My Chemistry Internship

Completing an internship is by far the best way to experience any field of work without actually going into it, which is why in the summer of 2018, I decided to go into a chemistry internship at Earlham College in Richmond, IN. At the time, I had dreamed of becoming a chemical engineer, I was taking AP Chemistry and was loving it, and I had been searching for something to do that would better myself. After two months of titrations, filtration, and statistical analysis, I found out that chemistry was not for me! Although I enjoyed learning about chemistry and enjoyed myself throughout the summer, I realized that being in a lab environment every day of my career is not suitable for my personality type. But, that is okay!

Even though I do not plan to go into chemistry, my internship was not a waste of time! In fact, it could not be further from the truth. I still learned skills that would be valuable in any field, such as working well with a team, creating a formal presentation of your work, and being on time every day. Most importantly, I learned that I did not enjoy all aspects of chemistry, and without that experience, I could have gone on with my life pursuing a chemistry degree without truly knowing if I would like it. I encourage anyone interested in a career path to find an internship with a company or person in that field! Talk with people and understand the daily activities of the career, because if you do not, you may end up not being happy with your future job. At the end of the day, everyone wants to do what they love, so please do some exploring to find out what you truly love doing!