Isabel was an intern for the Anthropology Department at the MTC during Fall 2024.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
This semester I was an intern for the Anthropology Department at the MTC in the Research and Evaluation Department. As interns, we researched the language learning experience of missionaries. In order to understand their experience learning a language while at the MTC we interviewed and observed the missionaries. We analyzed the data we collected and were able to present our findings the the Research and Evaluation department as well as the Language Curriculum department at the MTC. This will help continue to help improve the language learning process for missionaries at the MTC.
What did you learn in your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
The things that I learned on my internship that I was not expecting were mostly related to the research that we did. I did not realize that I would learn to be more comfortable in interviews as I conducted them. I also did not realize that as I learned how to use MaxQDA, a coding software we used, that I would enjoy using it. Overall, I learned a lot of skills I had not realized going into it that I would develop.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
My internship helped provide me with other possible future career ideas I had not previously considered. Though I do not know what my future plans are, so the internship did not change them, it gave me more options.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
I do not feel that I received personal inspiration or revelation while taking part in this internship, but I did enjoy the Spirit that I felt as I got to interact with the missionaries at the MTC.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
I would definitely recommend this internship to other students because it is a great way to see how anthropology works in real world settings. It is also a great work setting with great people. I learned a lot about how to conduct research and not let biases get in the way of conclusions.
