Tag Archives: International Student

Phoebe Cribb ’20: Progressive Policy Institute

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Name: Phoebe Cribb
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Chorley, United Kingdom

Internship Organization: Progressive Policy Institute
Job Title: Education Policy Intern
Location: Washington, D.C.

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I am working at the Progressive Policy Institute on a project focusing on Charter Schools and Innovation school networks. Through researching, policy briefings and meetings, I am producing a “how-to guide” for state legislators and districts about creating effective innovation schools, as well as model legislation. My research is based on models that have been successfully implemented in Indianapolis, Memphis and Denver, and how these models can be expanded. In addition, I attend policy briefings and events on Capitol Hill, write blog posts for the PPI website, and keep up to date on the latest education policy news.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I am passionate about education policy and I wanted to be able to learn about how legislation is researched, created and enacted in D.C. I also wanted to experience how an influential policy think tank functions on a day to day basis. Through participating in the Bi-Co education program I have been able to observe various K-12 classrooms in Philadelphia. Therefore, I wanted to see how my understanding of the classroom compared to federal policy initiatives. I also wanted to take this opportunity to explore D.C. and connect with other interns in the city.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of my internship has been working in a small, collaborative environment. PPI is one of the smaller think tanks in D.C., so I get to work closely with really influential policy researchers and writers. Also, every Friday we have intern lunch day, which I look forward to every week. The main topic of discussion in the office has been the 2020 presidential election.

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

Adjectives: Enlightening, fast-paced, collaborative
Nouns: Coffee, LinkedIn, The West Wing

Ricki Su ’20: Bank of America

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Name: Ricki Su
Class Year: 2020
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Beijing

Internship Organization: Bank of America
Job Title: Software Engineering Intern
Location: Pennington, N.J.

What’s happening at your internship?

I’m part of a technology team that aims to build an NLP (natural language processing) platform for data scientists at the bank. Currently, I am at the base team that develops utilities for other development teams of the project. I am also looking at an internship-long task that implements parallel processing for the project.

Why did you apply for this internship?

As a CS major, I always want to apply my skills and knowledge learned at Bryn Mawr to build something useful, for individuals, or for corporations. I believe this kind of experience at an international company will broaden my vision and take my understanding of software engineering to another level.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

A big shout-out to Grace Hopper Conference, an event that happens yearly, and attracts thousands of people who support women in technology to attend. I went last year and participated in the huge career fair that they organized. I was offered the opportunity to have onsite interview with engineers, and I got my offer a few weeks after the conference. It was an amazing experience to feel the vibe, to feel supported, and to support other women in tech.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

Being just two weeks into this internship, I love how demographically diverse and interesting the interns are at my team. Female have always been underrepresented at tech roles, and I am excited to see that including me, four out of six interns are female.

I can see the bank’s effort towards diversity and inclusion. Besides, everyone is funny and pleasant to work with, which makes me feel really lucky about being placed into this team.

Bank of America Pennington campus.

Blossom Jeong ’20: IonFarms

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Name: Blossom Jeong
Class Year: 2020
Major: Mathematics and Comparative Literature
Hometown: Anyang, South Korea

Internship Organization: IonFarms
Job Title: Marketing & Sales Intern
Location: Incheon, South Korea

What’s happening at your internship?

I’m working as a marketing and sales intern at IonFarms, a trading company that exports a variety of eco-friendly and well-being products. The core products that the company develops are hydrogen water generators and water ionizers. My task really depends on the day, but my primary job involves researching and translating various materials for the company. For example, I looked for online journal articles on the health benefits of hydrogen water and alkaline water to be posted on the company’s website, and I also researched and studied the technology behind water ionizers to be used in promotion materials. Other than research, I helped translate user guides and administration manuals for the new products that the company will be launching soon. Because IonFarms is a trading company that reaches out internationally, I definitely use my language skills a lot.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I wanted to understand what the marketing field was like. I’m still debating whether I want to go to graduate school or start working right after graduation, so I wanted to use this summer to explore these possibilities. I’ve developed an interest in marketing after working as a student manager for a varsity team here at Bryn Mawr College, but I wanted to expand that experience further and actually work in a professional setting. I also thought participating in an internship would help me evaluate what skills I have and what skills I might want to develop further, since professional skills might be different from what I learn in school.

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

From this internship, one thing I learned was that language used at work is much different from the language for everyday use. There was a lot of technical terms that I had never encountered, and I struggled especially when I tried to translate them and always needed to reference a dictionary. And every little detail mattered when I worked in the marketing department. I also realized that working in the marketing department meant that I had to first completely understand the product in question. Even simple jobs like translation and research required that I comprehended the system behind the product I was promoting. If I didn’t understand and appreciate the product, I wouldn’t be able to persuade the customers.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

Yes and no. I’m really experiencing what it’s like to work at an actual company, and the experience both meets and differs from my expectations. I’m still familiarizing myself with the company’s system, working individually but always having access to others. I also had an opportunity to sit in one of the department meetings, and I was fascinated by the interaction between different employees and the different ideas on the table. It excited me to witness all the energy in the room, people passionately giving their opinions. It made me think about what kind of passion I have, and how I can connect it to my future career.