My internship at the Ocean Discovery Institute was an overall great experience. I learned so much about marine biology, teaching children, and a working environment. I gained communication skills by persevering through speaking to my peers, professionalism from working in an office, and flexibility from using my problem solving skills whenever I struggled. I did not expect to be doing so much work, but all of that work paid off because I will take these experiences with me in the future. Going into this job, I wanted to explore something that I may want to study in the future and the hands on experience helped give me an idea of what it would be like. I found that I like to work with children because it was great to see the look and smile on their face when they are learning. It was nice to be surrounded by young children rather than high schoolers because everyday was different and a new day to conquer, also much less depressing. Working with children everyday was a challenge, but in the end, I got to learn more about how they interact and learn. I enjoyed coming here everyday because I knew we were doing great work by impacting the young lives that live in my community. I hope to continue volunteering here in the future, hopefully this summer!
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Since my last update, I have been doing more research on surveys and discussing with my mentor her goals with the survey. She looked over my research and narrowed the survey websites to three. Now, I need to test run these websites to see which one fits the best. She gave me the outline of the questions we will be using so that I can start making example surveys. It has been a bit difficult to communicate with my mentor, especially because she is always busy. I have not been advancing with this project quickly because sometimes whenever I need her guidance, she is unavailable. I have been making the most of my time by working on anything that I could and asking my coworkers if they need any more help. Whenever I have the chance, I make sure to ask my mentor all the questions I can and update her on how I am doing. During this internship, I have learned to be more proactive and adapting to any situation that comes my way. The most important thing I took away from the experience so far is to advocate for myself by speaking up and depending on my own problem solving skills.
Mentor Name: Rochelle Mothokakobo
Company: Ocean Discovery Institute Position: Student Program Manager At Ocean Discovery Institute, my mentor, Rochelle, is the Student Initiative lead and asked me to make a survey for the students enrolled in the classroom programs. She does not know much about surveys or what she is looking for, so it is my job to do some research. Daily, I have been working on finding good survey sites and jotting them down into a spreadsheet to keep track of what each site includes and does not include. I will go over them with her and hopefully find the perfect site to make the survey. When I finish the survey, it will be able to receive feedback from the students and we could collect data that could be helpful to the organization. This project is helping me gain research skills and practice executing a task given by my mentor. It requires me to collaborate with other people and contribute my ideas while listening to theirs. I will be the person leading the survey project and making sure it works effectively with the organization.
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Ocean Discovery InstituteI interned with an organization that strives to create ocean science opportunities for young people of underserved communities!
Click through these blog posts to see the assignments I have done during this internship.
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