Motivation:
We need a simple, reusable email service that allows the backend to send emails using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES). This will enable us to send automated notifications (like application confirmations, acceptance, or rejection) in later sprints.

Tasks:

• Set up and verify an email address or domain in the Amazon SES Sandbox environment.
• Configure AWS credentials and region for SES in the backend (.env file).
• Install and configure the AWS SDK for SES (if not already installed).
• Implement a utility function, e.g. sendEmail(to, subject, body) inside a dedicated service file (e.g., services/emailService.js).
• Create a temporary test route (e.g., POST /email/test) that uses the utility to send an email to a provided address.
• Add basic error handling and console logs for failed sends.

Acceptance Criteria:

• sendEmail(to, subject, body) successfully sends an email through SES using the verified sender address.
• /email/test route can trigger a test email when called with valid input.
• The email is received in the target inbox (tested using verified recipient email).
• Errors (like unverified recipient or incorrect credentials) are logged without crashing the server.
• All SES credentials and settings are stored securely in .env and not hardcoded.