As my spring semester comes to a close, all I can think about is how unsure my summer plans are. It is quite frightening and stressful. However, this summer could end up being really amazing, so I am just going to take it one week at a time!
Before I think too much about this coming summer, I think that it is valuable to look back at how this past semester went. My classes were extremely difficult, but also very interesting. My favorite class of the semester was my Chemical Engineering Laboratory class. This was the first time that I was really able to get my hands dirty with Chemical Engineering. It was rewarding to see how all the lecture classes I have taken so far apply to the experiments we performed. Each lab required a detailed lab report, and the final lab we did yielded a 56 page report!! It was a lot of work but was nice to get out of the classroom and switch it up.
Another interesting class was my General Education class. Even though I thought the class was going to be more about “Cowboys and Indians”, “John Wayne”, and “The Wild, Wild West”, the content of the course was still intriguing. The class ended being about the changing face of America and how to negotiate modern migratory patterns with the mainstream portrayal of American society. The class was focused a lot on race and culture in Los Angeles, and helped to open my mind up to different perspectives and viewpoints.
If you’re more interested in hearing about the classes I took this semester, make sure to visit my blog: Spring Semester at a Glance.
Looking ahead this summer, I have two possible opportunities. I applied to 20+ internship positions this year, and 2 companies have contacted me back. The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation called me about a job as a Process Engineer Intern. This would be a really opportunity to learn about industrial distillation and separation processes. Also, I would be able to stay in Los Angeles throughout the summer. I interviewed with them a couple weeks ago and am waiting to hear back.
The other company that contacted me back was Schlumberger. They are an international oil & gas service company. In February, I went to the Viterbi Career Fair and talked to the Field Engineer intern recruiter. I got contacted for a first interview. Four to five weeks after that, I was contacted and told that I made it past the first round of interviews and was invited to Schlumberger’s FIELD Camp. The week after finals, I am heading to Tulsa, OK for a week to learn about Schlumberger, travel to some field sites, and talk to employees and recruiters. If they like me, then I will be hired as a Field Engineer Intern for the summer. This would be amazing, and would be a great opportunity to learn about the petroleum industry, work with students and professionals from all over, and get some experience in the real world.
I hope I will be hired this summer, whether its for the LA Bureau of Sanitation or for Schlumberger. I am very eager to get some real-world experience and spend my summer productively. Wish me luck!!
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- This is a pretty metaphor for my future…
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- CHE 444a Lab Setup
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- Schlumberger?
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- LA Bureau of Sanitation?
