As UVM students churn through coursework and lectures, the role experiential learning plays in their intellectual and personal growth is significant. But what if students are looking for experiences that are shorter, lower commitment, or even tangential to an industry of interest? Micro-Internships could be a big help.
We interviewed College of Arts & Sciences senior Erinn Wagner (‘24), who landed a micro-internship at Garuda Therapeutics working with CRISPR technology. Wagner found the micro-internship through Parker Dewey, a database that matches students with micro-internship opportunities in their industry of choice.
How did you learn about Parker Dewey?
I took a career development class my junior year, and they were talking about Parker Dewey, but my dad used to work with the guy who started it. My dad was like, “You should try it, this is actually a really great opportunity,” and I was like, “I don't know; they probably don't have anything for biology,” but they did on the day I went on!
What was your micro-internship?
I did research this past summer on a gene editing proposal through CRISPR on hereditary hemochromatosis. [I explored] where the gene is in our genome, and why [this disorder] happens. I basically went in and [would identify] the markers on the genome where you'd need to cut the DNA for the gene to be replaced. It was difficult, but I learned so much, and it was really interesting.
It was more theoretical because we didn't actually do the scientific lab work, but I learned a lot [about] CRISPR analysis. I was able to use the research and then actually apply it, which was super cool.
Was the micro-internship flexible to your schedule?
Yeah, mine was remote too, I just needed to get it done by a certain time. I was working a 9-5 job during the micro-internship. Thankfully my employer was willing to adjust scheduling.
How did the micro-internship influence your future career goals and where you want to go with biology?
I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do. But definitely in the science world because research is very interesting to me.
For career goals, it helped me say this is something I'm interested in – the computer side, data analysis, researching the disease, it helped narrow down, but nothing [specific] to my career. It was only one small project for three months, but it helped me gain small skills I know I'll use in a variety of different career possibilities.
Do you have any advice for students who are considering the internship?
Just go for it because you might end up loving it. And if you don't like it, it's not like you're committing to the internship for the whole summer or a whole semester. Personally, I was very intimidated by that [commitment] especially when there's a lot of different career opportunities in different fields. It was very low commitment and like high payoff.
CAS student Erinn Wagner will graduate from University of Vermont this summer.