Inter, Sex Offenders Unit, Philadelphia County Adult Probation and Parole Department

Grant Recipient: Jenna Bluestein ‘13

Major: Psychology

Organization: Adult Probation and Parole Department, Sex Offenders Unit

Location: Philadelphia, PA

My eight weeks of working full time for the Probation Department were grueling, frustrating, and incredibly rewarding. I was asked to intern for a Probation Officer whose caseload is very special; Officer Palmer, my supervisor, oversees an all female caseload of sex offenders and prostitutes. She has recently become one of the main players involved in the Project Dawn Court, which is a special treatment court unique to Philadelphia geared toward helping women with multiple prostitution and drug charges. Project Dawn Court provides these women with alternatives to incarceration, specifically inpatient drug treatment programs and mandated Healthy Lifestyles Therapy. In fact, all of the Probationers are stipulated to drug treatment and sexual offender treatment programs. As a psychology major, and specifically as someone with an interest in Sex Offender Rehabilitation, I was eager to be involved in different aspects of the womens’ treatment. I was fortunate enough to have an amazing Supervisor who allowed me to not only be her intern, but her partner. I was able to interview every client when they reported for their scheduled office visits, and I went to every court case. I was even able to attend Treatment Team Meetings with the Sexual Offender Therapist, and in just those two discussions I was able to learn so much about offender treatment methods. Also, my firsthand experiences in Court have sparked my interest in law and updated my knowledge of legal lingo. Most importantly, I had the pleasure of watching many of these women succeed, from completing treatment to finding employment to acquiring housing. For many of the Probationers, this is the first time they have ever lived what we would consider to be a “normal” life. Unfortunately, I also learned of the overwhelming power of addiction and witnessed some of the women veer off course. Even though I do not want to be a Probation Officer, my internship still allowed me to explore Psychology and the Law and ensure that I would like to one day pursue a career in this field. My Summer Experience was more interesting than I could have imagined, and I will certainly never forget the women and their unbelievable life stories.

Editorial Intern, New York Daily News

Grant Recipient: Laignee Barron ‘13

Major: English, Middle Eastern Studies Certificate

Organization: New York Daily News

Location: New York, NY

As an intern at the New York Daily News I have the incredible opportunity to work in a busy metro news room. I write for the uptown section of the paper, which focuses on local news in Harlem, East Harlem, Morningside Heights, Inwood, and Washington Heights. This internship has been amazing for allowing me to have the hands-on experience of reporting for a large daily print news outlet.

My first day on the job threw me directly into in-the-field reporting as I was assigned to cover reactions to the Anthony Weiner scandal. From there I have worked on an investigative story looking at the failure of New York Public Housing Authority to respond to work orders in city projects, the unemployed finding a renewed interest in bingo for potential monetary gains, and a story on how the passage of the Marriage Equality Bill will affect the lives of uptown residents. I am also responsible for a weekly series called “best” where I write up the 10 best of something uptown like ethnic bakeries, tattoo parlors, picnic spots, etc.

Working with the news has really stretched me to consider my audience, which affects what articles I pitch to the editor, how I unfold the story, and what tone I write in. Working uptown has also been fantastic at pushing my comfort zone, forcing me to overcome at times a language barrier and in other cases a cultural difference, all in a neighborhood I was previously unfamiliar with.

Intern, Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Grant Recipient: Class of 2012

Major: Studio Art

Organization: Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Location: Venice, Italy

So far, I've been in Venice for four weeks, and I love it. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection internship provides a rotation of tasks experience all revolving around visitor-interaction, that,
collectively, are varied enough to prevent any single responsibility from becoming too mundane. Even sitting behind a desk and greeting visitors is an interesting because Venice is a tourist city and, thus, a multilingual city. Never before have I been thusly confronted with the problem of language--it's been a great opportunity to practice my conversational Italian. Furthermore, working with other international interns have been a learning experience itself; I get to talk to others about London, Moscow, Paris, Venezuela, Verona, New Zealand, and different regions of Italy. I find the work involving museum education the most rewarding, especially in regards to the two Kids
Days (which occur every Sunday) that I participated in. Two weeks ago we had a group making Futurist-patterned smocks after viewing work Balla, Severini, and Baccioni. Last week the kids made a collaborative De Stijl painting. I'm also taking full advantage of being in Venice by making trips to other parts of Italy. So far I've been to Mantua and Bologna; I plan to get to Verona and Trieste later this week. Overnight trips to Rome and Florence are in the works. Life abroad in this part of the world is absolutely awesome. The photo attached shows me and other interns in a trip to Palazzo Te in Mantua.

Education Intern, Jumpstart, Tufts University

Grant Recipient: Rhyan Toledo ‘12

Major: Psychology, Religion

Organization: Jumpstart, Tufts University

Location: Boston, MA

I have had such an amazing summer working for Jumpstart. Jumpstart is a national early education organization under Ameri Corps that helps low-income children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be successful in school, setting them on a path to close the achievement gap before it is too late. Jumpstart's mission is to work toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. They train and support college students to work in preschool classrooms with children from low-income backgrounds on language, literacy, social, and initiative skills over the course of the year and the summer. As a corps member I worked in a preschool classroom of three year olds in South Boston. As a Jumpstart Corps Member I implemented early childhood curriculum, supported family involvement, promoted language and literacy skill through ongoing relationships with the 15 children in my classroom, and collaborated with fellow Corps Members and Site Directors once a week at training. Jumpstart is an amazing program because it is just as much about learning as it is teaching. I received intensive training and professional development, early childhood theory and practice, language and literacy development, leadership skills, and communication with families. It is amazing how much support Jumpstart and Ameri Corps gives to its volunteers. They are truly as concerned with your personal growth as they are with the children you are working with. Paid Corps Member positions in the Boston are reserved for students attending a college in Boston affiliated with Jumpstart. There are opportunities for those attending colleges from other areas to participate as unpaid volunteers, but as a student on financial aid it was not possible for me to commit to a time intensive (40 hours a week, plus planning) position, despite how much I wanted the experience. That is why I am so grateful that the Summer Experience Grant allowed me this amazing opportunity. I have had such a positive experience that I would highly recommend working for Jumpstart to anyone that enjoys children and education. That being said, JUMPSTART IS NOT JUST FOR FUTURE TEACHERS! Really! I have no idea if I want to work in a classroom when I graduate, and a lot of the other people I have met working for Jumpstart are interested in Psychology, Social Work, Community Development, Medicine, or just love working with kids!

I really cannot cram all of the amazing things I have learned and experienced this summer into one paragraph. If you are interested in Jumpstart please contact me!

Editorial Intern, Little, Brown & Company

Grant Recipient: Grace Ross ‘12

Major: English, American Studies

Organization: Hachette Book Group, Little, Brown & Company

Location: New York, NY

Every day after work I take one of the many books from the high stack of books perched next to my computer. The leaning tower has gradually shrunk and relocated to my bookshelf in Brooklyn, and every evening I count myself honored to be surrounded by such wonderful books. The summer internship program at Hachette Book Group has eased my introduction to the publishing industry. I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received by the company and my supervisors. I have been able to talk to each editor in depth, including the CEO of Hachette! Twice a week, the interns gather in a conference room for a presentation from almost every different department and imprint of the company such as Legal and Contracts, Sales and Marketing, Editorial, Publicity, and Little Brown for Young Readers. I feel as if I am learning about every aspect of the production of a book from a submitted draft to the final hardcover on a bookstore shelf. Reporting to twelve editors and their assistants at Little, Brown & Company, the literary fiction and nonfiction imprint of Hachette Book Group, I spend the majority of my time reading submissions. For every submission, I write a Reader’s Report, which summarizes the plot and presents my opinion on the value of the manuscript. I also mail galleys to agents and authors for reviews, input publication data into databases, format manuscripts for copyediting, and assist with transmittals. In spite of free books as bribery, Little Brown embodies a warm and supportive environment, and I am thoroughly enjoying my experience. I have discovered my passion for working with books and authors.