NCCC Success Story

Where are you from?
I am from Staten Island, New York.

What is your degree program?
I recently graduated in Spring 2024 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science. I am now pursuing a Master’s degree in Health and Wellbeing Management.

What is your primary communication style – ASL, spoken English, both, or another language?
I prefer communicating in ASL. I am the only deaf person in my family, so I grew up navigating communication in different ways. For my education, I attended St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf for elementary and middle school, and later Lexington School for the Deaf for high school.

Tell us the date of your co-op/internship, your position title, and the company you worked for.
I began my internship on May 30, 2025, for the summer semester. I worked as a Science and Data Intern with the University of Pittsburgh at AIBIDS — Accessible and Inclusive Biomedical Information Data Science.

What was your role and what kinds of projects or tasks did you work on during your co-op/internship?
I worked in a medical cannabis research lab under the mentorship of Dr. Boyce, who partnered with Dr. Lewis who collects data from patients using medical cannabis. My role was to analyze whether cannabis improved their symptoms, considering different types of marijuana used by patients. AIBIDS provided me with patient reports and each week I met with the team on Zoom to review the tasks, then I completed the analysis before we met again to continue the discussion. I used R Studio to analyze data, compile findings, and refine the results based on feedback.

How did your experience at RIT/NTID prepare you for this job?
My coursework and experiences at RIT/NTID helped me tremendously. I learned valuable research methods in my classes, and my role as a research assistant at NTID CCL (Center on Culture and Language) gave me hands-on experience working with research subjects. That position also strengthened my data analysis skills, which were directly applicable to my internship work.

Additional Questions

How did you communicate with your coworkers and supervisors?
I used an interpreter for all of my work interactions. My mentor was very supportive and helped arrange interpreting services throughout the internship. They were also willing to sim-com with me to make communication smoother. The University of Pittsburgh and AIBIDS were proactive in asking about my accommodation needs and made sure I had the resources I needed to succeed.

In what ways did your employer or team create an inclusive environment for you?
Most of my work was remote, but all my meetings included an interpreter, which made communication clear and accessible. Toward the end of my internship, I traveled to Pittsburgh for two days to present my research in person, and interpreters were provided there as well. In addition, my team was responsive when I reached out via text with questions — they always replied quickly and made sure I felt supported.

What advice would you give to other deaf and hard-of-hearing students preparing for their first co-op or internship?
Find an internship that aligns with your major and career interests. Doing so will help you grow your skills and give you meaningful, hands-on experience. I also encourage students to reach out and connect with potential employers whenever possible — those relationships can open doors for the future.