Tag Archives: 2021

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

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!

Gaoan Sheng ’21: Loma Linda University School of Dentistry

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Name: Gaoan Sheng
Class Year: 2021
Major: Chemistry
Hometown: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Internship Organization: Center for Dental Research, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry
Job Title: Research Intern
Location: Loma Linda, Calif.

What’s happening at your internship?

I am working in the Center for Dental Research in Loma Linda University. I have been involved in ongoing research and daily tests relevant to infection control in the dental health care unit.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I am considering the field of dentistry after college, so I am actively exploring different areas in this field. Loma Linda University has been working closely with many hospitals affiliated with Zhejiang University, where my parents work. I had heard about dental research that was going on in their laboratory, which bore significant health importance. After my microbiology class, I was aware of the frequent biofilm formation in dental settings. As a chemistry major, I was curious about chemical ways of removing microorganisms, so I applied for this internship.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

I have been looking forward to living in different cities. I moved to California this summer. To be specific, I lived in Loma Linda for a month. It is a rather small city located in southwestern San Bernardino County. Loma Linda in Spanish means beautiful hills, and the city is exactly as it sounds. I lived with one of the visiting scholars from China. She has been there for one year, and she not only taught me research but also brought me to many places around there. Because of her, I had a great time.

Loma Linda University has been working closely with hospitals affiliated to Zhejiang University, where my parents work. I had also attended several academic workshops in China given by doctors from Loma Linda University, which made me want to be there and explore more.

Even though I have heard about infection control, and I have seen some efforts in clinic, I was not aware of the waterline tests that were performed to check water quality or spore tests to check sterilization until I actually saw them.

There were also some pilot studies to test antimicrobial effects of new dental materials. I was learning new research methods, which will be helpful to me in learning chemistry. In general, it was a great opportunity for me to be in the Center for Dental Research in Loma Linda University.

Nora Cahill ’21: Institute for Research on Poverty, UW-Madison

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Name: Nora Cahill
Class Year: 2021
Major: Economics/Math minor
Hometown: Madison, Wisc.

Internship Organization: Institute for Research on Poverty, with Tim Smeeding, Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at the UW-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs
Job Title: Project Assistant
Location: Madison, Wis.

What’s happening at your internship?

My boss, Tim Smeeding, is writing a book on economic inequality, different ways to measure it, and potential policy solutions for the financial problems faced by hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. Tim has spent his career studying, writing about, and influencing policy about economic inequality. This book will specifically focus on the pros and cons of different datasets and measures of well-being, issues that are keeping American society highly unequal, and how to improve our measurement in the future.

cahill

Why did you apply for this internship?

I’m really interested in economic inequality and how it relates to policy, and Tim’s work is exactly up that alley. This internship seemed like a great way to gain some practical experience with research and analysis, while become more familiar with research that’s already been done on subjects related to economic inequality. Now, at the end of the summer, I can say that it’s turned out to be a great step towards my goals!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship is how open-ended it is. Tim gives me a project every week, and I work on it on my own, going back to him if I have questions or have something to show him. Some weeks I’m looking at the connections between family wealth and education, some weeks I’m sifting through data to find important trends in consumer debt. I get to go down a lot of rabbit holes — if I think something is interesting and relevant, I’m always free to include it in my report!

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

I’m gaining a lot of hard research skills — like finding the papers that are most relevant to whatever I’m working on; learning R, a coding language used in data analysis; and creating graphics that help illustrate whatever I’m writing. These skills will help me when I’m doing research in the future — these are tools that economists use every day to make their work better. More broadly, I’m practicing working independently and using what I already know about economics to inform my work. These are skills that I’ll bring to whatever I do next, both during and after college.

Laya Paladugu ’21: Software Development Intern, Putnam Investments

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Name: Laya Paladugu
Class Year: 2021
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Edison, N.J.

Internship Organization: Putnam Investments
Job Title: Software Development Intern
Location: Boston

boston

What’s happening at your internship?

As a software development intern in a finance company, I work on creating platforms that help analysts work more efficiently. I work with the Global Asset Acquisition/Investments team to develop a website using Angular and Python that displays all their data in an accessible format. So far, I have made several UI changes across the platform that will help users have a better experience when using the platform. My seven tech co-interns and I have also gone through many learning sessions to understand the financial aspect of the company as well. This has helped us get a better understanding of what role our work in playing in the bigger picture.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I wanted to use the knowledge I gained in a classroom setting in a real work environment. This opportunity is a great way for me to grow my skillset and learn how to work in a professional company. I wanted to be a part of something that would challenge me and help me grow as a developer and student. I was also interested in exploring the intersection between Computer Science and Finance.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has been all the people I have met because of it. Although we are interns, we have opportunities to meet many significant people in the company who have shared their stories with us and always offer to give us help and advice. I also work with seven other interns who are all intelligent and friendly. From helping each other code to lunches by the harbor, everyone is very supportive of each other. It is really nice getting to know a diverse group of people who all ended up in the same position. Learning from people who bring different experiences is very beneficial and fun because we get to share our knowledge and help each other grow.

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

This is my first time living in Boston and it has been an amazing experience. I have met so many great people who make me feel comfortable and at home. I have a lot of fun on the weekends exploring the museums, parks and many other tourist attractions in Boston. My favorite part is all the delicious food I get to enjoy. There is always something to do so I never get bored. Living by myself, I also have learned a lot of practical life skills that I can carry with me wherever I go. I am grateful for this opportunity because I got to experience many firsts this summer.

boston

Saumyaa Mehra ’21: Energy Office, Philadelphia City Government

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Name: Saumyaa Mehra
Class Year: 2021
Major: Mathematics
Hometown: Delhi, India

Internship Organization: Energy Office, Philadelphia City Government
Job Title: Summer Research Intern
Location: Philadelphia

I’ve always been somewhat of a math geek, and really wanted to understand how math and data are used to solve real-world questions. When I got a taste of it in Professor Victor Donnay’s Differential Equations class while using equations to solve sustainability related questions, I approached him to explore the application of math to sustainability more extensively. He told me about the various projects that the Philadelphia city government is doing to work toward cleaner energy sources, and this opportunity immediately caught my interest.

At the Energy Office, I am working as a summer research intern on the Indego Philadelphia Bike Share program. The program is a part of the Municipal Energy Master Plan, which lays out a roadmap of how we could reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. The goal of my project is to calculate the reductions in carbon footprint when people switch to bike-share for travel in place of public and private transport.

As of now, I spend most of my days working with data and my project-head on the next steps to calculate the carbon emissions. The project just kickstarted and I have used some old data to calculate the distance covered by the bikes from 2016-2019 given latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. Now, after using data from surveys on the shift in mode of transport, I am calculating the associated carbon emission savings. We’re also working on figuring out strategies such as, ways to make bike share more accessible to low-income communities, provide access to urban biking and new-rider lessons to ensure success of the program. And oh, at times, we also collectively treat ourselves to a batch of iced coffees to get those credits on Ritual 😉

Overall, it’s a lot of fun because I am getting a chance to really work on my analysis and excel skills, ask the right questions given a certain research area, and utilize data sets appropriately to help me answer those questions. I am also learning how to network with people and put myself out there in an office environment.

As far as living in a new city goes, living in a city even if it is just 15 miles away from where you’ve spent (and slogged) the last two years is a whole new adventure. While I wouldn’t necessarily call Philadelphia a “new” city for me given its proximity to Bryn Mawr, visiting the city during the cold winter months in the middle of the semester for some dim-sums, as compared to living here during the summer and spending Sunday afternoons in Rittenhouse Square, are completely different experiences. While living in Philadelphia on my own has been a slight challenge, it’s been nothing short of great. The feeling was a lot more unsettling, unfamiliar and scary at first, but as soon as I learned to get comfortable in my own presence, manage money well, started cooking as a way to de-stress and bond with my roommates, summer in the city has started to look wonderful.

Peyton Moriarty ’21: National Anthropological Archives

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Name: Peyton Moriarty
Class Year: 2021
Major: History
Hometown: Ashburn, Va.

Internship Organization: National Anthropological Archives (NAA), National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution
Job Title: Archival Curatorship and Outreach Intern
Location: Washington, D.C.

Reading Room in the National Anthropological Archives

Reading Room in the National Anthropological Archives.

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I’m assisting the NAA in making an exhibit that will appear on the ground floor of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). It’s a rather meta creation of the NAA about the history and practice of anthropology, titled Documenting Diversity: How Anthropologists Record Culture. Though the exhibit won’t open until next year, this summer there’s a wide variety of work involved: from drafting the exhibit script, to researching the collections, to writing blog posts that advertise the objects going on display. The exhibit will reflect the relationships the NAA and its predecessor have had with Indigenous communities, which span over a hundred years. Today, the NAA makes accessible its collections of items such as language records, photo catalogues, and song recordings. The NAA hosts researchers and Indigenous community members from around the world, who can view the collections in its Reading Room.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I declared my History major earlier this year, with the goal of becoming an archivist at the Smithsonian. The stories of history, and the objects and records those stories leave behind, are stunning to me. I enjoy understanding objects far older than myself and linking them to the present day. The opportunity was advertised to me in my BMC email the same day its applications were due — I shoved all my books aside and wrote up a cover letter.

National Museum of Natural History from the fourth floor

National Museum of Natural History from the fourth floor.

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

I learned quickly the proper handling of archival documents, how to incorporate primary sources into articles, and how to write academic articles in more approachable, friendly tones. I found that I needed to adapt much of my writing process when it came to writing for public anthropology; though I’m accustomed to writing fiction or personal essays, anthropology requires a very different touch. As an aspiring archivist, all of this experience — particularly in searching for and retrieving archival materials from storage — has been invaluable.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

The sheer variety of projects involved in an exhibit, and the depth of exploration involved in researching in an archive, are incredible. I was given opportunities to directly influence an exhibit that will appear in a national museum, and to research those items so thoroughly that I could present them to passersby when the NAA would cart the items into the museum. Simply existing as a NMNH intern literally opens doors into many of the museum’s collections: this summer, tours were offered of Paleobiology and Fossil Prep, Meteorites, the Insect Zoo, the Living Jellyfish Aqua Room, Marine Mammals and Whales, Rare Books, Birds, Mollusks, Physical Anthropology and Mummies, etc., and each were guided by a passionate expert working in the Smithsonian. Just last week I toured Gems & Minerals, where I held a strip of pure gold the size of an iPhone, felt the chilly conductivity of diamonds, and learned that many classic gem names — aquamarine and emerald, ruby and sapphire — are simply recolors of the same molecular structures, named exotically by gem cutters for better business. Just within the NAA’s own collections is a deluge of beautiful drawings, insightful photographs, and the dedicated work of great anthropologists, all snugly stored in rows upon rows of gray shelves.

Archive Shelves

Archive shelves.

But most of all, I am thankful for my wonderful experience with an archive that has at once enabled me to better understand the profession, to participate in important community-revitalizing work, and to help make something concrete. Come check out Documenting Diversity early next year!

Emma Ruth Burns ’21: Pennsylvania Innocence Project

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Name: Emma Ruth Burns
Class Year: 2021
Major: History
Hometown: Provo, Utah

Internship Organization: Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Job Title: Legal Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I have an internship with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The Innocence Project is a nonprofit law firm that works to get those who have been wrongfully convicted exonerated. Usually these people are convicted of major crimes and have been in jail for around 15 or 20 years already, and the cases often take from five to 10 years from the time the Innocence Project first receives their petition to when they are fully exonerated.

I work as an assistant to the office manager and attorneys, filing files and stamping stamps, etc. Usually this only takes a couple minutes out of my day, though, and me and the other undergraduate interns switch off days. The rest of the time I spend either at the CJC retrieving and scanning court documents, in the office reading court transcripts to help one of the law school interns with her case, or working on special projects for our paralegal, Michelle.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship for a number of reasons. First off, I’ve been deciding whether or not I want to to to law school when I’m finished at Bryn Mawr and wanted to get a taste of what it’s like to work in a law office. I chose the Innocence Project because I truly respect the work that they do, I wanted to stay in the city this summer, and I liked the structure of their intern program.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The Innocence Project’s work is inherently rewarding. My favorite part of this internship is when exonerees come into the office. It is fascinating to hear their stories and really hits home that the work that we do is for individuals with lives and families. It is inspiring to see what they are doing now, many of them with skills and experience they gained while incarcerated.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

Last summer I worked as a research assistant, and while I loved the work and thought it was really interesting, I didn’t like that it was largely on my own. My internship at the Innocence Project is very social, which I didn’t expect. There are a number of other interns and there are always things going on downtown after we get out. It’s been an unexpected joy having coworkers who are so much fun!

Hannah Soisson ’21: Montgomery County (Pa.) District Attorney’s Office

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Name: Hannah Soisson
Class Year: 2021
Major: Political Science & History
Hometown: Montgomeryville, Pa.

Internship Organization: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office
Job Title: DA Intern, Front Office
Location: Montgomery County Courthouse, Norristown, Pa.

Hannah Soisson

What’s happening at your internship?

The Montgomery County (Montco) District Attorney’s office is divided into many different divisions of specific issues and fields of work. Divisions include economic crime, narcotics, firearms, arson, and more. All 33 interns in the program are assigned to different divisions in which we remain all summer. I was assigned to work in the D.A.’s main office, where my  supervisors are D.A. Kevin Steele and First Assistant D.A. Ed McCann. I was able to write outlines of different statutes relative to the District Attorney, assist in the courtroom, witness court procedures, and even visit the Coroner’s Office and watch autopsies. Every day was different with a few long-term projects always to do.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I have the goal of attending law school and becoming a lawyer. I don’t yet know what type of law interests me. Because of this, I wanted to find an internship that could expose me to as many different types of law as possible. I believe my internship at the D.A.’s office did exactly that and also provided me with lifelong connections to my fellow interns, as well as supervisors.

Hannah Soisson

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

The biggest challenge I faced at my internship was having the least amount of experience compared to the other interns in the program. With just a little over 30 interns, there were only a handful of other undergrads. The vast majority are first- or second-year law students. At first, I felt very unprepared, having no educational background in law. I overcame this challenge by being very open-minded. I was very open to receiving help from older interns in law school and was eager to learn. Not only have I learned so much from these law students, but I was also able to establish friendships and connections.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding aspect of my internship was the exposure to such a diverse set of experiences. Working in the main office, my assigned tasks varied drastically throughout the weeks. From checking and citing legal handbooks all the way to assisting in a homicide trial, the breadth of experience I gained from my internship was more than I ever presumed. The internship program also had biweekly field trips, and such hands-on experience was enlightening as well. My favorite field trip was visiting the Coroner’s Office, where I was allowed to view an autopsy and learn about investigative tools used when deceased victims are involved, as well as how the Coroner’s Office functions within the D.A.’s office.  This experience was more than I could have ever hoped for when applying for summer internships, and I feel much more equipped and confident in tackling law school and having a promising career.