Summer Internships Take Students All over the Map
The variety in Principia College students’ internships this summer is stunning! Spanning fields ranging from sports to agriculture, marketing to library work, they’re gaining invaluable experience and extending their professional networks. Here’s a small sampling.
Stephen Strong, a senior, interned with the Dallas Stars, a National Hockey League team. A political science major and business administration minor, Stephen spent the summer assisting the Stars with executive season-ticket package sales.
On the other side of the world, senior Marie Sherman, an international student from Canada, interned at Sunrise of Africa School in Kitengela, Kenya, where she worked with students ranging from age 3 to 14. "It’s been absolutely incredible,” she exclaimed partway through her time there, “and it fits perfectly with my educational studies and global studies double majors!"
Also in Kenya for the summer, Sophia Hathaway interned at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi. A senior and triple major in environmental studies, global studies, and educational studies (with a sustainability minor), Sophia worked with the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Manure Management team.
Back in the United States, Tyler Winterbottom, a 2016 Upper School grad and College senior majoring in business administration, spent the summer in Boston as a marketing and product development assistant at The Mother Church. "Being able to work with a team of experienced co-workers on a new set of projects every week has been a great experience,” he commented. “I’ve been able to apply skills learned in my marketing and information system classes at Principia."
Also in Boston for the summer, Abigail DeWeese, a junior political science and global studies double major, interned at the Mary Baker Eddy Library. Along with helping to respond to research queries and assisting with research projects, she collaborated on the creation of a new public exhibit.
Principia students worked on the West Coast as well. Business administration and economics double major Kai Fisher, a 2017 Upper School grad and College junior, spent the summer in Northern California interning at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. A member of the state's disaster unit, Kai helped update the Southern California catastrophic earthquake response plan.
Gabriel Theodoro, a junior business administration and economics double major from Brazil, was in California as well, interning at Broadview, a Christian Science care facility in Los Angeles. "The amazing part about being able to work for a Christian Science institution,” he explained, “is that you get to grow not only professionally but spiritually as well. In this internship, I've been able to apply a lot of different skills learned from my classes at Prin and have learned so much from working closely with my manager and other business associates at Broadview."
Typically, internships take students away from campus, but for senior Jules Kitchingman, a mass communication and educational studies double major from Australia, the perfect opportunity was nearby at the RiverBender.com Community Center in Alton, Illinois. Jules’s main project, still underway, is to create a promotional video highlighting the center’s spirit and mission as well as the many events and activities it sponsors. He’s also supplying RiverBender.com with news and event videos for stories unrelated to the community center. Along with providing him real-world, hands-on experience, Jules’s internship will be a great talking point during job interviews later this year.
Several of the students were able to pursue their internships because of support from the College’s Career-Based Summer Internship Stipend program. Specifically designed to help students explore their career interests, the program provides financial support for students in unpaid or low-paying internships related to their career goals—internships they couldn’t otherwise afford to pursue. At least 20 students were awarded stipends this summer.
These students, and many others who interned over the summer, will be returning to campus in the next few weeks with professional insights and experiences that are bound to deepen their own studies and ripple out to benefit their classmates as well.