Tag Archives: 2020

Samantha Forestier ’20: Breakthrough Atlanta

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Name: Samantha Forestier
Class Year: 2020
Major: Biology
Hometown: Malden, Mass.

Internship Organization: Breakthrough Atlanta
Job Title: Teaching Fellow
Location: Atlanta

It has been an exciting summer teaching! Breakthrough Atlanta goes above and beyond in preparing students for college. The mission of Breakthrough Atlanta is to close the opportunity gap in education and make college a goal for all of its participants. In order to achieve this goal, they host summer classes and enrichment activities for middle- and high-school students to prevent summer learning loss and to prepare them for the upcoming school year.

I have been working with a group of 30 8th grade students. I teach them physical science for two periods in the morning. Later in the afternoon we teach public speaking, an elective, STEM clinic and other enrichment activities. My self-designed elective is called “Lab Rats,” where the students get to participate in experiments and have a hands-on approach to science. During my downtime I collaborate with the other science teachers to create lesson plans that align with Georgia’s learning standards and I meet with my instructional coach to review observation notes. Building relationships between students and families has been essential through the program as there are parent conferences and student-led meetings throughout the summer. Relationship building is also essential in creating a positive classroom culture and mutual respect. I have learned so much through this experience and I’m grateful to be working towards an important mission.

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I applied for this internship because I love working with children. I’m a pre-med, biology student and I plan on entering a career in pediatric medicine. I have gotten some experience working with toddlers and I was interested in working with some different age groups. I wanted to try something different this summer and teaching has always interested me. The internship was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I have had an amazing experience so far.

My favorite part of the internship has been the relationships I have been able to form with the students and with the other teaching fellows. I was originally nervous about being able to get to know my students while teaching them physics. It took a little while for my class to get used to my personality and my teaching style, but after a week I could really see a shift in attitude. I love being able to eat lunch with the students and get to learn more about their life and interests outside of the classroom. I look forward to seeing my students as they walk up the bridge in the morning and I enjoy the conversations we get to share.

The other teaching fellows have been an amazing support through this entire process. Many of them have had prior teaching experience and they are always quick to share tips and advice. They are always there to give me a pep-talk after a bad lesson or to offer support in lesson planning. It’s an amazing experience that all of these different college students are able to come together to help close the opportunity gap.

Three Adjectives: Collaborative, motivated, empowered
Three Nouns: Relationships, opportunity, potential

Jamila Ghazi ’20: BNP Paribas

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Name: Jamila Ghazi
Class Year: 2020
Majors: Economics and Political Science
Hometown: Rabat, Morocco
Internship Organization: BNP Paribas
Job Title: Assets and Liabilities Management and Treasury Summer Analyst
Location: New York City
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Jamila Ghazi ’20 with BNP Paribas ALMT CUSO IHC Treasurer Kenneth McMullen.

My penultimate year at Bryn Mawr College culminated in an internship offer from BNP Paribas’s Assets and Liabilities Management and Treasury team, in New York City. Currently, the summer analyst program mentors over a hundred interns that stormed the bank with their energy and eagerness to grow and learn over the course of 10 weeks. This selective program is crucial to the recruiting process of the bank, to attract and train young talent around the world. It is a great opportunity for the interns to get intensive exposure to the field, and gain a better understanding of the BNP Paribas culture, before committing to a full-time position.

Being a woman in finance is not unintimidating. Having to enter the field from an unconventional liberal arts background is not an easy sell, either, with the distribution requirements, the Socratic method of teaching, liberal arts combine academic rigor with work ethics, diversity of perspective and depth of analysis.

My experience at BNP Paribas demonstrated that the liberal arts’ interdisciplinary approach, a well-rounded education and good communication skills go a long way in the workplace, enabling one to learn and thrive in any field. Likewise, BNP Paribas’ campus recruitment reiterates the commitment to diversity through their interest in liberal arts students. Zachary Graham, a member of the campus recruiting team, states: “We need students from all types of backgrounds, all types of studies, and all types of schools. BNP Paribas has a school-agnostic approach for its campus recruiting strategy because we believe that our success is determined on our ability to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse candidate pool. We need BNP Paribas interns who can be innovative, who can lead change, and who come up with unique solutions to the very complicated problems of our clients.”

At BNP Paribas, I have become part of a solid and longstanding global bank, with values and a future vision aligned with mine. At ALMT specifically, I was welcomed warmly, mentored, and encouraged to take ownership of certain key projects. Given the transversal nature of the ALMT activity, which necessitates working with various teams, I was able to contribute to other ALMT teams across the region. This has reshaped my understanding of the business and the organization of the bank to a large extent, thus giving me the confidence to learn from people around me, and inquire about future steps to acquire more expertise.

My views on finance, informed by the clichés of the industry, being highly competitive, solely project driven, and very exclusive, have been challenged at BNP Paribas. Personally, I thrive in fast-paced environments that enhance interdependence, multitasking, corporate social responsibility and innovation, without compromising a healthy work-life balance. I was positively surprised this summer, and able to foresee a future for myself in finance. Moving forward, my BNP Paribas experience has set the bar high for expectations from the workplace. This summer has opened my eyes to the possibility of a positive, meaningful and influential career in finance that transcends the stereotypical Wall Street experience.

In light of my experience, my advice to Bryn Mawr students and alumnae alike is the following:

Find a place that continues to empower you, like Bryn Mawr does. Acknowledge the great energy you have as a BMC alumna. Use your proud and loud voice, and your confidence, even if your field may be far behind in recognizing women’s achievements. Where you start your career matters, who you work with matters, and the values of the company matter. So, choose carefully, choose what you deserve. Hold the Bryn Mawr mission high, and renew your commitment to women’s empowerment, wherever you go.

Anassa Kata!

Alyssa Lopez ’20: Inclusive Action for the City

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Name: Alyssa Lopez
Class Year: 2020
Major: Growth & Structure of Cities and Spanish
Hometown: Los Angeles

Internship Organization: Inclusive Action for the City
Job Title: Policy and Economic Development Intern
Location: Los Angeles

What’s happening at your internship?

It varies! I am so grateful to not have jumped into a super structured internship placement because I am learning so much on the go and am constantly stimulated. About a month ago, Inclusive Action for the City underwent a name change (formerly Leadership for Urban Renewal), which was announced at our annual event (incredibly well attended by more than 300 people), while the team graciously answered around 500 of my burning questions and curiosities. I am primarily working on a couple ongoing research projects ranging from the costs of displacement/relocation (inclusive of eviction in some cases) for individuals in Los Angeles to investigating municipal initiatives to repurpose and revitalize urban vacant land across the country. The preliminary research that I am participating in is in collaboration with a couple other team members and will lead to publications on IAC’s Research Blog and other forms of long-term tactical research. The research that IAC conducts then informs their programming strategies and shapes the implementation of policy initiatives across multiple city-relate topic areas.
I am also helping out with some data collection and streamlining for Inclusive Action’s micro-loan program, Semi’a Fund. Semi’a aims to provide short-term healthy loans for individuals that are business owners and are likely to be at risk of predatory lending and are often not able to borrow through traditional means. The streamlining of this data will help better organize and prepare for more clients in the future and provides a structured representation often necessary for funding purposes/opportunities.

Although I get learn client stories and backgrounds through the Semi’a data, I am glad to say that I also have the opportunity to directly engage with the communities that Inclusive Action does this work for. Through my support of COMPRA (our healthy produce delivery service), I take clients’ orders and am able to hear out their concerns to in an effort to improve our service. I have recently also participated in our work with Best Start, an initiative that focuses on the bettering the lives of children (0-5 years old) in historically disenfranchised communities. I was able to participate a couple weeks ago by facilitating a parent conversation regarding the necessary educational tools/knowledge children need before entering formal education — it was challenging but also a lot of fun to learn so much from complete strangers!

Why did you apply for this internship?

Having previous experience interning within the nonprofit sector in L.A. and during the school year in Philadelphia, I was fairly confident of wanting to get some more hands-on work with a nonprofit this summer before entering my senior year. I had learned of Inclusive Action a couple years ago and was able to attend their annual event plus2, which is a convening of professionals, residents, and educators that work to better urban communities. This experience is one that had informed and guided my academic research and personal interests over the past year — so I thought it would be a great idea to work with the group of people that that pulls this and so much other work together. Inclusive Action, through economic development and community engagement, has actively worked to shape and better low-income communities of color across Los Angeles for the past 10 years. I wanted to support their projects to the best of my ability, but I mainly wanted to learn about what is missing in this field: what is the work that could get done if there were unlimited resources at Inclusive Action? Apart from the collaboration that IAC foments, what avenues of collaborative work should be present in cities? What figures of urban leadership are we missing? What existing work should be elevated?

These questions and many others are ones I get to participate in discussions about on the daily, and there is actual real work that the team at IAC leads to address these cornerstones of urban life, every day! I am incredibly grateful that I am able to marry my academic passions with my experience living in Los Angeles and nerd out about urban planning with my coworkers on the daily!

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

No … it is so much more! I was prepared to learn and be challenged and engage in mindful moments, but the past few months at Inclusive Action have been so stimulating and spurred motivation to think about my future in this sector and the many different paths that have led people to this work. I think because I have had a couple different internship placements in the past — I am in the habit of reflecting on my role within the organization that is guiding me. At Inclusive Action I feel comfortable sharing my concerns and recommendations on how to shape the work I am doing — the welcoming atmosphere and leadership has elevated the confidence I have with the work I produce and contributes to learning experience/process overall. I am extremely grateful to work with people that are very self-aware and that constantly question, in very thoughtful ways, how they are doing the work and how they can further be engaged.

 

Tori Dang ’20: Physics Research Assistant, Colorado State

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Name: Tori Dang
Class Year: 2020
Major: Physics and Italian
Hometown: Beijing, China

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

What’s happening at your internship?

I am working with Professor Kristen Buchanan in the department of physics at CSU to learn more about magnetorhetorical elastomers (MREs). MREs are a class of solids that consist of non-magnetic matric and embedded micro- or nano-sized ferromagnetic particles. They have tunable magnetic properties and as a result are promising candidates for magnetic devices. More specifically, this summer I am doing micro-magnetic simulations to complement the experimental results that were obtained at Bryn Mawr. We are trying to use theoretical model to explain what we see in the experimental characterization. This is done by the micro-magnetic simulation software Mumax-3, a model built in python and an energy minimization program written in MATLAB.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I was already working with Professor May Cheng on micro-magnetism at Bryn Mawr, and Professor Cheng has collaborative projects with Professor Buchanan, which is how I was introduced to this opportunity. I decided to come because I knew this research is directly related to what I’ve learned at Bryn Mawr and I could readily apply my knowledge to the project while learning something new. I actually worked here as a research assistant last summer as well, except that last summer I worked on experimental techniques such as lithography and magneto-sputtering.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of the internship is having to learn programming. I don’t particularly like programming, yet as a physics major, I realized that this is an essential skill to have. However I have never really taken a computing course because there was always something else that interested me more. I knew I had to introduce myself to programming at some point during my academic career, as a result I am glad that it happened in the summer, when I don’t have much distraction and can focus on learning and understanding, rather than cramming everything in.

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

While I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn programming this summer, it has also been a great challenge for me. For example, one of my tasks was to build a model of the sample in Python. Due to my lack of experience in computing, I had no idea how to put my thoughts into actual codes in the beginning, which was very frustrating.

Maya Jonsson ’20: GreenFutures

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Name: Maya Jonsson
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Westfield, N.J.

Internship Organization: GreenFutures, The School District of Philadelphia
Job Title: Research and Outreach Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I have been working with GreenFutures, which is the sustainability plan of The School District of Philadelphia. This plan aims to create more sustainable schools and youth who will play a role in creating a more sustainable future. I have had the opportunity to do a variety of work this summer, including writing a GreenFutures newsletter, organizing a science lending library, attending various meetings, and creating a greenscapes guide. The greenscapes guide has been my biggest project, and has entailed researching and designing a resource guide to help Philadelphia schools start their own gardens or other natural, green elements, with information about school policy, maintenance, choosing projects, success stories, and partner organizations.

Why did you apply for this internship?

Along with my political science major, I also have a minor in education, so I initially was really excited about the prospect of working in the School District of Philadelphia and learning more about how school bureaucracy works. Additionally, as I read through the GreenFuture’s website, I realized that so much of this sustainability work — creating greenscapes, reducing energy and consumption, and teaching for sustainability — were all about creating equitable schools and futures. As someone studying policy and education, I was interested in what it looks like to tackle equity from a different angle than I am used to.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

One of my favorite parts of this internship has been interviewing people. A lot of my conversations have been for the greenscapes guide, which has included interviewing teachers who have done gardening with their students. This has been really interesting because I get to hear about what works and doesn’t work in school gardens, what challenges teachers face in integrating them into the curriculum, how gardening can be tied to different subjects, and what students learn. Since I want to be a teacher, I have loved speaking to people who do this work, and it has gotten me really excited about potentially being part of a school garden in the future. Additionally, I have been speaking with partner organizations, such as the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, The Food Trust, and the Philadelphia Orchard Project, and I have really enjoyed learning about the different groups in Philadelphia doing work with youth and gardening in a variety of ways.

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

Early on in my internship I had the opportunity to attend an event with PHENND on Education for Sustainability, which GreenFutures helped to host at the School District of Philadelphia headquarters. During this event, Jamie Cloud, founder of the Cloud Institute, came and spoke to all the attendees about education for sustainability, which, as I learned, is different than education about sustainability, and it includes all academic subjects, as well as ways of teaching that are place based and student centered. I had come into my internship thinking that education for sustainability (EfS) was really just environmental science, which is not something I am personally well versed in, but I learned that it is so much more than that. I want to teach middle school social studies after I graduate, and this internship has gotten me really excited about figuring out how I can integrate EfS benchmarks and practices into my own teaching one day, since I believe this work is vital for the future of our planet and our people.

Margaret O’Hare ’20: Voice of Witness

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Name: Margaret O’Hare
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Hicksville, N.Y.

Internship Organization: Voice of Witness
Job Title: Summer Intern
Location: San Francisco

What’s happening at your internship?

I am fortunate enough to be working for a wonderful nonprofit organization, Voice of Witness, that is focused on uplifting the stories of people who’ve experienced injustice through books of oral history. This summer, Voice of Witness (VOW) is focusing on a variety of projects as they overhaul their mission plan, add new full-time members to their team, and celebrate their 10-year anniversary. As an intern, I’m working under the guidance and instruction of each department head to learn about and help with the projects we’re working on, and I’ve gotten to do some transcription and editing work for some of the upcoming book projects.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because it aligned with my interests and I really believe in the work that VOW is doing. I was able to take my studies from Bryn Mawr (major in Political Science, concentration in Peace, Justice, & Human Rights) and apply them to a work environment while learning more about the things I care about!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship so far has been getting to work with a group of fantastic, welcoming people who are passionate about the job they do. Learning about the processes that go into creating and publishing their books of oral histories has led me to have a deeper appreciation for their work and for the invaluable stories of the narrators. The full-time staff and the other interns I’m working with are all lovely people who make the experience rewarding. The full-time staff encourages us to make the most of our time in San Francisco and has given us various opportunities to enjoy the city and its different genres of history and storytelling; we participated in storytelling workshops with partner organizations (the Puente Project and the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant), took a walking tour of murals from Precita Eyes Muralists with one of the artists, and went on a “VOW-ting” (Voice of Witness outing) to SFMOMA to see an incredible interactive mural by the artist JR.

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

I am really enjoying being in San Francisco this summer! I had never been to California before this internship, but I can definitely confirm that the weather and the people are fantastic. I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the city so far and it’s been amazing to learn about the history of a city that’s new to me. I’ve made it to the Golden Gate Bridge, and I plan to visit a few more museums and beaches while I’m here too!

Elsa Nierenberg ’21: The Weekly Humorist

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Name: Elsa Nierenberg
Class Year: 2021
Major: English
Hometown: Boxford, Mass.

Internship Organization: The Weekly Humorist
Job Title: Intern
Location: New York City

What’s happening at your internship?

The Weekly Humorist is a satire site, but there’s also a podcast, Talkward, each week and a monthly standup show, Guaranteed Delivery, every month. So, the day-to-day can vary a lot. Any given day can include reading and editing submissions for cartoons and humor pieces, uploading articles with pull-quotes to social media, editing and uploading podcasts, researching materials about sponsors or interview guests, working on production for the standup show, and really anything else in the media-sphere that comes up! For example, one morning last week I drafted a list of interview questions for a podcast with Mike Sacks (author of Poking a Dead Frog, writer for the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs). Outside of the office I work a lot on my own satire pieces — I’m a contributing writer for five humor sites currently, so I’m always thinking and writing. I submit some of those pieces to The Weekly Humorist, which is another nice way to be tied into the work and mission of the site.

studio

Why did you apply for this internship?

I started performing standup comedy when I was 16-years-old, writing and performing sketch comedy when I was 17, and writing published satire pieces when I was 18. At 20, I produce a standup showcase in Philadelphia, I perform standup in Boston, Philly, and New York most nights, and I write for several humor publications. I also founded Bryn Mawr’s sketch comedy troupe, Spoon-Fed. The truth is, I’ve loved everything comedy since I was 8-years-old and first saw George Carlin’s famous bit, “7 words you can’t say on TV”. Being in New York City this summer and working in the field I’d like to make a living in post-grad was really important to me — both for developing my comedy networks and resume, but also for just further developing myself as an independent human taking on a big new city. As soon as I met Marty (the editor-in-chief) I knew that I wanted to work at The Weekly Humorist. Not only is the content incredible, but the people around me are thoughtful, funny, and talented. I feel like I’m in the space I’m supposed to be this summer!

bulletin board

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

Between growing up outside of Boston and going to college outside of Philadelphia — both of which I frequent for standup gigs most nights, time with my friends off-campus or away from home, and the occasional visit to an art museum or good burrito spot — I thought I knew almost everything there was to know about navigating a city atmosphere. New York is big, really, really big. And that means that it can feel confusing, overwhelming, and intimidating (especially when in addition to learning the subway, you’re also learning the open-mic and booked standup show scenes, cultures, and spaces). It’s been incredible to be in New York; at the mecca of all of the art and comedy and life I could ever hope to absorb. Confusing at first, lonely occasionally, exciting and alive all hours of the day, warm and welcoming more often than not, and empowering and door-opening all along the way. I’m grateful for the chance to grow my courage muscles and eager to say that after my first week, I realized that the subway is actually pretty easy to use!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

Having the opportunity to do what I love every day is a huge part of what makes this internship so positive for me, but my favorite part is the wonderfully talented people whom I get to work with, meet and network with, get advice from and bounce ideas off of, and support in their own work in turn. My boss, Marty Dundics, is one of the kindest and most supportive bosses I’ve ever had and the comedians and mentors who he’s connected me to have been warm, welcoming, and nothing short of inspiring. I feel very lucky to be here.

Caroline Soffer ’20: American Friends Service Committee

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Name: Caroline Soffer
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Chevy Chase, Md.

Internship Organization: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Job Title: Grants and Communications Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer, I’m interning at the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia. AFSC is a social justice oriented nonprofit that oversees programs here in the United States and around the world. It’s been fascinating to learn about the breadth of AFSC’s work, which stretches from fighting for migrant justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border, to advocating for Palestinian rights through both U.S. and international policy.

I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve been able to work with many different departments throughout my time at AFSC. With the Development department, I learned about creating lasting relationships with donors, and what it takes to write a successful grant. The staff at AFSC were incredibly supportive of me when asked if I could write a grant myself, and I was so grateful for their patience, expertise, and helpful edits. My time with the Communications department has felt like a miniature stint in journalism school! I learned about how AFSC chooses to write about their various programs, and how researchers analyze data from social media hits.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied to work at AFSC through Bryn Mawr’s Summer of Service Program. I was looking for an internship that would align with my political science interests. When I applied, I’d just gotten back from working at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. I was looking for something more academic, and thought it would be interesting and different to work at a nonprofit.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My first day at AFSC was particularly memorable! I was nervous and overprepared for my first day — I had chosen my outfit the night before and gathered all my favorite pens and notebooks in preparation. When I arrived, I was set up at my desk, given a laptop, and sent off to set up my email and password. “OK, I thought, so far so good, this is the amount of IT I can handle.”

I was soon called in for an early morning meeting, where the staff told me that there was a surprise waiting afterwards. A surprise? My mind raced to what it could be, or what I had done wrong. Was my password not strong enough? I used numbers and letters!

The surprise turned out to be a party in my honor, to celebrate my first day at AFSC. My boss explained that it was AFSC tradition to dispel first-day nerves and make newcomers feel especially welcome! The whole office gathered around plates of cheese and crackers, grapes, and Oreos. It was such a lovely way to start an internship, and I felt so supported by everyone in the office.

Riya Philip ’20: ‘Missing Microbes’

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Name: Riya Philip
Class Year: 2020
Major: Environmental Studies (Computer Science minor)
Hometown: Mumbai, India

Internship Organization: Missing Microbes (film), Sarah Schenck
Job Title: Post-Production Intern
Location: New York City

Riya Philip

What’s happening at your internship?

Working in New York City this summer on an upcoming film which talks about consequential public health concerns has been extremely rewarding both professionally and emotionally. During these two months, I have been given opportunities to experience the electrifying energy of the city, work with extremely talented filmmakers, and expose myself to an artistic world very different from my own. Sarah Schenck ’87 employed me as her intern to work on producing parts of the film. The documentary, titled Missing Microbes, which is co-produced by Sarah and Steve Lawrence, highlights the injurious influence of antibiotic resistance and C-sections, which are destroying our microbiome and engineering it in negative ways. The feature film also studies how a personalized nutrition program based on microbe analysis can treat diabetes. My role in this internship has been diverse — learning professional editing tools, creating and editing machine-generated transcripts for the interviews from original footage, writing and uploading blog posts, managing and organizing all the data and media associated with the film, coordinating meetings with potential motion graphics companies, and participating in shoots were some of the responsibilities I enjoyed taking on. However, since this is a public health film, the content strictly revolved around medical topics, which allowed me to engage in learning about medical procedures, technologies, new discoveries and the scope of the research conducted by the doctors in this film.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I recently picked up another major last spring, Environmental Studies, due to my passionate interest in the subject, and decided that the next internship I would take on would be related to an environmental issue. I was determined to work on something exciting and relevant to my field of study, yet also beyond the traditional scope of academic subject matter — I was looking for an opportunity that would satisfy both my passion for the content I was learning, and enrich my living experience by exposing me to a completely different facet of life. After browsing through job postings, I came across an opportunity which tied together critical, contemporary foci in public health … in a film. Based on interviews with renowned names in the medical world, and with a prime focus on Dr. Martin Blaser, the author of Missing Microbes and professor of microbiology at NYU, my interest was piqued. The opportunity dealt with crises in health, in particular the overuse of antibiotics in countries like China and India causing antibiotic resistance, the risks associated with cesarean sections, and Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) treatments as a means to alleviate the symptoms of obesity and autism, among others. The documentary’s central message revolves around the evolving human microbiome, and its significance in treatments for diseases, medical procedures and global health concerns.

Another reason I applied for this internship was because of my background. As an international student from Mumbai with a strict focus in STEM subjects, being able to work on a film was something I didn’t know if I could ever do again in my professional career. I also viewed this summer as an opportunity to build connections with people, experience NYC and explore the scope of my own talents, in skills previously foreign to my knowledge.

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

In one word? Thrilling. As someone from Mumbai, the Indian equivalent of NYC, Manhattan felt like home since I arrived. I am lucky to have family that lives in the city, which gave me a sense of comfort and security. However, even though my primary work location was in Brooklyn, I decided to live in the cultural hub of historical significance, entertainment, art and soul food — Harlem. I was lucky enough to find a gorgeous apartment right above Central Park, with roommates that I have now formed strong friendships with.

The daily commute across the city to work was an hour long each way, yet the experience taught me to become a master subway navigator — a skill you can only learn through practice! I also learned to scout the best locations for authentic food, visited NYC landmarks, went on tours, met people from a plethora of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, and most importantly, taught myself to become more trusting and open.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

In a nutshell, I have been fortunate enough to grasp several skills — both professional and global in the scope of their applications. Learning to work with a schedule that changes on an almost-daily basis, networking and forming connections with the people producing the film, learning first-hand about the research behind the technologies employed in treatments from the doctors, and most importantly being able to comprehensively synthesize these experiences into something concrete has been advantageous to both my personal and academic outlook on the subjects I study. A special part was the degree of responsibility I was offered within the internship and the trust that followed. I was never treated as just an intern but was instead treated as family and was able to flourish as such. I was given contact with esteemed figures in various industries including public health and film, which has nourished my curiosity even further in these areas. I am also excited to start my independent film project, which will focus on a specific topic in environmental sustainability, as an extension of this internship into the next academic year.

Sean Keenan ’20: American Philosophical Society

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Name: Sean Keenan
Class Year: 2020
Major: History
Hometown: Brielle, N.J.

Internship Organization: American Philosophical Society
Job Title: Museum Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I’m helping to curate an exhibition on “Benjamin Franklin and Science” at the American Philosophical Society museum. My research focuses on his Maritime experiments, one of his many expansive interests as a natural philosopher. I also dabble into his writings on “elephant” bones, which were found in Ohio (what is now Big Bone Lick, Kentucky) and how these newly discovered Mammoths fit into these early age scientists’ knowledge over the world they live in. A lot of the work I do involves secondary research on Franklin and going into the APS archives to look over Franklin and his colleague’s correspondence in order to weave his story into an exhibition.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because of my desire to get to know the different aspects of the GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive, and Museum) world. I have had prior experience working in archives and rare books but curating an exhibition in person was going to be a new experience for me. I figured that this would be an excellent opportunity to talk to professionals in the field and also understand the process of creating an exhibition.

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

One of the most important skills that I’m learning during my time at the APS involves the ability to go through a variety of primary sources and help determine which will be good for the exhibition. It’s about pairing the objects together in a way that makes sense for the exhibition and asking what type of story we want to tell about Franklin and his experimentation. Who were the people around him that were helping him? How much of his knowledge and labor that came from other people was acknowledged? What about his life inspired him to experiment and invent? This is my first time helping to put an exhibition together. These skills will be helpful to me as I figure out my place in the world after Bryn Mawr.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

I would have to say one of the most rewarding parts of my internship is the connections I am able to make with my coworkers and other GLAM workers in the field. Having this internship in Philadelphia has afforded me the confidence to talk to not only my coworkers, but others in the GLAM field about their experiences. As I enter my senior year, this advice becomes priceless in my search to find what I want to do after graduation. I feel very fortunate to have the people around me that I do. I get a lot of support from the staff at the APS and it’s one of the reasons I really have enjoyed my time here so much.