A Postcard From: Isabelle Frosch ’17

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Name: Isabelle Frosch

Year: 2017

Major: Psychology

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going.

This summer, I am interning at the Commonwealth Research Center (CRC) a clinical research institution housed within the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center Department of Psychiatry and Harvard Medical School. The clinic runs various research projects and therapy opportunities for people who are at high-risk for developing schizophrenia. It has been a fantastic opportunity to apply my knowledge of psychology from the classroom to this professional setting. I have also learned many new skills—including how to conduct a neuropsychological assessment and run an EEG. So far, this internship has illustrated to me a potential post-grad path I would like to pursue—clinical psychology! Many people working in the lab are at various stages of pursuing doctorate degrees in psychology and it is great to learn from them.

How I heard about my internship:

I was put in contact with the director of the CRC from a friend and emailed him directly! We met for an interview while I was in Boston for Spring Break.

Why I applied for my internship:

As a rising senior, I wanted to gain insight into the professional application of psychology. Working at a lab that conducts cutting edge research and practices clinical work was the perfect way to better understand the two potential paths I could take with my psychology degree, and illustrate ways in which the two are successfully combined.

A Postcard From: Sophia Weinstein ’17

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Name: Sophia Weinstein

Year: 2017

Major: Sociology, Minor: Education

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

This summer, I am an intern at Research For Action, a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia that conducts education research. I am on two projects – one qualitative, and one quantitative – so my work varies a lot throughout the week. I was an intern here during the spring semester as part of a Praxis Independent Study, so now I have the opportunity to continue my work on the qualitative project from the spring while also joining another project and learning more about quantitative research. For the qualitative project, I am helping to create memos based on data from interviews we conducted during the spring. For the quantitative project, I am being trained in STATA, a statistical data analysis software, and am also helping with data entry. There are 8 other interns this summer at RFA on a wide range of projects, so I get to hear about many different things that other people are doing as well.

My experience this summer so far has been really great! I am learning a lot and am working with awesome people. Also, I enjoy working in center city, right near City Hall. I often get to meet my dad for lunch, since he works in the same office building!

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A Postcard From: Felix Qiang ’17

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Name: Felix Qiang

Year: 2017

Major: Mathematics

Internship Placement: IceDog Games Inc.

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

I am doing an internship in a startup mobile phone game company in Shanghai. They are currently in the stage of a new round of financing and I am doing some research about the venture capital firms in China. The group is pretty small and everyone is really smart as well as close.

This is the first time that I have been living in Shanghai. It is one of the most attractive city around the world. It is a city mixing with different cultures, countrywise as well as stylewise. Known as a financial and business capital, it also has a good atmosphere of art and architecture. I have been to a lot of exhibitions in various art galleries and all of which are ask really amazing.It is also a city that never sleeps. I can see people as well as city lights no matter how late it is. The city is always so busy and I really enjoyed staying here with its fast pace. I visited the recent opened Disney Land as well as Wai Tan and Dong Fang Ming Zhu. They are the must goes in the city. I walked around Wai Tan after dinner and enjoyed the summer breeze. I will look up to see Dong Fang Ming Zhu everytime I walked around Wai Tan. Also, a good thing about Shanghai is that even though it is one of the busiest city in the world, it is not as crowded as Beijing. I got some breathing space as well while I am enjoying the busy city.

A Postcard From: Tessa Warinner ’17

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13006503_10208292047311495_2161196415123658569_nName: Tessa Warinner

Year: 2017

Major: Psychology

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

I am a voluntary research assistant for three psychology professors at the University of Edinburgh for the summer. I will be spending a couple months working on their active studies (all in varying degrees of completion). I’m particularly enjoy working on collecting data for a study looking at the meat­eating paradox ­ how can the average person both eat meat, knowing it was once an animal and probably bred in inhuman conditions, but also think themselves a morally upstanding person? How are those two ideas allowed to coexist in the majority of people’s mind without causing distress or discomfort?

Why I applied for my internship:

This wonderful opportunity is what is called an “invisible internship.” It wasn’t advertised anywhere on the internet and did not exist until I proposed that it should. I studied abroad at the University of Edinburgh and got to know a couple of the professors. When I returned to Bryn Mawr and started to think about what I was going to do for the summer, I emailed them with an offer that I return and work for them for free. They were kind enough to accept. I hope to return to Edinburgh for a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. This opportunity has given me so much insight into the realities of research and how to think about starting my career in Scotland.

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A Postcard From: Dana Gold

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image1Name: Dana Gold

Year: 2018

Major: Spanish

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

My internship is going great! I’m working at Nationalities Service Center (NSC) in Center City, which is an organization that works with refugees in the area. I’m the ESL Intern, which means I help out in the English class every morning as well as do various longer term projects in the afternoons. Right now, I’m working on an attendance project and devising a better system for the teachers now and going forward to use. I also assist with escorting clients to medical appointments and other social services appointments.

Here is a picture of me on World Refugee Day. We took the ESL class to Philadelphia City Hall for Mayor Kenney’s press conference in honor of the day. It was so exciting for us at NSC as well as the clients!

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A Postcard From: Zahabya Mama ’17

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12810431_10204029079447293_1770339587_oName: Zahabya Mama

Year: 2017

Major: Political Science and Russian Major

Internship Placement: American Councils for International Education

 

 

 

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going.

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As with any new city, living in DC has been exciting and fun. Despite it being extremely hot and muggy at points, I think the city is beautiful. The first day in DC I bought a bike as my mode of transportation since DC has a lot of metro repairs this summer, and the cost of a monthly pass is extremely expensive. Biking to American Councils is actually a lot of fun and not as scary as I thought it would be since I get to bike through the National Mall and past the White House every day on my way to the office!

 

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At American Councils, I work with six others who are all part of the Outbound department. Our job encompasses many things, most importantly pertaining to study abroad programs in Russia and Eurasia. Our department offers programs like Advanced Russian language and Area Studies Program, Balkan Language Initiative, Russian heritage Speakers Program, Contemporary Russia Program, Eurasia Regional Language Program, Peace and Security in the South Caucasus Program, Summer Teachers Program, Business Russian Language and Internship and Overseas Professional and Intercultural Training Program. Additionally this department works with Title VIII grants, funded by the federal government, for research and language training to American scholars studying Eastern Europe and Eurasia. In June all of the summer programs have orientation and they depart from DC to places like Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Kazakhstan. As an intern I assist with any and all projects, from social media to accompanying a co-working to various embassies. In my first week I was able to go to the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan to drop off and pick up passports and visas. I’ve also been able to meet other departments in American Councils, like Inbound (who bring international students to the US), marketing, and fundraising. So far it’s been a great experience… and it doesn’t hurt that I have some really nice co-workers!

How I heard about my internship:

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I actually heard about this internship from Emily Lyons-Ellison, who was my program officer in summer 2015 for the Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Saint Petersburg. After coming back from Russia I kept in contact with her to see if there were any internship openings and it just so happened that working with the Study Abroad and Outreach department was possible. If it wasn’t for Emily I wouldn’t have this internship right now!

So, if I had any advice that came from how I heard about the internship it would be: Send lots of emails and ask for help. You never know if one of your contacts knows about a job or internship opening. And, most people you reach out to are more than happy to help with future endeavors.  

Why I applied for my internship:

Since I spent my past two summers working on the Russian language, both at Bryn Mawr’s Russian Language Institute (RLI) and in Saint Petersburg, I knew that I needed real work experience. I needed to know how I work with a team, how I work by myself, if I was able to sit at a computer all day or if I would get antsy, etc. I applied to a lot of journalistic jobs, but landed on working for American Councils in their Study Abroad and Outbound department. I figured American Councils helped me shape my career path, so why not come back and do the same thing for others.

My advice about picking an internship: Of course try to be an intern in a place that you feel passionate about, but if you don’t find something that you think will suit you after you graduate, stick with it. Do it for the experience so that you know for your next job what you know you like to do, and what you know you don’t.

A Postcard From: Dana Duncombe ’17

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Name: Dana Duncombe

Year: 2017

Major: Sociology

Internship Placement: HIAS Pennsylvania

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

I described my summer position to a passenger on the trolley today. “I am working at a refugee resettlement organization in Center City, primarily offering case management support and summer programming assistance.” In short, that is my job. I give orientations. I make phone calls. I file paperwork. Yet, and potentially surprisingly, the job never bores me. Why? First, there is no time to be bored. Second, I know the characters behind the papers. I was one of their first faces. I sat endlessly with them in welfare offices applying for benefits and pointing at SEPTA maps. (SEPTA is a very complicated system, a fact I only realized once I tried to explain it.) I listen to Burmese, Nepali, Swahili, Farsi, Arabic, clanging train cars, typing computers, a cacophony of phone “hold” songs, and the sweetness of freshly-learned English. I use my French and I improve my English. I relearn Philadelphia and I relearn the United States.

My summer job extends beyond my one sentence description. It brings me deep into South Philly and the Northeast so I can escort clients to new destinations. I advocate tirelessly for interpretation (federally funded offices are mandated to do such). I see interlocking social services and gaping holes within our system. I see fierce determination from my coworkers and from our clients. I see mutual learning between the two. “Nyoka” is the Swahili word for snake. I learned this while drawing images with one of our Congolese clients in the County Assistance Office.

My summer job is exhausting. I worry about social work as a sustainable career for myself, but more importantly, for the social work community. June saw the most arrivals in HIAS Pennsylvania’s history. Normally the fourth quarter sees the biggest blip. What will it be like this year? What will it be like next year? How can we better support social workers and all caregivers? Having an outlet to constructively impact the global refugee crisis has been essential. But, can we keep it up?

I leave each day brimming with empowered motivation. Some would say I work with a vulnerable population. I have been privy to some of our clients’ journeys and hardships. I ache. But, these folks project so much raw strength and positivity. They make me laugh. They humble me. They push me to think harder. They push me to work and live harder. I am proud and privileged to work with and alongside such inspiring humans. Being a social worker (and now I know it is the career I want to pursue) comes with a Mary Poppins suitcase: forever growing, but full of magic.

How did you hear about the internship?

Upon coming back from a study abroad experience in France, I wanted to directly engage with the global refugee initiative. I found HIAS PA after a bit of research, scheduled a call with the program director, and was hired! Interns keep the resettlement team functioning and I am so grateful to be part of it.

A Postcard from: Emma Basen-Engquist ’17

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senior_pic9Name: Emma Basen-Engquist

Year: 2017

Major: English

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going!

I’m interning at the Nicole Longnecker Gallery in Houston. Every day at the gallery is different from the next, but you can often find me sitting in on meetings with clients (both customers and artists), researching new sales opportunities for the gallery, updating our social media pages, collaborating with Nicole on PR materials for gallery outreach, working on perfecting our inventory and sales systems, and much more!

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My workspace at the gallery! (The art in the background is “Line Aphasia – Mirage” by Julian Lorber.)

Why I applied for my internship:

Summer Blog and Release Form BasenEngquist (1)2

Pictures from our back room! The work on the wall is “Imaginings” by Amy Lin.

As an English major, my future career possibilities are inexhaustible, and I wanted to learn how to apply my skills in a business setting. I have interned at large corporations and small nonprofits before and I wanted to see how small business was different. I am also very passionate about art and I wished to learn about making art commercial while maintaining the artist’s vision for the work.

A Postcard From: Wenwen Ye

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Name: Wenwen Ye

Year: 2017

Major: Economics & Math

What’s happening! We’d love to hear about how your internship is going.

This Summer, I am a research assistant for Professor Timothy Lambie-Hanson from Haverford College, conducting an economic theoretical research on the topic of Communication Game Theory. The general setting of Communication games is that both receivers and senders can only communicate using limited information, such as a limited number of words, to maximize their utility. Although we have not yet developed a complete theoretical framework, we have a few hypothesis based on our observations. Besides, I attend weekly economic seminars at Swarthmore and participate the Econ Journal club every Friday.

Why I applied for my internship:

I am currently studying Economics and particularly interested in Microeconomics. I plan to apply for Econ Ph.D programs after graduation. I chose to apply for this internship because I wanted more knowledge and experience with conducting an economic research from scratch. I wanted to know how to apply the concepts from introductory economic courses into a further research and to be more prepared for future study,

A Postcard From: Jenille Scott ’17

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20151015_193820Name: Jenille Scott

Year: 2017

Major/Minor: Biology/Political Science

What’s happening! We’d love to hear about how your internship is going.

This summer I am interning at Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Water Works is engaged in a myriad of activities focused on raising awareness about water resources in Philadelphia particularly the watershed. My first project was to assist with the Water Works’ Summit at the Camden Aquarium which had 250 participants from 9 schools. Some of my other projects include helping out with Project Flow; the Water Works’ annual summer program that helps students explore water from an interdisciplinary perspective and developing instructional videos for the sustainability curriculum just to name a few.jenille

Why I Applied for My Internship:

Currently, I am studying Biology and Political Science in hopes of pursuing a career as an environmental lawyer. I believe a summer internship provides a way to gain more hands on experience, allow a wider exploration in a specific field and to try new things. This is exactly what the Water Works’ internship seemed to provide. I wanted to learn more about water resources in Philadelphia and the policy issues that arise when dealing with the city. Additionally, my internship has allowed me to explore raising environmental awareness through educating students and having conversations about the students’ thoughts on the environment.

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Raindrop Activity at Water Works Summit