DSFederal is committed to education and development at all ages, and we were particularly happy to host a small group of bright and dedicated college interns this summer. Our interns helped with research and blog updates, assisted the HR and Finance departments, and contributed to web development and other technical efforts.
We encouraged our interns to get to know one another, and they did exactly that, with a series of intern-to-intern interviews. Our first interview was with Swathi Prakash, who was interviewed by fellow intern Chong Qu. Swathi, a student at UMBC, is originally from Germantown and has lived in Maryland for most of her life. Her internship began at the end of June.
Question: What's your name and how old are you? My name is Swathi Prakash, and I am 21.
Question: Why did you choose to intern at DSFederal?
Since I’ve seen my dad work here (Swathi is the daughter of Thiagarajan Prakash, DSFederal’s Director of Enterprise Solutions), and he seems to enjoy it, I also wanted to work here. This experience helps with my major, which is definitely a bonus.
Question: What's your role within DSFederal?
I work on the business development team with Claire and Nick, and help with research and writing. I’ve also been working on a few projects where I interview people, and I perform tasks involving social media.
Question: Have you traveled a lot in the past? And if so, where?
I have traveled to quite a few places, like India, Japan, and the Bahamas. I haven’t traveled much within the US, but more internationally. My family takes a vacation once every two, three years, and we also went to Europe once.
Question: What skill sets do you hope to gain from your experience here?
I want to learn how to work in an office environment, how to engage with my co-workers, and how to manage multiple tasks at once.
Question: Where were you before joining DSFederal? (Education and prior work experience)
I was at UMBC studying media communications and psychology. Media is my major, and I’ve always been interested in psychology so I decided to minor in it.
Question: What are your future career goals?
I hope to do something to do involving marketing or advertising, but right now I’m still trying to figure out what I’m truly interested in. I’m also thinking of getting involved with event planning and journalism, possibly on the side.
Question: Do you have any hobbies or fun facts you'd like to share with us?
I enjoy art so like I draw and sculpt with clay. I like writing stories and going to events while socializing with friends. A fun fact is that I wasn’t born in America.
We are very grateful for Swathi’s great contributions throughout the summer (not to mention her sunny disposition), and will miss her when she leaves to return to UMBC.