change my way of thinking to become more open

and innovative. Systems thinking allowed me to deepen my views and understanding of

relationships and interactions of archetypes and build and strengthen my own interactions and

relationship. I have also learned how to read, recognize and understand the different types of data

and have increased my ability to manipulate data for my use and how to present this data for

audiences. Through media literacies I have become more aware of digital networks and

multimedia literacies. I’ve become much more familiar with the different types of literacies and

interpreting them for my understanding in different contexts. The global awareness and

intercultural competence course taught me to be more open to a more ethical and diverse

perspective culturally, critically, and individually. I have also increased my self-awareness

significantly from a business perspective. I’ve taken a few self-awareness courses, but most of

them were very emotional and feelings driven, whereas in the BIPS Self-Awareness course I was
able to focus more on the ambitious, opportunistic, and purpose driven side of myself. I’ve

learned through this course how to be more interdependent, accountable, and self-disciplined

when doing work, creating projects, and completing undertakings.

The self-awareness course most assisted me in my personal growth within the workforce,

and the capstone course most assisted me in my professional growth. Through self-awareness I

learned a lot about myself in a more business perspective. I was able to learn the type of person I

am within the working field and the type of team player I am when it comes to working within

groups. I have learned the roles in which I enjoy within group work and the roles I dislike and

are not very good at. This knowledge allows me adjust my approach towards my fellow

teammates and coworkers. The capstone course built my understanding and tied together all I

have learned in the BIPS program. I have become much more aware of how everything connects

and have a much more open understanding of all that I’ve been taught, and all that I have learned

thus far in the program. This understanding has helped me in my professional growth by

allowing me to have a more clear and outgoing voice within my workplace. I have been able to

increase my professional confidence to articulate my thoughts and opinions to be recognized and

acknowledged.

Many things have changed for me since completing this degree. COVID hit and so I

moved back home to help my mom because my dad has been stuck in the Philippines since

February. I have been trying to work more hours at my job to help pay bills and buy groceries,

and have continued in the program much more strongly than I anticipated I would be. I have

become much more focused and determined when concentrating on an assignment, and am

usually able to work for much longer on a given task than I used to. I have become a much more

critical and analytical thinker. I’m thankful for the opportunities that I have been given through
the BIPS program and the people that I have met as well. The BIPS program has taught me a lot

about myself and as well as the professional world and I hope to use this knowledge to my

advantage to not only progress in my career but to also further in my efforts to help others.

My career path has become more defined because of my coursework. Before joining the

BIPS program I was very disoriented by what I would do after graduation and how I would even

graduate in the first place. Because of my coursework within the BIPS program I have been able

to become more self-aware about what I would like to do with my life and how I would like to

impact the people of my community. My career path has become much more clear in terms of

what is next after graduation. I plan to find a good paying job within the Duke or UNC hospital

doing anything in terms of employment. Then once I save enough and am more financially

stable, I plan on going back to school and applying for CNA or CMA certification programs

which typically last a few months. Once I am certified within the state I plan to apply within the

hospital as a CMA or CNA for a while. Eventually once my parents are a bit more stable I plan

to move out and live on my own and go back to school again to get my counseling certifications,

once achieved I hope to one day own my on small practice and even one day open up my own

retail coffeeshop that also promotes therapy and works with the underprivileged and those who

may find it difficult to have easy access or no access at all to the help that they may need.