The story behind my internship is sorta random. Back when I was taking
Japanese language courses (circa 1995), I had met with then director of the
MIT Japan Program
Paul Berger. I expressed to Paul my interest in going to Japan on an
internship, but I had never followed through with this intention, and I lost
touch with the program.
Then, one fateful day during the summer of 1998, I received an e-mail from the
new director of the MIT Japan Program, Mark Eykholt. Mark was
going through some of Paul's old records, and he came across a file that Paul
had started on me. Mark asked me if I would be interested in going to work
in Japan for a year, and I thought, "sure, what the hell."
In reality, I'd have to admit that one of the main reasons for accepting the
internship was to avoid having to look for a job. You see, at this point in
my life, I was planning on applying to medical school during the summer of
1999, after I graduate from MIT with my Master's degree. I figured that I
would only be working for one year after I graduate, and that I would then
matriculate at a medical school. I did not want to work at a "normal"
engineering firm for only one year, because I thought it would piss them off
if I left abruptly to pursue an MD.
Besides that, I was too lazy to look for employment. Since the MIT Japan
Program finds the internship for you, I figured that I'd make Mark do all the
work in getting me a good internship, and that I'd just go along for the ride.
Little did I realize what I was getting into...
After I graduated from MIT with my Master's degree on June 4th, 1999, I flew
to Japan to begin my one-year internship at Mazda Motor Corporation's
Technical Research Center in Yokohama, Japan.