Name: Jessie Zong
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Arcadia, Calif.

Internship Organization: The Quad Manhattan
Job Title: Psychosocial Intern
Location: Manhattan, N.Y.

What’s happening at your internship?

I am interning at The Quad Manhattan, which is a summer program for twice exceptional children. Twice exceptional means that these children have both exceptionally gifts, but may also have a disability. I am working in a classroom consisted of 5- and 6-year-old children. Many of them have learning, behavioral, or emotional disabilities and the main goal of this summer camp is to tackle some of their lagging skills. Each intern is in charge of tracking the goals of three children. Thus, I have been coming up with different goals I would like each child to tackle over the summer. Throughout the day, we use proactive problem-solving strategies to build on their lagging skills and goals. Additionally, I will be presenting on the children’s progress during their mid-summer parent conferences in the upcoming weeks.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I thought this was a great blend my interests: Education and psychology. As someone who is planning on working with children as a profession, this seemed like a great opportunity to not only gain experience working with children but also gain clinical experiences. I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone as I have never worked in a classroom specialized for twice exceptional children.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has definitely been seeing the progress that my campers have been making. Every day, each child is working hard to tackle their lagging skills and I can definitely see the progress they are making; seeing how proud they are of themselves for working hard, makes this job so rewarding. Additionally, it has been wonderful to make connections and relationships with each child in the classroom. It has also been great to connect with other interns and learn about their interests and post-graduation plans, as it gives me more information in regard to what options and opportunities I may have in the future.

Living in a new city? What has that experience been like for you?

Living alone in New York City is definitely something I never thought I’d do. I was a little nervous coming into this experience as I will be living in this big city alone. However, it has exceeded my expectations; it has been an amazing experience and joy to explore this crazy new city and meet new people at my internship. This experience has definitely made me more independent and excited for the future as this may be a city where I would like to be after graduation.