This year, my most exciting opportunity began in late May when I accepted a co-op position at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge. After a long, hard search for my first co-op and a successful semester of classes including one notoriously difficult class called “Algorithms and Data Structures,” I was beyond excited to get started at Draper. At this point, all I knew about Draper was that it’s a defense and space manufacturing non-profit. On my first day I walked around the office wide-eyed, amazed by the spiel of inventions, the giant moon hanging in the lobby, and more than anything the fact that I was actually employed by this place! My team at Draper tasked me with all sorts of things including modeling, code refactoring and testing, participating in team meetings, and even hosting my own meetings. Draper and I greeted each other with the answer “yes” in every way we could: I took on any challenge they threw at me and they assisted me through any project I wanted to take on. The skills I gained and the people I met during co-op exceeded my expectations. Compared to how I felt before starting at Draper, I’m reassured by the idea that my resume isn’t everything. What’s important is the way that I take on challenges, pick up new skills, and ask for help when needed. Although I’m sad my time at Draper has come to an end, I’m excited to start classes again. Thank you so much to MVYouth for all of your support the past three years. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to pursue my education in school and in the workplace throughout my time at Northeastern.
Willa Welch - Northeastern University
By spending the past year split between Boston and MV, I think I can confidently say that each place has everything that the other lacks. They balance each other out perfectly, each having their own entirely different meaning. Boston is always new; no matter how many times I go for a run on the streets of Boston, I always find myself taking a new route. On Martha’s Vineyard, my route draws a heart each time, beginning and ending at my home. The same familiar route every time I put on my sneakers. I love the newness and I love the familiarity. I love having new experiences In Boston, and I love coming home to the faces and places that I’ve never not known. Academically, I’ve never faced such a challenging yet rewarding year of school. I remember feeling total imposter syndrome during my first year computer science lab. It was the kindness of one of my classmates that made me feel like I was capable. He asked me if I was okay and gave me his number with permission to ask him any question, even stupid ones. That act of kindness helped me more than he could know. In my second core programming class I dedicated myself to understanding rather than just doing, to asking the stupid questions, and reminding myself that I wasn’t alone. I declared computer science as my major that semester. Since then, I have coded games, an image processor program, and a functional binary search tree. As I enter my fourth semester in Boston, I realize what I want in a career. I want to be able to create and learn new things every day but still feel grounded in the code I’ve learned since I started in my first semester.
Willa Welch - Northeastern University
Northeastern University went head first into the semester. With a vaccination requirement for all students and faculty, we were fully in person for classes and most other events. By the time the end of August came around I was eager to get into the city and start exploring. Boston, while so close to home, feels a world away. I was lucky to have multiple visits with family throughout the semester, but I also had to adapt to a completely new environment and set of people. I frequently encountered questions about life on Martha’s Vineyard and how it differed from my new city life. I think something that differs the most is how strong the sense of community is on Martha’s Vineyard compared to such a big place like Boston and Northeastern itself. In Boston, I have found that I feel the most at home when actively seeking smaller communities within the vast community that is Northeastern. I joined a sorority and a Women in Technology club which furthered my sense of community and made me feel much more at home. Coming into the semester, I had no idea what I wanted to do as my major. I took classes in lots of different fields, including computer science, international business, anthropology, and art history. Throughout high school, my favorite classes were math and history. To my surprise, my favorite class this semester was my Fundamentals of Computer Science class. It was extremely challenging, yet definitely the most rewarding. I also still love learning about art history. I wonder if I can find a way to connect these two interests, but right now I am mostly considering majoring in computer science. I am so grateful for MVYouth for their support. I had an incredible first semester and I am so excited for what’s to come!