“What’s your favorite element?” is a question that I have never had a confident answer to. As someone in science and engineering, this is a question I have been asked a surprisingly high number of times. Many of my peers are quite passionate about their favorite elements, but I couldn’t really care less, in all honesty.
Of course, my favorite element is now indium, after having been at Indium Corporation for the last handful of weeks. More than just finding my favorite element on the periodic table, though, I have started to find my element at Indium Corporation as a place where I am able to enjoy the work I do and contribute meaningfully to important work.
Concerns and Questions
I certainly thought I was going to be out of my element at this internship when I first started. When initially applying for the position, I thought it looked like an interesting opportunity at a local company. However, my mechanical engineering background didn’t appear to totally align with what I was going to be doing as a research and development intern, so I was a little surprised to be offered the opportunity.
Coming into my first few days, I really didn’t know much about any of the things that Indium Corporation produced. I had very limited knowledge of solder and flux, which did not instill much confidence in me given that I was going to be working with those products on a daily basis. On top of that, my materials science knowledge was limited to a single class at school, which didn’t seem adequate for a company whose saying is that “materials science changes the world!”
My biggest concern was feeling like a burden to my supervisor and the rest of the R&D team. There are so many different projects they are working on and having to stop and explain everything to the clueless intern was going to slow everything down. I had to remind myself that I was chosen for this position because my supervisor thought I was a good fit. If they truly thought I was going to be a burden, I wouldn’t have gotten the job in the first place!
Truly, my supervisor and the rest of the team around me did a great job of explaining everything to me and never made me feel like a question I was asking was foolish or slowing them down. I am very grateful for their helpfulness and patience, even as I occasionally bombarded them with questions. In addition, being included in team meetings helped me to understand the scope of the projects I was working on and the end goals we are looking to achieve.
Curiosity, Patience, and Perspective
I would consider myself to be a naturally curious person. I enjoy learning about the “why” behind things, which is a big part of why engineering is a good fit for me. This was something that I struggled with a little bit in the first few weeks of the internship. Because there were so many things to learn, I couldn’t get all the answers right away. Of course, this was to be expected, as I was only a few weeks into an internship in an area I did not have much experience in. I tend to be a bit impatient with myself, though, so I did have the feeling that I was behind where I should be.
My mindset needed to shift to feel more confident and comfortable. Having a bit of perspective was important for me. I needed to remember that I am an intern, so no one expects me to be an expert without having plenty of time to learn and familiarize myself with the work we are doing. It can be good to have high expectations, but only to a point where they are still achievable. Recalibrating how I evaluated my own performance was an important takeaway that can be applied to other areas of life as well.
I also found that, as expected, I started to get a good understanding of what I was doing with more time. I could now draw some conclusions about the results of experiments on my own, and much less was going over my head during team meetings. I was able to troubleshoot an error that had occurred during an experiment independently, which to me was a huge deal and a sign that I was getting the hang of things.
Having Fun
As I continue to learn more about projects I am working on, I have started to really enjoy the work I am doing. Actually enjoying going to work has been a cool experience. The camaraderie and sense of community within both the intern group and the company as a whole have been a joy to be a part of. In addition, I am getting more responsibility for certain aspects of projects we are working on, which has given me a sense of ownership and pride in how the projects progress. The work I was doing had real impact, and I feel like I am making a meaningful contribution to the company. To have that experience as an intern is special, and one of the reasons that this is truly “Not Your Average Internship®.”
The intern group recently gave our midpoint presentations, which are 5-minute presentations that each intern gives to an audience of company executives, human resources, marketing, their supervisors, as well as their fellow interns. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a huge fan of presentations, but I found myself excited to share what I had been working on with so many people.
After a solid preparation period, I felt pretty confident to give the presentation, which isn’t always how I feel about public speaking. Seeing all the amazing work that the other interns were doing showed that my positive experience with this internship program was not unique. I was the last intern to present, which was slightly nerve-wracking at first to have to wait that long, but seeing how well everyone else presented actually gave me some additional confidence. My presentation went smoothly, aided in part by the fact that I was talking about something that was genuinely interesting to me. The support of the internship program from so many important people within the company was awesome to experience as well.
Found My Element
The ultimate takeaway for me was that I really started to feel like I belonged. I was in my element at Indium Corporation: I could work on cool projects that had real impact at a place that fostered a great culture of curiosity, respect, and innovation. That feeling of being in my element was something I hadn’t really experienced too often in an academic or professional setting. I feel incredibly grateful to be at a place that can provide that to me, especially as an intern.
So, when people ask what my favorite element is now, I can confidently answer indium, although this answer goes beyond just the cool physical properties the 49th element has. It represents the amazing experience during this internship at Indium Corporation. It represents the Indium Way that makes this company so great. It represents the balance of perspective, patience, and curiosity that are crucial for me to have a successful mindset. To me, indium is a perfect representation of finding my element over the course of this internship.
