Monthly Archives: August 2019

Madeleine Hall ’21: William Way LGBT Community Center

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Name: Madeleine Hall
Class Year: 2021
Major: Anthropology
Hometown: Bellingham, Wash.

Internship Organization: William Way LGBT Community Center
Job Title: Senior Programs Intern
Location: Philadelphia

This summer, I have the great opportunity to intern at the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia, which just had its 45th anniversary. The Community Center exists to provide queer people and their allies with resources, support, and opportunities to better their lives. The Center provides a range of services from free peer counseling, support groups for, cheap yoga classes, recovery meetings, education about HIV and testing, and is a judgement free place to hang out 365 days a year. Along with all of this, it houses incredible art exhibitions (come visit now to see an amazing exhibition honoring the 50th anniversary of Stonewall), and the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives, which has the largest collection of LGBT ephemera in Philadelphia. I think anyone who is in the Gayborhood should stop in and visit, it truly is a wonderful place.

I found the William Way Center on an internet search for nonprofits in Philadelphia, emailed them a resume, and was referred to my current supervisor. After that, it was a quick decision, and I started going weekly in February before starting full time at the end of May. For my specific internship I am working under the Senior Programs Coordinator, who organizes a 50-plus gay men’s social group along with Access Services for the John C. Anderson Apartments. The JCA Apartments are around the corner from the Center, and is low income housing for 65-plus LGBTQ people. Even more specifically, the Center was awarded a grant to start a healthy eating program for the residents of JCA, and since my interests and background align with both food access and LGBT rights, the internship is a perfect match. My organization is on the small side, so I also do anything and everything, from marching in Philly’s Pride Parade to folding and cutting pamphlets.

The award winning gardens of the John C. Anderson Apartments, kept up by the residents.

The award winning gardens of the John C. Anderson Apartments, kept up by the residents.

My absolute favorite part of my internship is meeting and hearing the stories of the residents. In all honesty, I had never really considered my queer elders before, and now I realize that that was an oversight. Many of them grew up in deeply homophobic and transphobic communities, lost countless friends to violence, AIDS, and suicide, and the survivors are now being forgotten by their own community. As much as I love the queer community, so much of it idealizes and focuses on youth, and our elders are forgotten. Despite all this, the folks that I have met at John C. Anderson already feel like family to me. Growing up as a little queer kid, I never had queer elders to tell me about our history, the challenges they faced and surpassed, and now I fully believe that all young queer people should make an effort to talk to our elders. I have befriended a founder of the Gay Liberation Front, an incredible trans woman who was in a John Waters movie, and lovely gay couples who have been together for decades. As I am getting to know the residents, I am also learning so much about what it means to love, to have hope for a better future, and what it means to be a part of a community.

Amalia Jaimes-Lukes ’21: Heritage Farm

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Name: Amalia Jaimes-Lukes
Class Year: 2021
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Internship: Heritage Farm
Job Title: Intern
Location: Philadelphia

farm

Working at Heritage Farm is my dream internship. As a sociology major, much of my interest lies in making social change and studying what positive impacts people can make to communities.

Last summer, I worked my third summer at a day camp in New York City where I was asked to help start the gardening program for the campers. Along with my supervisor, we helped cultivate a vegetable garden and ran programming for children ages 4 to 13. Growing food was not something I had too much interest in until I began tending to the garden. As the summer went on, growing vegetables and teaching kids about sustainability was all I could think about. I had a growing passion for farming and gardening and a colleague recommended I visit an urban farm in Philadelphia while visiting friends one weekend. I attended the farm’s summer event and I learned all about the incredible community outreach work they do within their neighborhood to address issues of poverty, health, and food deserts. Immediately, I knew that the following summer I wanted to work at an urban farm in Philadelphia that worked within their community to make a change. Beginning in September, I had been researching, emailing, and visiting farms all throughout Philadelphia to learn more about what they do and how they contribute to their community or neighborhood. Through that research, I found Heritage Farm, which blew me away with the programs offered and the great impact they make on participants of Methodist Services and their greater community.

As I shifted my career goals after last summer, I am now looking to focus my sociological concentration in food justice. Through my sociology major I hope to be admitted to Bryn Mawr’s 4+1 program, where I can begin taking Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work classes during my senior year. With a social work degree, I can work at nonprofits like Methodist Services who help give access to resources like affordable housing, access to education, and access to fresh produce. My aspirations has shifted from being a general social worker to doing sustainability and food justice work in urban areas and food deserts because of how passionate I am about the subject.

I felt this internship would give me the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Philadelphia urban farming community, a community I would really love being a part of looking forward to a future career. It would also let me experience the reality of being an urban farmer and help me commit to the pursuit of this career.

farm

farm

Emily Elmore ’20: Global Fund for Children

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Name: Emily Elmore
Class Year: 2020
Major: History
Hometown: Ashland, Ore.

Internship Organization: Global Fund for Children
Job Title: Programs Intern
Location: Washington, D.C.

GFC

What’s happening at your internship?

I am working with the Americas portfolio, providing general team support as well as developing and working on my own research project. I primarily provide research support in planning partner convenings and helping prepare for an in-office advocacy workshop. For the summer, I am researching and developing a strategy for our partner organizations to start incorporating wellbeing practices for youth activists and youth holding positions within organizations.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I wanted to work in a nonprofit that functions on the principle of supporting local voices and community organizations without overshadowing their work, which the Global Fund for Children does through unrestricted funding to grassroots organizations. One of the things that drew me to GFC in particular was the Adolescent Girls and Migration Project, which supports a cohort of 12 grassroots organizations focused on protecting the safety and rights of adolescent migrant girls in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. I was interested in supporting this initiative as well as learning how research skills translate into strategy development.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

One of the most exciting things about this internship is the opportunity I have had to go to events and panels within D.C. to learn about how other organizations and governments are addressing the Global Fund for Children’s focus areas. I mostly attend events discussing migration, as that is the focus of the largest cohort in the Americas portfolio.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

One of the amazing things about working at GFC is that it is a small organization, so everyone is involved and learning about all the departments in the organizational structure. Because of this I have the opportunity to not only work with the programs team but additionally development and communications. As a program intern I was anticipating doing almost entirely research for a specific portfolio; however, with the fluidity of the office I have had the opportunity to learn more broadly about other departments as well.

Zainab Batool ’21: Software Engineer Intern, Fidelity Investments

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Name: Zainab Batool
Class Year: 2021
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan

Internship Organization: Fidelity Investments
Job Title: Software Engineer Intern
Location: Merrimack, N.H.

What’s happening at your internship?

At my internship at Fidelity Investments I am working as an Android Platform developer on the mobile team. One of the most interesting aspects of my internship is that I get to not only experience the technical part of a software engineer’s job but also see the other aspects involved in building an application, such as design and research! Since I am working in a financial company it is also interesting to observe the more “fintech” aspects that one would not typically see in a purely tech company.

The cool thing about Fidelity is that I am not limited to the team and group I am working with, but everyone is more than willing to have me observe the workings of multiple different teams. I have been able to observe the various roles one can take on as a software engineer or technology graduate such as mobile or web developer, test engineer or site reliability engineer, among others.

When I initially applied for this internship I wanted to explore the different directions that I could take for the rest of college and then post-graduation. As a potential double physics and computer science major, I had researched for physics last year but wasn’t completely sure if research was something I wanted to do as a career choice and wanted to explore more options. Coding and front-end development where you can see instant results of your efforts is something that gives me that “instant gratification,” fix and luckily I landed a spot as a mobile developer intern. Fidelity developers are primarily web developers so I ended up being extremely lucky to get this role.

Not just the work but my team and group have really welcoming work cultures to encourage a relaxed and collaborative work environment and are leaders within Fidelity in that sense, which has also been really fortunate for me to experience such freedom and support!

Last but not the least, I can say without any hesitation that the other interns at Fidelity that I have befriended this summer are a huge part of the success of this summer. From thinking that living in small ol’ Merrimack would be dull and slow to karaoke-ing, going to NYC or Boston, escape rooms and what not every weekend — who would have thought?! As there is just one week left for my internship to end I am genuinely sad to be leaving “Brian and the boys” who have been such great buddies these three months. I’ll miss them and Fidelity!

Kaia Valentine ’20: Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project

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Name: Kaia Valentine
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Tacoma, Wash.

Internship Organization: YASP (Youth Art & Self Empowerment Project)
Job Title: Intern
Location: Chinatown, Philadelphia

My internship has different parts: I’ll be working with incarcerated youth and giving them knowledge about art and poetry. We’ll do art together, and hopefully they will share their experiences with me as I teach them about me and mine. On Tuesdays, I’ll run a hub designed to inform parents and youth
who are moving into the adult system about that process. Then, on Fridays, I will write grants and to local policymakers. Additionally, I’ll do some regular office work like making copies and coffee, I assume.

I applied because I heard about the organization in my Intersectionality and Philosophy class and I felt I had to work there.

Ashley Boyette ’20, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

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Name: Ashley Boyette
Class Year: 2020
Major: Environmental Studies
Hometown: Hillsborough, N.C.

Internship Organization: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Job Title: Research Intern
Location: Edgewater, Md.

boyette

What’s happening at your internship?

I’ve been working in a lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center studying the relationship between nitrogen fixation and biodiversity. I spent a lot of time collecting soil samples out in the field, as pictured, and even more time in the lab analyzing gas samples and running genetic tests on different rhizobia. It’s been really cool to further understand the relationship between these two crucial concepts!

Why did you apply for this internship?

I had never held a true research position before this summer, and it’s always something I wanted to dive into. When I saw a posting for this position at SERC, it seemed like the crux between my passion for environmental conservation and my interest in biological research.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

Prior to this internship, I was convinced I knew what I wanted to do after graduation; science, and more specifically, environmental education. One of my biggest passions in life is making science accessible and exciting for kids for whom the subject might not resonate. Now, though, I’m learning that I really like doing research as well, much more than I thought I would. It’s making me do some serious self-reflection on what postgrad life could look like.

boyette

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

I went into this internship with few expectations of what it would look like; I knew I was going to work in a lab with people who focused on global change dynamics and nitrogen fixation, but that was it. Having the opportunity to create my own research project and learn lab and field work skills I hadn’t had before was a wonderful surprise. I also wasn’t sure what to expect from the dynamic in the lab itself, but I’m very grateful to work in the lab I was in because my PI, mentors, and fellow interns have made this summer so much fun.

To learn more about the work SERC does and to have a meaningful research-based internship, check out the SERC’s website or the broader Smithsonian Institution!

Chloë Epstein ’21: Illustrator, Book of Poems by Airea D. Matthews

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Name: Chloë Epstein
Class Year: 2021
Major: Fine Arts
Hometown: Philadelphia

Internship Organization: Internship with Bryn Mawr Professor Airea D. Matthews
Job Title: Illustrator
Location: Philadelphia

illustrate

What’s happening at your internship?

I am illustrating a book of poems being written by my creative writing professor. I am not involved with a company or organization, so this has been a very independent experience, but I still get to collaborate and interact with Professor Matthews. Currently, I am at the creative stage of my internship where I’m working on the actual illustrating. I have finished almost two illustrations, and am currently sketching the third. I have been sent three poems of course, and plan to ask for more material, if Professor Matthews has more. Continuing this process we will be going into the publishing stages, where she will show me what goes into creating a book like this and we will work together to put together the layout of the poems combined with the illustrations.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I had Airea D. Matthews as my professor for an Intro to Creative Writing class last semester. She was an incredible teacher, and I ended up showing her some of my artwork and telling her about my aspirations to become a comic book artist and writer during our first one-on-one meeting. Later on she told me about a new collection of poems that she was publishing, and she asked me if I could illustrate her work. I was a bit nervous at first, but I had decided this would be a great opportunity for me and that I was very lucky to have it when I was only still an undergrad. I have been taking more chances in college, more than I ever had when I was in high school, where I was much more closed off and less outgoing. Part of the reason was that I had fewer opportunities when it came to my own interests, and knew few teachers such as Professor Matthews. I just knew I needed to take a chance on this, specifically within the summer internship program where I would get to meet other people working on internships as well.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part is the fact that I get to actually create art as a job. Most of the internships I’ve been involved in are based in art, two of them being based a graphic design, but this the only one where I have actually been able to create the art I’m interested in. I learned and used many other skills in my other internships, but this has been one of the most fulfilling experiences and it feels like this is actually a path I want to take towards a career. I have been able to work on my skills in illustration, and challenge myself with subjects in drawing that I have more trouble with. However, this has been a very relaxing and fun experience for me because of my love for illustration. I already create work on my own, but when I was younger it was harder for me because I had almost no outlet or environment for art and I didn’t have a teacher to push me. I took PAFA art classes outside of school, but none of it felt as encouraging as this experience where I feel like I’m actually creating something for others to see.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

In the past, I have done little work when it comes to collaborating with others. Even when people would ask me to create something for them, I would hesitate to, because I wasn’t used to showing my art off in that context or working with others. As an artist, I think collaborating with other people is really important, because you get to see how other artists think and get to know the community more. I sometimes post artwork online or show it to my friends and family, but that has been my extent of my sharing, so creating work for my professor has been a really big step for me. With this collaboration in particular it was good for me to see what creating art is like on a professional level where it will actually published. Professor Matthews, who has already published her own work, will be showing me how publishing works for this projects and future ones as well. She has also taught me more about poetry and different forms of art as well, and had me do research and read book before I began illustrating. One of the most rewarding aspects of this collaboration though is that we have been learning from each other, and even though I look up to Professor Matthews a lot (she has even become my mentor) I feel very appreciated by her and like that we can actually have a conversation about our ideas together. I feel very grateful for this opportunity.

Ameesha Dugal ’20: Universidad de Autonoma, Chile

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Name: Ameesha Dugal
Class Year: 2020
Major: International Studies
Hometown: Ridgefield, CT

Internship Organization: Universidad de Autonoma
Job Title: Marketing Intern for the International Relations Office
Location: Santiago, Chile

What’s happening at your internship?

I work at the International Relations office in the Universidad de Autonoma in Santiago, Chile. I work directly under a boss, mostly as her assistant. I assist in translating documents among other things to fluid English, working on marketing strategies to market the university to student internationally, and also work with integrating new students into the university.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I desperately wanted to have an abroad experience. I also applied for it because it was fully funded through Bryn Mawr, and I knew opportunities like that are once in a lifetime. I knew that if I got it, I would have the full support of the BMC staff as well as the IES staff to help me be successful.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I was able to gain access to this opportunity through Bryn Mawr’s CPD (Career and Professional Development Program). Bryn Mawr sponsors two students every year for this program for a fully funded experience with IES abroad. I picked Santiago, Chile as my internship location because I have been interested in Latinx culture for about a year now. I listen to reggaeton — Latin hip-hop/rap music — and dabble in some Latin TV on Netflix. On top of that, I took a year of Spanish as a freshman. When I learned I got the opportunity, I had to take it. I was determined to immerse myself in as much as possible, and grow as much as possible in every way.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

The first week of my program, I was able to participate in an international fair hosted at one of the campuses of my university in a barrio in Chile. It was a nightmare getting there myself. I had just arrived in the country, and I did not know anything. I eventually got there two hours late. My boss was understanding and supportive. I realized the work climate in Chile is more relaxed and sociable compared to the States. It is almost like your work environment is your second home. I interacted with so many Chileans and foreigners that day. By the end of it I felt comfortable and confident. I went out of my comfort zone socially and emotionally. I became so comfortable with trying to speak Spanish to people who knew it perfectly. I remember myself changing from a shy, timid girl, to one who started conversation and laughed freely! Overall, I know that experience was instrumental in my adjustment to Chile and shaping my perspective for interning abroad.

I think this internship complements my International studies major. I am able add the politics, culture, and language, I immersed myself in, in Chile, to my greater understanding of society, the international political economy, and international interactions. When I go back to class in the fall, I know I can apply my personal experience to concepts I will be reading about. I definitely recommend students to apply for the IES internship through CPD, especially Spanish, political science, sociology, and IS majors — as these are directly paralleled to an abroad experience! Immersing yourself in a foreign country can enhance one’s understanding of these fields on so many levels!

Adzo Fiagbenu ’20: Physics Research Assistant, Colorado State

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Name: Adzo Fiagbenu
Class Year: 2020
Major: Physics; Mathematics
Hometown: Tema, Ghana

Internship Organization: Colorado State University
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.

What’s happening at your internship?

I spent the summer characterizing the magnetic properties of a sample that had been sent to my supervisor. This process involved the use of the MPMS (Magnetic Property Measurement System) and the PPMS (Physical Property Measurement System), both of which were designed to detect and quantify the magnetic moment of samples by applying Faraday’s law and the concept of Electrical induction — topics that I had encountered in my Electromagnetism class the semester prior to my internship.

adzo

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I wanted to develop my experimental skills. I wanted to hone my lab etiquette and improve on my ability to understand and effectively analyze data. Furthermore, I found the prospect of experiencing life in a university in another state of the U.S. appealing.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Bryn Mawr College’s Physics Department has a fellowship called the Katherine B. Blodgett 1917 Summer Research Fellowship and I was awarded the funding this summer. At the time, I had no internship planned. But after receiving the fellowship, I spoke with one of my professors who, based on my preferences, suggested that I work with her collaborator at CSU.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of the internship has been troubleshooting the unexpected issues that arose in my experiments: a characteristic trait of experimental physics. A faulty measuring equipment, a contaminated sample, and environmental disturbances for instance, sometimes turn simple tasks into complex and involving projects. This experience has taught me to not only be calm and rational when things go wrong, but also to not let successes impede my judgement.

adzo

mountains

 

Mahika Vajpeyi ’21: Grail Insights

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Name: Mahika Vajpeyi
Class Year: 2021
Major: Economics and Computer Science
Hometown: Ghaziabad, India

Internship Organization: Grail Insights
Job Title: Research intern
Location: Noida, India

Another school year was nearing its close and not having a summer internship offer by the end of March was disheartening. Dejected and desperate, I stumbled upon Grail Insights, a New-York based market research and strategic consulting firm. Research into the firm’s operations and its clients convinced me it was just the opportunity I sought. Learning data manipulation while helping Unilever improve its retail activation strategy? Taking a deep dive into statistical methods while advising Nike on where to set up its next store in Europe? Wow! Sounded like a dream job for an economics major where I could put my regression models to use and contribute to making a big impact on a big brand.

Extremely excited by this thought, I contacted the recruiting team at Grail’s Noida office in India, my home country. Following several rounds of interviews, I was extended an offer letter and just could not wait to launch into action at Grail.

I learned I had been assigned an internal project with the Allocations team, which is responsible for staffing employees on market research projects. My role required me to study the budgeted hours (effort estimates sold to clients) and actual staffing data with the aim of:

  • Formulating staffing-related business questions to improve employee efficiency and lower cost.
  • Analyzing budgeted and actual time spent by each associate on every project since 2015 to answer the questions formulated and determine data trends/discrepancies.
  • Presenting findings through a report or dashboard prepared using Power BI, a business analytics tool.

I gradually came to realize the importance of the task at hand. I viewed it as an opportunity to discover new insights that could drastically improve performance on all future projects.

Besides analyzing complex data sets using Power BI, I am getting a chance to improve my reasoning skills by writing code in a programming language built into the tool. Moreover, formulating staffing questions is improving my business intuition by forcing me to focus on issues most critical to the firm’s internal operations. This assignment, thus, lies at the intersection of both my majors — economics and computer science which I hadn’t foreseen. I am also looking forward to begin work on my second project in data science and analytics (which would more directly link the two disciplines) next week.

In addition to my daily tasks, I greatly enjoy a fellow intern’s company and have made good friends with several full-time employees. In fact, one of them has even included me on his team in an office-wide cricket World Cup win predicting competition! These connections I am building are undoubtedly the best part of the internship and make me want to go to office each day. I feel lucky to have received summer funding else I would have missed out on this rewarding experience at Grail.