Experience

CFL at Hope College

• United States
• Business Consulting and Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Student Consultant

  • Aug 2022 - Present

  CFL (Center for Faithful Leadership) is a program at Hope College where teams of students, together with a faculty coach, work together to solve a real-world problem for a company. In our case, the company our team was contracted for was Hope College itself, to address the "parking problem" at our school. In my role as a student consultant, I accomplished the tasks that were delegated to me (such as researching peer colleges, developing survey questions, and brainstorming possible ways that Hope College's parking could be improved) and took minutes on our official meetings. We started the fall semester 2022 with 5 deliverables, which were our objectives based on the statement of work between us and Hope College: 1) Benchmark data on policies and pricing from peer colleges of similar size and urban settings 2) Evaluate continuing use of Roles vs Time Based System vs another system for policy 3) Develop a Parking "Bill of Rights" that describes reasonable assumptions and expectations 4) Provide feedback from a survey of students and also faculty/staff 5) Make available information that would be beneficial to the Marketing Group Currently we are still in progress on the project. We have crafted and released a 5-10 minute survey that now has over 2300 responses, and we will soon develop the Parking "Bill of Rights" based on a thorough analysis of the survey results and a pending focus group. Finally, we will present our final presentation in early December to higher-level administrators at Hope College. Show less



Grand Valley Soccer Association

• Zeeland, Michigan, United States

• USSF Certified Soccer Referee

  • Apr 2018 - Present

  As a soccer referee, I officiate 30+ outdoor games each fall and spring, as well as tournaments scheduled throughout the year. Although I love the beautiful game (soccer), often being a referee of the sport is not the easiest of jobs. From upset parents who yell any time their child falls to the ground, to coaches who don't understand the proper application of the rules, it's unusual to go through an entire game without someone yelling at the referee. However, because of this regular exposure to high-pressure environments where I am forced to make quick, accurate decisions, I have learned to effectively handle conflict between players and coaches and gained self-confidence and skill in handling authority well. The referee on the field is (or at least ought to be) in control of the game at all times, no matter the intensity, level of play, or insults. It's not always easy, but I strive to maintain a calm and controlled demeanor no matter how animated everyone else may be. Despite whatever my personal preferences may be toward one team or another, I must always apply the rules fairly and follow the correct league protocols and game-day procedures. And when I make mistakes (yes, referees are human and make mistakes too), I do my best to shake it off and get it right the next time. Although soccer as a player is fantastic and an amazing way to build character, exercise, and have fun, soccer as a referee helped me to develop in just as many ways, and I look forward to being a soccer referee for many years to come! Show less



MillerKnoll

• Design Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• IT Software Developer Intern

  • May 2023 - Aug 2023

  I am so grateful for the wonderful internship experience that MillerKnoll provided. I participated primarily on two teams: the Compass front end development team, and the intern project team. Compass is an app provided by MillerKnoll to dealers as a part of a larger software suite that helps them pick MK furniture for their customers, design the floor layout, and place furniture settings in appropriate locations. It is built in Angular, so I had to get up to speed quickly to start the summer. I participated in daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning, and backlog grooming as a part of our Agile methodologies. Once I had learned enough to begin contributing to the team, I was assigned tickets and submitted pull requests through Jira. Most of my summer was spent improving the admin page that handles Compass users. I added a page that displayed all users, worked with GraphQL to improve the speed of data retrieval, and fixed numerous bugs that appeared along the way. I also co-led a team of 8 interns as we attempted to solve a problem that had existed in the company's sales model for years. We basically provided the data connections and UI tools via Tableau to show parent/child and headquarter/branch relationships for every company with which MillerKnoll has an FPA contract. In all our conversations with the Sales team and other figures from the Technology department, people were thrilled by the progress that we had made in only 10 weeks! Show less



Hope College

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Computer Science Summer Researcher

  • May 2022 - Jul 2022

  During this past summer 2022, I had the amazing opportunity to work on a team with 2 other Hope students on a summer research project in the CS lab! We worked on developing a React application to be used by the Education Department at Hope College, which would be run on a large touchscreen television. The purpose of the app was to highlight current faculty members and their research, alumni and where they now teach, and student teachers with an education major. The app also displayed selected statistics about the Education Department. It was very eye-opening to see the project from start to finish, as we transformed some code given to us from a senior project from several years ago into a brand new application. While I enjoyed learning tons of new tools and languages like React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Firebase, it was even more amazing to see them all work together to form a functioning application. Throughout development, we also realized that working as a team is vital to accomplishing any worthwhile task! Task management with Pivotal Tracker and helpful commit messages were important to maintain open communication between the three of us, even though we worked all in the same room. I gained a deep introduction to the world of software/application development; it was absolutely fantastic to see all the classes I have taken converge in a cohesive application that makes use of an industry-standard web framework to meet a real world problem. As a result of this project, I not only took great steps forward in my technical abilities as a software developer, but I discovered a passion and joy for software development that I had never felt before. I have often doubted if CS was the right career choice for me, but after this summer I feel very confident that I can not only succeed in a software developer position, but also truly enjoy the process! After this summer, I feel excited and equipped to begin pursuing real-world jobs in software development. Show less



GENEVA CAMP & RETREAT CENTER

• United States
• Civic and Social Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Summer Camp Counselor

  • Jun 2021 - Aug 2021

  As a camp counselor at Camp Geneva Shores, I worked for ten weeks during the summer, leading cabins of 8-10 boys ages 8-12. I led my cabin in all of the regular Christian camp activities: daily Bible study, counselor skits, and outdoor games of all sorts. Since I also am proficient on the piano and guitar, I led the music for a large percentage of our camp worship sessions. Although this summer came at a difficult transition time of my life right after my first year at Hope College, I am proud of the work that God does through camps like Geneva. It was amazing to have the opportunity to speak God's truth into the lives of kids that may not have ever heard the message of the Gospel before, and kids who may just be thirsty for the love and affection of Christ. Sometimes things didn't go to plan, but those challenges gave me a chance to see why effective leadership, communication, and improvisational skills are so important. Throughout the ten weeks, I gained a deep appreciation for the work of so many people across the country and globe who are giving their all to bless others with the Good News of Jesus Christ. I developed relationships with other counselors and staff, enjoying the unity we shared in pursuing the same mission together; and I poured everything into the campers, hoping that God might make some use of my imperfect attempts to follow his command to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). Show less



Michigan Academy of Folk Music

• United States
• Musicians

• Student Intern

  • Jun 2019 - May 2020

  At the Michigan Academy of Folk Music (MAFM), I assisted in both music instruction and website management. Since I was both a student at MAFM and an intern at the same time, I participated in ensembles as a musician and as an instructor. My primary responsibilities entailed the following: 1) Assist teaching group classes for mandolin and guitar 2) Assist directing mixed instrument bluegrass ensembles 3) Manage and update events on the website 4) Post event advertisements online on Facebook and Eventbrite During my time at the school, MAFM experienced continued growth as I was able to alleviate some of the pressure of website management from the shoulders of the owner/teacher and the administrator. I grew in my capacity as a musician, teacher, and online content manager during my time at the Michigan Academy of Folk Music, and I still wholeheartedly believe in their mission of bringing people together via the joy of making music! Show less