Read through to learn more about personal experiences, and the blogs that were recorded throughout this internship.
The Adventure Begins
Prompt: Hopes and Dreams
A Photo of me and my dog, Theo, on our way to my first day of internship.
A photo of me out front of the research lab, on a skateboard, my mode of transportation from school.
First Day - Today was my first day at SDSU's Coastal & Marine Institute Laboratory Internship. To be quite honest, I was pretty nervous for today, and am still nervous for what it will hold. This lab is unlike any that I have seen, and every inch of it amazes me. Roughly broken into two different zones, the lab contains a lot of different things going on at once, all of which are essential to the completion of each graduate students project. There is the more traditional yet incredibly fascinating "Lab" part of the building, with plankton swimming under microscopes, freezers busy with preserving vital and important evidence, and beakers filled with pulverized seaweed - and then there is the rest, which I can only describe as the name of this laboratory... Coastal and Marine. Possibly a hundred different buckets, barrels and bins act as a aquarium for many different organisms the lab holds, all connected with an intricate jumble of PVC pipes, filtering in fresh saltwater. Here, you can see abalone crawling along an underwater infrastructure, clams being studied with heart rate monitors, sea urchins feeding on seaweed and eel grass growing to create a surreal environment. All of these experiments are incredibly unique and fascinating, giving us more knowledge on all of the life that lives beneath the surface.
But its not just the lab and experiments taking place that is so fascinating, Its the people too. Just with a few hours of being in the same environment as all of these talented researchers, I can sense their curiosity and tenacity to complete their goals, and their pride to take on these ambitious projects. The best part of it all, is the deep love, and care for the ocean each person shares. Not only is this what they research, but they seem to spend all of the free time in and around the ocean, treating it as something that is vital to life. During my time here, there was always a non-stop chatter of all things aquatic - from learning each others projects and their knowledge of marine life, to sharing a new experience they had among the waves, there was never something non-ocean brought up. This isn't even to mention them talking about their hobbies, some of which include surfing, free-diving, spearfishing, boating, and tide-pooling, a never ending list connecting each person in their own way to the ocean. From my observations of the researchers today, I have concluded that they are all extremely intelligent, kind, and active with the ocean, as it is all they think, breathe and do. I am now forced to believe that every person in the lab might quite literally be, a sea animal. Now thats pretty cool.
There are some very exciting yet frightening things on the horizon for my internship. A problem that we have encountered thus far, is what to do. Each day, there is about 2 hours of work for me to do, that will benefit and help my mentor, Chelsea, like creating a map of diving coordinates with high fish activity, which will be a great place for Chelsea to collect fish samples later on for her project. For the next 4 hours, I have been provided with very interesting articles and papers to read on her subject, as well as videos and slide shows on native fish species for me to learn to identify, for an upcoming part of her project. Although fun and interesting, its not the type of activity I can do all day, or one that I would like to do for the rest of the month. My mentor having foreseen this, has given me the task of creating my own mini-project on something that interests me. This will allow me to get more hands-on time, as I will be able to use all of the equipment and technology around me, and to create something that is authentically me. It is still nerve racking having to come up with something like this, and I will be seeking for support and inspiration on the past and present projects around me. Im very excited for the weeks to come!
Week 1
Prompt: What surprises you most about your first week?
Here you can see my work environment for the rest of the week. I found different locations to enjoy my studies. Some times I was eating Crepes, but most of the time I was reading about kelp, or researching different fish.
A Few Surprises - This week, has been surprising to say the least, as it was not quite what I was expecting. On the first day, I was filled with lots of great experiences, and I really enjoyed being in the lab environment. I wish I could say that those experiences carried on throughout the week. Unfortunately, due to different restraints, I have been working asynchronously, at home, for the entire week. Conditions for going out on a boat and sampling have been rough recently because of the large storms sent down from El Nino. With the storm calming down this week, my mentor has to be hasty to get the samples she needs in order to continue her project. Unfortunately for me, I cannot come along on the boat quite yet as I need some of my forms to be processed my an administrator. I also cannot go into the lab, as a separate form is being processed so I can have lab keys to give me admittance into the lab itself(as well as other rooms within the lab, including the bathroom). At least, that is what I think is going on to the best of my understanding. Which leaves me with where I am today. At home. On my computer. In the kitchen. In my Pijamas. So to say the least, this wasnt exactly the experience that I was expecting, and is quite surprising. Im hoping to get into the lab next week, and possibly shadowing my mentor with other responsibilities she has around the lab.
Meanwhile at home, I have tried to use this time as best as I can. I have been reading about many different fish, and have now successfully memorized 43 different types of fish commonly found in the kelp forests of California. Today I will continue my readings on research papers that have been provided, an hopefully test my fish knowledge if Chelsea gets the chance to send over some of the footage that she is gathering today. I have been spending my time at different cafes being as productive as possible. My brother is using our shared car to drive to his internship. Maybe one day I'll drive him to it so I can go surfing in the morning instead. For now, I'll just go on a bike ride.
Week 2
Prompt: Describe your Internship Final Project
These photos show just some of the different experiences that I have had with hands-on work with my mentor. Most of this work has been inside the lab, by weighing and grinding up kelp samples, to then weigh and prepare at a much smaller level, for an special Stable Isotope Analysis Machine. I have also been fortunate enough to be taken on a boat trips to help with some "above water" sample collection, where I got to collect kelp, and even dissect a Purple Sea Urchin!
Final Project - I am now at the stage of my internship where I now have to decide what to do for my final project. Me and my mentor have come up with ideas on what to do for my final project, yet I have not yet been able to be very productive with this idea quite yet. I would like to do something focused around kelp, as that is one of the main focuses of the lab that my mentor works in, along with my interest with the California Kelp Forests. Id love to do a small, controlled experiment in some of the available open spots in the more "Marine" side of the lab. Recently, I have also called Dr. Quinn to discuss what types of projects might be available to me. We discussed making plaques to go on each persons project to get a better understanding of what was going on inside the lab, and even creating a handbook that teaches people how to use certain machinery, allowing me to learn how to use them as well.
It is now the end of the week, and I have decided that creating my own project is no long feasible, and the other options listed above will take too much time. Besides, by sticking with my mentor and both shadowing their activities, and doing some of my own, I am gaining invaluable experiences. This in itself will be my final project, as it is much more enticing and contains a plentiful amount of rich experiences. I am planning on adding photos of my progress and of the activities that I have taken part in to show all the things that I have learned so far.
I will be compiling all of this information into a research poster, with lots of photos expressing my progress. We will see if I can finish this in time to print it for IPOL to have something Tangible made, and possibly hung within the lab.
Week 2
Prompt: Describe the Culture at your Internship. Include how people act communicate and work together.
Here, you can see myself, and others working independently on our projects at hand. This shows a lot of the culture of the lab, as it is both independent, and quiet.
Culture - I think I talked about this on my first day. The culture, unsurprisingly, is just ocean. Everything ocean. Everyone I talk to is always kinds to one another, and is always open to sharing both their knowledge and materials. "The best part of it all, is the deep love, and care for the ocean each person shares. Not only is this what they research, but they seem to spend all of the free time in and around the ocean, treating it as something that is vital to life."
However, there is some part of the culture of the lab that I have not talked about yet. And that, is the emptiness of it. The first day of my internship seemed to be very active in both a verbal and cultural sense. However, I have not experienced a day that matched the same energy levels. Through conversation with my mentor, I learned that the Winter time is a particularly slower time for Marine Biology Graduate students. It is harder to collect samples and conduct research, so most of them are only in the lab during the summer time, or come minimally during the winter. Of course, this Isn't true for everyone, as multiple people still work in the lab. Even so, when I am there, everyone seems concerned about their own research, and almost everyone works independently. Makes some sense, as there is no need to work with someone else that has nothing to do with what you're doing. Even I adopted with work style here, which is a large contrast to how I behave at school. Somehow in the lab, I just get really focused in on what I am doing, and seem to hyper focus until the task is done, and it seems that that is what a lot of people are doing around me as well.
A lot of Students don't spend a lot of time in the lab as their attention isn't immediately needed, and a lot of the people(including my mentor) are very busy, some of which are TA's, and have multiple jobs outside of CMIL to earn extra money. Im glad I get to experience something different from school. I think that If I were to be here for a prolonged amount of time, I would make sure to make friends with some of the people, and start to become more social. Ive noticed that some people have some closer friends around the lab. My mentor has a diving buddy, Jacob, who I get to hang out with when we go out on the boat. Surprisingly, I don't mind having to focus for a long amount of time because I will have lots of free-time before and after to do all sorts of things. I wonder if that feeling would ever change.
Week 3
Prompt: Choose your favorite photos from your photo essay—post these highlight photos and a caption explaining what we see and what makes this significant to you.
Photo Essay - Something that this prompt does really is that it allows me to fully express and show the diversity that this internship provides. Through this internship, I've seen that not all labs are just sitting in a windowless room mindlessly clicking away at a spreadsheet(although sometimes that is what it entails...). With this marine biology and costal sciences lab you really get to immerse yourself within the environment you are researching, an experience that not all labs are fortunate enough to have. Granted, there have been days where I am typing up spreadsheets, and on my computer, but the data itself is fascinating, and so it doesn't make it too bad. anyhow, within this internship I get to gain experiences unlike any other internship available to HTHMA. Not only do I get the lab experiences, but I also get boating, diving, college and marine experiences as well. I do believe that this is the most diverse, and best internship available for someone like me who loves learning and science, as well as being outdoors and seeing things for myself, as seen with the photos above.
This lab is full of rich Experiences. If you look at the middle photo, you can see a Plankton that I had captured under a microscope when I was having my first experiences as a Plankter - a term for an individual who studies Plankton. This day, I did spend all of my time within the lab, first trying to find equipment that worked, then later analyzing our water sample drop by drop under a microscope. Whilst analyzing, I not only had to find these tiny amazing creatures, but also Identify them, using many zooplankton and phytoplankton data bases. After correctly Identifying, I would then enter the species name into a spreadsheet, and move on making sure to find every single one within the drop before moving on to the next. Although this may sound boring and tedious so some, it was very valuable to me. Being able to sit down in a very unique environment, and being able to see all the things that you can't normally never see changes your entire perspective, and can teach you so much about a world you never knew.
The most valuable experience of all, has to be represented with this special moment in the photo on the right. Here, I am on the boat with my mentor, Chelsea, and another grad student, Jacob. The urchins that I am holding, lets call him... Jared. He was really cool to hold and see how he worked. He also tasted pretty good on some pretzels, and is now biodegrading in the ocean to add to more life. Jared is dead. But, because of Jareds sacrifice, I learned so much about how urchins work, and got one of the coolest experiences available to you on internship, thanks to Jacob and Chelsea. While on the boat, you truly get to experience the environment that you are researching firsthand. I get to peer down at the kelp forests below, take samples of kelp, enjoy the cuisine marine life has to offer, and really soak up what it is like to be in an environment totally opposite of where we evolved to be. This internship is really unique, and special.
Week 3
Prompt: Read another student's blog. What stands out to you? What experiences do you have in common? What contrasts do you see? What questions do you have?
These are photos that I took from another students blog, Max Henn. Max is doing his internship at Cabrillo National Monument, where he is helping with the removal of invasive species.
All About Max - while reading Max's blog, the thing that stood out to me the most was the simplicity of his formatting and content, which made it very easy, interesting and simple to read. Max also had great photos to help get me engaged, and interested in his project. Aside from just the looks, Max's content was very solid, and I enjoyed reading his prompts. Some things we had in common were actually some of our challenges. Max's internship requires him to work outdoors rain and shine, so both the weather and environment in which he works are large challenges persistent throughout his internship. I too, can struggle with conditions, as it determines what we will be doing for the week, if anything at all. Ive also encountered issues on where I'm working on my asynchronous days. Who am I kidding, Max's challenges are much harder than mine. His challenges with the environment are much harsher, and having to work while it's pouring out will not be fun. I on the other hand have the opportunity to stay home, work in the lab, or wander SDSU's campus during a teacher strike and storm, trying to find anyone with the keys to a certain room except the whole campus is entirely deserted and the keyhole just got changed but right when you're about to leave someone unlocks the door not knowing you were looking for it...(if you could not tell, yes this is an experience I had).
If im being honest, there aren't a whole lot of contrasts between our blogs they are pretty similar, even down to which prompts we are talking about. The only thing that I did not get from his blog is what his final project is, although through other conversations with him and gaining information outside of his blog, I know, and its a good idea. A question that I have for Max, would be, does it get repetitive? To me it sounds like he's doing a lot of the same every day and is trying to make the best of it. I know he did talk a bit about how it can be meditative in a sense, but I think it takes a special type of person to have this as their full time job.
Week 3
INTERVIEW!!
This is a photo of my mentor, Chelsea Brown.
Interview - Some highlights of my mentor interview was really getting able to sit down and talk with my mentor. When things can always feel busy or stressful it was nice just to slow it down for a bit and talk about something that we both love. I do think that all the insights that I gained are very valuable and being able to learn about what it means to be a marine biologist and the process of this job.
Top 2 Quotes:
- I chose this field because I always had a knack for science and heard an almost audible calling to be in the water. - I think a big issue, beyond the threats to the systems themselves, is the barriers to entry in this field. As I mentioned before, it can be expensive to get certifications and experience but it’s also not well-known for being a high-paying career. I think that pulls a lot of people away and towards more lucrative professions. I chose these quotes because I felt like these were two different moments within the interview that really connected to me when I was listening to my mentor. My first quote that I chose connected a lot about who I am, and how my passion for the ocean was described so simply, something that has been so hard for me to put into words for others to understand. It also dipped into my knack for science, something that I can't wait to dive more into, and seeing the similarities in interests between us made me really start to consider if this is a job that I would be well suited for. I chose the second quote mostly because of a realization moment that I had in Mrs. Annies classroom. While preparing for our final semester project, we were tasked with choosing careers that we're interested in, and among them I chose marine biology. While conducting some research on this field of work, I drew a conclusion that It seemed pretty risky. I never thought about how scientists get paid by grants which are determined on heavily on their ability to conduct and follow through for a good project, and it seemed like a lot of pressure to preform well, and even then the costs of being a marine biologist is expensive on top of not a very high paying salary. Seeing this advice come from my mentor really allowed me to do some reflecting as I felt exactly like the person she was describing.
Week 4
Prompt: What is going well with your project? What are some challenges?
Screenshot of my final project that I created as talked about below, as well as the research poster that I had taken inspiration from. You can clearly see the similarities when it comes to visuals, and organization. This made it a lot easier for me to make my poster with prompts and layout already in mind.
Final Project - A lot of things have actually gone well with my final project. During my site visit with my cohort teacher, Mrs Annie Quinn helped me curate a great idea that we were all on board with for my final project. I got to work right away, and was able to have it done by the end of the week. My final project is a research poster, that has a lot of information on Chelseas final project. I was able to learn a lot of in depth information about the overview and goals of her project with a slide deck that she shared with me. Once informed, I took inspiration from the hallway of the lab, and looked at some research posters on display. I found one that I thought would be great to take layout inspiration from, especially because of the abundance of photos, and got to work on my poster. Once I wrote out my first draft, My mentor helped me edit it, adding in some special vocabulary that helped the information be more true to her project. Now I am done, and am hoping to get it printed out for my IPOL presentation.
Some challenges that I have faced was making the information correct on the poster. Sense this isn't actually my project, it was hard for me to put correct information onto the poster. I was able to overcome this with the help of my mentor. Another challenge that I faced was being able to link it back to my project at HTH. After all, this is supposed to be about my internship experience. I was able to overcome this challenge by writing a smaller personal takeaway paragraph at the bottom right to help connect it back to my internship.
Week 4
Prompt: What advice would you give to a junior in high school who wants to pursue a career in the field of your internship?
Photos of the Scripps Aquarium, and Marine Biologists doing field research in real life.
Marine Biologist? - My whole life I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. Well, after the neurosurgeon dream came to an end in 5th grade.. thanks a lot Isamu. Either way, my whole life I had loved being in and around water, especially the ocean. It's a place that really makes me feel at home, and something that is just so incredibly fascinating. Especially experiences like being able to go the the Scripps Aquarium as a kid, that always made me believe that being a marine biologist means getting to work side by side Marine life and being able to experience the oceans wonders all the time. Even if you google search Marine Biologist, all what comes up is photos of marine biologists out doing field work and scuba diving. Although in some cases this is true, it isn't always. I am fortunate enough to have experienced an incredible internship in the sense of being able to work with sealife firsthand. but by doing more research and asking around, the jobs in this field are very limited. It seems like the few options are as follows. 1. Research. you can continue to conduct research, paid for by grants, and is basically living off the grants that are provided, possibly working other jobs alongside this. 2. Teaching. It's always an option to teach what you know! 3. Awareness. Part of a Marine Biologists role is to spread awareness, especially by speaking to CEO's and heads of businesses, and getting them to change what they're doing for preservation of the ocean. Now, besides preservation, and living my grant to grant, there isn't much else to do for this job. I, personally, found this disappointing to hear. I was hoping that there was something else to the job that allowed me to do something other than preservation, because I don't feel so connected to the ocean doing stuff like that. Although I think that it is very important, It isn't something I think I want to dedicate my career to. So, for the next junior who wants to be a marine biologist... do your research. Make sure you think ahead to not only what you'll be doing in college, but what will be happening for the 40 years after. Is that something that you want to be doing? Does that sound engaging? Who knows, maybe I need to do some more research myself.
Final Week
Prompt: Describe your POL preparation process. What presentation tools are you planning to use? Are you relying on notes, a memorized talk, something else? How are you preparing for questions you might be asked?
Screenshots from my photo slide deck, a presentation used to present to the board of HTH, will be used again, as I believe that it will be very effective for my IPOL presentation. It does a very good job at explaining all of my experiences through internship.
IPOL - Last Wednesday, I, along with 3 other students from HTHMA were invited to speak at the monthly board meeting for all of HTH. Gary Jacobs, one of the founders of HTH was there, along with Albert Lin, a board member, and many more people involved within the higher-ups of the high tech high system. Present in the room are also many teachers that we all know and love, that have come to the meeting in person. Online, a zoom call was recording our presentations for anyone else online who wanted to join within the HTH foundation. So... there were a lot of important people watching. And, Me, Elliott Ridge, and Sadie Han, were first on the agenda. Overall, this was a very positive experience, and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to reflect on my experiences, see the experiences of my peers, and get to present to a large audience. I felt honored to have been chosen, and would definitely be something that I would be interested in doing again.
Along with this presentation I created a slide deck, which was ended up being really resourceful for me, and allowed me to present very effectively. I think that this slide deck, which was full of photos, allowed my audience to better understand and grasp all of my experiences in my internship thus far. With my IPOL, I want them to experience the same thing as well. thus, my decision to use the same slide deck. Unfortunately, I have been sick this week, so there are no more photos for me to add to the slide deck. The only things that I am adding to this, will be a title slide, some slides dedicated to my mentor interview, and a screenshot of my final completed project(previously incomplete).
Similarly to my presentation in front of the HTH Board, I will not be using any notes cards or script, or really anything of the sorts. I believe in my ability to present, and trust in the fact that the photos speak for themselves, as they carry so much value. In itself, each photo is like a bulletin point on a slide show, a snapshot of a moment reminding me of everything else that comes along with it, so these other resources won't really be needed. To prepare for questions that may be asked, I think that I will just reflect on my experiences before the presentation, and just answer all of them truthfully. I believe that I will be better prepared, without preparing.
Final Week
Prompt: How do you feel about returning back to classes next week? Do you anticipate a different experience of school now that you have been immersed in a workplace? What are you looking forward to about coming back? What are you going to miss about internship?
Photos of the outside of SDSU's CMIL, and my high school, HTHMA.
Returning to HTHMA - If I'm being honest, I don't know whether to feel exited or disappointed to be coming back to school. Internship has been a lot of fun, and the experiences I've gained are unforgettable. Although, there is a lot of time where I don't do anything, or have to stay at home and do asynchronous work, which even that I don't know if it's a bad thing. For the past week I've been sick. Usually staying home is not something that I enjoy but this week I'm actually really grateful for it. So... going back to school when I'm sick? Definitely not excited for that. Even if I wasn't sick, I know that I'll be missing the fun experiences that I've been able to have at internship, especially being in the boat and in the lab, but at the same time will be very grateful to have a consistent schedule again. I don't think really much will change with how I act at school because of my internship experience. I don't think that I've had any monumental changes to my behavior or world view that would change how I act. Not super excited to start with honors classes, and a full in and out of school schedule, so we'll see what's going to happen.
Farewell, Internship. Thank you for everything :)
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