Exploring Local Careers with World to Work
By Isabella Ning, FIUTS Facilitator
May 11-15 was FIUTS World to Work Week. There were a variety of activities hosted by FIUTS for students to explore our interested career fields and help students get prepared building up networks.
The group who visited the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Two of my events were the trips to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
On Tuesday May the 12th, we left the Burke museum at 3 pm and took the bus to the Gates Foundation visitor center located right across to the EMP museum. We arrived on time around 4 pm and took a 45 minute-walk tour in the Visitors Center. One of the staff working at the Gates Foundation showed us around and introduced to what the Foundation does and how does the Foundation work. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a private foundation founded by the Gates family in 2000. The BMGF now mainly focuses on vaccine for malaria treatment and sanitation such as clean water and clean toilets.
Greg Siegler and Wenjun Sun in front of the Gates Foundation headquarters
One thing impressed me the most was how the Gates Foundation can always see the things behind and beyond the issue. For example, when people look at a picture showing a little girl holding a bucket of dirty water we may only focus on how to deal with the access to clean water. However, the Gate Foundation worries about that the imbalance of less care for girls in the family, girls miss school to fetch water cause lack of education, which might end up with lower social status in the future.
5 pm, former FIUTS board member Mr. Greg Siegler and FIUTS alum Mr. Wenjun Sun who also work for the Foundation took us into the office building. That day was also the 15th anniversary of the Foundation so we got the chance to see the staff members from the offices all over the world gathering together celebrating.
We spent one hour with Mr. Siegler and Mr. Sun having a small meeting in their office talking about all kinds of topics we interested about the Foundation such as the world library program, internships, malaria treatments, and matrix for donating. Then we caught the bus back to school around 6:20pm.
On Friday May the 15th, I facilitated the event to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Fred Hutchinson was a famous baseball player for Seattle Rainier last century. Unfortunately he died from lung cancer in his fifties. His brother, Dr. William Hutchinson created Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center in 1975.
We met up at the Burke Museum and arrived at Fred Hutch around 4. Joining with other visiting groups, we took a 2 hours tour inside the research center, visited the labs and saw some researchers working on their projects. And also, we went to the attic to see how DI water and Oxygen are sent to thousands of labs by pipeline systems.
I feel like Fred Hutch is a wonderful place to work in terms of both professional equipment and the resort-like working environment. The campus is very pretty with trees and flowers, and there were a lot of researchers eating outside enjoying the sunshine during the lunch break. We also went to the roof of one building with great views of the South Lake Union. The staff said that they often host parties there to appreciate the donors as well.
FIUTS World to Work Week takes place once a year and offers students a chance to visit local workplaces, explore career options around the world, and network with professionals through workshops, tours, and other events. Learn more at www.fiuts.org/worldtowork.