Hello Cascadia Research,
My name is Curious Scientist and I am a first generation college student and am applying for a winter internships in the Hawaii office. My parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines. I grew up in a small family, my mom, dad and sister. In order to come to the US my parents scarified a lot and worked many long hours in order to support their children’s dreams. While growing up, my parents taught us to work hard as well and stand up straight and tall and to look out for one another. Seeing my parents work so hard, instilled in me a drive to excel in school so that their sacrifices would be worth it. I also worked hard in my community helping other families in similar situations through babysitting youngers and caring for elders. As I got older I also helped with our housing costs and this was an incredible feeling though tough to do while going to school and trying to keep grades up (especially in my favorite subject-biology).
Growing up in this way has not however been without challenges. My parents work 6 days a week (sometimes for 12 hours at a time) in a restaurant just to make ends meet and barely enough to afford rent and food and basic necessities which all recently was made tougher during COVID times when restaurants closed and or went to smaller staff. Medical bills for my sister have added up recently as we have no health insurance and therefore I started adding my part time pay to help with household goods.
My parents do not understand internships and in particular why someone would work for free, so receiving some financial assistance from Cascadia would help ease the strain in the house around my schooling and still allow me to help with household costs and gain valuable hands on experience with a great organization like Cascadia.
Right now I receive financial aid for my tuition costs, and this past summer I used some of my savings to also pay for $467.00 in books and lab fees (I buy my books through used book platforms) and I have received a $500.00 scholarship from the Kiwanis Club of Olympia which helps with food. I also make my own food for lunch or dinners while at school. I am happy to provide you with evidence.
OR:
Hello Cascadia Research Collective,
My name is Excited Biologist and I am an applicant for your West Coast Office Summer of 2022 Internship. I am excited to apply and to hopefully join you! I have deeply researched this internship and I feel that it is the perfect fit. I am thrilled to actively contribute to conservation efforts and to help Cascadia Research Collective in any way I can. Fortunately, I have time availability this summer, but I do have financial limitations such as daily travel and cost of food that will make it hard for me to work full time without pay.
Thankfully, I do have summer housing, but I would be seeking a stipend for gas and two meals a day. As a college student, I would normally have a summer job to offset transportation and living expenses for the upcoming year, and I cannot afford to use up any more of my savings as they will be needed next year. At Amazing State University, I am receiving financial aid. In addition, I am a Regents Scholarship winner as well as a Rotary Scholarship winner. Without these scholarships, I am unsure if college would have been financially attainable. I am unbelievably grateful for the ongoing support of my community. In order to honor the generous scholarships, I want to give back to my community using the education I have received to protect the environmental integrity of the Southern Salish Sea as well as its inhabitants.
I fully understand that this internship is unpaid and I am so grateful for the experience it will provide. I have thought a lot about how I could make it work and what help I would need. In order to prevent me from having a financial deficit, I would be seeking $1500 in compensation for gas and food to cover the entire internship period of May 16th-August 5th (I think I can decrease the food amount). This breaks down as follows.
| May 16-31, 2022 | June 1-30, 2022 | July 1-30, 2022 | August 1-5, 2022 | Total | Travel | |||
| Weeks | 2 | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 11.2 | |||
| Work Days | 12 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 55 | Round Trip Miles | 12.5 | |
| Breakfast | $10 | $10 | $10 | $10 | ||||
| Lunch | $10 | $10 | $10 | $10 | Gas | $5.60 gall | ||
| Total $ per day | 240 | 440 | 320 | 100 | Milage | 18 miles to gallon | ||
| Gas Tank | 20 Gallons | |||||||
| Food Cost Per Month | 240 | 440 | 320 | 100 | 1100 | Miles on one tank | 360 | |
| Car Gas | 224 | Miles per week | 62.5 | |||||
| Parking | 25.00/mon | 75 | $75 | One tank will get me | 375 miles | |||
| Total | $1,399 | One tank will get me 6 weeks | ||||||
| One tank will cost | 112 | |||||||
| Least amount of money on gas 2*112 | $224 | |||||||
| Total | $1,623 |
I have attained this number by calculating the gas required based on my miles per gallon, distance to and from my house to Cascadia Research collective, and current gas prices. I have also included cost of parking in downtown Olympia and cost of food. If financial aid was not provided, I would have to carefully consider the internship to ensure that I would not face significant financial concern.
Thank you,
Excited (she/her/hers)