Mastercard Foundation Scholar Shares Lessons From Her First Internship

My 2016 Summer internship journey started when I listed my top five companies and started my research.

After a few not-so-good-news responses, I got a ‘yes’ from Mintek, a Mineral Processing and Metallurgical research institution in Randburg, South Africa.

The news sent me sky high. A few weeks after I received my acceptance, my “Introduction to Mineral Processing” professor presented on a technological innovation that was developed and patented by Mintek. I felt like standing up and telling everybody: “That’s where I will be working this summer.” I was so proud!

On May 3rd, I started on a journey that re-shaped my mining dream. When I began studying mining, I was drawn to the technical side of the industry, but as Mintek works closely with mining companies to develop technologies for them, I also envision working closely with communities to understand their needs from the mining industry, and work towards meeting those needs.

On my very first day, I was met with a very warm welcome. I was also given a hard-hat, a reminder of the old photographs of underground miners that inspired me to get into mining, and a gesture that made me feel like part of the team.

Mintek was far bigger than I had imagined! I chose to work for their Biotechnology Division, and while I had little background knowledge on biotechnology in mining, I was overcome by a burning desire to learn about it – any idea that suggests a safer and ”cleaner” mineral extraction excites me.

The team that I worked with was led by a woman. I am all for women’s empowerment and getting more women into ‘male industries’, so watching my supervisor at work every day was so inspiring. I was able to adjust and fit really well with the team because most of them spoke ‘my language’, (literally – they speak the language of science and also Sesotho, my mother tongue), and because I believe I am a natural team player.

It took me a little while to grasp the biotechnology concepts and I had to put in extra hours of studying. But the team was very patient with me and they were all eager to help. After a few weeks, I started to get the hang of things.

I also got opportunities to visit other divisions in the company and learn about their work, including a few informational interviews with some senior staff members about their work and passions. I also visited some technology plants the company developed.

From working at Mintek, I learned what it means to give your work your all. My colleagues worked hard and their commitment inspired me to do the same. They spoke strongly about hard work and achieving team goals. I learned so much from engaging with them and getting to understand their drive. Yes: drive. My experiences at Mintek helped me define my own drive which will now construct my mining path: develop safer, cleaner mines for communities across the continent.

A native of Lesotho, Retsepile Sello is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar pursuing an undergraduate degree in Applied Science at the University of British Columbia.  She is committed to improving environmental outcomes of mining processes.