How my work experience changed me as a person

Topic: How my work experience changed me as a person. I had a rather sheltered childhood. A lot of other kids were allowed to go about doing things by themselves, things that my parents often did not let me do. Our community was also quite narrow-minded in terms of gender roles. As a girl child, I led a far more closed, inward-looking life than boys my age. But my somewhat restricted upbringing did not stop me from yearning for more exposure to the world. I grew up looking forward to knowing more about life, meeting new people, experiencing newer things. And this is precisely how working for the pharmaceutical industry helped me blossom and become a better-rounded person.
I joined the job as a volunteer in […]. As I was eager to meet new people, I welcomed the job as a positive influence in my life. While some of my co-workers complained about their work hours and wages, I was just too glad and grateful to mind these minor hiccups. Working gave me a sense of independence. As an employed person I had more responsibility, I could take greater initiative and in an individual capacity, rather than a member of my family or community, as was the case before. There is an immense sense of self-worth and satisfaction that comes with being entrusted with work and I took too this responsibility with a lot of seriousness.
Apart from my feelings of self-worth, which improved greatly because of my work, the job benefitted me in other ways. I was suddenly meeting people of all ages and backgrounds who were either suffering themselves or who had family members who were in pain. This exposure to the greater human condition allowed to me to feel for and extend compassion to people who were different from me. I believe that this exposure at my job was crucial in making me the more broad-minded person that I am today.
From a practical perspective, working in something as complex as the pharmaceutical industry helped me understand how big corporations and the professional world worked. The job knowledge I gained in the specific field of pharmaceuticals was not the only thing I learned. I grew more aware about how various organisations and authorities worked in our society.
This led to a redefining of my ethics. Earlier, I was not very aware of the ills of the pharmaceutical industry, or any other industry in fact. However, because of my insider’s position, I could now see the various drawbacks of big corporations and the frequent malpractices that harmed common individuals. My complete faith in hospitals, the government, and a greater moral order in general were questioned. In fact, following an incident at my workplace which led to a patient I had got to know personally losing in a lawsuit against my employer, I was greatly disillusioned. However, thanks to the advice and common sense of my mother and a few senior colleagues, I began to get over it. Although the trust I placed in institutions before was shaken somewhat, I still see the experience as a positive one. Questioning things around us is an important part of growing up, even if it involves some degree of disillusionment.
I believe my volunteering experience in the pharmaceutical industry has also helped me become more professional. Any jobs I take up in the future, I will now be able to fulfil with a greater degree of professionalism. This experience has taught me to be impartial and practice greater detachment. In becoming an independent, self-reliant adult, I believe my volunteering job has helped a great deal.