Dan - Reflecting on the summer

As my internship has ended, I have taken a look back on the ten weeks I have spent in New York City with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I had experienced such great things that I would not have been able to see and feel anywhere else in the world. I was able to eat some of the best food in the world. This included an ice cream sandwich with two black and white cookies, vanilla ice cream, and everything bagel toppings around the ice cream. It sounds odd but is one of the best desserts I have ever had. Pizza does not compare to anywhere else in the world and I don’t know how many different types of cultural food I had eaten, but it is like I traveled the world in that aspect. I was present for multiple bomb scares. In times of great terrorist turmoil, I fully expected to be threatened by possible bombs and shootings. I fully knew the risks but knew that they could not change the way I live my life or they would win. One was on the subway platform I use to get to work in Grand Central Station. Another affected the commute of many colleagues that caused an eight hour standoff with NYPD in Columbus Circle. Lastly, another one was in the newly built and magnificent World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Seeing first hand what big city workers and dwellers have to live with quite frequently was eye opening. These may have only been threats, but a threat can turn into reality in a second. Lastly, I was able to participate in events in the city as well. I played in two different table tennis tournaments. One was with the SEC, which I ended up winning. The other was at Bryant Park and was truly humbled by a 21-17 win in the first round but a 21-2 loss in the second round.

Those are some of my experience in New York City with my internship but the most rewarding experience was probably finishing up an assignment and submitting it to my supervisor. It always felt amazing knowing that I was helping in some way in the examination of a broker dealer. I was taking work off the hands of the other examiners and we were collaborating and making sure all numbers and detail match up and there were no hints of suspicious activity. Every assignment I was able to work on, I learned something new that I have yet to experience in my college career. This was knowledge that helped me perform better on later assignments and in just a few weeks I was able to take home knowledge I had never even known existed in the financial world.

One of the biggest challenges of the internship was the traveling. My personal discipline was tested each and every day. I am a person that takes fitness seriously. I believe great fitness and discipline lead to a happy and healthy life. Commuting three hours each way to and from the city made it incredibly difficult to continue my fitness goals to the level I wanted. A typical day without working out would have me waking up at 5:45AM to catch a 6:30AM train. This would get me to work at exactly 8:40 with no delays. However, I needed to stay disciplined even in these times of early mornings and late nights, I had to stay disciplined and continue to reach for my fitness goals. That meant waking up at 4:30AM four out of five mornings during the work week to get at least an hour of training in before my work day started. This led to me being incredibly tired at some points but was something that needed to be done. This kept my motivation strong because, to me, it was a major accomplishment waking up so early day in and day out. This may have been the biggest challenge of the internship.

Overall, I was incredibly happy with how my internship experience played out throughout the ten weeks. I learned more than I ever could have imagined, met a few Scranton alumni that worked at the SEC, came home with many contacts, and ate GREAT food many times. I could not have had a more rewarding summer after only my first year of college.

Dan Muenkel
Accounting/Finance

Chris - Reflecting on the summer

The most rewarding part of my internship had to be the group work my team and I completed throughout the program. I was fortunate to be paired off with a great group of interns to come up with a performance management workshop. This task was rewarding to me, because we started with no background on what performance management was. However by the end of the ten weeks, not only did we feel like experts, but we were also teaching other city employees about performance management. The workshop that we created got great feedback from all the participants and the city is going to use this workshop in the future. We started a brand new project and to see the final result get such great feedback was very rewarding.

Another experience that I fond very rewarding was when the mayor spoke to us at the final ceremony. He seemed to be very appreciative of the work we were doing and handed us all certificates for our achievements. There were several news stations filming this event, and I was able to watch myself on 6ABC later that night. It was a great experience to see that all of our hard work was did not go unnoticed.

While the commute wasn’t great, the most challenging part of my internship was interacting with high level city employees. For the performance management workshop, my team was constantly presenting information to other city employees. At first it was difficult for me as an intern, to feel confident enough to present, and even teach a lot of this information to employees much higher up in the city. However with enough time and practice, presenting to these employees came a lot smoother. The final stage in this project was to present what we have done to the mayor’s “A – Team” who are employees who work very closely with him. We all had to memorize what we were going to say and present to over forty people. Speaking in front of all these people was challenge, but since we spent so much time practicing what we were going to say, and presenting to smaller groups, we were still very successful.

Chris Louin

Electronic Commerce

Alyssa - Reflecting on the summer

The most challenging part of my internship is navigating the transitional period that the Bureau of Disease Control is currently experiencing. At the beginning of my internship the Director resigned to take on a new job, the research technician went out on maternity leave, and STD typist also left for a new job. The changes in staff resulted in the department being understaffed and everyone taking on new responsibilities. This transition period has been difficult for me because there has not been one point person in charge of my internship. However, due to the transition, I have been given more responsibilities on research projects because of the lack of regular staff. I have more ownership and input on the projects which has helped grow my research skills.

The most rewarding part of my internship is helping out with the Refugee Assistance clinics. These clinics are held off site, in the part of the county where the most refugees live. The clinic is set up in the basement of an un-air-conditioned church and served roughly 120 refugees a week. This summer, Onondaga County has received an influx of new refugees entering the county. All of these refugees must be screened for Tuberculosis, which is what we do at the clinic. The clinic is often very busy and full of people from many different countries. On any given day, I can hear 5 or more different languages being spoken among the refugees. The staff sometimes finds it difficult to communicate with the refugees because of their limited English, however that does not diminish the level of care which is provided. The staff is compassionate and caring towards all of the patients and the staff serve as my role models for how I want to administer care as a future health care professional.

Alyssa Purdy
Biology

Alex - Reflecting on the summer

The most rewarding part of my internship as an organic chemistry undergraduate research student was experiencing an atmosphere that could one day become my workplace. Although one can visit work sites and be told about what jobs in chemistry research will be like, I got the chance to actually live the life of a researcher for 10 weeks and immerse myself in it completely. However, the most challenging part of my internship is the effort that must be put in to dedicate oneself to one thing for so long. In school, I am used to working on a paper for a few days, turning it in, and being done with it forever. In research and a full time job, the work all relates and piles on itself, causing you to never actually be finished. It takes a large amount of dedication to continually immerse oneself in research, because a great discovery will never come overnight.

Alex Gardner
Chemistry/Philosphy

Marissa - Reflecting on the summer

My time at Good Grief has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone I work with is so kind and devoted to the organization; it is incredible to see what goes on behind the scenes to keep this program thriving. As an intern, whether I am researching contacts to help expand to other communities, or making crafts for Family Fun Day, I can see that my work impacts so many families. Aside from assisting behind the scenes, I also worked with families on Good Grief’s nights of support. It was amazing to talk with the families and hear their stories. If I could sum it up, the most rewarding part for me is that the work I put in every day could potentially help change someone’s life. The most challenging part of my internship was being a facilitator on nights of support. On most nights the kids wanted to play and have fun, rather than just talking about their grief. But at other times the kids had some emotional conversations about the death of their loved one. It was challenging to hear the children talk about the death of a parent or sibling without becoming emotional myself. It was incredible to hear what they had to share with the group, and to see how other children in the group responded. Despite this challenge, I enjoyed every moment I could spend with the families, and I gained clinical experience and knowledge along the way!

Marissa DeStefano
Psychology

Margaret D. - Reflecting on the summer

Upon reflecting on my time during my summer internship as a molecular biology research assistant at the University of Scranton, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and confidence. I am so grateful for the opportunity to grow not only as researcher but also as a professional.  I had to overcome many challenges in the lab protocols that I had to perform. Reactions and lab procedures were unsuccessful and often resulted in poor data. When this happened I went back to the original protocol and did some trouble shooting.  With patience, knowledge and some luck, I was able to modify a protocol used by other researchers in order to identify plasmodium parasites in avian blood. Solving the issues I was having with the protocol was like overcoming a large obstacle. It is great to have hurtled over that obstacle and carry out the project to completion. I also felt more confidence in my lab techniques and abilities in experimental design. This summer internship has inspired me to further continue this project and hopefully develop a research project of my own.

Margaret Dodgson

Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology

Kylie - Reflecting on the summer

There were so many amazing aspects of my internship that it is truly difficult to pick just one of them as the most rewarding. After some thought, though, I would say that my favorite part was being able to interact with so many clients and learning their stories and struggles. When I had first decided to become a lawyer, a lot of my family and friends were concerned, worrying that I would eventually grow tired of such a “boring” and stressful job. While these comments did not deter me, this summer has given me the confidence to shut down these misconceptions about this line of work. I won’t lie and say that this summer wasn’t stressful or challenging because it definitely was! For the first time in my life, I was in an office situation working with a very busy and focused lawyer who didn’t always have the time to let me know what she needed from me. For me, this was very challenging because I didn’t have the experience to know how to assist her without guidance and so there was a bit of an awkward adjustment period while I tried to become more accustomed to the law office’s needs and the constructive criticism I received from my colleagues. While it was incredibly challenging, the takeaway was definitely worth it. I read several hundreds of case files during my internship and every single one was unique: each document and photo inside was its own special piece that only fit into that person’s puzzle. I really feel lucky to have had this experience; I learned that the best feeling in the world is to see relief wash over a client’s face as they learn that they are no longer going to be deported or that they have been approved for asylum or a green card. I can’t wait to devote the rest of my life to helping immigrants and this internship has only helped me to fully realize that this is what I am meant to do with my life.

Kylie Mignat
International Studies

Katie - Reflecting on the summer

This summer has been full of learning and new experiences. I can’t believe how hands-on experience makes everything learned in the classroom come to life! The most rewarding part of my internship is watching my patients achieve their goals. Many of them come into the rehab center at a much more dependent level then their prior level of function. It is amazing to see my patients making gains everyday and knowing that I am part of the reason they get to return home safely with their family. I also love to be able to form connections with them and get to be apart of their everyday life while they’re in rehab. It is definitely a challenge when there are certain patients that don’t have the opportunity to make a complete recovery; Whether that be a person who has had a stroke and now has an inability to talk or a patient with aggressively progressing MS. Its hard to know that no matter how creative an intervention I design to uniquely benefit that person, that they will never get to be as independent as they were before the diagnosis. The story that really sticks with me the most is of one MS patient, John. John was bed bound due to his disease and was only in his mid-fifties. John’s wife was taking care of him at home until she became terminally ill with cancer. She died a few months after being diagnosed; leaving behind their special needs 30-year-old daughter that John was unable to care for by himself. The first time I met him my heart broke for his situation. I am sure this never how he envisioned his life would go. It inspires me everyday that despite the challenges life has thrown at him he is still able to go on with life and find the positive side of situations.

Katie Leithauser
Occupational Therapy

Matthew - Reflecting on the summer

The most rewarding part of my internship at the Friendship House was definitely the children. Working with them, creating those relationships was an incredible journey that I will take with me through my future career. Watching some of the kids seriously progress, grow, and mature through the work of the Friendship House was inspiring and wonderful. I was truly blessed to be a part of the team at the Friendship House who could help those kids get the help they needed. My internship was extremely rewarding because it taught me the importance of compassion and understanding. Working with kids who have been traumatized is difficult to say the least. However, it was rewarding to develop the skills necessary to work with such a group of bright young children.

Working at the Friendship House had its challenges as well. As wonderful as the children were, working with the parents or family members was usually stressful. Sometimes parents get overwhelmed and stressed and then take it out on the staff members at the Friendship House. Occasionally parents can be stubborn or aggressive. It’s very hard trying to schedule a child to see a psychiatrist when the parent is furious about something and is yelling and being stubborn. Although not all parents were hard to work with, most parents could be challenging to say the least. However, I worked hard to overcome this challenge and be patient with parents who were being difficult. I kept an open mind and understood that those parents definitely had a lot on their plate. Through everything, the Friendship House taught me a lot about compassion, patience, and understanding, providing me with an incredible experience, one I would do again in a heartbeat.

Matthew Busch
Neuroscience

Emily - Reflecting on the summer

First off I would like to say that I had the best Internship ever this summer, and it’s all thanks to The Royal Experience Internship Program! There were so many rewarding parts of my internship that it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but if I had to choose I would say the most rewarding part about interning at WHHI-TV was the opportunity’s I was given while there. I was able to do a live stand up report, guest host on their TV shows, contribute to their social media pages, and be able to stand in and help out with so many of there programs. Interning at WHHI-TV truly made me feel as though this was absolutely the career path that I wish to continue on, and I feel as though my time at The University of Scranton has prepared me greatly for my future career aspirations. The greatest challenge I found while interning at WHHI-TV was actually the amount of responsibility I was given. My first few days while at this internship I definitely was second guessing myself a lot, and didn’t want to mess up. I found it challenging to trust that I was doing the right thing, but by the end of the experience I felt so confident in myself. For example one of my first days I was at a video shoot and they had me focusing the camera, I was so nervous that I was going to mess it up and the whole video would turn out blurry, but by the end of the summer I could focus a camera quickly and with no problem! Overall I’m so happy with how my internship turned out, and I feel as though I truly gained real world experience.

Chris made the news!

Philadelphia Major Jim Kenney recently congratulated all students, including our very own Chris Louin, who completed the Mayor's Internship Program. Check out the clip here.

Alyssa - Onondaga County Health Department

During my time as an intern at the Onondaga County Health Department Bureau of Disease Control, I hope to learn more about public health. I believe that public health is an important part of the health care system that is often over looked by other medical specialties. I want to learn more about the tracking and treating of diseases such as E. coli, Zika and Tuberculosis because each disease is distinct and pose a variety of threats to communities. I also want to learn about how public health and education work together in order to best serve the committee dealing with the disease.

I hope to become a medical doctor in the future and I believe that this internship will help me have a unique perspective on health care. The knowledge from the internship will allow me to understand the complex relationship between health care and government which are often overlooked by healthcare professionals who work in large hospitals. I also believe that the knowledge of the specific diseases and how they are treated will be valuable I as learn about the many obscure diseases that I might encounter in my career.

Alyssa

Biology

Megan - Democratic National Committee

The first thing I had noticed when I stepped into the Democratic National Committee was that it never sleeps. As I overheard someone say while waiting for orientation to start, “…There’s only 62 days until the convention,” and over the past four weeks, it’s been so exciting to play even a small part in getting ready for the convention and general election.

This summer, I’m working at the DNC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.  as an intern in the research department. My fellow interns and I assist the research staffers, so we have been involved in several long-term projects. Our usual duties include transcription, data entry, some archival work, and sampling every food truck that parks near the Capitol South metro stop. We have had the opportunity to attend some events as well.

I knew political research was essential for a campaign, but I did not know how in-depth the research was until I became a part of it. Whenever I saw an article or political ad, I rarely thought about how exactly that information was gathered, but now I appreciate the fact that it might have taken a researcher or team hours of sifting through obscure material to find it. Also, the DNC’s research is mostly opposition research. As an individual, I believe getting to know the opposition is just as important as being well versed in your own side when deciding for whom to vote, even if it is an easy choice. As an organization, the DNC’s goal is clearly for their party’s candidate to be elected president, and opposition research is an important part of that process.

I think that this internship will influence my career path in several ways. Political research is so important, so whether I work for a non-profit, a political consulting firm, or a campaign (or, most likely, all three at different points in my career), it will likely involve research. Besides the work itself though, the DNC is just an incredible work environment. This intern class has only been here for four weeks, but already we have gotten immersed in projects, attended events and seen major political figures speak, worked closely with our supervisors, and learned about the other departments’ work through talks given by other senior staffers. The work itself has been interesting, but in this field in particular, it is so important to make connections and learn from others’ experiences. I certainly have plenty of opportunities to do that, and I can’t wait to see what the next two months will bring.

Megan Bershefsky
International Studies

Marissa - Good Grief

My internship has only just begun and I am excited to be a part of such an amazing organization. In just a few short weeks I have learned so much about grief that I did not know before. This experience will help me begin to evaluate my career goals, as I start to see what I like or dislike about working in a grief support setting. As a facilitator for grief support groups I will provide an opportunity for families to communicate, and I will be a listener for anyone that needs someone to talk to. A death in the family can completely change someone’s life, and although there is nothing I can do to make their loved one return I hope I can make it an easier adjustment by being there for support. I hope I will learn how to appropriately approach conversations about death, because it is often a sensitive topic for many people. This summer is the first time I will take on a clinical role, and it is just the beginning of my career exploration. As a psychologist, I will communicate with people every day who are struggling to cope in their daily lives. Helping people cope with grief is just one area within the field of mental health, and it is something I could envision myself doing in the future. There are many opportunities ahead and so far I think I am on a good track to discovering the right fit for me!

Marissa DeStefano
Psychology

Margaret D. - The University of Scranton

Margaret Dodgson, molecular biology research assistant, checking in from the University of Scranton. As a novice researcher, I am still developing lab techniques, abilities in experimental designing, and a knowledge base for my subject material. During my research internship, I hope not only to learn more about research skills, but also learn more about myself. I am excited to be able to explore topics that interest me. This internship is more than identifying the sex and parasite load from the blood samples of birds. This internship is an amazing opportunity to develop skills that I can transfer to other research labs in my future career. The techniques I have learned, and will continue to learn, can be applied to any laboratory setting. I have also learned how to work collaboratively with others, manage time, trouble shoot, problem solve, and think creatively.

I hope to pursue a career in the medical field. I believe that research is an integral part of practicing medicine.  Research can help combat chronic and new illnesses. I particularly believe that the field of molecular biology and genetics will be a central part of the future of healthcare. Many diseases may be able to be treated with gene therapy. My research may involve birds, but the techniques in decoding the birds’ genetic makeup can be applied to a humans as well. Scientific research is tedious and challenging, but it is worth it.

Margaret Dodgson

Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology

Margaret B. - Pivot Physical Therapy

My internship involves shadowing a physical therapist and helping around the clinic. As it is an out patient clinic I will have the chance to observe a variety of injuries and demographics, from children to student athletes to the elderly. I hope to learn how the special tests and treatment modalities I learned in class are applied to different patients. By observing intake appointments I hope to learn about the complexity of certain injuries and what therapists look for when presented with a complex patient. Also, by working at the same clinic for the majority of the summer I will observe how the therapists progress patients during their rehabilitation.

This internship will help me understand not only what a physical therapist does, but what a day in their life is like. There is a lot of paperwork and time spent scheduling patients to make sure they can get to their appointments. Another thing I am learning beyond the book knowledge is how to motivate different patients. This is hugely important as it is not something that can be taught in a classroom but is vital to providing care to patients. It is also interesting to interact with a third year physical therapy student, an athletic trainer, a physical therapy assistant, and two different physical therapists. These interactions allow me to see how each different professional works to provide care, which I want to be in the future, and what I should do to get there.

Margaret Blount

Exercise Science

Kylie - TMH Law Offices

I hope to gain so much knowledge and experience from this internship. During my freshman year, as an uncertain biology student, I decided to take a first-year seminar that really intrigued me: Immigration Experience in the United States. We read a book, titled Enrique’s Journey, and it struck me hard. I read about his various deportations, his horrible struggles as a child simply trying to find his mother in the United States. How could we treat people, especially unaccompanied minors, in such a way? This class changed the course of my life; from it, I decided that I needed to help fix this problem and help immigrants who are in the process of removal proceedings to win their fight. When I found my internship, I was thrilled; I would get to use the Spanish I had learned over the past 15 years and get to learn more of the legal aspect and ramifications of immigration. During my internship, I hope to learn more about the Violence Against Women Act (for victims of domestic violence), U Visas (for victims of crime), and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (for unaccompanied minors) as well as the evidence needed to win these types of cases. I believe that this internship will be even more life-changing than my first-year seminar as it will be a small taste of what it will be like to be a lawyer and will give me the skills needed to become an excellent immigration lawyer and advocate for immigrants.

Kylie Mignat
International Studies

Katie - Atrium Post Acute Care of Park Ridge

I can’t believe I’m starting my 4th week at my internship. I feel as though I’ve already learned so much about occupational therapy. I’m getting to see first-hand how what we learned in the classroom relates in real life situations. During the remaining 8 weeks I hope to learn how to better create interventions that relate to the client as an individual. I noticed that a lot of the time therapists get overwhelmed with a “rush” of clients at one time and the individualism of treatment seems to be lost. I have my own caseload and have been trying to consciously create treatments to benefit them as well as incorporate something that they enjoy doing. For example, one of my patients came in extremely weak from a recent fall and surgery. This patient in particular enjoyed sketching and painting so I decided to incorporate sketching while working on his endurance and standing balance during the session. I’ve found that the more I am able to relate to a client the more cooperative they become in a session. I think this will be an important aspect of my future career because I feel that the best health care professionals are the ones that go out of their way to make you feel like you’re the most important patient they have at that moment. As the summer progresses I hope that I can keep coming up with creative interventions as ways to help my clients and grow as a therapist.

Katie Leithauser
Occupational Therapy

Gretchen - Weight Watchers

When starting the Royal Experience I was very much looking forward to really gaining the skills needed to immerse myself in the culinary world. This included the nutrition of food, kitchen techniques, the preparation of different foods and being able to create my own recipes to share with others. I am taking classes in cooking and baking, I am visiting locations to talk and gain real world insight. I am reading books on both food and business methods and seeing how other woman entrepreneurships found their start. I am cooking my way through a cookbook cover to cover in order to try different foods and learn new styles. This internship also allows me to interact with the clients of Weight Watchers and really understand what people want when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. I want to learn how to take those “comfort style foods” and transform them to taste great and be great for you as well.

I designed this internship experience to not only help me better understand the art of cooking, but to also gain knowledge on the business aspect as well. My major is entrepreneurship, and I intend to use these skills to help open my own business in the future. I am creating a nonprofit healthy living café, that will include healthier food options, allow my customers to find fitness and relaxation through yoga and the proceeds will be given to help feed those around the world who cannot afford to; food for food.
 

Gretchen Selinski

Entrepreneurship

Emily - WHHI-TV

So far my internship with WHHI- TV has been extremely rewarding. I have had incredible experiences and meet wonderful/ helpful people. One thing that I’ve realized while interning here is that I have the opportunity to truly learn from professionals in my field. The main goal I want to take out this internship is to learn as much as I possibly can. So far I have been asking so many questions about everything in the industry from editing, best way to perform on air, and just the everyday workings of a TV station. I feel that this internship will impact my career greatly because I am gaining so much experience. I am learning what areas of the industry I truly enjoy and want to pursue further, and what areas I don’t feel as strongly about. For example some of the jobs they have been having me doing so far are updating the all of the company’s social media pages, refreshing and maintaining the main monitor that broadcasts the shows, assisting in studio and on location shoots, helping operate the camera, and tomorrow morning I will be getting interviewed for one of the local talk shows (I will send the link to the video of it once I receive it)! Just from working here I already feel that in the future I want to pursue a career in entertainment reporting and TV hosting. I feel that WHHI- TV is the perfect place to begin my career in broadcasting, and I could not feel more honored to have the chance to work here!

Emily Darcy
Journalism/Electronic Media

Dan - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

With my internship starting at the SEC about three week ago, I have already learned so much, more than I could ever imagine in only three weeks without taking a conventional “blackboard” class. Based on what I have learned about financial markets in this short period of time, my expectations have already been far surpassed but that only means it is time to raise those expectations. Being that I am in a regulatory organization, I want to get a more in-depth knowledge of what an individual examiner looks for in every company that is examined. I want to be able to see what tips the examiner off on a breach of a regulation or possible fraud and high risk activity. Although I am in a government agency and focused on the regulatory side of the financial market, I would love to learn more about how the public market functions. I would like to walk away with a much deeper understanding of everything that goes into the running of Wall Street and how it has been able to be so successful and have so much history with only a few setbacks. Having been here for three weeks and being around students that are mostly in graduate school really has given me the most in-depth information I could imagine and I could not be more grateful for this opportunity. Furthermore, a little unrelated to the internship is that I can not wait to learn more about the greatest city in the world, next to Scranton of course! New York City is such an exciting place where you can truly never be bored and that is just one reason I am 100% willing to head to the city every morning around 5:00AM and not get back home until about 8:00PM. They may be long days, but the amount of fun I have and the amount of knowledge I have gained and will gain is priceless.

Dan Muenkel
Accounting/Finance

Chris - Mayor’s Internship Program of the City of Philadelphia

Going into my internship with the Mayor’s Internship Program of Philadelphia, I initially wanted to learn specifics about database management and data analysis. I have been assigned to work in the Depart of Records where I thought I’d have a great opportunity to learn about real world applications to my major Electronic Commerce, and my minor Operations Management. While I am very happy with the major I chose, I am unsure of what exactly I want to do with it upon graduation. I hope that this internship will help me get a better idea of what I would like to do for my career.

However after working for just two weeks, I discovered there was far more I could learn than just specific computer related information. Within the first day of my internship I was able to not only meet the mayor of Philadelphia, but several other interns from many different schools. I have always thought I was good at communicating with people, but this internship showed me there is still much more I need to learn. Every Friday is reserved for a group project where we are assigned a task to improve a department of the city. This project was much different from projects I have worked on in school because upon completion it will be a tangible product that the City Government will hopefully use. The first meeting our group had, I was a little nervous because my group consisted of students from Harvard and Penn. I felt that the way I talk and manage myself was going to be slightly different from them, and I would have to adjust accordingly. However by the second meeting we were all communicating great and I genuinely enjoy working with them. I hope this internship will allow me to learn more about specifics in my major, communication skills, and networking with employees from different departments.

Protestors of the Philadelphia Soda Tax at City Hall

One of the earliest maps of Philadelphia, found in City Archives

Chris Louin

Electronic Commerce

Alex - REU Program at Miami University of Ohio

As an Undergraduate Research Assistant at Miami University of Ohio for the summer of 2016, I will not only learn the theory behind advanced organic synthesis reactions toward the production of dendrimers, highly branched molecules with many technological, medical, and industrial uses, but also how to carry out these reactions on my own using various state-of-the-art chemical equipment. While I will work on my own specific reactions in the lab, I will also learn how to work efficiently in a lab research group, in which I will update my mentor and other coworkers on my research, progress, and results every week in a lab group meeting. Toward the end of the program, I will learn how to structure my results into a form fit for publishing in a well-known chemical journal that can not only be used by other chemists, but also understood by the public. The 20 other students in my undergraduate research program will expose me to cultures, viewpoints, and attitudes that I have never experienced before, and help me to develop into a more educated, confident, and well-defined version of myself. My current career path of industrial chemical research involves studying and analyzing problems, coming up with strategies to solve those problems, and adequately expressing the results to others in ways that they can understand, and this program serves as a trial run to my future.

Alex Gardner
Chemistry/Philosphy