I am just a few days into the Global Medical Innovation program and I am already really enjoying it and looking forward to everything to come. I chose this program because of its unique emphasis on medical device design with a global focus. Also, after living in New York State for my entire life so far, I decided it was time to venture south to Houston and Costa Rica!

The past few days have included a short orientation at Rice. I started getting to know the teammates I will be traveling and working with for the next year. This was aided by analyzing each of our Myers-Briggs personality types. I am an ISTJ, known as “The Inspector” or “The Logistician”. With a large range of different personality types on our team, we will each be able to use our individual strengths to contribute. In addition to considering our personality types, orientation included many other valuable lectures from Dr. Van Kleeck, a professor of Engineering Leadership at Rice. From him I learned some of the actions I should take to contribute in the best way and gain the most from my internship experience this summer. He also discussed the dynamics of a team and the stages we will need to go through to become a productive, successful team. This led me to think about my experience in Senior Design at the University of Rochester last year and consider what I learned from it and how I can apply these lessons to my current team.

Today we will be traveling to Costa Rica. Having never been to Latin America before, I am excited about experiencing a new location and culture. I remember some of what I learned in four years of Spanish in middle school and high school, but I’m sure that being immersed in the language will help in my goal of improving my Spanish. One of my team members is a native Costa Rican and has given us an overview of Costa Rican geography, history, culture, and other things to be aware of. I am eager to travel within the country and experience the many things it has to offer. While in Costa Rica, I will have an internship at Boston Scientific. I am looking forward to seeing firsthand the activities of a medical device company, especially in an international setting. My goal is to learn as much as I can through this internship, make many connections, and make a positive impact on the company in any way that I can. I’m excited for the adventures of the next ten weeks!