Farewell, Adieu, Goodbye, but also Hello

By Anna Radachy

Perhaps a bit of a dramatic blog title, but illustrative nonetheless. After a year and a half of employment with the University of Akron Research Foundation, I will be leaving at the end of the year. To be completely fair to many readers though, you most likely do not know who I am, and that is totally ok! I am the administrative and research intern, and most, if not all of my work, is background work that happens behind the scenes. I have read an inordinate amount of market research firms and customer interviews, both are part of our I-Corps program, and scheduled hundreds of meetings. I have sat in and heard about dozens of new start-up ideas (some amazing and a few not so much!) I have sent hundreds of emails under the pseudonym of “UARF I-Corps Site Administrators”, but I have sent even more with my own signature and position, which has honestly meant a lot more to me than I ever expected it to. 

​I have met so many wonderful and interesting people, I have met some slugs! I have learned about the wide world of start up companies, and I have also learned how to make dropbox work! I have learned how to use salesforce, set up proper databases, write with a professional tone, how to meet deadlines, how to apologize when I don’t make deadlines, and above all I have learned how work in a changing world. This is the longest job I have ever had, and it has meant the world to me to do it. In the past year a lot of things have changed in my life, I Iive somewhere new, I have new friends, I eat at new places, I have a new relationship, but this has been a constant for me that has provided me with an air of familiarity. 

To continue my previous blog pattern, I highly recommend my two favorite TED talks. The first is Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator, and as someone who is incredibly guilt of procrastinating it thoroughly changed the way I think about my actions. The second one being What Makes a Good Life, another TED talk that changed my attitude about a lot of things. I have watched both of these talks in the time I have worked here and it has certainly changed my outlook. We all grow everyday for so many different reasons, and the growth I have done here at UARF will certainly not be something I quickly forget!