My Create Caribbean Internship

By Mia Bruno

Preceding the day that I received an email from Create Caribbean, I had no idea what it entailed as I had never even heard of it before. I even thought that the email might have been a mistake, but I am very happy that it wasn’t. After reading its contents, it appeared to me that Create Caribbean was a program which involved only research and data collection, but soon after I was enlightened with the reality that its contents were much deeper. From the very first day upon joining the internship, I learned new things every day about Create. When I gained knowledge that we would look into the aspect of climate change and other global social problems like world hunger and poverty, it enlightened me as this topic has always been of great interest to me.

 I have to admit that it was not the smoothest journey in the beginning, as learning how to use the digital tools was very new to me. Being a Math and Biology major, digital technology was not exactly my forte, and I wouldn’t consider myself to be extremely tech savvy. But from experimenting with the tools and re-watching videos on their proper use, I can confidently say that I am getting the hang of it. I am forever grateful for what Create has taught me and what it is teaching me at present. 

Through this platform, I have gained awareness and knowledge on the use and applicability of ArcGIS, which I was also unaware about beforehand. Partaking in mapping activities which ranged from inputting location coordinates for places within different countries to writing detailed summaries of Caribbean countries has definitely helped me to gain both experience and the opportunity to apply my newly acquired knowledge. I learned how to use Google Maps in more ways than I could have ever imagined, other than only locating places. I have learned so much more about our culture thus far, including the Creole language and the many changes which have transpired in some of our communities from back then, until today. I also look forward to delving deeper into the history of our communities, specifically in reference to The Lab, and discovering the changes that have occurred.

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