What did I learn this week?

  I learned a ton! I had never tried to apply for a grant nor have I ever really did any research on what it takes to secure a grant.  I performed a ton of research on my grant project and even reached out to various consulting firms and equipment distributers for information.  The week was very beneficial to me and even though it was difficult, I enjoyed the process.

1.) What could I have done differently this week that might have impacted my performance for the better?

   During week 4, I remember being told that for the grant projects, we were supposed to do exactly what the grant required.  I did do the work for the grant requirement, and it was only after completing all of the work was it brought to my attention that if we were doing the Smart Policing Initiative grant, we were supposed to meet the requirements posted on D2L. I did not initially read the D2L requirements as I thought I had a good understanding of what was required. I should have read the D2L assignment and if I would have done that, I would have to do less work and less time would have spent on finding the grant forms and completing them.

  Initially my grant project was on obtaining a 3D scanner for crash investigation and recreating major scenes.  I did a ton of research on this and even pitched it to Chrysler, SEMCOG, Insurance companies, and a few other places. I made lots of contacts and even had a demonstration done on a scanner. However, I could not locate a grant for the 3D scanner and the business representatives did not get back to me in a timely enough manner so I had to do a grant on a different topic. 

2.)  How will my "real world" behavior change as a result of what I learned/experienced this week?
 
  My behavior will change in the future because I will thoroughly read everything associated with a task prior to beginning it.  Even if I have an understanding, I need to make sure that I meet the requirements of the project rather than doing more than what is required. I tend to do more than what is required on most projects or tasks and this causes me to spend time on less important things in order to get the task at hand completed.