I\u2019ll readily admit, going into my internship I was a bit anxious, apprehensive, nervous, worried\u2014you get the idea\u2014about spending so much time in a \u201csciencey\u201d space.\u00a0 Frankly, I was overwhelmed by the thought of being completely out of my element, struck dumb by the fact I\u2019d have no idea what was going on, and a bit of me was also self-conscious about that \u201cnew kid in the lunch room\u201d feeling\u2014like, who WOULD I sit with at lunch?<\/p>\n
This was not the case.<\/p>\n
These concerns are so silly in hindsight.\u00a0 Instead of anxiety and apprehension, I have to say throughout my time at the EPA, I was regularly overcome with awe.\u00a0 I loved being able to go into labs, see real life research being done in fields that directly impact me and overall human health.\u00a0 On top of that, I was able to ask ALL THE QUESTIONS without feeling self-conscious or silly.\u00a0 I loved being able to speak with so many people who are incredibly passionate about what they do.\u00a0 Most interestingly about all of this though, I rediscovered my own passion for science and environmental education.\u00a0 Rather than being dumbstruck, I was awestruck to see exactly how much goes on at the EPA.\u00a0 Equally impressive, all the jobs, research, and testing that can be done through coding.<\/p>\n
Though I was personally delighted that I was able to \u201ckeep up\u201d with most of the scientists and human health worker, I was perhaps more intrigued by how universal coding is when it comes to getting a job.\u00a0 One of the most stand-out insights during my fellowship is that if young people pursue an education in coding or computer science, they will be a part of the future.\u00a0 In addition to this revelation, something else I found interesting is how many people I met that ended up with completely different life paths than they had intended.\u00a0 I will most certainly be sharing that with the young people I work with.\u00a0 This is so relevant because many young people feel pressure to make real life choices while still in high school\u2014sad fact, most grown ups don\u2019t talk about the messy paths that got up to where we are\u2014these are stories that young people need to hear most though, so they won\u2019t be afraid to fail.<\/p>\n
While thinking about the moments leading up to my internship at the EPA, I realize now that so many of my doubts were wrapped up in fear.\u00a0 I was afraid of not knowing enough, of failing my school by not \u201cbringing anything back,\u201d failing my students by not being able to push them hard enough, or by not being able to make \u201creal world\u201d connections.\u00a0 Mostly though, I was afraid of failing myself\u2014what if I couldn\u2019t do this?\u00a0 What if I couldn\u2019t make this work in the English courses I teach?\u00a0 What if I didn\u2019t have enough time in my life to make this all work?\u00a0 You know, just everyday people concerns.\u00a0 Entering this fellowship, this internship, was a huge challenge with regards to my own self-confidence; I needed to overcome these doubts.\u00a0 By seeing how relevant and accessible Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math work at the EPA is, though, eased my anxieties so very, very much.\u00a0 Through this experience, things I didn\u2019t think would make sense to me became very understandable.\u00a0 I was excited and intrigued by possibility and SCIENCE.\u00a0 I look forward to sharing my own stories of overcoming anxieties with young people in my classroom, while also helping to spark their own curiosities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ll readily admit, going into my internship I was a bit anxious, apprehensive, nervous, worried\u2014you get the idea\u2014about spending so much time in a \u201csciencey\u201d space.\u00a0 Frankly, I was overwhelmed by the thought of being completely out of my element, struck dumb by the fact I\u2019d have no idea what was going on, and a bit of me was also… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":549,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/549"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.kenanfellows.org\/2019-eericson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}