Hey all!  As you may or may not know, classes have come to an end and we here at the Viterbi School of Engineering and rearing up for finals.  While the next few days will be full of tedious studying, I know once the semester finally comes to an end, I will be sad to leave.  On Friday May 11, I will be watching the class of 2012 graduate, which is quite a scary thought because it means I will officially be a senior.  After commencement, I will be shipping back home to northern Virginia for the rest of the summer.

This summer I will be interning at the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition (OREC) in Washington D.C.  OREC is a trade association that does lobbying on Capitol Hill for the marine energy industry.  While this internship is more in the policy arena than in engineering, it will give me the opportunity to dip my feet into the pool of renewable energy and get some experience with a different type of internship.  I am hoping to work in the field of renewable energy and sustainability upon graduation so this is the perfect opportunity to get experience in this area.   I am more than excited to have this opportunity, especially because I was awarded a stipend from the USC Dream Dollars program to fund my work at this non profit organization.

In addition to this internship I will be volunteering at ArtStream, a non-profit theater organization whose mission is to bring the arts to those traditionally underrepresented, such as people with disabilities, veterans, and the terminally ill.  I have worked with this group since I was a freshman in high school, so I have a lot of experience in the field and I know the teachers and actors quite well.  It will be nice to get back to working with ArtStream after quite a hiatus.  Check out some pictures below of my previous work with ArtStream:

Next fall I will be returning to USC for my senior year, when I will be applying to both job placements and graduate programs.  I haven’t yet decided what I want to do when I graduate but I’m trying to keep my options open.  Until next school year, have a great summer and fight on!