My Internship Experience at Arcadis

Celine Alkhayri

Internship

Last summer I interned at Arcadis in Worthington Ohio. During my time there, I spent majority of my time using the programs ArcGIS and Excel to complete various tasks.

As a second year, I did not have any experience in the Environmental Engineering major. Before my internship I was nervous I would not like the field, the people or the tasks I got to work on. Luckily, I kept an open mind and the internship was not only a positive experience, but a life changing one. To begin, I learned a lot of vocabulary and programs that every environmental engineer must know. Having this basic understanding about the programs will give me a leg up in upcoming future endeavors. Second, Arcadis has the motto “if not me, then who”. I ended up taking this motto to heart. I would work on tasks I didn’t need to because I realized if I don’t complete them, nobody else will. This motto started applying to my everyday life as well. I started cleaning around the house and fixing various problems in my life because I decided instead of complaining, I might as well get that task done. Taking charge of my life and applying this motto changed my life for the better. I started getting my work done sooner rather than later, and I started getting help on school work I was unsure how to complete. Furthermore, I became more comfortable when public speaking. During my time at Arcadis I had to give a presentation about my experience, this presentation helped determine if the office and HR wanted me to come back next year. I practiced during breaks and at home, slowly I was building the confidence to present. Finally, when the day came I was able to give the presentation perfectly and with a dash of comedy too. This impressed HR and my bosses.

My experience at Arcadis would not be possible without the various people I worked with. Two people that stuck out the most were my co-workers Jingjing and Asnika. From day one Jingjing was always there to help me not only on a professional level, but in a personal level too. She would come ask me if I understand the task or if I am having a good time working on the project I was given. If I didn’t have a positive experience on a task, she would reassure me that not all work will be like that task and once you find something you love to do, try to specialize in it. These conversations really helped me grasp how engineering works. For example, Jingjing by trade is a chemical engineer, but another co-worker, Ruby, was a civil engineer. They’re both working on the same project, however their backgrounds are very different. This reassured me it’s okay to change your specialty along the way. In addition, Jingjing helped me practice my final presentation. She explained to me what a typical presentation should look like and how it should be laid out. All and all Jingjing was a great mentor and friend throughout my internship experience.

When it came to technical work, such as learning new programs, Asnika was always there to show me the basics, as well as tricks and tips. Majority of my tasks were on a program called ArcGIS. This program allows environmental engineers to make models of cities to simulate problems that might occur due to the environment. This includes flooding, sewage, and much more. During my internship I spent a lot of the time working on fixing floods in Pittsburgh. During the beginning of this project I didn’t really know the background of why we are doing the things we are doing, but thanks to Asnika that changed. She took the time to explain to me what’s going on in Pittsburgh and what Arcadis is doing. She explaining to me that Pittsburgh is growing so the city needs to add more sewage lines as well as decide where new things should go. For example, Asnika explained that when a city is being built, everything is placed strategically. If a mall was being built, a park would be placed somewhat close to it, so flooding doesn’t occur. Adding greenery to prevent flooding is also common around roads, that’s why there are always native plants or grass on an island or the road curve, Asnika explained. Knowing these facts (and much more) helped me understand what I was doing, as opposed to mindlessly designing sewers and roads with no context to why.

Lastly, on the last day of work my bosses took us out to lunch to celebrate various accomplishments. They thanked me for my time at Arcadis as well as celebrated someone’s recent marriage and expected baby. It was eye opening to see how close and thankful a professional team could be. For example, my bosses expressed their appreciation by giving them personalized gifts. They talked about how without them the team would not be as driven and complete, which I thought was very sweet. They all take their jobs seriously, but at the end of the day it was nice to see coworkers be friends as well.

Meeting all these people, learning new programs and experiencing professional work life for the first time will be a part of my life forever. I plan on always being an environmental engineer, it’s my passion as well as my hobby, so knowing that these programs I learned over the summer will be a useful tool throughout my professional life is wonderful. Also, I was able to make connections, that might help me further my career. Jingjing and I ended up swapping phone numbers to not only grab a bite or get coffee, but for career problems or question I might have in in the future. This summer was a very busy one, but it will always be a memorable one thanks to STEP.

my desk

A slide from my final presentation, showing what I worked on each week