Innovation at Work: Growing with Purpose
“What is home? Is it the place where you grew up, is it the place where you have family and friends, or is it the place where you work?”
Everyone is on this journey of finding “their” home. For us international folks, it is an interesting journey. We leave our families, friends, and memories behind and travel around the world to study, to work, or just to make something out of our lives.
I started on a similar journey six years ago that brought me to South Bend, Indiana from an equally unheard-of city, West Lafayette, Indiana, after finishing my Master’s Degree. South Bend was a brand new city waiting to be explored. I remember being slightly anxious moving to a place where I didn’t know anyone, where I was supposed to live indefinitely for work. I’m very lucky that feeling didn’t last longer than a day.
I came to South Bend to work at enFocus, which, from my knowledge at the time, was a non-profit company doing consulting work for different sectors, including manufacturing (which I didn’t know was a thing at the time).
“However, from my first day, I was surrounded by incredibly supportive people, kind, and made me feel part of something meaningful. They carried this shy, inexperienced but passionate stranger on their shoulder until I knew what I was doing. They had my back.”
Alongside these fantastic individuals, I worked on a number of projects designing, problem solving and implementing my own solutions in industries ranging from steel fabrication to rubber to glass products. It is an understatement to say that it taught me a wide range of skills and introduced me to my personal and professional network.
Two years later, with my fellowship coming to an end, I decided to stay in the Region and take the next step in my career at Lippert, a company that makes automotive and residential glass products, among other things. At Lippert, I worked as a Process Engineer managing two production lines. I was, once again, incredibly fortunate to meet an amazing, supportive group of people that I still call my friends. I learned a lot working there, especially being allowed to lead, freedom to implement my improvement solutions, and more importantly, make responsible mistakes without fear.
Everything was going great until I felt this longing for something meaningful. It didn’t take me long to realize, even though my professional life was going great, my work didn’t bring me meaning like it did before. Working at enFocus, I always knew that my work was focused on helping the community, the region. And there it was - community engagement and impact! There was an easy solution. With some research and suggestions from friends, I started volunteering at Boys and Girls Clubs. It brought me a great deal of meaning knowing I was engaged in the community once again.
A little over a year after the wonderful experience and connection I made working at Lippert, I decided to return to enFocus. I was ecstatic to be back, to work alongside my friends, to be a part of the enFocus network. For the past year and half, I have been working as a Mechanical Engineer, providing my designing and problem-solving skills at the local manufacturing companies. My social circle has grown significantly, and my Boys and Girls Club kids continue to give me joy and meaning.
“This brings me back to my question - what is home? To me, home is the people in your life who love you and care for you. It is where you find your community, your meaning. In the past four years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have found my community, my meaning, my home in this somewhat unheard-of city of South Bend, Indiana.”
