Delving into LM's Nevada Offsites Program.
October 16, 2020
minute read time
Sierra Generette is a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) summer intern. Generette is a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University majoring in environmental studies and working on a certificate in waste management.
Did your internship with LM change your outlook on your studies and future career path?
I learned so much about DOE from my internship experience. My project allowed me the opportunity to learn about the Nevada Offsites [NVOS]. In the beginning, when I received the overview of the project, I was not aware of the NVOS or LM at all. After meeting with my mentors, Ken Kreie and Jackie Petrello, I discovered that the project was related to waste management. I will be receiving my certification in waste management upon graduation in May from North Carolina A&T State University. I learned how important NVOS is, but also how important it is to make sure LM is keeping up with its responsibilities, obligations, and other important information for these sites. I learned new skills, such as how to navigate SharePoint and Content Manager. Most importantly, I learned some of the values of LM, and how I would love to work with the office again in the future.
What were the challenges of completing a virtual internship?
Over the course of this virtual internship, I have faced a few challenges. One is that I would have loved the opportunity to complete the internship in-person and meet everyone I had the chance of working with. Working remotely can make it hard to build deeper connections, so I had to do my best to work around that. Other challenges were some minor technical issues, which made it difficult to attend meetings or communicate online. The last challenge was the difficulty of online networking with people at LM's Grand Junction office. I am a very bubbly person and love meeting new people, so I wish I could have met more people during my experience. However, these challenges did not hinder my success in this internship.
I feel like every obstacle I faced made me want to push harder and achieve my goals. I still attended all my meetings, completed my tasks, met new people, and I made the most out of my virtual experience. I also learned valuable skills along the way. I learned how to research better and take extra steps in finding information. I also learned how to adapt and be flexible. This summer made everyone embark on a new “normal” and adapt to change. I was apprehensive about switching from an in-person experience to online, but I made the most out of this opportunity. This will help me in the future because when I am faced with change, I will be able to face it head-on and not let it deter me. I think it will also help me stay flexible and not have preconceived ideas of how something must be.
What were some of the highlights of your internship?
One of my highlights was being able to connect with the other interns and my partner, Dejah Demetrice Carlock. Although the internship was virtual, I didn’t know I would have a great connection and make a friend along the way.
I loved being able to work with my mentors, as well as Angelita Denny, because they pushed me and helped me so much through this process. Another highlight is knowing that my project will be used in the future and how it made a difference to LM. Lastly, I usually do not like presenting, but this experience made me more confident. I enjoyed being able to inform people about my project and I brushed up on my presentation skills. Overall, I want to thank everyone that helped me during this internship. I felt so supported, and if I needed anything, there was always someone to help me. This internship helped me grow, advocate for myself, become more responsible, and gain new knowledge on LM. The biggest takeaway I took from this experience was to not be afraid of change but be one step ahead of it.