During the spring semester of my sophomore year, I found myself bursting with ambition and optimism about what my summer would hold. I pictured myself in New York or maybe Boston, living a picturesque city life full of chaos and confusion after two years tucked in the small town of Storrs. I even color-coded Excel spreadsheets of internships and programs I dreamed of being accepted to. I spent the next few months applying as I hit “submit” on more than fifty applications. Each one felt like a ticket to a different version of what my summer could be.Â
When the rejections started rolling in, my list of possibilities shrank until only one offer remained: a mechanical engineering internship at Purdue University in Indiana. As a girl who’s only ever known the East Coast, I was more than apprehensive about the opportunity presented before me. I consulted with my family and friends, and we all came to one clear consensus: I would be stupid not to go. So three weeks after the semester ended, I packed up my car, my dog, and an absurd amount of clothes, the kind only a true Carrie Bradshaw would own, and made the fifteen-hour drive to West Lafayette, Indiana.
I arrived in Indiana feeling like Elle Woods, clutching my tiny dog, who is basically a purse accessory, and my pink MacBook Air. I was still technically a teenager, yet for the first time, I was fully financially independent: living alone in my own apartment, managing my own kitchen, my work schedule, and my own paycheck.
Because I was living off campus, I knew I needed to find a group of other interns. So on the first day of orientation, I sat by myself and worked up the courage to approach someone. Across the room, a group of interns was laughing, throwing their heads back in hysterics. I bit back the urge to stay put and moved my chair into their circle. I eased my chair into their circle. The man beside me met my eyes with a gentle smile before introducing himself—in Spanish. In that moment, it dawned on me that I had stepped into a group of international students. We then shared a laugh at my complete lack of language, and in that moment, I began to understand the scope of the people I had just joined. Colombia, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and the list went on. They welcomed me with open arms, and over the next two months, that initial blur of laughter across the room became my closest friends.
We worked hard during the week and devoted our weekends to exploration and camaraderie. Our humid summer nights were filled with weekend nights out, American movie nights, trips to Chicago or Lake Michigan, and overall reeked of youth with unspoken hopes. We filled the nights with the recipes of their home as we traded stories from the lives we lived before meeting. Never in a million years would I have imagined making such fulfilling friendships during an internship in Indiana, but it just goes to show that in some cases, the best scenario really is a possibility.Â
Beyond the social whirl my friends and I took part in after hours, the work I undertook during the day was changing me in ways just as significant. My first week, the Purdue program paired each intern with a professor, who then connected us to one of their PhD students. In my opinion, this part is pure luck. Your mentor can make or break your summer, regardless of the company or project. Once again, I was blessed. I was paired with a fourth-year PhD student from China who was patient, encouraging, and truly trusted me with real responsibility. Under his guidance, I worked on designing and testing microheaters and colorimetric assays for a microfluidic platform. By the end of the summer, the project felt truly my own. Seeing my data come together, presenting my work at a Purdue conference, and realizing I’d contributed something real to the lab was incredibly fulfilling in ways I’ve never experienced.
Though I dreaded the thought of going to Indiana for two months, by the time I left Purdue, I dreaded the thought of leaving. So to those apprehensive about being far from home, taking new job opportunities, or exercising a reign of independence, this is where I give you the advice to take it. This summer, I not only got incredible work experience in my desired profession, but I also made friendships and connections that will last for the rest of my lifetime. Not to sound cliché, but in our 20s, we’d be fools not to grab the opportunities within our reach. So take the internship, move to a new city, make new friends, and allow these experiences to surprise you, stretch you, and mold you into someone you’ll barely recognize in the best way.