Frequently, the UNAWE International Office in Leiden, The Netherlands, is visited by an intern. The duration of these internships always varies. Some stay for a few weeks, others keep us company for months, and yet other interns last for half a year, before spreading their wings and fly towards new adventures. Last week the UNAWE office was joined by a high school student – Da Hao Ding from the Rijnlands Lyceum in Oegstgeest, The Netherlands. This specific internship flew by quicker than any other; he stayed for one week. A short but intense week. Here is Da Hao’s story.
"My name is Da Hao, I’m currently 17 and in 5 TTO (Bilingual Dutch-English) at the Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest. In my spare time I like to play video games and hang out with friends. I am not certain of my future ambitions, but I’m thinking of a technological study.
In order to receive the TTO Certificate, I had to do an internship in an international environment (Institute, Company, etc) where I really had to rely on my English language skills to communicate. The internship is supposed to last for a full work week, in which I experience working at an Instute/Company/etc. It was difficult to find a suitable place where I could do an international internship. Luckily UNAWE (Universe Awareness) was able to take me in for a week.
The experience at UNAWE was positive. The atmosphere on the work floor was good and stressless and I experienced that astronomers are actually not scientists who wear lab coats and look at the sky all day. I worked on a small project where I attempted to find a solution for the lack of interest of teenagers in Astronomy. It took me the entire week to finish it, under supervision of my supervisor Thilina Heenatigala (Astronomy Educator). I learned how to write a good abstract and working with Thilina taught me how to think critically and appreciate other people’s opinions. It was a fun week and I definitely recommend doing your international internship at the UNAWE office in Leiden if you have to do one. My thanks go out to Erik, Thilina and Pedro for this amazing week.”
Here you can read Da Hao’s final report.
Da Hao did his internship as part of the bilingual programme at his high school. Are you also in such a programme and are looking for an internship? You can apply at UNAWE by sending an email to arends@strw.leidenuniv.nl.
Other high school students are also welcome to apply for a (summer) internship during one of their holidays.
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