here I will be blogging my experience interning at San Diego State University's Chemistry Lab with Professor D.K. Smith.
blog post #10
After externship I became more and more appreciative of taking advantage of opportunity and reaching out. If I did not reach out to just one more professor, who knows what I would have been doing for externship. And it was probably going to be something that I am not passionate about and wouldn't put my all into. I want to continue to develop determination. I was surrounded by countless under grad and grad students who were determined and motivated to get the results they needed and or hoped for. Trial and error. It took a lot to continue to perform the same procedures everyday for us and somethings go wrong and you have to start it over. EVERY LITTLE DETAIL COUNTS!!!!! That is such a big thing to remember in the chemistry field. My views haven't change, I've just been more and more excited for college and to be working in that profession afterwards. The only question my externship formed for me was: Can college please come faster and pass by so I can work already??? Doing what I love everyday! You are responsible for your own happiness.
blog post #9
My externship was amazing. I learned so much and had such a great look into what I will be learning in college and what I will be doing for my career. I contributed in a positive way, I ran tests while i was there everyday getting many different results indicating different and important solutions. Educationally, it has been very meaningful to me because of the benefits that i have gained from being here. When I first got to my internship, she told me what she wanted me to do and so everyday I was doing it in hopes to prove her theory incorrect along with other grad students, and we have not yet found a solution to it. I learned that I am very productive when it's something I want to do or have a strong interest in. I also realized that my passion for chemistry is much larger than I thought. Haha! I do not have a before and after photo because I was conducting the same and different experiments everyday.
blOg post #8
This is my mentor. Her name is Professor Diane K. Smith. And below is her curriculum vitae:
B.S., Chemistry, Lewis and Clark College, 1982
Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988
Post-Doctoral Associate, Electrochemistry, University of Delaware, 1988-1990
During my externship, I have learned so much. I think that it is great preparation for my future. Because I will be a chemistry major, I have already got some experience and knowledge about the courses I will have to take. This externship has made me fall in more love with my career path choice. I cannot wait until I am actually in class and working in the lab!
Tuesday, May 23rd My mentor is very helpful and she does not mind helping me when I need it. She always offers a hand and when she's done explaining reactions/purposes/experiments to me she follows up with questions to see if I have grasped it. She is really sweet and makes my individual project fun. I can really see her passion for science and it is making my love for it grow even more. When conducting an experiment if I need assistance or have questions I just ask and she always comes correct.
blog post #5
Thursday, May 18th I have a video, but the site is not letting me upload it. I am currently trying to find a solution to this. But, a video is on the way.
blog post #4
Tuesday, May 16th I am most definitely happy that I chose this externship. It has taught me so much and I am continuing to learn more each and everyday. I'm glad I got to get a sneak peek into college and what it'll really be like career wise. I don't think I have enough time to complete my project just because there's a lot that goes into it and I have to run multiple experiments to hopefully find the solution. And the precision is very vital.
blog post #3
Thursday, May 11th Because I took chemistry my tenth grade year in high school, I was aware of the math that I would be doing, the data I'd be mainly focusing on, and procedures I'd doing. High school chemistry is definitely different from college. We are basically taught the bare minimum as to college, where you will be learning that quicker and moving quicker across the board. It does get complicated and confusing fast, but the more times you do the experiments, take notes and write then solve equations, it gets easier and more understandable. My first day, I was working with a student who is graduating this year, and he performed an experiment and taught me the procedure as I assisted him and learned where everything was located in the lab. The day after (yesterday), he was not at the lab but he had emailed me another procedure and told me to do it. It was a little rocky at first because I was nervous, but.... I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF AND IT WAS A SUCCESS!!!!!! I was so proud of myself!! I basically had to grow up quick. Lol. There is a lot of data that has to be recorded throughout running tests and it is crucial to be precise when taking notes, collecting data, weighing stuff and mixing solutions. New skills I am acquiring include: responsibility, precision, listening skills, and caution. (photos coming soon)
Any day is fine to come in for a visit. Just email me beforehand so I can ask my partner to be here.
blog post #2
Tuesday, May 9th I absolutely love it. When I first walked through the doors, I fell in love. It's a real chemistry lab!!! Lol. It's a pretty quiet environment. Since school is out for the summer, they is very little activity in the lab. Students come in and out to work on personal experiments. What strikes me most is how much I have already learned between Mariah's class and my personal curiousity studies. It's amazing and there's so much I'm still learning and am going to learn throughout this month. I'm definitely excited to see if I can prove my mentors hypothesis incorrect. That's something real chemists are even trying to do. Sooo, we'll see!
Blog post #1
Thursday, May 4th For my externship, I will be working in a chemistry lab at San Diego State University researching with grad students. I'm really excited about getting some hands on experience in the chemistry world and having the opportunity to learn college chemistry before hand. I'm not really nervous about anything. My mentor is the analytics Chemistry professor, Dr. D.K. Smith. My mentor has offered for me to run tests/experiments with her students to disprove her hypothesis.