Terraka Garner
Staff Writer
Idaho State University student Brian Andersen has recently received an internship opportunity, as one of only 14 engineering students throughout the nation, through the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program.
He is one of two students nationwide selected by the American Nuclear Society.
Applicants were selected following the submission of paperwork and two essays to the engineering society that they are personally involved with. There were seven engineering classifications, with two individuals selected under each.
The essays included one focused on why the applicant believes engineers need to be concerned in regards to public policy, as well as another that was to portray the essence of the applicant by expressing what they would like to do about a certain issue, and how he or she would go about doing that.
“When I saw this internship it looked like it would be a fun opportunity, so I thought I’d give it a shot,” said Andersen. “It turns out my shot was pretty good.”
Andersen, a junior, is double-majoring in Nuclear Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. He said even though he has to put a lot of time and effort into being successful and into balancing the workload between his two chosen majors, he believes that the experience he is gathering is “really cool.”
This will be the fifth time Andersen will make an appearance in Washington, D.C. He traveled to D.C. on several occasions during his time in high school to compete with students at a national level in a quiz bowl.
Despite visiting D.C. four times prior to the upcoming internship, Andersen said he is nervous to live in the big city.
“I’ve never lived in a big city. My hometown [Billings, Montana] is about twice the size of Pocatello but compared to a place like [D.C.,] that’s still pretty small, so that will be kind of a culture shock,” said Andersen. “I’m a little nervous about that and then just kind of in preparing the paper.”
All interns chosen for the WISE internship will be required to complete an essay and present the essay to a large group of people. The essay is to be focused around a policy issue or a recommendation to the U.S. Government.
Nuclear engineering Professor and Chair George Imel considers this opportunity to be excellent for Andersen.
“He’s going to meet many interesting and influential people in Washington: Policy makers and legislators and so forth,” said Imel. “Plus the other students from around the country are going to be among the best and brightest, so I was very pleased that [Andersen] won it and also very pleased that he is going.”
Andersen hopes to achieve a sense of direction after his participation in this internship.
“I definitely want to go into the nuclear field. At the moment I’m wanting to become an engineer at one of the nuclear power plants around the country and then potentially do that for a couple years, get a break from school and then go on to get my master’s degree,” said Anderson. “I’m not entirely sure of where I want to go after ISU. I’m hoping that this internship will kind of help me figure out what the path is that I want to take and hopefully an opportunity will come up because of this internship that will give me a new path to take after college.”
