Spending her summer interning, Megan Cline, senior, worked in a biology lab at Bio-research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park through Project Interface.

During the internship. Cline worked with materials that are not available at school, like plates that grow bacteria and do gelelektroforese, which is a process of studying DNA with electrodes. 

Cline spent her most of her summer in a biology lab, conducting her own experiments, but she did not receive much success.

“I am pretty persistent. Even though a lot of our experiments didn’t work, I was able to keep on going and find a new way to do the experiments that did work,” Cline said. 

Cline’s internship was part of Project Interface, which helps students with career planning. One opportunity Project Interface gives to students is the chance to be an intern in the desired field of a student. Students can choose to apply for this program and may be chosen to have an internship opportunity the summer before their senior year or throughout their graduation year. Project Interface allows students to learn more about their desired field, gain experience, and learn lessons that can help them in the workplace. 

From Cline’s internship, she said she gained a lot more curiosity in the world around her. Cline’s BRDG Park internship opened her eyes to more opportunities and perspectives. 

“It’s so awesome to see the people around me being able to solve world problems,” Cline said. 

Project Interface also provides internship opportunities for other types of professions as well. Emma Koeb, senior, spent her summer at the St. Louis County Courthouse. Koeb’s internship included observing cases, conducting interviews with people, and becoming familiar with responsibilities in a courthouse. 

Koeb said she was successful with her summer internship due to her organizational skills. 

“I’m a very organized person and this helped me plan interviews and key factors for our tasks” Koeb said. 

The internship also strengthened Koeb’s speaking skills. 

“Working on my vocal skills and being able to speak up more and more helped me.” Having good speaking skills is important in a courthouse, and “it is something that you will need to use in your life.” 

Through the internship, Koeb learned about many different types of cases, gained insight of courtroom procedures, and helped gain assurance for the direction of her future. 

Additionally, Tim Healy, senior, interned this past summer at SLU Parks College of Engineering. During his internship, he analyzed data on super sonic jets given to SLU by the Air Force. 

“Most of the time I was on the computer, looking at scatter plots and analyzing data” Healy said. “I also helped fix the windtunnel.” 

Healy attributed his success to his strong math and science background, which helped him analyze graphs and understand the physics behind the data. Through the Project Interface internship, Healy learned how to use new programs, like MATLAB, which helped him make calculations. 

“The internship really solidified that I want to go into engineering and it also shed light on all the research opportunities in engineering,” Healy said.