I have been working with Science Clubs International (SCI) for over a month and my position has been more exciting than I expected. I have been able to do regular team meetings and truly feel a part of the organization itself. When I first decided to pursue this internship, my goal was to learn more about outreach STEM opportunities. Now, I’m helping organize a six weekend-long international event with ten workshops for +300 high school and college students.
Since my last blog post, the open call for students interested in participating in the event opened. I was assigned as one of the people responsible for reviewing the students’ applications according to the program’s rubric. It’s interesting to be on the other side of the application process, helping in the selection of students. A few years back I was the one applying to one of SCI’s programs. Right now, I’m mainly responsible for assessing Portuguese and English-speaking applicants, since I’m fluent in both of those languages. Included below is the information about the open call for students, which is a large part of my work right now. Check out SCI’s Instagram page to learn more about the program and deadlines!
Compared to my academic work at Brandeis, my working dynamics require me to be self-motivated. For one, the work is completed remotely, and as an incoming sophomore, I didn’t experience the Brandeis COVID era. Although I enjoy being in the comfort of my home, I try to change my clothes, close random web pages, and truly experience the workspace from my computer screen. Also, besides some regular team meetings at assigned times, I’m given tasks to mainly work on alone at my own pace. Not having restricted deadlines lead me to look for ways to organize my time productively. Every day I make a list of what I have to do and assign a time for each task. Doing my tasks as soon as I’m given them also helps me feel better about my work. Additionally, I believe the absence of grades combined with the possibility of improving my work after feedback allows me to explore new ideas, embrace challenges, and go beyond my comfort zone.
Lastly, the internship has been a challenging yet amazing opportunity to improve my Spanish skills. At Brandeis, I took Spanish 105, focused on writing/reading, and the knowledge from this class has been helpful in my internship. Some of my main tasks in the internship are translating documents/forms to Portuguese/Spanish/English, and having acquired this knowledge in the previous semester at Brandeis has been helpful. Most of the SCI’s team also comes from Spanish-speaking countries and Spanish sometimes is the main language during a Zoom meeting. I believe that by knowing the three languages used by SCI’s team, I can take more advantage of this internship opportunity and reach more students.
I enjoy reading all of the WOW recipients’ blog posts and I’m grateful to be a part of such an incredible cohort.