For my Kenan Fellows internship, I had the privilege of interning at Biogen in the RTP under Tracy Ahrens. Tracy made sure to set up an amazing journey where I was able to meet Biogen individuals from various career responsibilities within the company. I met (both virtually and in person) individuals who worked in labs, supervised Quality Control, and focused on personal growth for the companies sake. Every single person that gave me their time for this internship was warm, welcoming, and enthusiastic in helping me reach my information goals for my DPS Kenan Clusters vision. I also was lucky enough to spend my mornings watching Biogens Community Labs where students from all over come into a virtual setting and proceed to learn about different neurological diseases that Biogen and MIT are working towards educating the general public and helping in the pharmaceutical sector.
The most interesting moments during my internship were when I was on location at Biogen. When we initially went into our time, we did not even think we would be allowed on site, but once we got the “Okay”, Tracy wasted no time. I was so excited to see scientist using the different equipment that I get to teach my students about, and I really enjoyed how welcoming everyone was when we were invading their work space.
The biggest challenge for me was the amount of time we still spent online interviewing. Some days the interviews got tough because of the amount of time set in front of a computer…one would think that we would be getting used to it, but I guess I haven’t gotten there yet.
My biggest takeaways were the various stories of how the different employees reached their careers within Biogen. As a CTE teacher, we love to hear about the different skill sets and experiences needed to take on different careers, and this internship did not disappoint on that aspect! Our DPS CTE cluster really wants to help build a pipeline from our classrooms to these huge life science companies within the RTP, so every single individual helped me with this goal through their stories of how they developed professionally! Another huge takeaway from my time is the experience with Labster. I have contacted my district about a subscription, and they are looking at funding it for the whole county.
My knowledge on career opportunities at these large fortune 500 companies in my area has changed drastically because of the last month I have spent within Biogen! I know it seems silly, but I always just figured you would have to have science and math backgrounds and skills in order to work for a company like Biogen, but MAN WAS I WRONG! They had employees with degrees in Theatre Arts working in the Human Improvement Sector, and almost every person I spoke to said that they just want someone with strong leadership, teamwork, and initiative so that they can train them for the job they need! I am sure the other companies in the area have similar cultures and it is very exciting to know that students can leave my classroom and go to work at these companies, even if it is at entry level!