Selecting an Internship

Wherein our intrepid scholar will plan out the next three years of his life.

Nowadays, employers expect that you will have participated in two to three internships over the course of your college career. This is in addition to having performed research pertinent to your field, received good grades, and done some extracurricular (perhaps volunteer) work. What this means for me is that I'm already behind the curve. I've done the CAS, but that's it.

Now, however, the resume and cover letter assignment for my technical writing class has given me both the opportunity and the impetus to fix that. I'll write a resume and cover letter for a program that begins this summer, but I won't be able to participate because of the arrival of baby h. I also have o keep in mind that I really want to take the next physics class in my sequence from UTD, and I need to take it in the fall of 2011. Given my off-kilter class history (beginning in the spring, three developmental classes, opting to take the time to get an associated degree), I fully expect to not be through with my BS program until the end of fall 2012.

This has a few advantages. I can do two summer internships and one full spring internship between now and grad school. This allows me the ability to make the necessary contacts for employment out of school, and it will help me to both choose and get accepted to a graduate program.

Spring 2011 - finish this semester, get the two roadblocks that I have out of the way (Calc II and Mechanics)

Summer 2011 - Enjoy a new baby :-)

Fall 2011 - Load up. Two math and two physics, at least. Maybe a winter class as well.

Spring 2012 - Keep a heavy load. Plan an exit trajectory toward grad school.

Summer 2012 - Summer internship with NASA.

Fall 2012 - Complete BS and matriculate :-)

Spring 2013 - Spring Co-Op with NASA.

Summer 2013 - Summer internship with NASA.

Fall 2013 - Begin grad school!

With this plan in mind, I've chosen three programs to apply tofor the NASA programs listed above.

First is the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars program (LARSS). This program has spring, summer, and fall sessions. I'd choose the spring session, to be completed during the spring of 2013. This is a research-intensive internship and should help me finalize the research I want to do pre-grad school.

Second is the NASA Academy. This is actually the first program I'd do in summer of 2012. It is an intensive summer research and leadership program, perfect for the roles that I continue to find myself in. There's a large carrot at the end of the stick - induction into the NASA Academy Alumni Association (NAAA). This would really help my networking base and is therefore a very high priority.

Finally, the NASA Aeronautics Scholarship program serves two purposes. The first is to get scholarship money into the hands of aeronautics students. The second is to provide summer internship opportunities for those students. This is my aim for the 2012-2013 year, with the summer internship occurring just before the start of grad school.

I think that I'll do the assignment for the LARSS program. It seems to be the most business-centric of the three programs, and the feedback I receive from the professor will help me zero in on what I need to better win this internship.

In the meantime, I think I'll reconnect with my CAS contact and see if she can help me put this plan into motion. Now, I'm off to start this assignment. My wife and I will be out of town for the weekend (anniversary trip!), but she requested that I bring the laptop. Maybe I'll get some more schoolwork done.

I doubt it ;-)

Cheers,

-- Zach