Visualizing Success: A Summer Internship in Data by James Chen, Digital Scholars 2025

Q&A with James Chen, Digital Scholars Intern 2025.

What was your summer internship like?  

I worked with the University of Washington Bothell Advancement Team specifically in Alumni Engagement where I collaborated with the team to work on two major projects: employers for alumni and a breakdown of a past fundraising event. 

The first project, employers for alumni, we pulled from two separate UW databases and one database outside of UW that tracks alumni. This allowed us to work on the first stage which was data cleaning to find which IDs matched with which alumni. The second stage of the project was mapping a general idea where current alumni worked based on those IDs, and this was able to help us analyze the data and identify the top employers. With this data we were able to proceed with the third stage which was converting a list view to a visualization with graphs.  

The second project, was a breakdown of a past fundraising event was similar to our first project that involved us data cleaning to find what columns mattered and what didn’t. This led us directly to data analysis, and visualization. But this time it was easier to clean due to good record keeping from the Advancement team. 

What did you learn about how professional workplaces operate?  

With the Advancement team I learned, and this surprised me, was how it was very similar to school where you make the experience how you want it to be. Everyone was engaging, along with good communication on all parts from our supervisor BrieAnna Bales emailing us the deliverables for the day and both BrieAnna and Jessica Newkirk letting us know what they wanted with our data that we gathered. Another thing I learned is what to look out for in company culture. I always heard horror stories, and I am definitely thankful and cherish that my first internship I got had laughter and support going around the office. 

Who supported you and helped you grow in your internship?  

 I would like to give a thank you to: 

Chaise Jung, Connected Learning, for the weekly workshops before my internship that helped me learn how to build my professional identity and network with others. They helped me gain additional skills in project management, writing emails, skimming, communication, and many other skills that are important in a professional workplace. 

Both Jesi Egan, Undergraduate Research Director, & Chaise for the weekly reflections and workshops during my internship. This helped me with how to improve me skills in informational interviews and reflecting on myself during my time as I have been doing that a lot and has helped me recently. 

Our supervisors BrieAnna and Jessica for creating an amazing workspace experience as well as helping us with networking and setting up meetings with other people inside the data field at the University of Washington.  

What was the most challenging part of your internship?  

The most challenging part during my internship was the data cleaning part, while I didn’t do a lot compared to my partner Jayden Guan because my programming experience was limited. However, while he wasn’t there, I was able to practice learning Python to match IDs with alumni. 

What was the best or most rewarding part of your internship?  

The most rewarding part of my internship was the final week when Jayden and I were able to give a presentation of our journey during our 5 weeks Internship. From learning how to use the different databases to our process of data cleaning and then to finally presenting our end product with a Data Visualization.  

How does this internship connect to your longer-term goals?  

This internship connects to my long-term goals from learning skills expected in a professional workplace such as professionalism, communication, time management, and leadership. While I am still struggling with this sometimes, it also pushed me to break out of my shell and push myself out there more. 

What advice would you give to future Digital Scholars? 

One advice I have to future Digital Scholars is don’t be afraid. Even if it is scary, or it may hurt, it doesn’t hurt to ask. If you have a question, ask it. This applies to anything but for example the supervisors were more than willing to talk to you and support you during your journey. This way both you and your supervisor can be on the same page with the work they expect out of you. 

What advice would you give to supervisors and program staff who are supporting Digital Scholars in their internships?  

The spring quarter workshops helped by teaching me new skills or improving my current skills through a different way of thinking how I could do it. The summer quarter workshops helped me reflect on myself more, while not everyone liked doing that.

Also, our supervisors set a pretty high bar. I enjoyed working in that environment and didn’t feel pressure or rushed with the work they expected from me. I really liked that, and I am thankful to them for setting up different informational interviews across the University of Washington, learning what roles are out there and what others did in the data field. 

Learn more about the Digital Scholars program at UW Bothell.