/ Wellesley-Uni CV Internship Subscribe

Knowing nothing about circuit boards and only basic Python, the project seemed daunting at first because we would be working solely with Arduino programming. I had just finished taking my first E&M course at Wellesley, but putting that knowledge into practice was another thing entirely. Furthermore, we were using a variety of sensors and power sources that I had never worked with before. Overall, I was very nervous that I would short circuit something by accident.

When I become an intern supervisor myself, or when recommending the program to other Wellesley students, I will be sure to emphasize the importance of cultural immersion. From my experience, the cultural aspect of the internship was at times more important than the professional aspect. For the second time in my life, I truly felt like a minority. I had a lot of social anxiety in the beginning of my internship because, as an obvious foreigner, I received a lot of constant stares. One way that I was able to overcome this was by making friends at the university and, by extension, learning Cape Verdean Creole. Learning the very basics of Creole made it easier to travel around the island and enjoy all that Cape Verde had to offer.

This internship changed my academic plans and confirmed my plans after Wellesley. Firstly, it made me more interested in engineering. Before, I was not sure what else I could do with my degree other than research and learn about the theoretical. However, looking back at my research at Wellesley and this internship, I have realized that I enjoyed designing and installing projects. When I return to Wellesley I plan to reach out to professors whose research aligns with my interests. Moreover, whereas I was hesitant as to whether I should apply to graduate school, I have now decided to apply to the McNair Scholars Program in the fall.