by Rojas Oliva, entertainment editor

Juniors Shreya Shankar and Anisha Datta and senior Kiara Hays decided to eschew the normal ideas of lazy adolescent summers and envelop themselves in stories of glow in the dark bacteria, cockroaches exploding in liquid nitrogen and really complicated racetracks by taking internships at Texas A&M this past summer.

Hays never thought she’d end up with ant bites on her eyelids when she took an internship at the entomology department. Apart from helping the graduate students with their work (involving fire ants and ridding the lab of pests in creative ways), Hays is pursuing her own research project and has recently found that the time of day has a much heavier correlation with ant activity than temperature has.

“When I do finally make some clear connections and analyze why those connections are the way they are then I’ll have to put together a project to present at the entomological research society in February,” Hays said.

Shankar is also developing her own project in an internship at the computer engineering department at A&M to develop a program that converts the network control systems that control automated machines from a 2-D program to 3D  to fly unmanned airplanes. Her workday consists of hours of running through code, sending little racecars around a test bed to plot their location and lots of problem solving.

“The biggest thing is that when you have a problem with your schoolwork you can find a solution [and at A&M] when there is a problem there is no solution–you have to come up with a solution. You have to figure it out yourself and that can take weeks,” Shankar said.

Shankar, who normally works twice a week for two hours and had worked daily during the summer, had enjoyed computer science and programming but had exhausted what classes Consol offered, so she saw this as a way to continue her passion and ended up narrowing down her career path.

“I’ve realized I want to major in computer engineering. Previously, I had no idea what I wanted to major in,” Shankar said.

Now that she’s found a career the benefits of the internship are obvious to her.

“It’s definitely going to prepare me for [the future] because I’m working in the computer engineering department and I’m getting hands on access to test beds and laboratory equipment. My problem solving skills are definitely sharpening through this in a way that I would never get to experience in school,” Shankar said.

Hays had a similar narrowing down experience to that of Shankar.

“When I decided to do an entomology research internship I was basically seeing if there was a practical place to put my passion for the environment,” Hays said. “I was a senior and I wanted to find a good route to take in my career. Ultimately what I realized in doing it is that hardcore science is not my thing and that analyzing tons of data isn’t necessarily my calling.”

Datta worked at the chemical engineering department of A&M over the summer, where she solidified her desire to work in the research field with some hands-on experience.

“It wasn’t anything groundbreaking. It’s stuff that’s already been seen, but I did the experiments myself,” Datta said.

Datta knows that this is the career she’ll be following and found that the internship prepared her for a world where student’s aren’t “baby-fed” but are expected to learn and adapt quickly.  One particular experience reminds her why she chose this as a career path.

“We took this culture of this bacteria that grows in the dark and I inoculated a flask with it and we grew it. I was able to see in this really powerful microscope, in the dark, the little bacteria moving,” Datta said.

Her advice for anyone considering this area of research is to have patience, perseverance and practicality.

“Make sure you’re doing it in something you are interested in because then it will definitely help you when you’re applying for majors,” Datta said.

All three agree that while an internship is not for everyone, it’s certainly helpful in planning for the future and getting exposed to the surprising world of adults.

“You’d be surprised about how many people are willing to help you,” Shankar said. “If you’re passionate about something, or even slightly passionate, don’t hesitate to ask someone of a high position to help you, or to tell you where to go forth in life because there’s nothing wrong that can result from it.”