Junior Kelsey Love is currently in the midst of a summer internship with ARL here in State College, getting valuable in-the-field experience as she pursues her engineering major at Penn State. We caught up with the State College native, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, for a quick Internship Spotlight Q&A session!
Kelsey, tell us where's you're working this summer!
I'm currently working at Penn State with ARL working as a Research and Development Engineering Intern. I am helping with testing in the water tunnel and learning about lasers and high-speed cameras for data acquisition.
What has the experience been like, being away from State College and removed from field hockey for the summer, focused on an internship and a work opportunity?
The experience has definitely been different than anything I've done before. Since the internship is still in State College, I am not away very far away from home. However, it is weird because usually during the summer I spend a lot of time at the beach and not in State College which is a big change for me. Again, being in State College I am still able to work out with the girls who are here before I go to work, and also play some field hockey when we all have time which is really fun. Having my first real work opportunity is also different because usually after a morning workout I am able to go home and relax and eat breakfast, however now I go straight to work after working out. It was hard the first week going straight from working out to work but I have definitely adjusted.
How have you managed your time differently in the professional sphere as opposed to being a student-athlete?
I feel like my time management is pretty similar in the professional sphere as it is to being a student-athlete. I still have my block of time where I am working out, and then I have a block of time for work which is basically the same time I block off for classes and homework. I also still have to make sure I have my free time to relax and spend time with my family and friends. It's definitely easier to have this free time with my internship since I don't have to worry about doing any work when I am at home.
What academic skillset has been most important to you during your internship experience?
Definitely my Fluid Dynamics course, a lot of the material I learned in that course is helpful for me to understand the things I am doing. It is really cool learning about different concepts in class and then seeing how they apply in the real world.
What skills have you taken from being a part of the FH program with you that have really assisted you in performing well at your internship?
Some of the skills that have assisted me with performing well in my internship are my teamwork skills, attention to detail, and problem solving. At my internship I work with a lot of different people so it's important to be able to communicate with all these people to know what I should be doing. I also get assigned things to do on my own, so it's important that I am paying attention to the details to make sure I do everything correct so I don't have to go back and redo it. Problem solving is something that I use almost every day, when there is something that needs fixed or solved, everyone has to brainstorm to come up with a possible solution to fix it.
