Ielyzaveta Vilchynska contributed to a digital story archiving project with iVoices Lab to understand students' stories about tech in their lives.
How did you find your internship and what was the focus of your work?
I found my internship through Handshake, the university database for internships and jobs. I chose to apply to this internship because it was a part of University of Arizona and I was interested in being able to do meaningful work during my time. The focus of my internship was making contributions to iVoices, which is a media lab that produces, teaches, and learns from students' stories about tech in their lives. My role was to transcribe student digital projects into a database, making them more accessible for long-term and analytical use. Doing this work has really taught me patience and also new technical skills. I learned how to communicate with people better, use Google spreadsheets, and find new ways to get things done. I have also learned how to do asynchronous work, which can be challenging at times.
What was your favorite part of your internship?
My favorite part of my internship was our weekly Zoom meeting because that is when I was able to talk and engage with my coworkers about work challenges, as well as learn more about them as people. They were able to teach me some new techniques that made the transcribing process a lot quicker and more efficient. I’d also say that getting opportunities to understand different perspectives really opens up your mind to how many things that you still do not know and how much more is out there for you. Experiences that are new to you also teaches you that not everyone perceives things and thinks like you. Finally, I also really appreciate that I was able to get the feel of an actual working environment by experiencing how the structure and organization works.