Rechecking to Avoid Vulnerability
Vulnerability is susceptibility of being damaged, hurt, criticized, or mistaken ("Vulnerability," Dictionary.com). Vulnerability may be seen as weakness. In my own endeavors, I have discovered that many of the systems and institutions developed to protect and assist us are prone to vulnerability. I have also found that I am no exception to the wrath of vulnerability. I have the skill set to do most activities I desire to; however, as an imperfect human-being, mistakes are inevitable. I have developed the habit of rechecking over everything in order to complete task and research assignments in a manner that best represents my capabilities and avoids vulnerability of any kind.
Here at the University of South Carolina Lancaster, I was able to participate in the S.M.A.R.T Study conducted by Dr. Easley and Dr. Sellhorst as a student researcher. The study involved looking at anthropometric measurements of traditional college age students (18-25). Anthropometric measurements are those including, but not limited to height, weight, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio. As an undergraduate researcher, it is critical to handle the information of participants carefully. Waivers must be signed, information must be kept confidential and information can never be lost. Above everything else, I must check and then recheck to be confident that I have handled all participant information in a manner that maintains and promotes confidentiality. It is not a matter of being vulnerable in my abilities or incapable of doing the work, but mishandling files would lead to a breach in confidentiality and be system vulnerability.
Like any study, the information collected during the study must be placed in databases. Another role of mine within this study has been handling numerical values from the data through basic mathematics (averaging, adding, conversions, etc.), and inputting the information into databases. For example, we obtain three values for handgrip strength for both dominant and non-dominant hands for each participant in the study. Those values are averaged for each hand. When I am handling these values, I have to check after myself. Due to natural human error, I may enter in a wrong digit, or multiply instead of divide. Without rechecking, the values in the database could be incorrect and affect the outcome of the study. Assuming that I completed the task of handling hundreds of values without error could lead to results that are less than true. To further avoid making a mistake, members of the study check after each other with every assignment. In my beyond the class room artifact of this, a peer student researcher is checking behind my averaging of data. This aids in eliminating our system vulnerability.
Within the classroom, I have made it my personal mission to recheck my assignments and exams a few times before I turn them in. My freshman year of college, I took a year of General Chemistry. These two classes were highly rooted in mathematics and equations. My chemistry background was not very strong, so in order to keep up I had to dedicate much of my time to studying and rechecking my work. I found that the best way to study these problems was to rewrite them and do them in a systematic, step-by-step manner. For example, my professor, Dr. Johnson, taught us the ICE Box method for finding the concentration of certain compounds in chemical equations. ICE stood for initial concentrations, change in concentrations, and the equilibrium of those concentrations. ICE Box problems were concerned with finding concentrations of compounds or species when working towards equilibrium. These questions required attention to the details; one wrong number could ruin the entire equilibrium problem. My professor taught us these problems in steps, and I developed her teaching strategy as my studying habit. As shown in my artifact below, I solved them in a systematic manner and rechecked my work. As a result, less errors were made.
In May of 2018 my biggest fear became the inevitable. My father became critically ill after a routine procedure. After a month of battling in the hospital, he passed away on June 16th. My father’s death could have been and should have been avoided. A simple mistake of scheduling a post-operation visit weeks too late cost him his life. The act of rechecking the schedules could have changed everything about my current situation. When my father passed, nothing else mattered. His life was valuable to me, and his death could have been prevented. I did not immediately have an epiphany about how the changing of my life was connected to my own desire to avoid vulnerability. However, this event taught me many lessons, and it reiterated that we must recheck, always. In the case of my father’s passing, vulnerability is demonstrated as vulnerability in health care protocol and routine. Embedded in his passing was the crossing of health care system vulnerability and vulnerability in personal relationships.
Vulnerability to error or mistake has molded me into the researcher, learner, and daughter that I am. I have always lived by the motto, “practice makes perfect, but no one is perfect.” With this being said, everyone should practice. I have learned that checking over myself and having others to check over me aids in the best possible outcome. I have been rewarded with great opportunities, like being a student researcher, because of my methods to prevent vulnerability. Vulnerability is a word that many people associate with weakness; however, when we recognize weakness in our institutions, protocols, and ourselves we can begin to change our environment as we know it.
Vulnerability is susceptibility of being damaged, hurt, criticized, or mistaken ("Vulnerability," Dictionary.com). Vulnerability may be seen as weakness. In my own endeavors, I have discovered that many of the systems and institutions developed to protect and assist us are prone to vulnerability. I have also found that I am no exception to the wrath of vulnerability. I have the skill set to do most activities I desire to; however, as an imperfect human-being, mistakes are inevitable. I have developed the habit of rechecking over everything in order to complete task and research assignments in a manner that best represents my capabilities and avoids vulnerability of any kind.
Here at the University of South Carolina Lancaster, I was able to participate in the S.M.A.R.T Study conducted by Dr. Easley and Dr. Sellhorst as a student researcher. The study involved looking at anthropometric measurements of traditional college age students (18-25). Anthropometric measurements are those including, but not limited to height, weight, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio. As an undergraduate researcher, it is critical to handle the information of participants carefully. Waivers must be signed, information must be kept confidential and information can never be lost. Above everything else, I must check and then recheck to be confident that I have handled all participant information in a manner that maintains and promotes confidentiality. It is not a matter of being vulnerable in my abilities or incapable of doing the work, but mishandling files would lead to a breach in confidentiality and be system vulnerability.
Like any study, the information collected during the study must be placed in databases. Another role of mine within this study has been handling numerical values from the data through basic mathematics (averaging, adding, conversions, etc.), and inputting the information into databases. For example, we obtain three values for handgrip strength for both dominant and non-dominant hands for each participant in the study. Those values are averaged for each hand. When I am handling these values, I have to check after myself. Due to natural human error, I may enter in a wrong digit, or multiply instead of divide. Without rechecking, the values in the database could be incorrect and affect the outcome of the study. Assuming that I completed the task of handling hundreds of values without error could lead to results that are less than true. To further avoid making a mistake, members of the study check after each other with every assignment. In my beyond the class room artifact of this, a peer student researcher is checking behind my averaging of data. This aids in eliminating our system vulnerability.
Within the classroom, I have made it my personal mission to recheck my assignments and exams a few times before I turn them in. My freshman year of college, I took a year of General Chemistry. These two classes were highly rooted in mathematics and equations. My chemistry background was not very strong, so in order to keep up I had to dedicate much of my time to studying and rechecking my work. I found that the best way to study these problems was to rewrite them and do them in a systematic, step-by-step manner. For example, my professor, Dr. Johnson, taught us the ICE Box method for finding the concentration of certain compounds in chemical equations. ICE stood for initial concentrations, change in concentrations, and the equilibrium of those concentrations. ICE Box problems were concerned with finding concentrations of compounds or species when working towards equilibrium. These questions required attention to the details; one wrong number could ruin the entire equilibrium problem. My professor taught us these problems in steps, and I developed her teaching strategy as my studying habit. As shown in my artifact below, I solved them in a systematic manner and rechecked my work. As a result, less errors were made.
In May of 2018 my biggest fear became the inevitable. My father became critically ill after a routine procedure. After a month of battling in the hospital, he passed away on June 16th. My father’s death could have been and should have been avoided. A simple mistake of scheduling a post-operation visit weeks too late cost him his life. The act of rechecking the schedules could have changed everything about my current situation. When my father passed, nothing else mattered. His life was valuable to me, and his death could have been prevented. I did not immediately have an epiphany about how the changing of my life was connected to my own desire to avoid vulnerability. However, this event taught me many lessons, and it reiterated that we must recheck, always. In the case of my father’s passing, vulnerability is demonstrated as vulnerability in health care protocol and routine. Embedded in his passing was the crossing of health care system vulnerability and vulnerability in personal relationships.
Vulnerability to error or mistake has molded me into the researcher, learner, and daughter that I am. I have always lived by the motto, “practice makes perfect, but no one is perfect.” With this being said, everyone should practice. I have learned that checking over myself and having others to check over me aids in the best possible outcome. I have been rewarded with great opportunities, like being a student researcher, because of my methods to prevent vulnerability. Vulnerability is a word that many people associate with weakness; however, when we recognize weakness in our institutions, protocols, and ourselves we can begin to change our environment as we know it.