Today was my final day at Bavarian Nordic. I parked my car and walked up to the big glass frosted doors which seemed so intimidating the first day and rang the doorbell. Through the crack in the door, I could see Brenda hustle to open it for me. Brenda always greeted me with a big smile on her face. Every morning my key fob was sitting on my desk. She was always so nice to me! I will definitely miss her a lot. After I sat down at my desk, Erika came over to greet me. She told Kaitlin and me that we would be having some time to work on our presentation while she attended a meeting. Turns out I accidentally coded for the wrong variable, so I was able to fix that. However, I had to go back into the Brachury raw data and find all the really long labels- that part was a pain! Overall, it was a quick fix. During that time I also planned out what I would say for each slide.
After Erika got out of her meeting, we headed to the conference room to practice and get some last minute tips. After I gave mine, I changed a couple headers and added another variable to one of my data tables. I also got a chance to look at Kaitlin’s. Her PowerPoint was very good! Unfortunately, Tricia went home sick today so she could not talk to us about Regulatory Affairs. This branch of clinical trials works closely with the FDA to ensure everything is running in according to the rules and regulations. I was a little upset because I was looking forward to hearing about this career path. However, we got to spend more time with Erika and learn more about some statistics and Bavarian Nordic products, which is always a good thing!
Next, it was time for lunch. It was rather sad having my last lunch here. I will miss the little talks I have with Kaitlin and the other people in the office. After I finished my chicken, it was time to head back to work. I put my finishing touches on the PowerPoint while waiting for Chris, the Chief Medical Officer at Bavarian Nordic. However, he was in a meeting so Erika took me and Kaitlin to Starbucks while he was finishing up. It was so nice of Erika to do that! Throughout these two weeks, Erika has done all these nice gestures for us- she is so thoughtful! I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with!
Once I finished my iced caramel macchiato, we met Chris in the conference room. He went to medical school and then worked for the National Cancer Institute. His job seems very interesting! It seems to involve a little bit of everything! He is also very good at explaining complex subjects. I hear he is a big help to everyone in the office. After we finished speaking with him, it was time for our big presentation!
Kaitlin and I set up in the other conference room while everyone grabbed cookies (that Erika brought). Kaitlin and I decided that I would go first. Then, I walked through each of my slides and the data visuals I made. Afterwards, I watched Kaitlin present. The, we entertained any questions they had. Most of the office was there- I was rather nervous! However, I think it went very well.
After that was all over, I was coming to my final moments at Bavarian Nordic. I chatted with Erika, Kaitlin, Ms. Handelsman, and Chris for a little while in the breakroom about various things. Then, it was time to say goodbye. Brenda made me promise to stay in touch – which I will definitely do! Kaitlin and I were trailblazers. There had never been any interns at Bavarian Nordic before. Brenda and DeShara noted that the future interns would have some big shoes to fill!
As I packed up my desk, it really hit me how much I would miss this place. I would miss Kaitlin and our random talks, Erika and all her sweet gestures, Ms. Handelsman and her wise life advice (although I’ll still be seeing her around CA), Brenda and her cheerful personality, Janelle and her infectious passion for her job, and my hilarious cubicle neighbor DeShara. When I got home my dad told me something that really made me think: sometimes it’s not always the job you do, but the people that make the whole experience worthwhile. As I pondered this over, I realized that if I end up working in a place with the kind of people I met at Bavarian Nordic, I would be extremely blessed.
