I am thankful to many people for many things throughout this internship experience so I'm just going to list a few.
I am thankful to my dad for giving me Jose's contact info, he started this whole chain. I am thankful to Jose for taking me seriously, he could have disregarded a high schooler like me. I am thankful to Mrs. Pyper for helping me fill out the paperwork that UCSD required. I am thankful to Leo for training me how to be safe while having fun. I am thankful to Rollie for his great teaching, and patience, he left no question unanswered. I am thankful to Ryan for keeping me company and talking to me from the perspective of a student. I am thankful to Daniel for letting me into the lab every morning. I am thankful to each person from the lunch group for having a great mind and sense of humor. I am thankful to Joanne for helping me get ready for this internship and putting up with my constant emails. I am thankful to Steve for calming me down when things looked rough. I have come to appreciate the time and effort adults spend at their work. I hope to be able to be similarly motivated when I graduate.
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Patience is something I see in the engineers that I definitely want to develop in myself. The trial and error that comes along with some of the things they do on a daily basis would drive me insane in about 5 minutes. If I want to pursue this career path I need to be able to try and try and try something without getting frustrated.
In addition, my plans for life after high school have changed drastically, which is to say that I actually started thinking about it. To be honest, I just figured that I keep all of my options open and take whatever pathways I want, but I am starting to realize that laying some more specific, solid groundwork now might be a good idea. I figure this internship is definitely a step in the right direction and has gotten me thinking, now I just Well internship is winding down to a close, so it's time to talk about IPOLs. POLs are something that we do a HTHI once or twice a year, just to review what we have learned and how we will use that in the future.
My POL will rely on a google slides presentation, some notecards and some pictures. It isn't really rocket science. But while getting ready for it, I have had some time to think about this internship of mine. I learned a lot, that much is probably obvious by now (see other blog posts). But aside from learning I feel like I made some quality friends over the past few weeks. I don't know if I will see any of them ever again, but I like to think that I will. I have come to appreciate every piece of technology I use, from a computer to a flashlight, because I now understand all of the thought that goes into everything electronic. Sitting down and designing a circuit is really hard, I am amazed how the indicate components all fit together so well. Overall, I think that I have contributed to this workplace. Perhaps not the groundbreaking sense that I dreamed of, but I am quite proud that I sort of kept up with the engineers. I remember in the first week at lunch someone said, "you are keeping up better than some of our college students, good job" but then the other engineers said "he didn't say you were caught up, just that you aren't as far behind." I found it really funny, and was proud that they thought I was doing a good job. One of my fears about being here was falling behind and not being able to comprehend what everyone was talking about, but I guess I did a pretty good job. In the average day I arrive, knock on the door and get right to work, studying, soldering, or just following someone around asking questions. However much I slowed someone down, I wanted to make up that much with helping them. I will put a group picture here when Rollie sends it to me. One major thing that I have learned through this internship is speaking up when I want to do something. In my earlier posts, I talk about being stuck in my little room all the time but that was because I never spoke up about wanting something to do. I wasn't a prisoner, I could have walked out at any time and found someone to follow around for a while. I wish I had done that instead of sitting around whenever nobody had a job for me. Now that I have realized this, I have had much more fun here everyday, exploring the different sides of researching. This is definitely a lesson that I will take with me when I start working.
Short answer: great!
Long answer: freaking awesome! This internship has been a blast! I am learning so much wish I could do this forever. My project isn't really a project anymore, it has evolved into multiple collaborations with the different people who work here. With Rollie, I was originally just copying solder circuits for him but now he is teaching me the basics of engineering. I realize that my project is supposed to be something for them but Rollie helping me instead. I now understand what I am making, not just how to make it. Leo first had me researching different parts for the probe, linear motors, brakes, and custom designing springs. Lately I have been following him around as he explains the different parts of each machine and how their control systems work. I still talk to Ryan almost every day. His advanced probe-head is going well but won't be used while I am here. I am sad that I won't get to see it in action but it was still fun to see him make it. Overall, my project is now to learn. I pointed out to Leo that teaching me isn't a project but he told me, "developing a future engineer is the best investment to make" so now I can't let him down. I snuck a quick picture of some plasma today. I first said it looked like a lightsaber but Udeema pointed out that it's closer to the Death Star. The main difference between a week here and a week at school is the consistency. At school I go from this class to that one, I turn in this work and I sit next to that person. At internship, I might shadow someone for one day and not see anybody the next. Sometimes I research linear motors all day and the next all I do is solder. Internship is very fluid, which has its benefits and drawbacks, but is overall refreshing. This internship has shown me how it feels to have a fluid work schedule. It may provide insight on if I want something similar in the future.
My work so far has consisted mainly of electrical engineering, so if I go into that field it will help immensely. Otherwise, probably not so much. Regardless the experience is what is valuable, not just the content. During this internship I have rediscovered one of my biggest limitations: working while being completely alone for hours at a time. Today everybody else had something to do, research this, test that, or just paperwork. But I just researched operational amplifiers all day, alone. The lack of social interaction was very draining, I couldn't even hear anybody over the sound of the machines. I started getting a bit of cabin fever and couldn't play music because my phone was out of battery :(
This experience taught me that I need to have somebody or something that is just there. Something that will make me more at peace. I could have moved out of the lab, found a nice table to work on for the day. That is what I will probably do next time. The biggest challenge I face is probably not touching everything I see. When I don't know what something is, I want to explore it, pick it up, look from all sides, push a few buttons. That is obviously not ok at my internship, and I have come close to making some major mistakes. Like, kill me and ruin equipment in the process. Because of this I have taken to the habit of holding my hands behind my back and just leaning closer to things, which is only marginally better but better all the same.
A challenge that has come up for other people is finding the right parts to order. Most things are custom made so we are designing every aspect of it. If there is a disagreement between the engineers it halts progress for a while because everybody's input is heard and taken into account. That somewhat includes mine so me asking too many questions can be another problem. The engineers don't do anything to fix that problem though; allowing people to give input is worth the time lost. Today I looked at the blogs of other students to see what differences there were between our internships. I looked at Kenneth's blog and saw pictures of him surrounded by the elementary schooler's he works with. Kennedy's blog was just as funny as she is, but she doesn't seem to be having much fun at her internship. Ben's seemed to really respect the theater actors at his internship. Each one of my peers are very different and are in different settings but I think lots can be said about all of them. Kenneth is having a blast, but then again, this is Kenneth we are talking about. He could be in an empty room for hours and still be having fun. The raw joy he feels at his internship is how I feel when Leo is proud of my work. Kennedy's complaints about being locked out are very relatable to me (I don't have lab access codes still) but she likes the way her workspace looks. I love the scattered electronics and tools here, the organized chaos. Ben finds joy in human interaction, connecting with everybody around him, just as I like to do at lunch. Everyone has something different they connect with at their internship and I find that very interesting.
P.S. Don't tell Rollie I don't know exactly what field I want to go into so this internship has been very helpful.
Ryan did a great job of explaining the different parts of the scientific field. "physicists are dreams, the engineers make it a reality." This simple explanation has been on my mind all day, and it begs a question, am I a dreamer or a maker? I want to be both, but I don't know if I can. Because I have been thinking about this for so long, my role as an intern has changed. As of now I have only been a dreamer, only came up with ideas but haven't made them a reality. Come to think of it, I don't know if I can. We haven't ordered the linear motor yet and I don't know how long shipping will take... Looks like I will stay a dreamer for this internship, but at least I will know if I want to be a physicist or not. |
InternshipThis is a series of blog posts made while I was interning Junior year. Archives
February 2017
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