Tag Archives: 2020

Hikma Salhe ’20: Together For West Philadelphia

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Name: Hikma Salhe
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Philadelphia

Internship Organization: Together For West Philadelphia
Job Title: Summer student researcher
Research Site: Lankenau Hospital
Community Immersion Site: Lewis Cassidy Elementary Plus School

What’s happening at your internship?

I have spent this summer working as a summer student researcher at Together for West Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization. Their main goal is to provide a holistic approach in servicing the public health issues that affect the west Philadelphia area by partnering with Main Line Health. This initiative is incredibly important as it works toward resolving the disconnection between the communities that live on either side of City Ave., both in their social and health realms.

Why did you apply for this internship?

As a rising senior, I knew that I wanted to spend my summer working with an organization in a field of my interest. TOCFWH and TFWP are not only in the public health field but they also serve a community and demographic that sits close to my heart. As a West Philadelphia native, I’m aware of the many issues and troubles that strike the area. However, through this experience I was exposed to an ever deeper look at the issues (e.g. statistics, person-to-person interactions, etc.).

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?

A huge part of my internship was centered around the reports we wrote and submitted every week about our specific zip codes. Each week there was a different category of assessment (e.g. qualitative assessment, zip code history, etc.) that we had to research. I very quickly found that it is incredibly easy to find heartbreaking statistics and facts that fit the narrative that has been built around marginalized communities. However, I knew that the aim of this project wasn’t to weave a similar story, but instead it was to create a community narrative that would uplift the community while still addressing pressing issues. Even though it was difficult to reframe how I approached the statistics, it was an incredible learning experience for me academically and mentally.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

This internship was everything and more! I was a little hesitant going into it; I just didn’t know what to expect. However, it was the most rewarding experience I have ever gotten the privilege to be apart of.

Vinty (Liwen) Guo ’20: LITS at Bryn Mawr College

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Name: Vinty (Liwen) Guo
Class Year: 2020
Major: Computer Science and Math
Hometown: Guangzhou, China

Internship Organization: LITS at BMC
Job Title: Digital Technology Intern
Location: Canaday Library

What’s happening at your internship?

My internship job involves an indigenous language revitalization project and my part of the job is to help customize the views of its language learning Drupal website, debug the PHP codes used in the website, and analyze the language text data in R in order to visualize the patterns/trends of the data. So, basically, I’m on the technical support side to move this project forward. And obviously, most of my work is done on a computer.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I heard about this internship from an upperclass student who was in the same position as I am right now in the previous year and I got curious. Therefore, I collected some information about the LITS internship program and realized that LITS interns usually receive tasks from alumni, faculty, and staff members within the Tri-Co. And, they often engage in clients’ projects, helping their “clients” move the project forward by applying what they have learned at school to the workplace. I was intrigued by the idea of a group of people helping the clients in need with the projects that they value and have put so much effort in.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has always been the interaction with my colleagues, clients, advisors and my supervisors who have been kindly trying their best to help me. For the project that we interns have been working on, communication involving scholars and technicians across the country plays an important role throughout the entire process. We have weekly check-in meetings, teleconference with our technician based in California and client based in New York City, and have taken several trips to Swarthmore College to meet with a linguistics professor for his expertise in analyzing language. This diverse working environment has been motivating and keeping me excited about my work.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding part about my internship is that my client, a linguistics scholar, is satisfied with and excited about the result of our work. This gives me the feeling that what we have done and what we are doing right now is important and meaningful to some people, and they will use the tool that we engaged in building for educational purposes. When our client said that he had been waiting for this moment for almost 20 years, it feels extremely rewarding.

Lille van der Zanden ’20: Chicago Council on Global Affairs

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Name: Lille van der Zanden
Class Year: 2020
Major: Growth and Structures of Cities
Hometown: Chicago

Internship Organization: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Job Title: Global Cities Intern
Location: Chicago

pritzker

What’s happening at your internship?

As a global cities intern on the studies team, I have been primarily assisting with ongoing projects. This includes drawing out major themes from workshop notes, structuring briefs, gathering sources for literature reviews, and scavenging for available ridership data online. When I have spare time, I also have been working on my own global cities blogpost to be posted on the Council’s website. In addition to my office work, I had the incredible opportunity to help out at the Council’s annual Pritzker Forum on Global Cities and hear mayors, business leaders, and changemakers from around the world share best practices and visions for the future of cities. I also assisted with a talk on water and sustainability as well as the Council’s young professionals pub quiz night.

Why did you apply for this internship?

When I studied abroad in Berlin last fall and traveled to various cities, I saw how the form and culture of international cities were in constant dialog with one another. This generated an interest in the interaction among global cities and a desire to understand how this dialog could be used as a tool for global change-making. As such, the opportunity to work on a research team at a think tank exploring these exact ideas seemed like a perfect fit. In addition to my interest in the subject matter, I wanted to gain a better understanding of what it was like to work in a think tank and how its outputs impact various decision-makers.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

It has been incredibly rewarding to see how much the skills I have gained from my time at Bryn Mawr and in my major are already paying off and enabling me to make an impact. Everyday, I’m drawing on my critical thinking skills that I developed not only in my Cities courses, but also from many other departments like English and Political Science. The interdisciplinary nature of the Cities major has allowed me to draw from so many different areas and gain comfort with looking at topics from many different angles, which enhances the quality of my work and analysis. Being able to keep up with and participate in discussions with various experts and leaders in my field at this point in my career has been very reassuring and has further strengthened my confidence in my ideas and my voice. To have my input valued and to be able to contribute to this dialog has been a truly empowering experience and has further fueled my desire to be a leader in this field in the future.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

Through my day-to-day tasks, I have been becoming more comfortable presenting information and resources to various audiences and writing in different formats. This was an important priority for me so that I am able to reach a wide range of audiences from a variety of platforms. In addition, after participating in the Leadership Learning Lab led by the Career & Civic Engagement Center this past spring, I made it a priority to work on my connection skills in the workplace, whether that be in a meeting or at lunch with a colleague. I’ve found great satisfaction in working on this skill, as I have learned so much from the people around me and those relationships keep me smiling and energized throughout the workday.

council

Alexis Boutchie ’20: MD Anderson Cancer Center

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Name: Alexis Boutchie
Class Year: 2020
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Hometown: North Lauderdale, Fla.

Internship Organization: MD Anderson Cancer Center
Job Title: Summer Intern
Location: Houston

alexis

What’s happening at your internship?

I’m doing research in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. My research specifically focuses on modifying the expression and avidity of a specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that my lab has developed to improve effectiveness and reduce unwanted toxicities involved in using the CAR to treat acute myeloid leukemia.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I’m currently entering the latter half of my junior year at Bryn Mawr and am considering my options for post-college plans. I know that I want to go to medical school, but as a biochemistry and molecular biology major I’ve more recently considered concurrently applying to M.D./Ph.D. programs. I’ve never conducted research, however, and I thought that this internship would be a perfect opportunity to gain experience within a field of research that I’m interested in (cancer) and help me decide whether a Ph.D. would be something that I would realistically enjoy pursuing. My program also includes shadowing opportunities, cancer biology seminars, and talks from different professionals within the field of medicine and I thought that this combination of research and clinical experience made it the perfect fit for me.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

Getting to work on cutting-edge research with brilliant individuals. I enjoy the scientific process, and it’s fascinating to go from reading about a new groundbreaking discovery in research or medicine to not just watching someone continue that research but to be included in conducting it. My mentor’s have been insightful, patient, and resourceful and it’s made learning all the new lab techniques and immunology background much more smooth than expected. Acquiring new data is exciting and meaningful, and knowing what an impact that research could make on someone’s life feels rewarding.

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

I’ve never been to Texas, much less Houston, so getting here alone on day one was definitely nerve wracking. The one thing that has made this transition much smoother is the Bryn Mawr community. I’m living with two other current Bryn Mawr students who are also interning at MD Anderson for the summer and having them with me has made me feel so much more comfortable and at home. We’re also living with a Bryn Mawr alum (who is friends with many other Bryn Mawr alums) and she and they have truly made us feel welcome. It’s wonderful to see and feel how strong, compassionate, and supportive the community is beyond the walls of and time at Bryn Mawr and makes me optimistic that I’ll have that support there for years to come.

boutchieboutchie

Kameice Francis ’20: Phuhlisani NPC

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Name: Kameice Francis
Class Year: 2020
Major: International Studies and Growth and Structure of Cities
Hometown: St. Thomas, Jamaica

Internship Organization: Phuhlisani NPC
Job Title: Research Intern
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

What’s happening at your internship?

This week I finished profiling researchers for Phuhlisani’s website, knowledgebase.land. Based on a list of of organizations that I was given on my first day, I profiled research institutes and Non-governmental organizations that specialize in rural and urban land issues in South Africa. This was done via a Google Form. I also provided links to full-text research studies that covered different aspects of the land issues including masters and doctoral theses, research reports and policy briefs that were available from the organizations. I have started transferring data from the spreadsheet that I created with organizational profiles to Trello so that the information is accessible to the public until Phuhlisani is able to add it to their website.

landscape

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I am interested in urban and regional planning and this internship has exposed me to a new area of that field. I also had never traveled to South Africa and I was excited to be able to travel to another part of the world. I also got the opportunity to speak to my supervisor before applying and I really enjoyed the conversation and I wanted to learn more about his field of expertise.

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

I have really been enjoying living in another city. It’s been a little colder than I had expected but I have learned to adjust. I have also been able to try a myriad of new foods and visited many new places. I particularly like walking around Cape Town and trying to discover as many places as possible.

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?

Nouns: Passion, Adventure, Confusion

Adjectives: Eye-Opening, Frustrating, Heart-Warming

Jessie Zong ’20: The Quad Manhattan

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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.

Sophie Goldstein ’20: The Quad Manhattan

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Name: Sophie Goldstein
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology
Hometown: New York City

Internship Organization: The Quad Manhattan
Job Title: Psychosocial Intern
Location: New York City

What’s happening at your internship?

At my internship, we have just welcomed the kids to camp and introduced our expectations for the summer. I have been paired with three 5-year-old children to create individualized psychosocial plans for them and have begun tracking their progress so far. I am constantly reminding the kids of their individual goals and helping them to get closer to being able to do them on their own. Fortunately, I have been able to use my varied experience in psychology classes and labs to know the appropriate ways to communicate with young children and the most effective ways to convey the information in a concise and informative way for 5 year olds. Besides the goal-setting, with my co-counselors, we are busy taking the kids to different activities and on various field trips. We’re all super excited to go to the transit museum next week!

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I knew I wanted to continue working with young children but in a more psychosocial and educational setting. As someone who is interested in education and psychology, and specifically early childhood development, this internship provides me with some answers on different professional roles in this field and the various ways one can involve themselves. As much as I am learning from the kids, I have been lucky to learn a lot from the psychosocial staff who have imparted career advice and general life advice generously.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

So far, my favorite part of the internship has been playing with and participating in activities with the kids. They are so much fun to be around and super energetic. I know that I have always enjoyed acting silly and playing different games with young kids but I am pleasantly surprised each time! Even though I’m exhausted at the end of the day and my feet are aching, I know that I’m making a positive impact in the kids’ lives by providing some psychosocial framework and more importantly, some fun!

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

I learned on the first day that the psychology world is very small! When I first walked into orientation, I saw two other Bryn Mawr students, my old childhood friend, met two students from Villanova, and someone who graduated from Ursinus. Who would have figured there would be so many familiar faces? Another, more serious, thing I did not expect to learn was nonviolent crisis intervention and in-the-moment collaborative problem solving. I have been using different techniques to calm an upset child as well as teach a new expected behavior to them, which is something that I will be able to use for the rest of my life!

Ines Uwase ’20: Darby Creek Valley Association

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Name: Ines Uwase
Class Year: 2020
Major: Environmental Studies
Hometown: Kigali, Rwanda

Internship Organization: Darby Creek Valley Association
Job Title: Data Management Intern
Location: Philadelphia (They do not have an office so I work on campus.)

What’s happening at your internship?

I work from campus or anywhere else that’s convenient since DCVA does not have an office. I work with the director, Susan Miller, to enter the required data to manage the organization and plan fundraising. I also carry out research about the species the organization helps to protect and design charts to visualize the information for the general public. I also had the wonderful opportunity to shadow professionals at the Stroud Water Research Center.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship to work for an organization that serves a purpose that I strongly believe in. DCVA helps protect the watershed in the Eastern Delaware county and I wanted to actively help them achieve their mission, or have the pleasure learning how such an organization operates.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has been shadowing the Stroud Water Research Center and learning an immense deal from Matt, who graciously let us shadow him. I had the opportunity to work hands on and learn to examine the water quality, calculate water velocity, etc. This opportunity also gave me an idea of what exactly I want to do in this field.

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

I started this internship with the idea that I would only learn about environment-related work; however, I have also learned how to work in a different work environment and employer. Working on campus has taught me how to be disciplined and follow a strict schedule to get work done.

Grace Cain ’20: Judge Baker Children’s Center, Camp Baker

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Name: Grace Cain
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Chicago

Internship Organization: Judge Baker Children’s Center, Camp Baker
Job Title: Undergraduate Counselor
Location: Boston/Westwood, Mass.

counselors

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I am working as a camp counselor at Camp Baker, a treatment camp based out of Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston. Camp Baker is an STP (Summer Treatment Program) for children with ADHD and other behavioral difficulties. The program uses individualized rewards and consistent discipline in the form of a point system as well as a timeout protocol to help children regulate their emotions and behavior. As a camp counselor, I spend five days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 13 6 and 7-year-old children. Camp Baker works to emulates a general camp environment, while also implementing therapeutic techniques to improve the emotional regulation of campers. The two cornerstones of the program are delivering discipline in a neutral and consistent manner when campers are dysregulated (unable to control their behavior), and providing specific and constant praise when campers are behaving appropriately.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I wanted to gain more experience in a clinical setting with children to further determine if clinical work is what I would like to do in the future. During my job search, I found a lot of positive testimonies from parents about Camp Baker that made the program seem like a great place to work.

camp

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I have been trained in de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques that are vital in keeping campers from hurting themselves and others. When children are dysregulated and take their anger out on counselors verbally and physically, we keep the children safe and maintain the demand we initially placed on the child. At first I was concerned that children would harbor the negative feelings they expressed for me during these moment of dysregulation. On the contrary, because we maintain demands and then immediately lay on praise at the first sight of positive or neutral behavior, children actually often seem more motivated to improve their behavior after moments of dysregulation and to prove to me that they can do better. This has taught me that being stern is positive for this patient population and that it is a disservice to them and their futures to be too lenient, especially in a misguided effort to feel less negativity in the moment.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding part of my internship is watching campers learn to regulate their emotions, decrease the number of timeouts they receive and earn rewards for good behavior. I have been especially surprised and humbled at the campers’ attempts to prove they can do better.

Emily Augenbraun ’20: Puentes de Salud

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Name: Emily Augenbraun
Class Year: 2020
Major: Spanish
Hometown: Philadelphia

Internship Organization: Puentes de Salud
Job Title: “Puentes Hacia el Futuro” Summer Camp Volunteer Intern
Location: Andrew Jackson School, Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

For my internship this summer, I am one of the 15 volunteer interns for the “Puentes Hacia el Futuro” summer camp program. Puentes de Salud is a nonprofit organization that works with the growing Latinx community in South Philadelphia. Their summer camp program, “Puentes Hacia el Futuro,” is a four-week summer literacy program that specifically focuses on preventing the “summer slide” or summer reading setback. The students that are participating in this program are bilingual and mostly speak Spanish in their homes; however, the summer camp program encourages the use of both English and Spanish. Each week there is a designated theme; for example, week one was art and culture. The group of students that I am working with are a mixture of both rising fifth and sixth graders; however, there are also younger students participating in this program. Throughout the day, I am working in a team with three other volunteer interns in a classroom with nine students total. The day is split up into two parts, with the morning being mainly focused on reading and writing with the group of students, while in the afternoon there are other enrichment activities such as art, healthy living, and coding. The students also have weekly library trips and field trips every week on Thursdays that connect to the theme of the week. I have enjoyed learning about each individual student in this program while also getting to know my fellow interns!

Why did you apply for this internship?

Although I am from Philadelphia, when I initially found out about this internship I did not know much about the organization. Of course this led me to do some further research online, and I soon realized that Puentes de Salud was a quick bus ride away from where I live. Additionally, in researching the organization online, this internship sounded like the perfect fit for me as a current Spanish major. I’ve always been passionate about being able to foster a bilingual learning environment for children who speak both English and Spanish. I want children who are bilingual to realize that they have an incredible gift that they should take advantage of on a daily basis and this internship has allowed me to encourage this ,which has been extremely rewarding.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

Because this is a teaching-based internship, I am learning many important skills about how to be flexible and adapt to different students’ needs and learning styles in the classroom. Additionally, I am learning to be patient with students who learn at a different pace than others. As a person who is interested in exploring a potential career path in the education field, this firsthand experience of working with students who have diverse backgrounds has given me the opportunity to expand my perspective on teaching. As an educator and role model to these students, I must recognize that each person is a unique learner and continue to encourage them no matter how difficult a task may seem.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

It has been truly amazing to watch all of these young students engage in the different activities that my fellow interns and I have led throughout the summer. Their enthusiasm and excitement is contagious! I love that I am a positive role model and someone that they can look up to when they come to camp each day. They are all so self-aware even at such a young age and have so much to offer in classroom conversations. They have shared stories about themselves and been extremely vulnerable about opening up to each other in the classroom about their own backgrounds and identities. For example, when my fellow interns and I led a group discussion on the different aspects of one’s identity this past week, all of the students were very respectful of each other’s feelings and not making judgements. I hope to be able to maintain the relationships that I have built with these students and I look forward to seeing them grow into strong individuals in the future.