I am currently going on a little over 2 weeks at sea with the Alvin Ops group. It is my first time at sea for this long, and I will say I had some anxiety beforehand. I am currently enrolled in an online masters program, so I was worried about having enough time for both the internship and my courses. Now in retrospect I can say that all of that anxiety is out the window. Even with the long hours of work for the internship I still have plenty of time to get my course work done, and also relax. When you’re on a ship there’s nowhere else to go, so the distractions are minimal. The work days are long with the Alvin group, but I am used to it and because I enjoy the work it doesn’t feel long. Up to this point I have worked closely alongside the mechanics during focused repairs, inspections, and maintenance. I am learning something new everyday, and it is all thanks to this amazing opportunity afforded to me by the MATE program. If it were up to me I would never leave the Alvin Ops group, they are a great team to be a part of and the work is extremely interesting as well as unique.
