Priti's TEA Experience in Her Own Words

By Priti Kari

January 6, 2022

Prior to this internship, I did not have much experience with the application processes, interviews, or even an internship itself. As such, I feel extremely grateful to have had the TEA Proposal to guide me through every stage of an internship. During the internship, I would meet with Suetmui Yu and Nitya Kari biweekly to discuss not only the progress with the internship itself but also with other extracurriculars and school, which I think allowed me to have a space to talk about everything and to navigate through it.

Throughout this internship, I was able to explore bat behavior from various aspects and points of view. With Dr. Wohlgemuth, we read through several research papers--with each paper, I became increasingly fascinated with the incredibly complex behaviors of bats. I distinctively remember learning how a bat can use head waggles to precisely localize their target. It was fascinating to me as it had never occurred to me before that such a simple action as shaking the head could significantly improve localization accuracy. I was constantly learning new things throughout this internship, and with the knowledge and experience Dr. Wohlgemuth has, I was able to grasp these concepts over the past two months clearly. When I first met with Dr. Wohlgemuth, I remember feeling quite nervous about what to expect from this experience. However, with each passing week, I felt as though I was more confident with not only the material I was learning but also as an individual. I felt myself become more confident and eager to answer questions and participate. Overall, over the past two months, with the guidance of the TEA Proposal and Dr. Wohlgemuth, I feel as though I have grown both academically and individually. I am confident that the valuable skills and knowledge I have gained will carry on in my future endeavors in my academic career.

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To learn more about the application process for the Batlab internship, check out this link here!