Name: Edgar Douanla Nzokwe

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: FINRA

Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Engineering

Expected Graduation Year: May 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

Interning at FINRA has allowed/granted me the opportunity to participate in and undertake various different tasks. For example, one of my very first tasks was to update the department's wiki page, which I did using HTML, SQL, Javascript and CSS to display information on the web page. However, I also participated in some more challenging tasks such as rebooting FINRA's servers after an upgrade. Actually, participating in this reboot let me see just how interrelated the departments are and how much coordination is required to ensure all services get restored. One more task, in fact my favorite one, was writing a program that parses a 20000 line data file and stores the information in Microsoft Excel worksheets and workbooks. Currently, I am working on writing scripts to automate part of the deployment process (getting applications to run on the cloud so that users can access it through the FINRA website).

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

First, I got my resume reviewed by the UMBC Career Center. My resume was 2 pages long when I took it to them but they help me reduce it to a single page with very rich content.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Career Center, Career Fairs, UMBCworks, Networking Events (Corporate Visibility Days, Info Sessions, Arts with A Purpose,etc.) 

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I had the chance to work with a wonderful team. Everyone was always happy to answer my questions. I also visited the server room and got to see servers and watch administrators troubleshooting them.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I had the opportunity to work on a variety of tasks which required me to learn new languages such as batch programming, SQL, and Jquery.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Get your resume reviewed by the Career Center. Go for a mock interview to learn about your strengths and weaknesses Apply for internships Before Career Fairs, check out companies you like and apply for their internship through their website. Visit them during the fair, talk more about the company and tell them you already applied. Do not get discouraged when you get denied an internship. Just keep applying for more.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Never be afraid to express your opinion. It is better to say the wrong thing and be corrected than to never know if your opinion was wrong or right.

Name: Jennifer Wachtel

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey

Major(s)/Minor(s):  

Major:History 

Minor: Judaic Studies, German, and Art History & Museum Studies. 

Expected Graduation Year: May 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

Working in the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey, I process collections, describe collections, create finding aids, digitize resources, and optimally preserve rare and fragile photographs and documents. Each day I begin with a new collection box and arrange the records according to their creator and contents. Then I update these records in the database and describe them for researchers. When I create finding aids, I conduct outside research to provide historical context for the collection. Occasionally, I will scan images that the archives might find useful for future exhibits and publication on their website. Finally, I preserve items for longevity, such as brittle newspaper collections, so that they are available for future use.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

At first, I applied to the Morris County Historical Society. Although their positions were filled, they suggested that I apply to the Jewish Historical Society which closely matched the experience I listed on my resume. I found the position simply by following the Morris County Historical Society's advice and applying using the forms on the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey's website. I used an updated version of the resume I created when I was applying for an internship through the Shriver Center as a sophomore. I also used the resources for applying for internships by email available on the Career Center's website. The interview process itself was less formal; although the director called me to confirm my availability, she seemed impressed with my resume and experience right from the start.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Contacted organizations on my own.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have most enjoyed the opportunity to work with colleagues who are interested Jewish history. I find that my supervisors, especially the director, are highly knowledgeable about areas of Jewish history of which I was previously unaware. I am also very grateful for the appreciation the archivist shows when I dedicate extra time to making sure the records are as detailed as possible.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

Interning at the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey has revealed that I have much more to learn about my own heritage and about standard archival preservation practices. The Society has recently expanded its mission from Northern New Jersey to the entire state, so I also learned about the behind-the-scenes processes entailed in changing the scope of a historical organization.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would advise going to the Career Center Office as soon as possible to develop a resume and practice interviewing in person and over the phone. I would also suggest referring to their online resources so you can review how to apply for internships by email.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

I am so excited that I found an internship experience perfectly suited to my interests! I am also especially grateful that the Shriver Center and Career Center Office prepared me in advance for the interview process.

Name: Danny Rosser

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: GE Aviation

Major(s)/Minor(s): Financial Economics

Expected Graduation Year: May 2017

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

At GE Aviation's subsidiary, Middle River Aircraft Systems, I worked alongside other interns to complete task varying from safety, to quality. GE Aviation manufactures reverse engine thrusters for different planes. Their biggest program is building the reverse engine thrusters for Boeing's 747 super jet.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I was having my resume looked over at the career center and the lady who was helping me told me about this new internship that had just been placed on the myumbcworks site. I filled out the application online, submitted my resume, had an interview and was accepted to the ten week program!

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Career Center, Career Fairs, UMBCworks, Faculty Connections

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I really enjoyed being able to work as a team with other interns to accomplish projects and learn about the different aspects of working in a big company. GE sponsored a company trip to Hershey Park, provided tickets to a baseball game at Camden Yards, and many other social events in which the interns could network with managers and big names in the company.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

My experience working with GE was truly an eye-opener. This experience allowed me to work with people who were five to fifty years into their careers after having graduated with my major. This opportunity allowed me to envision myself becoming very successful and working for a great company.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

The biggest piece of advice I recommend is start looking on myumbcworks in the fall for a summer internship. The Career Center is the most helpful place to go to. They provided the assistance to edit my resume, talk to me about different internships and even prepare me for my interview by holding a mock interview! I could not have obtained this internship without their help.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Having the opportunity to experience what a career upon graduation will feel like was honestly an amazing feeling. To know that after four years of taking notes, studying for long hours, and taking test after test will be worthwhile in the end, now that is the biggest relief that any college student can have.

Name: Emily Scheerer

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Science

Expected Graduation Year: December 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

The APL summer intern program is very well organized, with tours organized for the interns. Each department within APL also holds its own tours and events. My day-to-day tasks involved working on two different project teams. My first project involved developing an assessment tool for cyber military exercises. My second involved writing a tool to detect executable content using machine learning techniques.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

As an alumna of the CWIT scholars program, I had an industry mentor during my junior year. She reviewed my resume and setup a mock interview which helped prepare me for my interview at APL. At the start of my senior year, I attended the career fair and gave my resume to Scott Almes, a UMBC alumni who was representing APL at the career fair. From there, I filled out an online application, then completed several phone interviews with various APL groups.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Networking Events (Corporate Visibility Days, Info Sessions, Arts with A Purpose, etc.)

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I've had a number of summer internships, and one of the big differences between those internships and my experience at APL was being able to work on multiple projects. I was able to work on two different projects, which gave me a great, broad taste of the company and the work that takes place there.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

When interviewing, use the STAR method. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Have four or five stories that all meet the STAR method and address the common questions like how you respond to challenges or an example of your leadership. Being prepared for interview questions will make you feel more comfortable and confident. You can even take them in on notecards - you're expected to bring a folder with your resumes, and you can store your notes there.

- Congratulations on your accomplishments, Emily!

Name: Ademayowa Balogun

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: University of Iowa (summer 2013)

Major(s)/Minor(s): Biology

Expected Graduation Year: May 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

This summer I conducted research in microbiology at the University of Iowa. It was my job to determine the localization of a receptor called TIM-1 that plays an important role in Ebola virus infection. Daily, my tasks included maintaining and developing cell lines of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell tissue cultures, transducing them with virus, and monitoring levels of viral transduction via flow cytometry. I also ran many western blots and used confocal microscopy in order to gather more information about the localization of this receptor under various conditions.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I truly enjoyed the research that I conducted and the freedom that I had to try new things. In many instances, I was able to perform my own protocols or use my own ideas in order to further my research. This creative freedom honestly is what led to much of the success of my research this summer, as I had many ideas that ended up working. I think that stimulating the minds of interns is a huge asset to them later, as they can recall instances when problem solving and troubleshooting led to discovery.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

The resources that I had at the University of Iowa were great, which enhanced my research experience greatly. The student mentorship I received was also unique, as I was given free reign over many aspects of my project, while still receiving important instruction.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Be open to doing research. Everyone's experience is different, but if you are sensitive to things going on around you, you will always be able to draw something important out of the internship. Sometimes, you may find that the type of research you are doing is not your favorite, and that is good to know, too. Not every internship is a match made in heaven, but all experiences can teach you something if you are open enough to them.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Science research is one of the most difficult career choices, in my opinion, because 90% of the time things don't work as you plan, but I can honestly say that the 10% success outweighs the failure in the end. In the first 8 weeks of my internship, I gained a vast knowledge of my research and learned how to plan and conduct various types of experiments, only to see them fail, one by one. My graduate student and my PI encouraged me, and urged me to keep trying to get some data. They all left for a scientific conference for a week, leaving me to fend for myself in the lab, and with one last idea of an experiment. Suddenly, all of the experiments began to work, and I found myself knee-deep in more research to do and data to gain before they all returned. Although I spent upwards of 12 hours in the laboratory at times, I did not mind because I knew that things were progressing, and there was something to be discovered. In the last 2 weeks of my 10 week internship, I attained 80% of my final project data. The experimental skills and training that I received were great, but the most meaningful part of my experience came from failure, sustained perseverance and then success. I know that graduate school will be very difficult, much like my internship, but I am willing to push past the failures and setbacks because I know that there is purpose behind my actions, and that there will be something to learn if I keep trying.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

"Having an internship is an excellent way of developing purpose as an undergraduate, especially in preparing to enter the workforce or graduate school. The experience gives you a good, realistic perspective of potential career paths & is an invaluable experience! I really enjoyed this summer."

- Congratulations on graduating!

Name: Kabish Shah

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company - UMBC PAHB Phase II

Major(s)/Minor(s): Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics

Expected Graduation Year: May 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

 I learned the infrastructure of construction sites and the construction process which exposed me to the general requirements of the career in construction industry and helped me to ensure that it is something I am interested in continuing to pursue in the future. During my internship I oversaw (with supervision) the installations of the MEP contractors for compliance with the documents and the needs of the project. I was involved with the LEED and Commissioning work of the MEP equipment. I conducted quality control inspections for all trades (not just MEP) for compliance with the specifications of the project. Report and follow up on all. I also developed an understanding of business communications and working with people from all phases of construction, from laborers to presidents of companies. Some projects I worked on are LEED, Duct Tracking, Quality Control, Tracking Hot Water and Chilled Water Pipe testing, MEP, Internal Auditing, Cost Tracking and many more. I liked doing quality control because I believe as an engineer; it’s my duty to make sure that the job is done as it’s supposed to be done. And, there is no compromise in quality and integrity of the work.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I enjoyed being able to shadow engineers and use my skills in the real world. I learned a great deal from the engineers and I can see myself performing the same types of tasks in the coming future.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

My internship experience with Whiting-Turner is very valuable to me. I have learned a lot through this experience, from how to be professional to making friends with someone completely different than me. Some of the most valuable things I have learned are how to communicate professionally, work well with sub-contractors, manage time, and have fun.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Get started as soon as possible. The earlier you put your feet in the door, the better off you will be. Internship experience is something that cannot be compared with anything else.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

My experience is meaningful because I feel like I am giving something back to UMBC, which I am very proud of. I am surprised with the help I am getting from engineers from my group. My supervisor is always there to answer my questions related to construction and the company. Also, I am proud to use my engineering skills to complete the projects.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

 I believe in giving back and being a part of UMBC PAHB Phase II project is all I could ask for.

 Congratulations on graduating next week, Kabish!

Name: Robert Roselle

Name: Robert Curland

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Sheppard Pratt

Major(s)/Minor(s): Psychology

Expected Graduation Year: 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I spent time on three units, Psychotic Disorders, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Crisis Stabilization. On each unit I would talk with patients, help in therapeutic groups, assist on staff-escorted walks, sit in on rounds, and other things that involved patient interactions. I was also fortunate enough to have one on one time with multiple psychiatrists that would show me how they spent each day as well as recommend me some literature to read regarding mental illness.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have enjoyed the sheer amount of opportunities Sheppard Pratt has given me. I was fortunate enough to sit in on electroconvulsive therapy(ECT), talk to patients from all walks of life, and get to know staff that truly care about their patients and enjoy what they do. Many individuals have a stigma towards people with mental illness, however spending time with patients each week shows you that some people that could come into the hospital with a mental illness that you wouldn't even expect.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I have gained connections to a wonderful group of people that could not be found anywhere else. Sheppard Pratt has also been ranked one of the best mental health programs in the nation, giving me the opportunity to see some of the best at work.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would recommend to keep trying until you find something you like. Make plenty of phone calls, set up as many interviews as you can, and don't be afraid to start as a volunteer to get your foot in the door.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

This experience was meaningful as it let me realize that working with mental illness is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I learned how to interact with patients, how much effort goes into the day-to-day running of a unit, and what it takes to work in a psychiatric hospital. During my time at Sheppard Pratt I was lucky enough to meet multiple psychiatrist that were kind enough to spend time talking with me about psychology and their work instead of just dismissing me as a lowly student.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Getting to know the patients and hearing what brought them in, and seeing them recover and be given a second chance was what I liked most about internship.

Name:  Aaron Samuels

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:  BITHGROUP TECHNOLOGIES

Major(s)/Minor(s):   Psychology

Expected Graduation Year: June 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

During the fall and part of the summer, I worked under the current Human Resource Manager, Robert H. Greene III, at BITHGROUP TECHNOLOGIES, an IT consulting firm that also provides a wide range of services to the City of Baltimore, MD. The majority of my time was spent shadowing Mr. Greene and observing the various daily activities he undertook, none of which were routine. On several occasions I was tasked with researching new potential employees, reviewing newly submitted resume's, updating employee profiles both on file and online, and organizing certain in office events.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I enjoyed the "hands-on" experience I obtained throughout my time there. I spent the first half of my summer researching what an H.R. Generalist does but I could never get a full picture until I started working there. I also enjoyed sitting in on personal conversation involving employee disputes and personal issues, it was there that I found exactly what roll psychology played in this occupation. My manager was especially outstanding in these types of situations as well. It was almost as if he could read minds! That's how great he was at reading people. Not only that, but he always seemed to know the right way to approach delicate situations and how to acknowledge the employee's difficulties without compromising his own feelings on the issue.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I don't think I would have obtained the intrapersonal social skills here at my old job. For example, I have always had trouble remembering names because I was never really motivated too until I came to the company. I've noticed a huge difference in how people react when you use their name versus a general pronoun. I know that sounds arbitrary and just a bit cheesy but it really is something I've come to value.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Never assume anything and always double check yourself: If there is something you don’t know or not sure of, FIND IT OUT! If you only feel like an employee remembers an important date or you believe that they may have completed a task, you should still follow up on it personally if it’s possible.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

I know now what I'm getting into, that was my main goal in doing this internship. I know now the person I have to become in order perform this kind of work. Now it's just a matter of getting certified.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

If you get an opportunity, take it! If you have the connections and resources, use them! Do not wait! What I loved most about this entire experience is that I could make mistakes and not be fired. And you will make mistakes. Better to do it as an intern than when you have a career on the line. This is the rationale behind an internship, so you can say on your resume. "Yes! I have experience!" Because as I've experienced with a lot of jobs I've applied for and from working here, most employer's today won't even look at you without this experience.

Name: Aastha Jain

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)

Major(s)/Minor(s): Interdisciplinary Studies: Criminology and Criminal Justice

Expected Graduation Year: May 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

START triages (or "takes in") news media covering incidents of terrorism from around the world. Senior staff at START creates summaries of the terrorist incidents and makes them available on the Database Management System (DMS). The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is run on the DMS and includes variables such as the location, perpetrators, and targets of each terrorist event. My job is to identify who was targeted in any given terrorist attack around the world.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I enjoy that interns are allowed the responsibility of coding on such an important database. Senior-level staff members bring interns into their meetings to discuss coding progress. In that way, I feel like I am part of something truly unique and important.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I have been able to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to this internship. This is not possible everywhere. START is made up of a team of researchers, programmers, media specialists, and IT personnel all working together. This is interdisciplinarity at its finest.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

My advice to students seeking an internship is to make sure the internship fits you, not just that you fit the internship. As students we always want to look qualified but we need to make sure not to sacrifice our personal qualities.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

My experience is meaningful because there is nothing like the Global Terrorism Database! There is no where else researchers and academic professionals can search for certain variables of all the terrorist incidents in one area. Where else can you look up the number of businesses that were targeted in Yemen during a specific span of time??

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Viewing terrorist incidents from all around the world provides me a global perspective on the nature of terrorist attacks.

More insight about Aastha’s internship experience.

I worked on the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) at The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). START has defined terrorism for its purposes so all incidents included are of a uniform standard. The GTD is an incident-level database that can be searched based on many variables. Want to know how many police personnel were killed by firearms in Kenya between 2000-2007? That is the kind of information provided by the GTD.

More specifically, I worked on the target classification distinction of the database. There were four interns populating this portion of the GTD for 2012-2013 terrorist attacks around the world. Currently, there are over 20 types of targets within the GTD. Some of these include civilians, transportation, military, and business targets amongst many. The type of target was determined after reading aggregated news media about each attack from many sources. Staff members worked on filtering through the articles and determining relevancy before interns began coding.

Based on my networking and interests, I asked Dr. Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, to come serve as the INDS Council of Majors Annual Petrovich Lecturer. He came and spoke at UMBC on March 2nd to shed the myths of terrorism and share some of the exciting research coming out of START. I loved my experience at START and was very fortunate to foster that relationship past a semester.