Internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory

During my geology field trip, I told my professor that I wanted an internship in the summer. So told me that she knew some people that might be able to get me an internship, and asked for my resume. Meanwhile, I applied for many planetary science and astronomy internships for the summer.  

One day in January, my professor told me that my resume is in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She also said that the people reviewing it worked on Mars, but she couldn’t guarantee that I would get selected. I was not expecting anything, but I thought that it would be great if I could get this opportunity even though Los Alamos is far from home.

In March, I got an email informing me that I can work on a project involving rock coatings on Mars. I was very surprised that I got an offer. I read some papers that were sent to me and the project sounded interesting. The project was about identifying rock coatings that have a similar composition at the rock itself using the data captured by the rover on Mars. In a few weeks, I had a video call with my mentor and co-mentor. People seemed like they would be good to work with, so I said yes to the opportunity.

I was pretty nervous about starting a new job with new people but I convinced myself to be confident and prepare for the meeting. I made a list of questions to ask my mentor. Our first meeting went well. My mentor seemed nice and caring. After that meeting, I felt less stressed about the job. I also met one of my coworkers and had lunch with her. She showed me how it was like to work at LANL as a student.

At the end of summer, I needed to present my project. I worked with my mentor to make a poster explaining the project and my findings. It was a good experience learning how to communicate technical material clearly. Then I wrote my speech and practiced it many times. I was a little nervous presenting in front of new people but it was good that I knew my speech very well. I also created a list of commonly asked questions. I printed out my speech and a list of questions and planned to hand out a copy to everyone I was presenting to. The presentation went well and people liked my poster. 

I learned how to adapt to a new environment and communicate professionally. I had a good relationship with my mentor and she gave really good advice. I learned what to do for the future like career development. It also confirmed that I wanted to double major in physics and earth and planetary science.