I sometimes wonder about the look on my face when hundreds of eyeballs locked onto me during orientation week of second year.

As the newly hired part-time Audio/Visual Assistant, my lingering self-doubt crept forward while attempting to troubleshoot a Zoom error in front of my 200+ classmates for the first time. One professor is a self described 'left-screen-looker' and must have the confidence display monitors in said arrangement. Another prefers slightly dimmed stage lights in the mornings to get rid of a pesky sun glare they notice on the projector screen. 

My initial anxiety may seem odd to a bystander over something trivial like forgetting to enable 'record to cloud' before lecture begins. However, this is likely the single most important part of my job. With this simple mouse click, students (like myself) can enjoy the privilege of re-watching lectures to our hearts desire before the next exam - at 2x speed, of course.

I began to anticipate every possible iteration of what used to feel like "sabotage" and learned ten different ways to capture a flawless lecture. It's easy to get overwhelmed when sifting through a list of updated login credentials, a nuanced setup for guest speakers or the latest Zoom AI feature. My personal startup sequence may require me to arrive 20 minutes before every single lecture, but it leaves enough time just in case.

There is always a better way, but sometimes the best is one that works for you. 

This mantra carried me through the semester, so maybe it will help future you!

~mdc
Dec. 14, '23

Interest in Anesthesiology