Small & Large Group Account Management- Property/Casualty & Benefits

My duties as Business Assistant for the Office of Risk Control & Insurance at the University of Rhode Island consisted of processing and electronically filing Certificates of Insurance, Driver Authorization Forms, Motor Vehicle Records and conducting website maintenance using Wordpress technology. In this role I received mentorship from individuals with decades of experience in private risk management, affording me a competent understanding of the Risk Management Industry.

Over the past year I have helped to facilitate the instruction of several courses at URI. Such courses include COM 100: Communication Fundamentals, GWS 150: Gender & Women's Studies, COM 322: Gender & Communication and COM 351: Organizational Communication. My passion for hard work and the role of empathetical communication in everyday life resulted in URI staff recruiting me to facilitate courses with leading instructors.Key experiences I have acquired in this role include building complete online course shells with Bright Space software, syllabus construction, exam construction, weekly grading of papers and assignments and public speaking to large groups. The softer skills learned and utilized through this position include the effective facilitation of communication between students and instructors which has become vital since the shift to online classes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020-2021 J-Term, this communication was essential to the success of our students in GWS 150 as they had 13 weeks of material compressed into just 3 weeks. The most rewarding aspect from this experience is watching students conceptualize course material and begin to apply it to their own lives for the betterment of their personal and professional endeavors.

The Bystander Intervention Program at URI (branded iSTAND) exists to end the normalization of sexual violence and misogyny through the education, advocacy and service to those in need. After being fully trained in the breadth and depth of violence domestically, globally and against all populations, iSTANDers learn how to be advocates for those who have been impacted by any form of violence. We are trained to help individuals complete the transformation from victims to survivors of the violence committed against them. This is an experience that is beyond rewarding and brings a great sense of self-worth. With the help of my fellow interns I have created and facilitated presentations to incoming freshman at the University in COM 100 classes. The purpose of these presentations is to provide new students with the truth about sexual violence on college campuses, how to identify the signs and how to be an effective bystander. My experience as a Teaching Assistant provided the building blocks for these educational presentations as I have already been used to educating groups of students on my own. I have also assisted in hosting booths on campus to encourage passing students to sign the 'It's On Us" pledge to end violence. On good days we get up to 100 new pledge signatures. For Sexual Assault Awareness Month I organized a fundraiser for our program which required the proposal for the allocation of any received donations. This experience has supplemented my organizational communication skills as I facilitate all of these activities with many other interns who often have different ideas and personalities. Being able to successfully arrange these events has increased my self efficacy when it comes to the administration of mission based objectives. Finally, I have learned through my time with iSTAND that I have the ability to make a change in the world around me through care, effort and the utilization of skills I have acquired through Communication Studies.

Working as a delivery driver requires proper interpersonal communication skills because the majority of my income is in tips. For example, when a customer opens their door and sees me wearing a smile and greeting them with a cheerful "Hello! How are you doing this evening?" and starting a small conversation before telling them their total, in that split second they may decide to write a larger tip on the receipt rather than if I seemed unenthusiastic and said in a monotone voice "Hi. That will be 25.99. Thanks. Bye." There is one regular customer that I deliver to, he is an older gentleman. The first time I knocked on his door when he answered he looked at me and yelled "You call that a knock?!". I knew I knocked normally, but nonetheless next time I delivered to him I wrapped my fist on the door like a police officer, shaking the door with the strength I was using. He answered the door with an ear to ear smile and said "You've been here before, I can tell!" and gave me a very nice tip. Instead of taking offense to his early remark, I embraced his needs, perhaps he is hard of hearing, or maybe he simply likes loud knocks. Either way, my ability to communicate effectively results in him giving me larger tips and to this day I look forward to banging on his door and seeing him with a smile every time I see his address on a delivery slip. Lack of this proper communication would result in less compensation. I also help in-store with making pizza dough, taking out trash, sweeping and mopping every night when I close.