Hi! My name is Bella, and I am excited to begin my internship aboard the R/V Atlantis. I am flying out to Washington to meet the crew and the other interns where we will begin our cruise down the California coast through the Panama Canal to our final destination Woods Hole Massachusetts. While on the ship I will work with the marine technicians.
A little about me: I attend California Maritime Academy in Vallejo California double majoring in Marine Engineering Technology and Oceanography. I enjoyed two summers at sea experiences thus far. The first, my freshman year with my school where we traveled to Samoa, Solomon Islands, Saipan, and Hawaii and then with MSC on the USNS Fall River, and our ports included the Philippines, Australia, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia. During both of these cruises, my focus was engineering. My interest in engineering began in middle school when I discovered my love of robotics. I competed in FIRST robotics and Botball in both middle and high school. I enrolled in my high school’s CTE Engineering Pathway and was the only girl to graduate my year as a completer.
I look forward to sharing stories on this journey and hope it will encourage other girls to think about careers in science and technology. I also am looking forward to getting out of the desert heat! I live in the Coachella Valley and this summer has been like an infernal – days over 120 degrees and humid. The upside the beautiful sunsets we enjoy.
