This summer I have had the honor and privilege of interning at the University of California Santa Barbara. Specifically I will be working in the Zakarian Group which is headed by our faculty adviser Dr. Armen Zakarian. The groups focus revolves around Organic Chemistry, whether it be total synthesis of natural products or developing new methods for organic synthesis. With a long history of successful research, which is backed by their numerous publications, it truly is a great environment and opportunity to learn as much as I can about this dynamic and challenging field.

At first I was not one hundred percent sure what to expect about my summer project, I had never meet my mentor or frankly anyone in the group before day one. On top of this my only glimpse at what I would be doing was a project title with a few paragraphs. The working conditions and exceptions were also a mystery as I had never done something like this before. All of these unknowns left me starting the first week with an anxious excitement. Knowing only that I would be working in Organic Chemistry for the next 8 weeks at a leading research institution in the world.

Well I can say that after my first few weeks here I am more then thrilled with my experience. My mentor Lindsay Smith has been exemplary; providing clear, helpful and knowledgeable explanations of techniques and procedures. Everyone else working in the lab has also been extremely friendly and helpful. This has made it easy to become comfortable in the working environment and even though everyone is always hard at work they still answer my questions concisely and accurately. From what I can tell the entire Zakarian Group is a tight run ship and although everyone is casually friendly in the lab they are extremely professional and proficient at what they do.

I never expected to learn so much so fast. Between the guidance of my mentor and fellow lab-mates to the wide variety of seminars and workshops provide here on campus I believe this summer will be one of the best skills development opportunity of my undergraduate career. If you are looking to develop skills in your field I highly recommend interning here at UCSB.