Interview with Farid De La Ossa Arrieta

Farid De La Ossa Arrieta

I learned about the bridge to biotech program through an academic advisor at The City College of San Francisco, They told me that I should try it since I had a bachelor’s degree in Chemical engineering from Colombia. I think this program has been all great in all the ways because it has helped me refresh all my math and chemistry skills and it has helped me to connect that knowledge with the biology background I am getting nowadays. I would recommend this program because it focuses on hands-on skills that can be very helpful in the biotechnology field. This program is also great at preparing students to apply for jobs and to perform very well in job interviews, which is very helpful while looking for a job. All of the classes and professors have been extremely helpful to my success. I have also been able to meet very interesting people in this program from whom I have learned a lot of things.

So far the Bridge to Biotech program has helped my success in seeking a career by taking my chemistry knowledge and connecting it with all the new biology skills. I am getting a lot out of the biotechnology classes and my current internship.

After the bridge surprisingly I heard from Nathan Hillson, the director of The Synthetic Biology department at JBEI (Joint Bioenergy Institute), who told me that he was interested in coming to the networking event to discuss a possible internship. The program suggested me to apply for some other internships besides the JBEI position that was up in case I did not get it. I was offered two of the other positions, but Nathan Hillson from JBEI offered me the internship first, the focus of his group sounded interesting and he was willing to come to the networking event, so I accepted the internship with Nathan Hillson at JBEI. The networking event was a great experience because I had the chance to meet and interact with people from the biotechnology field in San Francisco. This helped me decide what areas I might want to work in. After my internship, I am planning to continue with the program so I can earn other certificates like the Bio-manufacturing and Stem Cell Technology certificate.