My Internship Experience with the CCREEE

Tamaira Rowe

Published on October 27, 2023

by Vlasean Smithen, St. Kitts & Nevis

Hello! I am Vlasean Smithen, and I am thrilled to share my internship experience with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) with you. Going into this internship, I had many reservations about this opportunity. I had never worked a day in my life, so I was apprehensive about how well I would do. I knew I would have to be disciplined, organised and communicate well. However, the great support I received from the CCREEE team, my supervisor, and my fellow interns helped me successfully achieve my goals. I learned lessons about patience, being goal-oriented and the countless career opportunities in the energy sector. 

Patience 

Growing up, my parents taught me that patience is an essential quality. A person has to be patient to aspire for greatness or wait for the good results of their efforts. Applying for this internship, I assumed it would be a straightforward process and that collecting data about the energy sector in St Kitts and Nevis would be a no-brainer. But how wrong I was! I had to wait long periods before receiving responses from some stakeholders, whereas others had not even seen my emails. Phone calls also yielded few results, and even though I was told I could expect a follow-up, the process often ended there or was slow moving. Although I was confused and a little disappointed, I stayed hopeful that I would succeed. Eventually, after trying different avenues, I was able to make headway. 

Goal Oriented

I am not an outgoing person by nature, and I was not too excited about making in-person visits to stakeholders. But I realized the best way to ensure I would make progress in my tasks was to do the very thing I was avoiding. So I mustered up the courage to arrange appointments and directly request what I sought. This experience taught me that to achieve my career goals, I need to be willing to put myself out there and try different approaches to achieve success. It may not be easy, but the efforts are well worth the rewards.

Me (centre) conversing with Mr. Denasio Frank (left) and Dr. Bertill Brown (right) of the Energy Unit

Opportunities

My tenure with the CCREEE exposed me to various career opportunities within the energy sector throughout the Caribbean. I learned from many experienced professionals about the vast projects and opportunities within the energy sector of which I could take advantage. Although there were many traditional areas of study, I was captivated by the new and emerging fields of study that have arisen due to rapid technological developments. I was excited to see how I could network and collaborate with others across the Caribbean, and I am now inspired to try new opportunities that may come my way.

In all, it was a great experience. I caught a glimpse of what my future career could be and received guidance on how to achieve it. I hope this inspires others to strive towards greatness.