Name: Sinthia Ahammed
Class Year: 2025
Major: Neuroscience
Minor: Creative Writing
Hometown: Narayanganj, Bangladesh
Internship Organization: Temple University
Job Title: Teaching Experience for Undergraduates (TEU)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
My day starts by checking in with the high-schoolers and taking the tenth graders to Buery 119 for chemistry class. We use a lot of simulations and videos to engage the students in discussion and group activities. I am also teaching data science, which involves demonstrating Python codes for the class as they follow along. And before I realize it, we are in the chemistry laboratory identifying unknown chemicals through observation or building chemical models, from where we, interns, find ourselves navigating North Philadelphia to drop off the high schoolers at their drop-off location.
Why did you apply for this internship?
As someone with previous experience in teaching, I was hooked when Dr. Donnay mentioned that TEU is all about pedagogy — researching the best way to teach students, catering to their learning needs, and knowing that everyone is a learner but learns uniquely.
Was there anything special about how you found this internship?
I learned about this internship from a workshop in Bryn Mawr.
What has been your favorite part of this internship?
Learning data science in three weeks!
Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?
Demanding, collaborative, inclusive
Facilitator, intellectual, youth
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The moment I see the students loudly discussing and answering questions or coming to the computer to test out a simulation.
Was this internship what you expected it to be?
It surprised me how much teachers/instructors are held accountable for a student's success and behavior inside and outside the classroom.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.