A bit more about the internship

So now that school is finished and I'm home in Lexington for the summer, I not only have time to breathe, but a little time to update this blog. I'm planning on updating regularly before I head out, and then hopefully once or twice a week while I'm there (with pictures, of course).

My previous post focused on a brief summary of the program and what I'll be doing. Now I know more about what I'm doing, so I'll try to be a bit more thorough about it. From what I can tell, the India trip is partly sponsored by the CEO of Virgo Engineers, Mahesh Desai. Two of us (Rachel and Kevin) are working for Virgo Engineers there. I will be working with Donna at the hospital there. Our accommodations (an apartment with two bedrooms with convenient access to shops and restaurants with breakfast provided) and plane reservations are covered, and we're given a small stipend to cover expenses while we're there (though the cost of living in India is a bit lower than other places!).

Part of the requirements for the SME program are to attend a two-day class after finals period ends. The class was really good, and helped give perspective on what this summer is going to look like in terms of leadership (since that is part of the point, since Leadership Rice is the organization sponsoring the internships). There are a total of 31 of us (selected from an applicant pool of about 100) in Houston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Pune, Paris, and Belgium. In addition to simply working at the hospital, I'll be sending regular reports regarding different aspects of leadership that I observe there. This, coupled with the two class days, will determine my grade in Lead 150, Leadership in Professional Context. The class will probably prove to be one of the most intense (in terms of the work I put into it) and one of the most informative (in terms of experience and knowledge) I ever take at Rice, though I'll get only 1 hour of credit.