Work
I had the opportunity to work on an indoor shrimp farm in Switzerland. My work was focused on researching food quality, designing a protocol for optimal algae growth and monitoring shrimp health as well as water quality. This internship was a really unique opportunity and I learned about such a wide range of interesting things that I had never really thought to look into before. It combined a bunch of different aspects of my studies including bacterial testing, cell growth and nutrition. I also got to hold a live shrimp more times than I can count which was really cool.
Experience
I worked from 7 am to 5 pm during the week and I spent my weekends travelling around Switzerland and Europe either alone, with friends or with organized IAESTE weekends. I met some amazing friends through IAESTE and I can't wait to visit them all around the world. My supervisor was amazing and always encouraging me to travel and giving recommendations on where to go and when. She was also really helpful while I was beginning to learn German by pushing me to speak to her in German as much as I could. My boss and his wife made me feel very welcome by inviting me for lunch or dinner and introducing mine to common Swiss foods that I hadn't heard of like I also had the chance to network with other professionals in this field at the Aquaculture Europe Conference in Berlin.
Discover
I learned a lot over the 8 months I spent in Switzerland. I became a lot more confident through the experience of living alone so far from home and in turn, became more adventurous. I even went bungee jumping, which is something I never would have dreamed of doing before this. I also learned just how large my field of study really is and how many job opportunities there are out there in positions I barely knew existed. I got to learn about a new country and also learn about the different cultures of all the people I met along the way which I really enjoyed. I thought my list of places to travel would be shorter because of this experience but it has probably grown twice as long now, and I am super excited about that.
