Das Greenhaus Summer Internship Program
Howdy! My name is Tristan Forks, and I was one of the participants in the Das Greenhaus Internship Program this summer. Later this month, I will return to Texas A&M University where I will continue pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering. My passion and eventual goal is to contribute to the human exploration and settlement of space. As my time at Das Greenhaus comes to an end, I wanted to provide an overview of my experiences and what I learned and gained throughout my internship program.
During my nine weeks at Das Greenhaus, I interviewed a total of twenty individuals, all with a wide range of experience and expertise. Fourteen of these individuals were entrepreneurs, ranging from small business owners to CEO’s to investors. The other six interviewees were space leaders, or individuals working to develop the future of the space industry. You can read more about each individual interview on the newsletter page of our website.
I also developed a plethora of skills throughout the summer internship. Some of the main skills that I saw the most growth in included my writing, communication, collaboration, and listening skills. I developed my writing skills by writing and publishing our weekly newsletter, creating blog posts for Das Greenhaus, and crafting professional emails to send to leaders in the community. I developed my communication skills by discussing all aspects of my internship with my supervisors, Justin and Samantha, and by communicating necessary information to the individuals I was interviewing.
My collaboration skills progressed as I worked with Justin, Samantha, and Carlee (my fellow intern) on a variety of projects. Finally, the skill I consider the most important that I improved is listening. This involved truly listening and understanding the stories that I was told during my interviews while also listening to the discussions and feedback regarding my work.
With this internship came lessons that I learned as well. One of the main lessons I learned is that you can’t be afraid of something new. This internship put tasks in front of me unlike anything I had ever done before; but by putting my best foot forward, I learned that the only thing holding me back was the fear of doing something new.
I also learned that knowing the right people can open opportunities. By talking about and sharing your experiences with the right people, you can learn more about your interests, be connected with people who can help you, and be given opportunities that others do not have access to.
Finally, I learned that self motivation and ambition is key. While the framework of this internship was laid out for me on the first day, the rest was up to me to make it happen. This involved researching and finding the people that I personally wanted to interview and setting up my own meetings to make this happen. I also had to decide how I would complete various tasks, the approach I would take, where my focus would be, and how I would present my work at various stages during the internship program. While it would have been easy to just sit back and do the bare minimum, I found a lot more success when I put the work in and did more than I was asked to do.
I also want to touch on what I gained and am walking away from this internship with. The main thing I am walking away from this internship with is the development of the Space Professionals Society at Texas A&M. This will be founded by myself in partnership with the US Space Force Association. I will also be serving as VP of the national organization when it is launched. This opportunity came from my interview with Eric Sundby, further reinforcing the second lesson I learned that knowing the right people opens opportunities. Next, I am walking away with contacts and connections for the future. I met many individuals this summer from all different backgrounds who are interested in my future achievements and developments. Many individuals that I interviewed offered me advice and told me to keep in touch and reach out for anything.
Finally, I am walking away with the idea to develop my personal brand and website. This will be used to market myself as more than just my education and schooling. With this comes the development of my own personal website, tristanforks.com (not yet launched). I have made steps towards this already, getting a personal logo designed by my sister, Hallie Forks Juliano. I also plan to continue my writing, posting a monthly blog about my experiences straight to my website and LinkedIn.
I would like to thank everyone who made this internship as valuable as it was and for the continuous support I have received throughout the summer. A special thanks to Justin and Samantha for this opportunity, as I could not have done it without them. I am looking forward to continuing my professional development and staying involved with the Das Greenhaus community!
