How did you measure the success of the work you did while you were an intern? What did you learn from this?
The way I measures the success of the work I did while I was an intern was by asking my mentor and by reflecting on my own work. I reflected on my work to see if I really put as much effort into my work as I could have and if the final product was something that was worth being proud of. I asked my mentor if what I was doing was good and I asked questions to see what I could do to improve. I made sure to review my own work before asking my mentor. Something I learned from this was how important it is to review your own work before asking someone else to do it. This is important because you are taking time out of someone else's day so, you want to make sure that they can give you more meaningful feedback rather than taking up their time with simple mistakes that you could have seen by yourself. How was your work as an intern meaningful to your education? My work as an intern was meaningful to my education in many ways. I learned a lot of new things, mostly about nanotechnology and bioengineering. Something I learned about was the future of nanotechnology. I learned that right now they are trying to make new ways to deliver drugs that can be more effective and have less side effects. Another way that my work as an intern was meaningful to my education is in my ability to grow some skills such as self-advocacy, self-discipline and responsibility. These skills can all be transferred to my life as a high school student, college student and beyond. What did you learn about your own work from your internship project? Something I learned about my own work from my internship project is that I look for ways to improve the work that I do. My internship project was making a proximity sensor and when I finished making it I thought of ways to make it even better. I realized that I enjoy challenging myself, especially with the work that I do. For example, after I finished my proximity sensor, I decided that I wanted to add some LEDs that will turn on depending on how close or far you are from the sensor. I think that this is because I want to put out my best work. What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself? Why? Some qualities that I saw in the people around me that I would like to further develop in myself are self-discipline and persistence. The graduate students can come in and leave whenever they want. Many of them displayed a self-discipline that I would like to develop. They would come in for more than eight hours a day and constantly be working on their projects. They wouldn't really get distracted with their phones or anything else. They would even eat their lunch while working. I think that kind of self-discipline is really important to have, especially after high school since nobody is going to be constantly checking up on you. The persistence goes hand in hand with the self-discipline. They have to be persistent in order to work on the same project for years. They face many challenges and roadblocks but they push through those and continue their work. While they may get frustrated they don't let the frustration stop them. I think this is an admirable quality that I would like to further develop in myself. How did your view of life beyond high school change or develop during your time as an intern? My view of life beyond high school changed in many ways during my time as an intern. I think that biggest thing that changed was my view on being passionate about what you do. Before this internship I knew that it was important that you enjoyed what you did but, it was never my number one priority. After this internship it has moved up on my priority list. This is especially important if you are thinking of going into graduate school for something. Everyone that I have been working with are graduate students who have been working on the same project for years. If you are working on something for that long you have to be passionate about it, that doesn't mean that you won't have days where you are tired of working. But, the passion is what will keep you from giving up and it will make you get through the harder days. I now have a better understanding of why it is so important to be passionate and enjoy what you are doing. How might internship influence the direction of your life? This internship might influence the direction of my life by narrowing down and eliminating certain career paths that I was previously thinking about. Before this internship I had a very broad and general understanding of what I might have wanted to do in the future. The main field I had in mind was medicine but I also had law and business in mind as well. While this internship was focused on bioengineering and nanotechnology it was still able to narrow that list down. I was able to realize that I want to work in a field that has more interactions with people. Within the field of medicine I was able to take any kind of researching career off of the list. I personally believe that I would thrive better in a more collaborative environment. This internship also reinforced my want to go to graduate school. It was interesting to see how all of the graduate students were so involved in their projects and it made me sure that I wanted to go to graduate school whether it was for medicine, law or business. Another way this internship influenced the direction of my life is by making me realize that I shouldn't attach myself to the idea of one career path because I won't know what it is really like until I experience it. This internship made me want to get more internships in a variety of fields to be able to experience different careers. I will be commenting on Angeli and Jeremy's blogposts.
7 Comments
Mariana A.
5/29/2019 03:03:31 pm
It sounds like you are enjoying your internship so far and that makes me glad. It also looks like you have learned a lot in your internship and that can help you gain new skills and it can also help you improve on skills that you have. Great job, can't wait to read more!
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Cheyenne
5/29/2019 10:06:16 pm
Hi Sasha,
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Mariela A.
5/29/2019 11:52:17 pm
Now that you are reflecting on your time at internship. Is there anything that you would do differently? Or would do all over again? What has been the most memorable moment for you during this time?
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Angeli Solis
5/30/2019 08:12:16 am
If you had a different internship do you think your idea for a future career would have been different or the same? Do you feel more confident for what you may want to pursue? Also, I think that its really cool that you have gained so much like new skills and knowledge on nanotechnology.
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Gracie Hensley
5/30/2019 06:24:59 pm
I am so glad that you are using this internship to help narrow down what you might want to become in life. As well as finding characteristics that you want to take on.
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Sheyla M
5/30/2019 10:44:34 pm
It's great that your internship helped you narrow down on your career choices. You should 100% do an internship in the medical field that involves working with patients. It is really eye opening and It will for sure help you decided if you want to work in the medical field or not. I also find that research careers are not for me.
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Oliver Scott
5/31/2019 07:27:18 pm
Now that we are reaching the end of our internship experience it is great that you are seeing the value of the work you do and the things your mentor is telling you. This looks to be a valuable reflection for you and will help you decide what direction your career should go. Make sure you are sure on your choices.
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