University of Puerto Rico

English Department
ENGL 4021 Section M03

Trip Report
th
DATE: January 26 , 2021
TO: Prof. Pier LeCompte Zambrana, Ph.D.
FROM: Jaleisha Joan Vélez Velázquez
SUBJECT: Trip Report Summer Research Opportunities and Writing Your Personal Statement

Introduction
On the Tuesday of January 26th, 2021, I attended a conference of “Summer Research
Opportunities and Writing Your Personal Statement” held remotely via Google Meet video
conference by Ponce Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (UPR-PRISE) Program.
The meeting convened at 12:10 a.m. and adjourned at 1:30 p.m., Dr. Edu Suárez Martínez,
presiding. This report highlights the importance of knowing how to write a personal statement
correctly and knowing the reasons why a summer internship is relevant to academic and
professional training.
Summer Research Opportunities
Dr. Suárez explained that summers research internships are experiences that help you develop
professionally, scientifically, and academically. There are different types of summer
internships which can be based on career goals, a particular topic, geographic location,
professional associations, and minorities, or random. These opportunities range from eight to
ten weeks, offer a stipend of $1,500 to $4,500, housing, travel, or meals. In addition, internship
applications generally require two letters of recommendation, credit transcript, personal
statement/research statement, CV/Resume, and online application. Students also must apply to
at least ten internships. Similarly, she mentioned that principal investigators, graduate students,
lab technicians or postdoctoral researchers can mentor students. From these experiences
students can develop essential skills such as teamwork, logical thinking, and problem-solving,
participate on lab meetings and present on conferences which are vital for Graduate School.
An important point when doing a summer research internship is that it can help validating
knowledge acquired in the BIOL3108 course. Research opportunities in southern Puerto Rico
are limited and the emergence of COVID-19 further limited the opportunities. However, there
were students who despite this emergency were able to be parts of summer internships
remotely. In addition, as an announcement she said that there will be seminars of UPRP
graduates who were members of the UPR-PRISE.
How to Write a Personal Statement?
The quality of the essay is critical, so it must be written in a compelling manner. Reviewers are
looking for students to state their short- and long-term career goals, why they are interested in
a summer experience, their background, research experiences, expectations of that summer
internship, how they can contribute to that institution and research, why they chose that summer
internship, and highlight extracurricular activities. Because of these requirements UPR-PRISE
has English editors who improve and verify your writing and have sample Personal Statements.
Closing
The conference is crucial to make application as competitive. This conference also allowed me
to be more strengthen and diversify in my knowledge and skills in the preparation of my
applications and staff statement, which is excellent to succeed in my university career and in
the long term in my scientific career.