Virtual Internship Stories: Maddie Wilson

September 14, 2020

Tell us a bit about yourself! Where are you interning?
My name is Maddie Wilson, and I’m a junior in SEAS, interning at the Columbia Global Centers in Santiago, studying operations research. I’m from St. Pete, Florida, and in quarantine I have been there or in Toddy Island off the coast of Savannah, and I’m moving into New York soon.

Tell us about your internship. What are some of your daily responsibilities?
About once a week I have a meeting with my supervisor, and we will talk about what I need to do that week. At first I just googled papers all day long, but now I’m at the point where I’m summarizing and categorizing them. It’s pretty flexible, I work an hour or so a day, take a break and go to the pool or something, and then just pick it up whenever I have a free moment.

How have you grown since beginning this internship?
I’ve learned how to communicate on zoom, also time management, when I really don’t have a deadline, which has been kinda hard, so setting my own fake “deadlines” to make sure I do it.

Do you have any advice to offer other virtual interns?
I’d say, if you have questions for your supervisor or professor, ask them. They're so nice and will help you, we are just students and don’t have to always know what we are doing.

How does this internship compare to past internships or work experiences that you have had?
I used to do research for soft matter in physics, and this subject is really different, and this current one is less hands-on, but it’s kind of similar in the weekly meetings and few deadlines.

Do you have any book, TV, or music recommendations?
I’ve been reading Everything I Never Told You - it’s by the same author that wrote Little Fires Everywhere and I thought that book was really good - and the TV series, because Reese Witherspoon recommended it. I’ve been kind of into 100 Gecs lately too. And I just finished Derry Girls, I just put it on for fun but couldn’t stop watching it.

Where would you go if you could travel anywhere in the world?
Hawaii, I just love Hawaii, the surfing and the beach and the food especially, all the fish.

What three things would you bring to a deserted island?
A laptop,  books, and maybe like a scooter, or a skateboard or something like that.