This past summer, 36 College Park students had the opportunity to participate in the EfTA summer internship program. Through the EfTA program, rising seniors were able to apply for up to three internships based on a brief description of the internship, and then were matched with one of the internships. Students that were not matched were given the opportunity to select one of the open internships or join a waitlist.
Students accepted into the program completed an orientation, an 80-hour internship, and an interview workshop, gaining valuable skills and hands-on experience.
Yiya Huang, who wants to “work in a federal research laboratory or become a Jet Engine Engineer,” completed an internship at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company/The Woodlands to get an idea of what her intended field of study was like.
“I was introduced to the various parts of the petrochemical industry, including specialty chemicals. I also learned the entire Lifecycle of polyethylene production, from lab development to large-scale plant operations,” said Huang.
Emma Lincoln interned at Wonders of the Woodlands (WOW) science camp, where she used her cello to teach kids ages 3-10 about the physics of sound.
“This internship taught me adaptability and how to communicate with people of different ages and stages of mental development. It also taught me how to effectively communicate ideas in front of a group, which is something I used to dislike doing,” said Lincoln.
Future architectural engineer Sophie Bevins did an internship at PBK Architects, a firm that works on buildings for CISD. The experience helped her to figure out her intended major and gain insight into the world of architecture.
“Each day at the firm, the other interns and myself attended design meetings along with educational meetings about each step of the design process, including civil, architectural, structural, mechanical, landscaping, etc. Once we knew the process of creating a building, they tasked us with creating our dream home with certain parameters and a real site for us to build on. A couple of days later, after we started our drawings using the software Revit, which will allow me to use no matter what field I want to go in (engineering or architecture or BOTH), we were given the price per square foot, materials, budget, and max square footage,” said Bevins.
In order to clarify her future goals, Dhruti Nukala did an internship at Leigh K. Freeman, Attorney at Law PLLC, where she was able to attend Chamber of Commerce sessions.
“My plan after graduation is probably to pursue a career in medicine, because although I really enjoyed my internship, I don’t think law is necessarily what I want to pursue. But thanks to this internship, I think I want to do a minor in business in the future. I also think that the experience that I got from this internship with research will definitely help with my future career,” said Nukala.
Ayaka Saito completed an internship at The Woodlands Young Learners Academy, where she was able to learn valuable interpersonal skills.
“I wanted to do the student summer internship because I am planning on pursuing nursing, but was unsure whether a people-oriented career would really be for me,” said Saito.
David Uchime participated in an internship at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center in order to learn more about the different aspects of a hospital and its many careers.
“During my internship, I mostly shadowed other healthcare professionals around the hospital to learn a bit more about what they do. I got to see surgery, radiology, med/surg, physical therapy, and post-surgery care. I also got to do a couple of smaller healthcare tasks like getting blankets and food for the nurse,” said Uchime.
The EfTA summer internship program is a great experience for rising seniors to explore a career and help them nail down what they want to do after high school.
Current juniors should be on the lookout for an email this coming spring and an update on the EfTA website for an opportunity to apply for the EfTA summer internship program for next summer.
