Internship Experience at University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus
One of the most fulfilling experiences as an undergrad is participating in a summer internship abroad. This is a personal account of the experiences that I had during the summer of 2019 as a visiting research student at University of British Columbia(UBC), Okanagan Campus. I was able to procure this internship through the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship(GRI) program.
UBC Okanagan is based in a small town called Kelowna in the province of British Columbia. It is a very small town adorned with gorgeous landscapes, surrounded by mountains, lakes and wineries. This was my first trip abroad and I had been thrilled about my 11 week stint in Kelowna.
I arrived in Kelowna on May 5, 2019 and during my first day there, I settled in and gathered the basic necessities(pillows, blankets, etc.) required for my stay. My apartment was pretty close to the university campus and so, the next morning, I took a bus ride to the campus to meet my adviser and to introduce myself to other members of the lab. After being done with the introductions and the formalities for getting me enrolled as a visiting student, I set out to explore the university campus. UBC Okanagan has a relatively small and beautiful campus with separate buildings for arts, sciences and engineering. There is an enormous library along with a very well equipped gymnasium and numerous fields for students to visit after they are done with school. Furthermore, if you want to grab a bite in between your research or your classes, the campus houses branches of Tim Hortons, Starbucks and plenty of food trucks and other canteens, all of which dispense stunning food at affordable prices.
From the second day onward, I commenced working on my project. I was pursuing my internship in the field of computer vision with my project involving the development of novel techniques for small scale object detection in multi-modal images. The lab I was working in comprised multiple PhDs and Master’s students with me being the only undergrad among them. The members of the lab specialised in the fields of computer vision, data science and the applications of machine learning to other disciplines such as electrical engineering and civil engineering among others. There used to be weekly update meetings wherein every member in the lab gave an overview of what they had been working on and these meetings turned out to be very illuminating about the current research going on in the domains that the lab had been working on. It was a very knowledgeable experience altogether.
My schedule during the weekdays involved waking up in the morning, preparing breakfast and lunch and leaving for the university. I used to work till the evening after which I would either go back to my apartment or go to the supermarket in order to gather the weekly supplies. Occasionally, we set out to have a splendid dinner at one of the better restaurants in town. As time progressed, the workload escalated with me putting in more hours at the lab. However, I followed a “work hard, party harder” kind of policy wherein I put in a lot of effort during the week and went out during the weekends.
Kelowna is surrounded by a great many lakes and wineries. Our go-to spot on a usual chilled out day used to be the Downtown. It was an astonishing spot to hangout with friends with stunning restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlours and pubs/bars. One could also go there for a simple walk by the lake with a cup of ice cream to accompany you. Also, I was resolute about exploring the wineries in and around Kelowna. Hence, I went to quite a few of them for wine tastings and for getting to know about the practices concerned with wine making. The wineries were extremely beautiful with astounding sceneries which undeniably called for an amazing trip. Another very good way of spending the weekend involved going on road trips with breathtaking scenes and participating in adventure sports that the place had to offer. We had gone kayaking, sky diving(an out of this world experience), biking on mountains, to the beach for a swim, had barbecues and made it a point to have wonderful dinners at the best restaurants in the town. I had also visited Vancouver and Calgary on a couple weekends to experience the life prevailing in these bustling Canadian cities. Overall, while the weekdays entailed hard work with a great deal of learning, the weekends were all about going crazy and experiencing Canada as a whole and this is what made my time during the summer a memorable one.
Such internships are an exceptional opportunity for students to experience a different culture, work at the best labs around the world and to get a taste of living as an absolutely independent individual. For the ones looking at going for higher studies in the future, such an experience provides the ideal opportunity to get a taste of life as a graduate student at these universities. It also helps hone one’s skills at financial management along with making them realise the importance of time management. Overall, such an experience is one of the best ways to expose oneself to the world as it will be after graduation. With plenty of learning, making new friends and a good deal of enjoyment, such an experience becomes one of those moments that would bring a smile to your face when you happen to think about it or stumble upon the pictures in the near future.
Thank you for your time in reading this blog. I hope this inspires you towards having a similar experience. Kindly contact me if you have any queries.