— Natalie Yurek
This internship has been an eye-opening experience, and I am grateful to AHS and the companies that were able to host me during this timeframe. For my internship, I was given the opportunity to work with Tucson Water, the USGS, Montgomery and Associates (M&A). This internship has also given me the chance to interact with the local hydrology professionals and
connect me to future opportunities as well.
Prior to this internship, I had no experience with field work and, frankly, a very limited understanding of the world of hydrology as a whole. As I worked through my internship hours and school semester, I found that I was able to start making connections between my work and the college lectures I was attending. This really solidified the importance of what I was learning and showed me where the information would be used in the real world. This was an exciting revelation for me! I always find that academic information makes more sense when I am able to implement the knowledge toward the understanding and practical application.
Working with these companies allowed me to get the full experience of doing field work (both the good and the bad). It also allowed me to develop an understanding of how a professional office runs and where I would fit into that environment. I now have a different perspective of what goes on behind the scenes. This gives me an appreciation for the unseen work that is being done every day. This newfound information has been so helpful in making decisions about my future career path. I discovered the paths that interest me the most, and I am using the information I have gained here to shape my future. The opportunity to explore my interests in the professional world allowed me to deep dive into topics I haven’t been exposed to in my educational career. I was able to contribute to a number of water and climate projects based in Salinas Valley California. These projects gave me the chance to learn about water conservation issues, sea water intrusion, as well as take a detailed look at climate modeling software.
An important lesson I learned during this timeframe is that getting an answer is not as simple as asking a question of the person beside me. Sometimes we have to reach further and make more connections to find answers. Collaboration is extremely important to making any kind of project or research run smoothly. This experience allowed me to cross the threshold of being able to ask more questions, and to become comfortable with not always having the answers. In addition, I learned to find answers to my own questions and not expect those around me to always have, or be able, to find them.
Overall, I think that this experience has been a huge point of growth for me. It has helped me to make major career decisions that will shape my life going forward. I am grateful to all that have contributed to this experience and given me the chance to grow.