Above and beyond

I chose to intern with La Universidad Autonoma de Baja Californina Sur in La Paz, Mexico for 3 months. Catherine met me at the airport, brought me to my new home and introduced me to the people I was going to be working with...who soon became my friends. The internship allowed me to help post-graduate and PhD students with their field and laboratory work (algea and sea turtle studies), as well as write an article to be published in their local scientific journal. Due to unforseen circumstances (a hurricane and school registrar strike), I wasn't able to work during the entire duration. Instead I helped a local university with the care of their sea horses and traveled to Cabo San Lucas to volunteer collecting and releasing sea turtle hatchlings. When I wanted feedback from the supervising professor on my article, I needed to be very persistant to get him to look at it closely. However, I was able to get more than enough feedback from the students working in the laboratory. My only wish is that I had more direction on how to construct the article (exactly what they were looking for it to cover) and for some of the passion to be translated into the Spanish version, which is easier said than done. All in all, this was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. I have made some lifelong friends, great networking connections, and have some stories that I still share to this day. When I told Catherine that I wanted to go to California to look for work and conduct an informational interview, she helped me find businesses to apply to, and went above and beyond the call of duty. This is an amazing program that I would recommend to everyone interested.