{"id":9524,"date":"2015-09-29T23:42:15","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T18:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internshala.com\/blog\/?p=9524"},"modified":"2018-01-18T17:21:21","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T11:51:21","slug":"internship-at-university-of-pittsburgh-2123","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internshala.com\/blog\/internship-at-university-of-pittsburgh-2123\/","title":{"rendered":"Internship at University of Pittsburgh – Dania from MANIT Bhopal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"internship <\/a><\/p>\n

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.<\/em> Dania is pursuing Chemical Engineering and shares her wonderful experience of internship days.<\/em><\/p>\n

There comes a time in the life of an Engineering student which is more difficult to face than the thought of your crush not liking you.<\/p>\n

You grapple with the situation and put in the fight of your life to reach a conclusion. You may be dribbling the ball in the Basket Ball Court, but sub-consciously, you are deciding the title of your next degree: M.S. or M.B.A.!<\/p>\n

Having interned at IIM- A the last summer (2014), I was almost certain that Marketing is the field for me. The skills acquired in engineering plus the creativity would help me be at a place where I would love to work. Somehow, I could not convince myself to forget the fascination of my teenage: Invention. It need not be a gigantic thing like an amazing rocket launcher, I would be happy being a geek working in the Chemical Labs and learning new chemical structures everyday. The inner war between MBA and MS was more pronounced than ever before. In my third year, either a student was preparing for CAT or for GRE and in the rarest of cases, both. I joined TIME too, in peer pressure.<\/p>\n

The December of 2014, I decided to give myself a chance to realize my predilection. I decided to go for a fantastic research experience. If I truly love Science more than Marketing, I would strive for a career in the former. Hence, began the process of applying to foreign universities.<\/p>\n

My C.V. presented a decent image of my interest in Science and Extra- Curricular Activities. Being a 9 pointer helped too. (Yeah, yeah , Don’t judge :P ). As luck may have it, I converted a few emails. The best one was undoubtedly an internship in the University of Pittsburgh in the field of Computational Chemistry and Engineering. I was interviewed on Skype and was asked to solve a few questions related to the curriculum, which were manageable. The interview went well and I was offered a position as a research intern.<\/p>\n

The internship began on May 10, 2015 and went on till July 14, 2015. I had the time of my life working under a Greek professor, co-coordinating with a Ukrainian guide and teaming up with great American students. The hospitality of the place left me spell-bound and the work culture has made me a humbler person.<\/p>\n

Addressing a professor by his first name and group presentations followed by coffee at Starbucks(Sponsored by the prof for the entire team) and working for 7 hours a day just to converge a calculation on Linux made me love my sojourn. I had never imagined that Science and Engineering could be THIS interesting! I would wake up at 7 every morning, reach the lab at 9 AM and continue to work till 4-5 PM just to bring amazing results for the ongoing research.<\/p>\n

The place, the people and the stay has brought about a thousand minute changes in my persona which will stay forever. It has made me love Science all over again.<\/p>\n

My internship’s goals were divided by the professor week-wise. Every week, I was supposed to finish a fixed set of calculations and analyze the results. In my free time, I took the liberty to explore the city and the main building of the University. You might be wondering how much time would it take to skirt through a building! Well, here’s the element of surprise: The Cathedral of Learning, which is the main building of PITT, is 33-floor tall. It is the TALLEST academic building in the whole wide world! The University dates back to 1787, and it has stood through the test of time.<\/p>\n

I was so awed with this change that I can keep writing about the place and people incessantly!<\/p>\n

On my last day in the lab, I was offered a greeting card signed by all the teammates and a farewell gift from the University. That’s not it. The Ukrainian guide even held a farewell Barbecue party at his place. We watched movies and discussed TV series and life and globalization (anything irrelevant can be added) *Sobs*<\/p>\n

The last day of may stay in PITT, I quietly listened to every word of the Professor, realizing the fact that it will be very long before a man with Greek accent guides me in Chemical Engineering again.
\nAs I scroll through the summer of 2015 again, the pixels seem redolent of the happy past.<\/p>\n

Marketing may be hot but Engineering is beautiful.
\nAnd even more beautiful are the Carbon- Carbon bonds, of which the whole universe is.<\/p>\n

Sorry, just could not hold back the Chemical Engineer in the last line!<\/p>\n

If Dania\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0experience motivates you, you can check the latest International internships <\/a>and Chemical internships.<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note- <\/span>If you also have an interesting story to share, you can now participate in Your Internship Story Contest 2016<\/a> and\u00a0win cash prizes and goodies worth Rs. 1 Lac!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n