Reflections from IT Specialist Intern Daniel Opara
It never crossed my mind that I’d be using my STEM-related skills at an internship with a nonprofit. However, my time with Citizen Schools as an IT Specialist Intern has taught me that STEM is just as essential for nonprofits as it is for science/engineering focused industries. My first project was to organize email lists using Google Spreadsheets and after working on it for a couple of hours, I wasn’t making much progress and realized I might not be able to finish it on time. One aspect of the project was to alphabetize spreadsheets tab, and since I had absolutely no intention doing so manually, I decided to utilize the script editor and programmed Google Spreadsheets to automatically alphabetize the lists in each tab when the program was run. From that point onwards, the rest of the work I did at Citizen Schools—from designing Scopes of Work to managing Chrome devices—I learned from my STEM education.
My love for science began in my kindergarten library, where I read my first astronomy book. While it was a simple picture book with simple facts about space, I was nonetheless fascinated by the vast expanse of space, much of it incomprehensible or completely unknown to man. From there, my engagement with STEM evolved from enjoying non-fiction books to enrolling in all science classes available in school, interning at labs and pursuing my own projects that I would’ve marveled over as a child.
Finance Farmer, one of the projects Daniel has been working on, is a free-to-play, third-person, mobile farming game currently under development. As users expand their farm and collect more profit, they are able to convert their in-game currency to real-world currency that can be used out of the game. What is shown here is an unfinished map of where the player would start their ventures as a farmer.
I’m extremely lucky to attend a school with great teachers who combine inquiry-based and project-based learning to better teach their students the many concepts of STEM. In addition to this, they also have the connections to direct students towards clubs and organizations that help us practice and apply our acquired skills. My peers and I had opportunities to join a biology lab to design an experiment centered around DNA replication, go out in the field to prepare for a rocket launch and visit an office to create a startup selling an autonomous trash-collecting robot.
Opportunities like these should be available to all students, especially underserved students, who have inequitable access to STEM education and resources. With scientific and technological innovations driving the bulk of jobs towards the STEM field, students are more likely to benefit long-term from studying STEM as it cultivates the workplace skills, technical expertise and creativity needed to flourish in any industry. Moreover, beyond setting students up for success in future careers, STEM education grants students the ability to understand and apply data and develop solutions to complex problems, both of which are important life skills applicable in everyday life.
My experience with Citizen Schools has left me with much to take away, guiding how I should achieve my future ventures in the STEM field. One of the biggest lessons I took from working here was the importance of increasing efficiency, even if it means doing things a little differently to achieve this. Taking this piece of advice with me will help me systematically format my future projects and accurately document them to ensure that I remember the main objectives, important figures, and failures faced in the past to avoid in the future.
In addition to Citizen Schools, I would like to extend my thanks to Summer Search for making this internship possible. I would also like to show appreciation for my Citizen Schools supervisor Giovany Morales-Ramos for taking me under his wing and being an amazing mentor throughout this summer. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work at an organization with such a virtuous mission and hope that we may cross paths again!