This summer, Conn students completed mostly remote internships with companies and organizations across the country and around the world, exploring careers ranging from healthcare to dance and politics to investment management.
The Hale Center for Career Development facilitates one of the most comprehensive funded internship programs in the country. And its success shows: 95 percent of Conn’s alumni are employed or in graduate school one year after graduation.
Major: Biological Science
Minor: Computer Science
Pathway: Public Health
Hometown: Burlington, Massachusetts
Internships: United States Pharmacopeia and NASA
Murray worked as a COVID-19 contact tracer for an organization called Partners in Health to assist with the virus containments efforts in Massachusetts. She then worked over the summer at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) in the Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines Department assisting with the admission evaluations process of various botanical and non-botanical ingredients. And this fall, she will fulfill a long-held dream of working for the NASA Science Mission Directorate in the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry/Carbon Cycle Science Programs. These programs use satellite data to track carbon movement through ocean sinks and the atmosphere to monitor climate change and its effects on our environment and human health.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn more about public health through my positions with Contact Tracing for Partners in Health and working with the United States Pharmacopeia. I’m excited to gain professional experience working in earth science with NASA this fall.
Major: ACS Certified - Chemistry
Hometown: East Hartford, Connecticut
Internship: Pfizer R&D, Chemistry & Drug Design
Nwafor worked in a computational chemistry lab at Pfizer, using deep learning and machine learning methods to predict chemical properties. The work was remote due to the pandemic, but Nwafor said the transition was smooth since his work was entirely computer-based, and he looks forward to visiting the Groton, Connecticut, site in the near future to shake hands with all of his mentors and colleagues.
At Conn, I do computational chemistry research as a member of Professor Marc Zimmer’s lab, so the skills and experience I gained at Pfizer can be directly applicable to the work I will be doing during my senior year. Career-wise, this internship gave me the chance to gain exposure to the more industrial side of chemistry, and I’m considering coming back to work at Pfizer in the next academic year prior to applying to M.D.-Ph.D. programs.
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Hometown: Escondido, California
Internship: Children’s National Medical Center
Nolan interned this summer at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., conducting research on Chiari 1 Malformation in the Department of Neurosurgery. Her work involved reading and reviewing patient charts and updating an ongoing database with current patient information that accurately reflects where they are in their course of treatment.
I have a fascination with and passion for surgery and being able to read operative reports and treatment reports allowed me to gain a much deeper understanding for medicine and exact procedures. I’m grateful that Professor Joseph Schroeder and Tiffany Phan ’19 helped me secure the internship and have such a great experience.
Major: Economics
Hometown: Montclair, New Jersey
Internship: MetLife Investment Management
Baity spent his summer with the Product Development and Strategy group at MetLife Investment Management. Due to COVID-19, he has spent the entire 10-week program working from home, where he was responsible for conducting statistical and qualitative analysis on the performance of MetLife Investment Management’s institutional investment vehicles, as well as assessing the firm’s position in the overall investment management landscape.
While the knowledge I’ve gained inside the classroom at Conn helped me perform at a high level this summer, I also believe this summer will provide me with an even better understanding of future classroom material. Coursework and professional experience are extremely interrelated and there is great benefit in pursuing both.
Major: Neuroscience
Pathway: Public Health
Hometown: Millis, Massachusetts
Internship: The Sasamani Foundation
Turin worked virtually on a daily basis to educate women and children in Tanzania and measure the impact of the foundation’s education program in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. She often interviewed staff and students, met with members of the foundation’s board, and researched how similar NGOs education programs impact local communities.
This work will stay with me throughout my life, as I aspire to become an OBGYN. The internship gave me experience empowering and educating both women and children.
Majors: Computer Science and Psychology
Minor: Cognitive Science
Center: Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology
Hometown: Studio City, California
Internships: Google, Daymakergift.com, Helping Hands Community, Wonsulting, Upkey, BayShield, BardoVR, Nu School and Summer Science with Professor Stephen Douglass, SpaceX
Aaron completed multiple internships simultaneously this summer. Aaron’s titles included (but are not limited to) CSSI section leader and student mentor at Google, where he was selected to work as an algorithms TA and student mentor for the Google education team; field operations engineering specialist at Helping Hands Community, where he worked on the website and helped create partnerships to deliver food to immunocompromised community members; and backend team lead engineer C19 at BayShield, where he made an app that helped supply much of central California with PPE and led a team of UC Berkeley engineers that won the Jacobs prize at UC Berkeley. This fall, Aaron is completing a full-time, six- to nine-month internship with SpaceX.
I have had the opportunity to work with teams all over the world, building products to help those in need. I have had opportunities to pitch the IE School of business on a product to help students find off campus housing, and also I had the fantastic opportunity to pitch Daniel Ahmadizadeh, the CEO of PersistIQ and the founder of Quarantine Together, on an application that will reduce food waste by allowing farmers to sell directly to consumers.
Major: English
Minor: Film
Hometown: Port Monmouth, New Jersey
Internship: Screenplay reader for Star Trek
When a number of internship opportunities fell through because of the pandemic, Condon decided to veer from the beaten path and reach out to a contact she has in Los Angeles who works as a writer on the TV series, Star Trek. Condon spent her time reading scripts and writing coverage while gaining valuable insights into the television writing and production process.
Reading and writing coverage increased my confidence in my own abilities as a writer. The experience helped me network in the entertainment business; plus I was lucky to read amazing scripts, which helped me better understand the craft of writing.
Majors: Dance and Sociology
Pathway: Bodies/Embodiment
Hometown: Newington, Connecticut
Internship: David Dorfman Dance (DDD)
Working closely with the artistic director and executive director at David Dorfman Dance (DDD) through a remote internship, Hardaway was able to help the organization adjust to the realities of a pandemic. One related project involved re-formatting the company’s summer intensive program to become a virtual experience. Hardaway said the lack of traditional dance spaces required some creativity, pushing DDD to create new avenues for sharing the arts.
I always knew I wanted to be heavily engaged in the arts, particularly as a performer. After taking on administrative responsibilities with this internship, I learned just how passionate I am about helping others get their dance projects out into the world.
Major: Psychology
Minors: Applied Statistics and Dance
Hometown: Norfolk, Massachusetts
Internship: Crisis Textline
After completing 30 hours of training to become a certified volunteer on the Crisis Textline platform, Smith began her mission to spend 200 hours supporting people who face mental health challenges in isolation.
It felt amazing to be able to assist individuals who had been struggling with their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor of Psychology Audrey Zakriski created such an experiential internship for her students so we could still gain hands-on experience during this unusual time.
Majors: Government and English
Pathway: Peace and Conflict
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Internship: U.S. Senate campaign of Joe Kennedy
Whisnant interned for Joe Kennedy’s primary campaign for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts as part of a team that launched a twice-weekly regional newsletter. Part of his job was to effectively highlight Kennedy’s progressive record and mindset, each week examining a different issue relevant both nationally and within Massachusetts.
The most valuable aspect of my internship was the relatively small size of the team. With just under 20 interns, we’ve all gotten to know each other, and being surrounded by young people who are so engaged is something that I can’t even quantify in terms of its value.
Major: Environmental Science
Minor: Hispanic Studies
Center: Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment
Hometown: Milton, Massachusetts
Internship: Northeast Organic Food Association
Daly interned for the Massachusetts branch of the Northeast Organic Food Association (NOFA-MA), assisting the policy director with a variety of projects. Her work ranged from working with local governments on regulations related to chicken keeping to researching agrivoltaics, compiling data and interviewing experts in the field before presenting her findings to NOFA’s policy board.
I definitely learned a lot, especially about how to communicate in a professional setting, how to navigate the intricacies of local governments, and the many steps it takes to enact and change policy, even on a small scale. Since I am interested in sustainable farming and re-envisioning the way food and agriculture is produced in the U.S., this internship was the perfect way to learn about topics I am passionate about while gaining professional experience.
Major: Biology; pre-med track
Pathway: Public Health
Hometown: Hubbardston, Massachusetts
Internship: HVK Children’s Foundation
Cohen interned at HVK, a nonprofit based in Liberia, that works to provide school-based health and education services. She researched and proposed a new health initiative partnered with UMass doctors to bring a mobile health van to Liberian partner schools in order to provide basic health screenings. She also assisted the organization with social media and fundraising, and completed a second internship with Sasamani Foundation, a nonprofit located in Bagamoya, Tanzania.
I strive to alleviate the cycle of poverty through women’s empowerment, education services and employment opportunities. I am working along with three other Conn interns on two projects, one to increase the foundation’s online presence and another to develop a tool to measure the impact of education and empowerment among the students.
Major: ACS Chemistry
Minors: Computer Science and Mathematics
Center: Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA)
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Internship: QuantAQ
Salguero spent the summer working remotely on data analysis projects for the Somerville, Massachusetts-based QuantAQ. As a CISLA scholar, Salguero was originally planning for an international internship. When the pandemic began in the spring, Salguero and his advisers found alternate opportunities to give him a similar experience.
This internship has taught me important skills that can be applied to a number of different fields. This summer has made me more inclined to learn more about the computer science field and exposed me to the idea of a career in data science and programming.
Majors: Anthropology and Environmental Studies
Center: Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment
Hometown: Southington, Connecticut
Internship: Blue Earth Compost
With an interest in waste diversion efforts and the environmental and societal impacts of waste, Maccione interned with Blue Earth, a subscription-based composting service that collects food scraps and supplies compost.
I worked on a proposal for the Hartford City Council to consider the implementation of a curbside organics collection pilot program. I talked with leaders of curbside organics programs in other municipalities, researched Connecticut's waste management challenges, and studied the environmental and social benefits of an organics collection service offered to Hartford residents.
Major: Mathematics, with a concentration in Statistics
Minor: Chinese
Hometown: Norwich, Connecticut
Internship: 2020 Summer Science Research Institute at Connecticut College
Kovic teamed up with fellow researcher Eric Huber ’22, a computer science major, on a bioinformatics research project in the lab of Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics Stephen Douglass. Working remotely, Kovic and Huber created a software program using python that assembles large genomes by using two types of DNA sequencing technologies—one that generates high-quality, but short, sequences, and one that creates low-quality, but long sequences. Kovic was able to reschedule plans to study Mandarin in Beijing, China, to next summer.
After graduation, I plan to attend graduate school in biostatistics. This kind of field involves a decent amount of coding, so having an exposure to writing code will prove beneficial to my career in the long run. This research has also taught me to have the courage to step into a new experience and take it one step at a time, and how important it is to take advantage of all the resources available to you.
Majors: Economics and International Relations
Minor: Finance
Pathway: Global Capitalism
Hometown: West Peabody, Massachusetts
Internship: Finadium
Mahoney connected with alumnus Josh Galper ’92, who offered Mahoney the chance to conduct a project on U.S. Pension funds’ securities lending operations. The project began with collecting data from the Annual Financial reports of 102 pension funds covering $3.8 trillion in Assets Under Management. It culminated in a published report and article on Finadium.com.
Working with Finadium offered me a chance to turn a summer of quarantines and travel restrictions into an experience that expanded upon my prior knowledge to create a solid base for a future in the financial services industry.
Majors: Art and Graphic Communications
Center: Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology
Hometown: Wenham, Massachusetts
Internship: Editing Assistant for Independent Animator Maya Erdelyi
Lynch worked with award-winning animator Maya Erdelyi on the filmmaker’s independent documentary, Anyuka. The word Anyuka is mother in Hungarian, and the film is about Maya’s grandmother, Veronica Foldes Frame, who escaped Hungary with her son (Maya’s father) during the Holocaust. Lynch helped assemble and edit the footage.
As an aspiring filmmaker, I’m thrilled to be working with Maya Erdelyi for a second time, as she has become a mentor to me. I’m expanding my vocabulary as a filmmaker, while mastering my editing skills. In my upcoming coursework for my art major and Ammerman senior integrative project, I will be animating original stories. This internship has taught me how to tell a story in a profound and meaningful way and animate stories that challenge, uplift and educate society.
Major: Economics
Minor: Finance
Hometown: Rye Brook, New York
Internship: AMDG Sports
Lavitt read and evaluated NFL contracts, analyzed data on players and learned about negotiating player deals.
My internship has been vital to help me reach my career goal in sports. My time analyzing player statistics and writing up player contacts further confirmed my passion for the business side of sports.
Major: English
Minor: Theater
Pathway: Creativity
Hometown: Gill, Massachusetts
Internships: Manhattan Comedy School and TurnUp Activism
Kenyon helped comedian Andy Engel navigate the comedy world by researching the impact of the pandemic on stand up comedy and aiding in online workshops at Manhattan Comedy School. While at TurnUp, she found organizations and groups to work with a new application which aims to make activism more accessible by creating a space online to organize.
Working with Manhattan Comedy School has given me an inside look into the unexpected challenges which can impact the live performance world. TurnUp has given me the opportunity to reach out to individuals who are just as, if not more, interested in making a better world.
Major: Neuroscience
Minors: Slavic Studies and Physics
Center: Holleran Center for Community Action
Hometown: Southington, Connecticut
Internship: UCONN Health Department of Neuroscience
Duszak interned in Dr. Stephen Crocker’s lab, where she has been working as a research assistant for the last year. The glial pathology lab is centered around understanding the basic biology of myelin and how non-myelinating glia influence myelination in disease. While working remotely, Duszak focused on analyzing data collected prior to the pandemic and writing, as the research team is planning to publish some of their work in the coming months.
My summer experience has solidified my desire to pursue my M.D./Ph.D. I miss being in the lab and the collaboration between physicians and scientists and cannot wait to return.
Majors: Behavioral Neuroscience and Anthropology
Pathway: Public Health
Hometown: Canton, Massachusetts
Internship: Children’s National Hospital
Gilmore interned as a student researcher at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., gaining a first-hand look into the expansiveness of medical research while shadowing physicians and exploring how research impacts patients. He also attended educational lectures, assisted in medical chart reviews and performed statistical analyses.
Being a student researcher was an extremely rewarding experience. I’ve had the opportunity to shadow physicians from multiple areas of medicine, attend paper presentations and assist in research, which were all formative on my path to a career in medicine.
Majors: Psychology and Human Development
Pathway: Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, Value and Change
Hometown: Westport, Connecticut
Internship: BOLD
Founded by Kate Stockbridge ’19, BOLD is an organization dedicated to educating middle school girls on media literacy, covering topics including stereotypes, gender roles, body image, beauty standards and photoshop/social media. Healy and two other Conn interns spent the summer working remotely with Stockbridge on making BOLD’s curriculum accessible to more students and developing a virtual program for the upcoming academic year.
Working with BOLD has allowed me to see a new way of applying my Entrepreneurship pathway to my majors. What I love about BOLD is that the product/service this business gives is an education curriculum that has the power to really impact the students. This new angle of entrepreneurship has really sparked my interest, and I am excited to see where it takes me.
Major: Environmental Studies
Center: Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment
Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware
Internship: Sprout Garden
Beardell spent the summer working remotely as the community engagement intern for Connecticut College’s Sprout Garden. She created weekly newsletters in English and Spanish to share with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members and wrote blog posts, giving updates on activity at the garden, sharing the nutritional benefits of the garden’s produce and cooking suggestions for particular crops, and exploring topics related to agriculture. The internship is informing her senior integrative project on the use of gardens and agriculture as a way to grow resilient and coherent communities.
This internship has steered me in the direction of food justice by emphasizing the importance of making good, fresh food accessible to all. While being so involved in engaging the Sprout community, I have been considering who, on the larger scale, is typically reached by local agriculture and who is left out. By extension, I am questioning what food is generally made available to different populations. My internship with Sprout is a key component of my work in the Goodwin-Niering Center because it is acting as a real-life case study of community-supported agriculture.
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Minor: Italian Studies
Pathway: Public Health
Hometown: Falmouth, Maine
Internship: New England Cancer Specialists
Topalovic conducted research at New England Cancer Specialists on stage 4 colon, lung and breast cancer. She learned about various alterations and the resulting targeted therapies, which offered an opportunity to engage in deep analyses looking at factors that affect the chances of patients receiving or not receiving certain treatments.
Having the opportunity to work virtually alongside M.D.s allowed me to learn a tremendous amount in the field of oncology. By the end of the summer, I was able to confidently detect actionable mutations at the molecular testing level. This internship further established my desire to pursue a career in medicine.
