sarah stearman

Michael Mercier / UAH


Sarah Stearman is a UAH tennis player from Kentucky studying Aerospace Engineering. Sarah interned with AESAero in Bremen, Germany. She discusses her international internship and other lessons she has learned during her college career.


1.  What made you choose your major?

I chose my major because I had an interest in math and thought planes were fascinating so I thought aerospace engineering was a nice crossroad of the two.


2. What made you choose UAH?

I chose UAH because I wanted to study engineering and play tennis somewhat close to home.


3. What has been the biggest lesson you have learned from your internship?

My biggest lesson learned through my internship has been the importance of seeing the engineering process through multiple perspectives (the transition from idea to manufacturing of the product).


4.  What is one thing you would tell someone interested in obtaining a co-op or internship?

I would tell someone trying to obtain an internship is to let everyone know you are looking for an internship, the more people you know the higher the chance is to obtain the job.


5.  What is one thing you wish you would have known before you started your internship?

One thing I wish I would have known before starting my internship is that the dress code is more casual than business casual.


6.  How has your internship grown you as a person?

I believe my internship helped me grow as a person because I have learned to live, work and communicate in a foreign country which has led me to become much more independent.


7.  What is one lesson you had to learn the hard way?

One lesson I learned the hard way was regarding how to save my work properly. I was using a software that had different licenses and I saved my work using the incorrect license which lost about a day or two works.


8.  What has been the funniest thing that has happened to you at your internship?

The "funniest" thing about my internship was in regard to the language. For the most part Germans have very good English although they might be out of practice, my boss would confuse words, and we would both laugh in the end.