My name is Marissa Petersile. I'm majoring in electrical engineering and I'm from Stoughton, Massachusetts. I think internships are really important for me to figure out what I was interested in, and what I wasn't interested in, and really nailing down what the industry experience is like.

It's so wonderful to be in a big city where you have a lot of employers, you have a lot of opportunities. So I think being in Boston makes it easier, and actually highly likely, that you will hold an internship while you're still a student, because you can just hop on the T and go downtown and intern, or go wherever you need to be to work while you're still studying.

I think BU is one of the best schools in the area at helping students find opportunities for internships.

It's not just resumes, cover letters-- they've also helped me with mock interviews. They taught me how to negotiate a salary. I've been to etiquette dinners. They really kind of go above and beyond in helping you, not just find it, but land it.

BU has opportunities both in DC and in Los Angeles. If you're interested in studying in the United States, we have opportunities in other cities. I had a roommate. She was a film major, and she was studying production on an actual set, which was great for her to have that hands-on experience.

The most valuable thing that I learned from my internships was that it really confirmed that engineering was right for me, and that the industry that I thought was the best fit-- once I got there, it really was. It was everything and more than I thought it would be.