Lankan Student does exceptionally well in Cincinnati USA
View(s):I am a junior Chemical Engineering student at University of Cincinnati and I transferred to UC from American National College, Sri Lanka on 2009 Fall. I am also an alumnus of Devi Balika Vidyalaya as well as Bishops’ College, Colombo. I coop (intern) at Lubrizol Cooperation – a specialty chemicals company in USA.
My dad is an engineer as well and I always wanted to become someone like him. So I decided on engineering way back when I was 10 years old and that never changed. I love Chemistry and Math, so I chose Chemical Engineering out of all the other Engineering fields. But it was only after co-oping that I realized Chemical Engineering is the right path for me. Because of the coop program, I know what I’m learning and what I’ll be doing once I graduate.
I’ve had 13 co-op job interviews and 3 offers. UC professional practice was very helpful throughout the whole coop job placement process. They provided me with a list of companies I could apply, guided me through my interview process and helped me in choosing the right job. I can always talk to my professional practice adviser whenever I have a problem and she talks to the company on behalf of me if I can’t talk to them directly. She together with my academic adviser helps me building my career.
I’m also happy to say that UC has a really good international team lead by Dr. Raj Mehta and Dr. Jon Weller. I was free to talk to them in many occasions when the things were not fair for international students and I’m glad to say that they always came forward and did the right thing in those situations. I should also say that not only them but everyone in UC International office is very friendly and help each student individually.
When I chose to become a Chemical Engineer, my dad told me, “if something can go wrong, it will. Your decisions & designs can cost thousand of lives. Safety is always first”. And in my coop, many experienced engineers showed me how things can go wrong and what is a good decision/design. And I
Joanna
And that gave me a chance to see different aspects of Chemical Engineering. They also place me in a different plant each time. Lubrizol not only taught me how to be a good, challenging engineer, but also taught me how to take the lead, come forward, speak in front of people and break my shyness. My supervisors and managers were never colleagues to me. They played my dad’s role in my career.
In my coop I’ve worked as a Chemical Operator, Process Development Engineer, Project Engineer and a Process Engineer. I’m so grateful to Lubrizol as well as UC’s coop program for giving me a remarkable experience like this. Because of the coop, I was also able to pay my tuition myself and not trouble my parents. Also from the money I earned from my coop, I was able to travel a lot and see many different places in USA. I’ve been to twenty one states and I’ve seen Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore and many more interesting, world famous places.
When I look back the three years I spent in United States, I’m really happy about the progress in my career. This whole experience made me who I am today. It was never easy, I had many obstacles and I still do. But I believe until you have a smile on your face and courage on your hand, you can overcome anything.
Scholarships for USA (Pvt) Ltd (www.scholarshipsforusa.com) take immense pride in Joanna’s progress at the University of Cincinnati USA (as her placement agent). Since 2001 SUSA has passionately dedicated to guide some of the nation’s brightest and most deserving students across the island to few of the most generous US colleges and universities with amazing scholarships and instant admissions. SUSA is the only Lankan recruiter to travel across US each summer continuously looking for more affordable universities (than current) and getting them agreed to offer their highest financial aid to each student introduced by SUSA. As its partnerships now has reached over 50 schools in US, each student who seek SUSA’s assistance has the unique privilege of receiving numerous offers for admission with maximum financial aid sometimes within hours. SUSA firmly believes that no other country could offer such high quality education at unbelievably affordable cost where so far, over 200 students have benefited.
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