Editor's Note: Throughout the regular season, Patriot Profiles will highlight women's volleyball players off the court. Today, sophomore outside hitter Mikala Wells shares her summer experiences with us working as a Certified Nurse's Assistant in her hometown of Topeka, Kan.
Previous Patriot Profile entries include: Emily Haak, Pihla Jarvenpaa, Emily Konchan, Licie Leite
 
It's never too early to start preparing for the future, and it's always good to have skills outside of athletics. Despite being only a sophomore, outside hitter Mikala Wells already has some invaluable experience under her belt having completed an internship as a certified nurse's assistant (CNA).
 
Wells worked as a CNA for two months this past summer at the Lexington Park Health and Rehab center in her hometown of Topeka, Kansas. While there, Wells believes the experience she gained working with the patients will help her quest to land her dream job as a neonatal nurse.
 
"I think my summer job will eventually help me land my dream job of being a neonatal nurse and working in a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit because of the experience I gained," Wells says. "A lot of people don't start doing stuff for their future until their junior or senior year of college, so it was nice that I could get a little jump start. Even when I went to the career fair, which eventually led me to pursuing a summer job of working as a CNA, all the employers were impressed that I was a freshman at a career fair. My summer working as a CNA was a huge learning experience and it gave me hands on learning opportunities, which helped me a lot."
 
The career fair prompted her initial interest. Her academic advisor suggested Wells attend last spring, and she found a bunch of companies that perked her interest.  She was so impressive she received two local job offers for the spring semester. In what began a butterfly-effect chain of events, she was not able to accept either due to her spring volleyball commitment.
 
"I could have stayed in Virginia over the summer to work and gain some nursing experience here, but I wanted to go back home to Kansas for the summer," she says. "So I thought 'why not try to get a job at home and work over the summer?' I got online and applied for multiple openings and that is pretty much how I came across my summer internship."
 
After looking at a handful of organizations, Wells found the Lexington Park Health and Rehab center. They showed immediate interest and Wells received a phone call the very next day requesting to set up an interview – an in-person interview that took place the first day she returned home.
 
It turned out the interest was real. After a meeting, Wells then took a tour of the building and was offered the job on the spot.
 
"I was ecstatic," Wells says emphatically. "I had no idea I would get an answer immediately."
 
Much like what happens after a successful volleyball match, Wells' preparation paid off. To calm the nerves of her first "big kid" interview and job, she practiced answering potential interview questions with her sister Amber to make sure no stones were left unturned come showtime. Amber works as a physician's assistant, so credit big sis with an assist.
 
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Wells got started two days later and was primarily responsible for monitoring residents' recovery process as well as assisting them with any help they need. One of Wells' specific duties was to take residents' vital signs - blood pressure, respirations, oxygen levels, etc. Wells says she was quick to pick up accurate and efficient tactics to do so, giving her first-step confidence.
 
"It was nice for me because taking vital signs is a basic step in nursing," Wells says. "So if you can be efficient and fast then that is a good thing."
Some of her skills and attitudes picked up from being a college athlete helped Wells perform well throughout her internship. Since the beginning of competitive athletics, every team and athlete has dealt with adversity at one point or another. The working world is no different.
Like adjusting to college competition she first saw at Mason, Wells' internship had some learning curves as well.
 
"Charting was something I struggled with at first," Wells says about monitoring residents and writing down what happened. Examples she recalls included ambulation, turns, how they walk from area to area, when they go to the bathroom, urine output, feces output, food intake, showers, when they were last shifted in their bed, among others," she says. "I struggled with this because at first I didn't know all my resident's names yet, therefore I knew so little about them. Charting is easy once you know your resident and you know what they are and aren't capable of."
 
Whether one is on the court, in the classroom or at work, adapting and getting to know those you're working with on a personal level is a key component to flourishing at the task at hand. After doing just that, Wells turned a difficult aspect of her internship into an easy and fun aspect.
 
Wells says her fondest memory of the internship was building relationships with the residents she got to know during the two months she was there. When asked to describe her experiences in one word she says "compelling." Needless to say she loved what she did.
 
"My fondest memory of working at Lexington Park is definitely the relationships I made with my residents," Wells says. "The relationships you make with every resident are unique and special and those are the memories I will carry with me. Not to mention, the residents say some hilarious stuff!"
 
One funny but heartwarming occurrence Wells recalls was one specific lady who was extremely fond of Wells and didn't want anyone else to help her. "When she would press her call light and another CNA answered it, she would get upset and ask for me. This lady's face would always light up when I walked in the room, and that in turn made me happy. She even once bought me cookies!"  


 
With the school year and volleyball season now underway, Wells' focus has shifted to winning games and doing well in the classroom. Though, in the back of her mind, she does have a pretty good idea of her long-term goals and ambitions.
 
"After graduation, I would like to start working in a hospital in their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)," she says. "Nursing grad school is in my plans, I am just not sure when I would like to apply to grad school yet, whether that be once I graduate from George Mason or after a couple years of working."
 
Whatever she ends up choosing to do once her days on the volleyball court come to an end, Wells' CNA employment this past summer was a substantial step in the right direction.
 
On the court, Wells is off to a fast start. She currently checks in at second on the team in kills (79) and kills per set (2.72) and is fresh off an All-Tournament selection from last weekend. While any individual recognition is nice, the focus in the locker room is centered around team success.
 
"Our goal is to make the A-10 tournament this year and we think we have a great chance of doing it," Wells says. "Once you get in the A-10 tournament, anything can happen."