Sophie Verra '22

1) What are some skills/competencies (NACE) that you developed during your internship?

• I developed social media skills: I became the administrator of the company’s FaceBook page where I created FaceBook posts to deliver my scientific research, as well as promote the company. I also used Blogger and Wix to create my own personal blog page which showcased all of my writing and work throughout the internship.

• I improved on my writing and communication skills: One of the tasks as intern was to research and develop a deep understanding of neuroscience and psychology. Once I read and comprehended complex and difficult to understand journal articles on the topics, I rewrote the information in a format that was understandable and easier for the general public to understand (an 8th grade level).

2) How does this experience connect to your future career goals?

Even though I am not a psychology or neuroscience major/minor, I would like to research/analyze data and be able to present my findings and communicate it to others, which is something I practiced in this internship. Research and interpretation of data is a skill that could be used in various subject matter, including my major - economics. One of my strong suits is communicating to others, so this experience definitely helped me to improve my writing skills; not only did I communicate through my blog posts, but also through Zoom meetings, communications with foreign non-English speakers, and through emails.

3) What advice would you give to other Holy Cross students?

• My advice would be to treat this experience as if it were a paying job - this is the best mentality to have in order to get the most out of the experience. The internship experience is what you make of it - ask lots of questions, be professional.

• Be Flexible! If the experience does not end up being what you thought it would, that is okay. Any experience is good experience. Be open to as much experience as you can get, even if it does not align exactly with your interests.