Hana's Unplanned Internship Opened Her Eyes To A Career in Research
Hana Julazadeh is a recent graduate of SDSU Webers Honors College
Hana Julazadeh recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at SDSU Weber Honors College in San Diego, CA.
Hana felt an affinity for engineering, because her dad is an engineer. Then as part of a writing assignment in High School, an English Teacher introduced her to Bioengineering.
So, Hana figured, that a career in Bioengineering was in the cards.
Not quite, it turns out.
An Internship Opportunity
At the start of her sophomore year, one of her good friends in Honors College sent her an application for a internship at Pfizer.
She thought Hana would find it interesting.
Hana wasn’t looking for an internship. Let alone an internship that involved biology, research, things she wasn’t interested in.
Hana was quite set on on Bioengineering, so she this was outside her “wheelhouse”.
But then, for some reason Hana thought she would give it a try!
She applied for the Pfizer internship.
Being a Research Intern
Hana was an intern in the cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics department up at the La Jolla branch of Pfizer.
The job started out with ordering consumables for the lab, anything that they use on a day to day basis;
She carried a lot of boxes from the store rooms to the labs, stocking the labs and all the cabinets;
Eventually she started getting more and more involved in super small scale introductory experiments;
Expanding DNA of E.coli, entry level experiments to give her an idea of what an experiment would look like in a pharmaceutical company, and the good practices to implement;
Eventually her manager asked Hana to shadow her and learn cell based assays, and
Hana started taking on a larger experiments when her manager felt she was ready.
Continuing Research After Internship
At the end of her internship in her junior year, Hana wanted to do more in the research field, to validate her interest and decide if she wanted to pursue a position in research.
So she reached out to a Microbiology professor on campus to work in his lab.
The lab focuses on phage research, like bacteria phages, and
Hana had a great experience.
Hana was really, really happy!
A Career in Research?
Although Hana still liked engineering, she was a lot more interested in biology and the research that goes with it.
So Hana is applying for research related or biology related position - especially molecular or micro or cellular biology areas.
Ideally, her plan would be to work for a few years after graduation in industry and kind of narrow down specifically what interests me within the field of biology and then go back to graduate school.
Takeaways
Here are a few things to keep in mind from Hana’s story, as you undertake your college journey:
Keep an Open Mind as opportunities come your way.
Explore. Even if it seems like it is not aligned with your current interests.
Find a way to Verify/Validate your interest.
Work hard to convert that interest into something real.
On with the Podcast
Hana shares her undergraduate honors college journey at SDSU, UG Research experiences, Pfizer Internship, Playing Club Tennis, and Advice for High Schoolers.
Listen to Hana Julazadeh of SDSU Weber Honors College On Her Undergraduate Journey. (39-Minute Listen).
Let me know what you think of Hana’s story.
Have a Great Week!
Venkat