Embracing Challenges Without Fear of Failure
8/9/2021 5:06:00 PM | Volleyball, Student Athlete, Features
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
Lehigh volleyball senior Ava Hudson traveled to Barcelona, Spain this summer for a six-week environmental engineering internship.
The importance of not being afraid to fail was reinforced over and over throughout the experience. And it's something that will pay dividends in many areas of her life.
"I didn't know anyone on the trip," said Hudson. "I was going alone and had a lot of friends ask if I was scared. I don't know why, but I wasn't scared at all. I was just very excited."
Hudson's confidence grew from being in uncomfortable situations at her internship with Geeni, a company that works with renewable energy… specifically solar energy.
"I had always played things safe," said Hudson. "But there were times when my boss asked if I made the graph yet. I hadn't because I wasn't sure which data he wanted me to use. He'd say just do it and he'd tell me if it was correct."
Hudson's immediate thought was… what if it's wrong?
"He said it's okay if it was wrong. He wanted to see how I thought through it on my own, then we could talk about it after."
That thought process was different than Hudson was used to.
"A lot of times (before this summer), I didn't want to write my paper or perform my experiment until I knew every single step because I didn't want to get it wrong," she said.
"I learned so much more if I showed my boss a graph or calculation and he wanted me to change it."
What type work was "it" for Hudson?
"On a typical day, my main priority was compiling research on how green roofs – literally roofs with plants – benefit solar panels," she said. "There's research and studies about how solar panels can help green roofs, but there's not a whole lot on the reverse relationship. I had to find confident and reputable experiments [on that topic], then make my own calculations, form hypotheses and test these hypotheses based on any empirical data.
"We then tried to calculate how much the lifetime of the solar panels has increased and how much the power production has increased, put that together and present to my boss."
One of Hudson's first priorities after starting her internship was educating herself.
"One of the first things I did was learn some of the software used for mapping for the different energy communities," she said. "Another big piece was having to read Spanish legislature on energy laws because they've been changing a lot recently. We had to understand how the whole process works within the actual community – within the laws and government – before getting into the energy usage part of it."
Because Hudson was only in Barcelona for six weeks, she wasn't able to run experiments within that timeframe.
"My boss said if I was there for a year or working there [full-time] right now, we would probably run experiments," said Hudson. "At one point though, he said now that you've read all these sources, how would you design your experiment? What would you do? What plants would you use? What height would you use? What angle solar panels would you use?"
The internship forced Hudson to think differently, which led to growth. Growth also came from being in a different country all by herself.
Hudson had visited Barcelona in the past, and loved it, which led to her interest in returning for an internship.
"Last summer, I was supposed to study abroad in Ireland with Lehigh, but obviously COVID-19 led to it being cancelled," said Hudson. "This summer, I was way more focused on getting an internship because I really wanted work experience. I wanted to put my engineering skills to the test.
"I sat down one day in my dad's office and googled 'environmental engineering internships abroad,'" she continued. "The CIS Abroad program popped up, which ended up getting me placed with Geeni. At first, it seemed too good to be true – my major and my favorite city.
"Everything fell into place."
An environmental engineering major, Hudson was asked by a CIS Abroad coordinator how she felt about an internship that wasn't solely environmental-engineering focused.
"I just wanted work experience, so I told her if it's slightly different or more civil engineering, that's totally fine," said Hudson. "Once I had my interviews, it came down to choosing between two different companies.
"I'm really happy I went with Geeni," she continued. "It ended up being exactly what I want to do (for a career), which I wasn't expecting."
Hudson has always been intrigued with sustainable and renewable energy.
"This helped solidify the fact that I do want to go into sustainable energy and technology," she said. "I'm actually now considering graduate school in Spain."
While Hudson's exact career aspirations became clearer through her internship experience, she can also take her added confidence and not-being-afraid-to-fail mindset into the upcoming volleyball season.
"Personally, one of the main things I've struggled with in volleyball is being afraid to fail," said Hudson. "I feel like I'm a very consistent, trustworthy player. I can keep the ball in, I can keep my serve in and I can perform how I need to. But I can't be afraid to hit the ball as hard as I can sometimes. Every once in a while, it might hit the back wall, but you're not going to get better until you do it."
It's a message coaches have often reiterated.
"At the end of the day, you learn the most when you fail," said Hudson. "If I never tried anything new and just had someone tell me what to do the whole time, I wouldn't be learning that much. But if you actually try it on your own and someone tells you to do it this way, or we're going to do it this way because of this, then you end up learning so much."
Speaking of learning, Hudson arguably learned the most by simply being immersed in another culture.
"I was the English-speaking American in a Spanish office, so the language barrier at times made it a little difficult," said Hudson, whose most recent Spanish class was four years prior. "I had to really think about how I phrased my questions. If I was explaining something, I had to understand it well enough to explain it in a lot simpler terms."
Hudson spoke some English to those who knew the language, but as she said, "I wanted to make sure I didn't walk in there and expect everyone to speak English, because that's not how it should be. For the most part, it was Spanish, but they also speak Catalan in Barcelona. That was interesting because some words sound so similar to Spanish and I wouldn't quite hear when they switched."
One of the big topics discussed in Hudson's internship course (taken as part of her six weeks overseas) was navigating cultural differences.
"If you're able to travel, I don't understand why you wouldn't because I think it's one of the most enriching experiences," she said.
The experience wouldn't have been possible without Hudson's willingness to take a chance (by going overseas alone) and not being afraid to fail.
"There were a lot of little things I could have let add up to not enjoy my experience as much, but I was in Spain, learning so much, getting better at Spanish and meeting some of my best friends," she said.
"Having a growth mindset the entire time really helped me and taught me a lot that I'll carry with me for many years to come."
Lehigh volleyball senior Ava Hudson traveled to Barcelona, Spain this summer for a six-week environmental engineering internship.
The importance of not being afraid to fail was reinforced over and over throughout the experience. And it's something that will pay dividends in many areas of her life.
"I didn't know anyone on the trip," said Hudson. "I was going alone and had a lot of friends ask if I was scared. I don't know why, but I wasn't scared at all. I was just very excited."
Hudson's confidence grew from being in uncomfortable situations at her internship with Geeni, a company that works with renewable energy… specifically solar energy.
"I had always played things safe," said Hudson. "But there were times when my boss asked if I made the graph yet. I hadn't because I wasn't sure which data he wanted me to use. He'd say just do it and he'd tell me if it was correct."
Hudson's immediate thought was… what if it's wrong?
"He said it's okay if it was wrong. He wanted to see how I thought through it on my own, then we could talk about it after."
That thought process was different than Hudson was used to.
"A lot of times (before this summer), I didn't want to write my paper or perform my experiment until I knew every single step because I didn't want to get it wrong," she said.
"I learned so much more if I showed my boss a graph or calculation and he wanted me to change it."
What type work was "it" for Hudson?
"On a typical day, my main priority was compiling research on how green roofs – literally roofs with plants – benefit solar panels," she said. "There's research and studies about how solar panels can help green roofs, but there's not a whole lot on the reverse relationship. I had to find confident and reputable experiments [on that topic], then make my own calculations, form hypotheses and test these hypotheses based on any empirical data.
"We then tried to calculate how much the lifetime of the solar panels has increased and how much the power production has increased, put that together and present to my boss."
One of Hudson's first priorities after starting her internship was educating herself.
"One of the first things I did was learn some of the software used for mapping for the different energy communities," she said. "Another big piece was having to read Spanish legislature on energy laws because they've been changing a lot recently. We had to understand how the whole process works within the actual community – within the laws and government – before getting into the energy usage part of it."
Because Hudson was only in Barcelona for six weeks, she wasn't able to run experiments within that timeframe.
"My boss said if I was there for a year or working there [full-time] right now, we would probably run experiments," said Hudson. "At one point though, he said now that you've read all these sources, how would you design your experiment? What would you do? What plants would you use? What height would you use? What angle solar panels would you use?"
The internship forced Hudson to think differently, which led to growth. Growth also came from being in a different country all by herself.
Hudson had visited Barcelona in the past, and loved it, which led to her interest in returning for an internship.
"Last summer, I was supposed to study abroad in Ireland with Lehigh, but obviously COVID-19 led to it being cancelled," said Hudson. "This summer, I was way more focused on getting an internship because I really wanted work experience. I wanted to put my engineering skills to the test.
"I sat down one day in my dad's office and googled 'environmental engineering internships abroad,'" she continued. "The CIS Abroad program popped up, which ended up getting me placed with Geeni. At first, it seemed too good to be true – my major and my favorite city.
"Everything fell into place."
An environmental engineering major, Hudson was asked by a CIS Abroad coordinator how she felt about an internship that wasn't solely environmental-engineering focused.
"I just wanted work experience, so I told her if it's slightly different or more civil engineering, that's totally fine," said Hudson. "Once I had my interviews, it came down to choosing between two different companies.
"I'm really happy I went with Geeni," she continued. "It ended up being exactly what I want to do (for a career), which I wasn't expecting."
Hudson has always been intrigued with sustainable and renewable energy.
"This helped solidify the fact that I do want to go into sustainable energy and technology," she said. "I'm actually now considering graduate school in Spain."
While Hudson's exact career aspirations became clearer through her internship experience, she can also take her added confidence and not-being-afraid-to-fail mindset into the upcoming volleyball season.
"Personally, one of the main things I've struggled with in volleyball is being afraid to fail," said Hudson. "I feel like I'm a very consistent, trustworthy player. I can keep the ball in, I can keep my serve in and I can perform how I need to. But I can't be afraid to hit the ball as hard as I can sometimes. Every once in a while, it might hit the back wall, but you're not going to get better until you do it."
It's a message coaches have often reiterated.
"At the end of the day, you learn the most when you fail," said Hudson. "If I never tried anything new and just had someone tell me what to do the whole time, I wouldn't be learning that much. But if you actually try it on your own and someone tells you to do it this way, or we're going to do it this way because of this, then you end up learning so much."
Speaking of learning, Hudson arguably learned the most by simply being immersed in another culture.
"I was the English-speaking American in a Spanish office, so the language barrier at times made it a little difficult," said Hudson, whose most recent Spanish class was four years prior. "I had to really think about how I phrased my questions. If I was explaining something, I had to understand it well enough to explain it in a lot simpler terms."
Hudson spoke some English to those who knew the language, but as she said, "I wanted to make sure I didn't walk in there and expect everyone to speak English, because that's not how it should be. For the most part, it was Spanish, but they also speak Catalan in Barcelona. That was interesting because some words sound so similar to Spanish and I wouldn't quite hear when they switched."
One of the big topics discussed in Hudson's internship course (taken as part of her six weeks overseas) was navigating cultural differences.
"If you're able to travel, I don't understand why you wouldn't because I think it's one of the most enriching experiences," she said.
The experience wouldn't have been possible without Hudson's willingness to take a chance (by going overseas alone) and not being afraid to fail.
"There were a lot of little things I could have let add up to not enjoy my experience as much, but I was in Spain, learning so much, getting better at Spanish and meeting some of my best friends," she said.
"Having a growth mindset the entire time really helped me and taught me a lot that I'll carry with me for many years to come."
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