Throughout my internship, I have become more detail-oriented and organized compared to what I was before. Before my internship, I have largely worked with code and software. However, my folders in my computer and notes were extremely disorganized.

Being in a new environment with limited time and research to do on many unfamiliar biological and computer science related concepts has pushed me to be more efficient. As a result, I have been maintaining a notebook with action items and organizing all my code and data folders as much as possible. This saves me time spent looking for a certain file, image, or script. And when it is a new day, it helps to look into my notebook to figure out where to start. I have been very independent in this internship, but not to say that I do whatever I want. I always ask my supervisor for advice, but I have been doing it less and less after learning what to do.

I find that I am better at navigating the more social parts of my internship as well. Specifically, lunch breaks, coffee breaks, and just conversations with coworkers. In the start, besides not being able to actually understand what people say all the time, I did not know how to keep a conversation going in French. I find that I can be really funny in English, but having a sense of humor in another language takes time to develop! Now, I think most of my coworkers have warmed up to me and I am better at naturally chiming into a conversation. I will say that food and sports, specifically soccer (or what most of the world refers to as football) are common and easy topics to bring up, even more than in the US. So even if I don’t watch every single match or understand the technical aspects, I try to stay informed.

In terms of hard skills, I am well-versed with technology; I learned recently you can use several “threads” or processors to run a script or analysis faster, which saves lots of time. This is something I take advantage of when coding with RStudio or writing bash scripts. I have also become more creative and skilled when it comes to making graphs that are coherent and easy to read. It is definitely underestimated how important it is for presentations or publications, or at least I underestimated it. Making graphs is easy, but figuring out what type of graph is best for different types of data is difficult. And lastly, my foreign language capabilities have improved a lot. After a month and a half, I do notice that I feel more comfortable starting conversations and understanding. However, I still notice my mistakes a lot and do not speak as fast as I would like. But my French friend commented that I have improved drastically and make almost no mistakes anymore, which makes me quite happy! I plan on taking the DALF (Diplôme approfondi de langue française) advanced language certification exam sometime between the end of this year and the first half of 2027.

When it comes to cross-cultural situations, I have learned that when you are not sure what to do, it is great to observe everyone else and follow the lead. This is how I learned how to hold myself together in the Paris metro or in customer service interactions. Additionally, it is important to ask people to repeat themselves if you don’t understand them. I often got timid and decided to nod my head and say yes when I did not understand what someone told me at first. People are willing to help, and it is actually appreciated since it makes you look more humble in a way, than doing the wrong thing. And if there is a problem, it is best to notify people as early as possible. This has allowed me to build a stronger relationship and avoid tensions with coworkers or host parents. My host parents are generally quite sociable and open-minded people who have made me feel quite comfortable and welcomed; we have great conversations about French food, cultural events, and even just regular day-to-day routines.

Speaking of cross-cultural situations, I think I have definitely underestimated how multicultural Paris is as a city. Everyday, I end up hearing around 5-10 different languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Hindi. The other day, my friend and I found an Indian restaurant near the Montparnasse station and got biryani to eat! It is one of my favorite foods and reminds me of my mom’s food from back home, so I was excited to try it. Although it did not have the spices typically found in Indian cuisine and was a bit expensive, I enjoyed it. And what I enjoyed more was the ability to practice French while sharing some of my culture with my friend. I look forward to integrating myself a bit more into the Parisian lifestyle during my last few weeks, whether it comes to my workplace or the time I spend outside of my internship.