Junior Ashlynn Malloy Examined Energy Education in Summer Internship
Alissa Bickerstaff
Over this past summer, several students had opportunities to partake in special internships or research topics. One of those students is Ashlynn Malloy, a junior at Manchester. Malloy was part of an internship that was focused on energy education and renewable energies, spending 120 hours over the entire summer participating both remotely and in person at the Huntington elementary school.
“I did a summer camp with 4th-6th graders where we did one week of education on renewable energy,” Malloy said. “It was more like a science camp. The kids made their own models of wind turbines, water turbines, etc. and at the end of the camp, they created their own model of a carnival ride powered by renewable energy.”
Malloy’s work in this internship not only allowed her to gain experience and learn more about the topic, but also gave her memories to hold onto. “Some of my favorite parts included the summer camp with the kids and joining in an open house with the organization,” she said. “The kids were so engaged in the content. I hope that the camp inspired some of the kids to pursue education in the environment/renewable energy. The kids were intelligent, and it was really an amazing thing to see the future generation that can maybe step up to environmental issues.”
The internship was not just a summer of fun with the kids; Malloy also had responsibilities finding literature reviews for the organization, focusing on educating about wind turbines, geothermal and solar energy for the state of Indiana. You can visit the organization’s website at https://center4ee.org. She also was involved in an open house for the organization, talking to some important people of Indiana. “I got to exchange in great conversations with the senator of Indiana, Mike Braun, and many other people about renewable energy in Indiana,” she said.
Of course, summer internships have their challenges. For Malloy, the biggest challenge was having to work more hours in a paying job on top of her unpaid internship hours. But she doesn’t think this should discourage anyone from partaking in a future internship. “I made so many connections by doing this internship and it set me up in a great position to do other internships and have connections for other things like jobs,” Malloy said.
She encourages other students who are contemplating an internship to go for it. “Whether or not you think that the study or internship you are planning on doing is something you want to do in the future you should do it regardless,” Malloy said. “It opens so many connections for you and allows space for you to learn what it is that you really want to do as a career or not. This internship showed me that maybe what I did is not exactly what I want to do as a career but lead me into looking for an internship next summer maybe in the field of environmental justice/education. I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t do my internship this past summer.”
Malloy stands by the fact that so many great things such as connections and learning experiences can come out of an internship.