25 Jul My Internship Experience at Solmeglas

It was way back during last Christmas break; I was halfway through my third year of bachelor’s degree and I thought maybe it was time for me to search for some internship opportunities to add one more line into my CV or resumé. Plus, I had nothing to lose. I told myself if the opportunity is meant for me, it will be.

Fast forward, Solmeglas found my profile and decided to interview me They suggested me to do PR and Marketing in Science because of the experiences and skills I have gained in my university outside science. I was also more than happy to be willing to do something different for my own internship rather than just a normal lab work internship that students in my university would usually do. I thought if I do something that is not just science, I can not only add another line in my CV but also be able to show my future employers the other skills and experience I have gained and perhaps make me a more rightful candidate to get hired in prestigious companies in the future.

I am grateful that Mr. Moises, the CEO of Solmeglas, found and saw my profile and hired me as an intern. Because he believed in me and hired me, I was able to get to know what it is like in public relations and marketing in the science industry. My work usually consists of writing articles, creating advertising templates on MailChimp, fixing SEO for the products on the website, learning about Zetaview and the labwork in making the biological products, and doing marketing research. These everyday tasks are completely foreign to me because as a science student I am used to writing up lab reports, dissertations and datasheets, and doing lab experiments for my projects. To be honest, these new tasks did look very intimidating to me at first, but I told myself I had to challenge myself or else I will disappoint everyone around me. Thankfully, Mr. Moises was very patient and was willing to teach me those new things before I am on my own feet.

Going to work every day in Solmeglas is always a very exciting adventure to me because I get to expect and see what new things I have to do daily and try to achieve the target as much as I could. I am also very fortunate to be able to attend a science conference called ExpoQuimia back in June. Even though the presentations were all in Spanish, but it was also indeed a right time for me to learn Spanish even more and be able to connect with the distinguished researchers from all over Spain who took part in the conference and be able to learn more about their research knowledge. I also had really good times going to the National Biotechnology Center for a few times as I was able to immerse myself into an actual lab environment in a huge research center and the researchers have been very helpful in communicating and giving me various opportunities related to science as well.

Aside from that, I am very fortunate to have amazing co-workers who have been really kind to me and always looking out for me. They made me feel like family during my time in Madrid especially Belen, to me, she is now like a sister to me in Madrid as she always look out for me and I myself don’t have a sibling but Belen surely made me feel the sisters’ love not just by taking care of me even when she is very busy. I am also glad that I am one of the lucky interns to have had a Spanish teacher hired for me to teach me Spanish. This way I not only get to learn Spanish but also the daily slangs spoken by Spanish people. I like how the Spanish lessons are more interactive rather than the traditional settings where some teachers would just let students memorise the words meaninglessly and not be able to know when to use them. In this way, it motivates me to try even harder to master Spanish.

My internship here has changed my life forever and now that I look back, I am thankful that I did not give up on my opportunity with Solmeglas and Madrid as there was one point I did feel like giving up because going to a country whose first language is not English was very horrifying to me in a way. Hence, I am glad I did not let the fear fully get into me and just proceed with my plan. After this internship, I think I can now say that I am a changed person in a good way, at least career-wise. It all started with my mindset of hoping to get an internship and “Yes I want to work as your intern” in order to have all these great things to happen to me. I am sure if I didn’t, I probably would not be able to get such a valuable experience elsewhere.

Solmeglas and Madrid will always have a special place in my heart, and I am definitely going to miss my co-workers as well… I will come back to Madrid and visit them for sure.