Reflective Essay: My Job Shadowed Colleen Hannum

On December 6, 2017 I job shadowed Colleen Hannum, a research technician at Sanford Research. My shadow started at 9 but I needed to be ready at 8:55 so I left early. I enjoyed the drive until I arrived at Cliff Avenue where my GPS told to me turn right. Even though I questioned this direction I turned anyways. Come to find out I turned right because both sides of 60th street don’t line up. Adding to that, I then found that I drove past the driveway closest to the side of the building I entered. Instead of pulling in that driveway I backtracked all the way across their enormous parking lot. Next, I checked in with the receptionist and sat in their surprisingly extravagant waiting area. When Tamara, the person who I talked to about my shadow came and welcomed me, she made me hang up my coat and took me back into the lab. She gave me my own lab coat and showed me to the place where Hannum worked. I felt shocked when she gave me a pair of gloves and asked if I wanted to help her do an experiment. I worked on using a very fancy pipet to put orange dye in test tubes that also had some protein in it. After that she put the test tubes

Some of the answers bewildered me but with others I wasn't surprised. The answer most shocking to me included the information that most people work in that career for only two to three years. She explained to me that most researchers move on to get their medical degree. Hannum stated that with her job she also experiences stress. To control that stress, she just needs to take a step back and reevaluate everything. Another option to lessen stress, according to Assistant Professor Kyuson Yun, Ph.D., involves reading. “‘I've found that reading children's books is very relaxing,’ she says, ‘and at the same time I can make sure the books are suitable for my sons’” (Peterson). Hannum and Kyuson Yun understood that things relieve stress and believed it’s important for everyone to