July 17, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Tina Xu ’16

A Postcard From: Tina Xu ’16

Name: Tina Xu

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: Hydropower Investment (Zhengzhou) Development Company, LTD.

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

This summer, I am currently working at China Hydropower Investment (Zhengzhou) Development Company, LTD. My task is to study and research successful cases within and outside China in order to help the company to develop the recently promoted PPP (private-public partnership) model. Along with joining such a crucial project, I will also get the opportunity to work on financial evaluations of given investment projects and write investment reports daily. The major field practice includes assisting the manager with contract negotiation with clients and presenting investment plan design. Upon the start of the internship, I have received induction training about the company culture, the scope of our business activities, as well as theoretical knowledge that my position requires, such as how the PPP investment model runs currently in China with introduction of relevant laws and regulations. Then I have been trained to integrate the theories with field work practice by assisting experienced project leaders during the whole process of several investment projects. Currently, I am working on helping my company developing a PPP model on a major construction project. Since this is my first time working in a real office, such experience has been both exciting and challenging for me. Despite difficulties such as lack of professional knowledge, this summer has been a quite meaningful summer for me so far.

How I heard about my internship:

From a friend who used to intern there.

Why I applied for my internship:

This internship is set up to teach practicality and how to apply such things to future work field; the whole experience focuses on integrating theories with field work practices. As a math and physics major, I do not get many opportunities to apply the knowledge I have learned in the classroom to real life situations. Thus, I decided to seize such opportunities to spend my summer. I thought the experiences would help me improve my applied abilities and grow to be a better person.

July 16, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Julie Henrikson ’16

A Postcard From: Julie Henrikson ’16

Name: Julie Henrikson

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: I am working in the External Affairs Department at Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA (PPSP). I will be developing and implementing volunteer programs, as well as observing and working with their sex education programs.

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

With this being the second summer I’ve spent working in the External Affairs department at PPSP, I thought everything would be simpler. I now know how the copy machine works, so how bad could it be, eh? Obviously I was wrong—this summer, like last, has proven to be an even greater expansion on my knowledge and passion as an advocate for reproductive justice. This summer I was entrusted with managing our social media sites, giving me the opportunity to highlight issues I see as inspiring and pertinent to RJ work. I’m in the process of starting a “Humans of PPSP” campaign, an effort inspired by similar projects from other affiliates, meant to combat stigma around abortion and sexual healthcare and advocacy. Additionally, I just got back from a national conference in D.C. for Planned Parenthood Generation, Planned Parenthood’s youth-centered advocacy group (the close-up photo was taken at there.) The conference was completely invigorating, full of fire and motivation to keep working towards reproductive justice. Untitled

How I heard about my internship:

I was lucky enough to participate in Summer of Service last year, which put me in contact with Planned Parenthood’s External Affairs department. I have continued interning with them since then, with Praxis courses last year. Now, thanks to having established myself within External Affairs, I get to work with other departments for a fuller experience.

Why I applied for my internship:

My sex education experience was…lacking, to say the least. The only kind of sex education I received was an afternoon abstinence-until-marriage presentation in high school by a sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and exhaustingly earnest man. After an hour of horrifyingly inaccurate and offensive falsehoods, he ended the presentation by giving the “girls” small business cards that we were expected to give to the MAN we marry, proving that we were perfectly pure and oppressed. I was lucky enough to have diligent parents that offered a sane alternative, but without them my only knowledge base would have been the poster boy for patriarchal, religious-assuming propaganda. Once I started college and became more aware of the injustices women, non-binary, and trans* people face in regards to their healthcare, I knew I wanted to commit my life to education and advocacy for reproductive justice and comprehensive, evidence-based sex education. Working with Planned Parenthood seemed to be the next logical step. Their experience, though sometimes flawed, proves their overall commitment to providing necessary healthcare. Their connections expand what they offer to serving the community on a deeper level. Finally, the people who work there are compassionate, wicked smart, and fiercely fantastic.

July 16, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Kathy Kimpel ’16

A Postcard From: Kathy Kimpel ’16

Name: Kathy Kimpel

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: I am a research intern at the Center for Translational Medicine at Jefferson University.

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

This summer I got an internship at Jefferson University Hospital’s Center for Translational Medicine. My primary investigator, Glenn Radice’s research focuses on cadherins in cardiomyocytes (cardiac muscle cells). Cadherins are calcium dependent cell adhesion molecules that bind cells together. We are doing experiments on mice to better understand the role of cadherins in cardiomyocyte proliferation, which could help us better treat heart disease.

My job is to maintain the mouse colony, collect tail samples, and use them to genotype the mice with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We have a large variety of mouse lines, all with different mutations affecting the gap junction between cells; and keeping up with genotyping is crucial for maintaining the lines. Over the course of this past month I’ve become more confident in my laboratory skills and have developed a good relationship with my PI and the two women working in the lab. As my first official laboratory job, this has been a positive growing experience.

Me at my lab bench.

How did I hear about my internship:

I was actually referred to Dr. Radice by my molecular biology professor, Tamara Davis, after telling her I was searching for lab internships in Philadelphia. Bryn Mawr is really great at hooking students up with internships, jobs, and other career building opportunities.

Lab bench where I extract DNA and do PCR

Why I applied for my internship:

I will be applying to medical school this coming year, and before this internship, I did not have any official research experience. Beyond being able to check the research box on my application, I wanted a deeper understanding of laboratory work in case I decide to pursue a research project in medical school or as part of my career. As of now I’m leaning more towards clinical work than research, but I don’t want to close any doors in case I change my mind. Additionally, Dr. Radice’s research piqued my interest because it’s applicable to real-world human diseases and has the potential to strengthen our knowledge of how to treat different heart conditions. That is why, if I do go into research, it will be translational medicine because the research projects that interest me the most are those that are directly applicable to human disease.

July 15, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Bridget Murray ’17

A Postcard From: Bridget Murray ’17

Name: Bridget Murray

Class Year: 2017

Internship (Field School) Placement: The Sewanee Environmental Institute’s Summer Field School in Archaeology at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

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

Untitled I had fantastic time at field school in archaeology, an intensive summer course that gave me hands on experience in archaeology methods and practice. The bulk of the program was spent excavating at Rebel’s Rest, a civil war-era house in the heart of the university’s campus that burned down last summer. Working in the field was new and thrilling—I worked on excavation units, learned how to record excavation information and draw maps, got some experience with geophysical field surveys, worked with artifacts in the lab, and collected and interpreted soil samples. It was also exciting to be involved in a project with particular significance for the community. There was a lot of local interest; Rebel’s Rest was the first building constructed after the university re-opened following the Civil War and was an important historical landmark for both the university and the town of Sewanee, so we had lots of visitors and volunteers coming in and out and asking about the site and the work we were doing. In addition to excavating in the field and processing in the lab, we got some classroom lessons from our faculty and took a trip to Russell Cave (shown in the picture), a major prehistoric archaeological site in Alabama.

Why I applied for my internship:

I knew how important it was if I wanted to work in archaeology to attend a field school, since they’re the best way to actually learn how to do archaeology—to get hands on experience and see if I actually enjoyed it (which I did!), to learn methods beyond what can be taught in a classroom, and to collaborate with students and faculty from other institutions and learn from them. I had a particularly exciting opportunity going to Sewanee because I worked on both a prehistoric site and the historic site (Rebel’s Rest), and also applied because it was run by a top geoarchaeologist, which is my particular area of interest. When I graduate, I’m really hoping to work in archaeology. I’m considering pursing a job with state or national parks but loved the work we did at the beginning of the program in prehistoric Southeastern archaeology at Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, so now I’m considering graduate school and a research track. Regardless, field school was integral in equipping me with the skills for either path, and I look forward to complementing it as I continue my major coursework back at the Mawr. I absolutely loved my time in Tennessee and am so grateful to have had this opportunity and for all of the doors it has opened!

July 15, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Emily Geoghegan ’17

A Postcard From: Emily Geoghegan ’17

Name: Emily Geoghegan

Class Year: 2017

Internship Placement: Conducting research at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) looking at the effects of increased CO2 on how plants take up different forms of organic nitrogen.

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

The most incredible feeling in the world is being able to wake up in the morning knowing you’ll be in an environment you love working on something that genuinely interests you. This is exactly how I feel about my current summer internship at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Located in Edgewater, Maryland, this Smithsonian research center (known more fondly as SERC by its employees) houses a number of ongoing research projects focused on learning more about topics such as marine invasions, wetland studies, and plant ecology.

Specifically, I am assisting on a project in the biogeochemistry lab investigating the effects of climate change (high CO2 levels) on wetland plant uptake of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). The project requires two types of plants to be grown in wooden chambers covered in plastic – this allows us to control how much CO2 is in the chambers at one time – then exposing each plant to different types and concentrations of DON to see how much nitrogen the roots take up. Daily tasks at the moment include watering, chamber maintenance, solution making, labeling, filtering water samples, separating plant roots from stems, and acid washing. The majority of my time is spent outside, either at the greenhouse growth chambers or at SERC’s global change wetlands. Currently, I am enjoying nearly every moment of my time in the field. Thanks to this internship, I have realized that I need a job that will allow me to be outdoors and on my feet as much as possible. While biting mosquitos, sweltering heat, and oppressive humidity can make the job tiring at times, the hard work is definitely worth the effort at the end of the day.

I heard about this 12-week summer internship from my professor, Thomas Mozdzer, and from fellow Mozdzer lab member Rachel Hager, who had interned at SERC for the previous two years. I was encouraged to apply and it sounded like an amazing opportunity for me to research an ecological topic I was interested in while meeting other students interested in environmental studies. So far, it has proven to be one of the greatest decisions of my life.

Nestled conveniently between Baltimore and Washington, SERC is only an hour’s drive from our nation’s capital. Over the past six weeks, there have been several group and individual trips to Washington, D.C., and I have fallen absolutely head over heels for the city. Washington D.C. is a beautiful city full of history and life. Along with the amazing museums, restaurants, and monuments, Washington possesses an incredibly young, artistic, and passionately driven community determined to make a mark on the world (while having a lot of fun along the way). After visiting numerous jazz clubs, galleries, and music events, I have met many great people who share my affinity for the arts – something I had previously not been able to find in the Bryn Mawr and Philly area. I hope that one day I can find my way back to this city to explore everything it has to offer. Smithsonian intern perks include having a discount at any museum store and the ability to enter Smithsonian museums hours before they open to the public, and I have taken every opportunity to take full advantage of these benefits. A highlight of these trips was arriving at 8 AM to the Air and Space Museum and having absolutely no crowds or lines to deal with while we enjoyed the exhibits. Between Washington D.C., Baltimore, and the incredible SERC campus (with hiking trials and kayaks), there has never been a shortage of things to do this summer.

Halfway through my internship, I could not be happier with the progress I have made as both a scientist and as an individual. Working under an incredible mentor, I have gained many skills necessary to create, plan, and run an experiment. I feel much more confident in my basic research abilities and my capacity to think for myself. Instead of only merely following orders, I make sure to ask questions and make suggestions for change when they seem necessary. I have learned a lot about what I really want from a career (challenging, makes a difference, field work component). Finally, I have also had the chance to meet incredibly talented, intelligent, and fun fellow interns that have taught me a lot about myself, given me new perspectives on life, and given me new ideas for what fields and paths I may want to pursue. Speaking with other interns, I have learned the importance of keeping up art, music, and outdoor exploration as passions and hobbies while I pursue my scientific degrees. I must make sure to retain all aspects of who I am no matter how focused I may become on any one project or job.

July 14, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Amelia Brady-Cole ’16

A Postcard From: Amelia Brady-Cole ’16

Name: Amelia Brady-Cole

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: I’m working with two homebirth midwives in Boston, MA.

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

This summer I’m interning with two homebirth midwives in the Boston area. I assist them during prenatal and postpartum appointments and at births. I’ve been trying to decide if I want to practice midwifery in a hospital setting or at home for several years now. Working with these midwives and getting to know their practice has helped me make that decision. Unlike in hospitals where most appointments can last no more than 20 minutes, these midwives have the freedom and the time to spend an hour or more with each client. They build meaningful relationships with the women they serve, which makes for a relaxed and empowering birth experience. I can’t imagine providing maternal healthcare any other way.

How I heard about my internship:

I worked with doulas and nurse midwives in hospitals last summer, and so I’ve built a great network of birth people in the Boston area. By doing volunteer work last year and by getting recommendations from people who now know me well, I was able to secure this internship with two of the most well-known and well-respected midwives in the area.

Why I applied for my internship:

I’ve known that I wanted to be a midwife since I was 12. Over the last few years I’ve gotten experience in different settings and I’ve realized what kinds of birth practices resonate with my own beliefs and values. The most important reason I’m drawn to midwifery is the opportunity to be an agent of women’s empowerment. Our culture teaches women to fear birth and to distrust their bodies. The care provided by the midwives I’m working with this summer teaches the opposite: that women are strong and smart and that birth can be a beautiful and empowering experience for all involved. I’m so fortunate to be working with these midwives. They inspire me daily and I couldn’t be getting better exposure to the field I will soon be working in.

July 14, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Claire McLeish ’16

A Postcard From: Claire McLeish ’16

Name: Claire McLeish

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: Quantis International in Boston. The firm focuses on environmental impact assessment and they specialize in life cycle assessment – specifically, they examine products from production to disposal to calculate their impact on the environment. During my time there I will be evaluating various “green” daily actions, examining the ingredients of food products, and improving data collection for the Carbon Disclosure Project.

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

Untitled This summer I’m working at the environmental impact assessment firm called Quantis Intl. The field of environmental assessment is an exciting and emerging field that examines products, processes, and companies from “cradle to grave” (production to disposal) to determine their impact on the environment. It’s a highly quantitative field, and my background in economics is proving very useful for this type of work. Impact assessment helps identify how products can be made more efficiently, can help companies improve their processes and be more truthful at marketing, and it can help consumers choose what to buy (paper versus plastic!).

I have been able to take the lead on a few projects, one of which will improve the way that data on large company operations is collected and reported to a well-known international ranking called the Carbon Disclosure Project. In addition, I’m working with an online software company to compile data on the impact of “green” actions – composting your Christmas tree, unplugging unused appliances, eating organic meat, etc. Through this work, as well as a class on sustainability at Harvard University, I’ve had exposure to international standards on environmental assessment, client projects, process databases, and have been learning the field’s terminology (like any good science-based field there are acronyms galore!).

Outside of the office, my mantra for the summer is “it’s very important to run, for it strengthens the mind and body. It’s also important to strengthen the mind and soul by stopping when you see a beautiful sunset.”

July 14, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Lindsey Foster ’16

A Postcard From: Lindsey Foster ’16

Name: Lindsey Foster

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: Rochester Branch of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Through this internship I am gaining a new perspective to working with children. I will be connecting with law enforcement and parents regarding ongoing missing children cases and helping to provide the resources that NCMEC can offer to them.

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

My summer internship is with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at their New York branch in Rochester, NY. The organization has many different divisions that work with law enforcement organizations to help children in many different ways. The division I am working in, the Missing Children’s Division, helps law enforcement to find missing children. Most of the information about what I do day-to-day is confidential, however it has been an immensely rewarding experience and I have learned a lot about the organization and its effects as I’ve been here. I have also learned about myself and how I can best work in a team behind the scenes to benefit this population.

Niagara Falls is only about an hour and a half drive from Rochester so I took advantage of that on a weekend trip when my family came to visit.

Although the actual internship has been an incredible experience, it has also been both challenging and rewarding to live on my own for the first time in my life. I came to Rochester knowing no one in the city, nothing about the city, and never having lived on my own before. Cooking for myself has been an adventure and a great learning process – trying to figure out what food to purchase that I can actually eat before it goes bad – and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring and getting to know the greater Rochester area. There has probably been at least one festival every weekend since I’ve been here – from the Xerox International Jazz Festival to the Corn Hill Arts Festival to Fairport Canal Days – all of which have been fun to check out. The public market in Rochester is incredible – it’s an enormous farmers market with fresh food at great prices that I go to almost every Saturday. Every part of this experience has been rewarding and has taught me a lot about myself, making me much more comfortable with the prospect of living on my own permanently in less than a year.

July 13, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Georgina Dominique ’16

A Postcard From: Georgina Dominique ’16

Name: Georgina Dominique

Class Year: 2016

Internship Placement: Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. I will not only provide support to the BHCHP clinics, but also the program’s Development Office, Meals Program, and Medical Records Office.

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

The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program is located in the South End neighborhood of Boston, MA. For those who may be more familiar with the South End, the program is right across the street from Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical School. I also intern with the program’s foot clinic within the St. Francis House Shelter in Boston’s Chinatown. In addition to working at two different sites of the program, I work in multiple departments within the program’s South End location. Specifically, I work in the program’s clinic, Development Office, Medical Records Office, Front Lobby, and Cafeteria—alternating between the different departments throughout the week and doing a variety of projects for each. My alternating schedule has given me a really special opportunity to be able to get a glimpse at how the program operates as a whole and the various roles that go into keeping the program running smoothly every day. I was born and raised in Boston so I am especially happy to be able to be a part of a program that does so much for a community that is often overlooked in my city. One of my favorite parts of my internship is a project that I am working on with the director of the clinic in the South End location. In an effort to emphasize and promote preventive healthcare, every Tuesday and Wednesday I call dozens and dozens of patients to remind them of the health screenings and vaccines that they are due for. It may seem tedious but I actually really enjoy being able to connect and, sometimes, reconnect patients to the health services at BHCHP.

How I heard about my internship:

I am a member of the Posse Program and Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program is one of their Career partners.

Why I applied for my internship:

I was eager to intern at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program because I am really passionate about health accessibility for minority, underserved, and nontraditional populations.

July 13, 2015
by Diana Campeggio
Comments Off on A Postcard From: Maddie Mark ’17

A Postcard From: Maddie Mark ’17

Name: Maddie Mark

Class Year: 2017

Internship Placement: Moda Operandi is an online luxury fashion retailer that allows customers to preorder high-end apparel directly from designers, and offers access to designer pieces that are not available in traditional luxury retail stores. Based in the corporate offices in New York City, I am working in the Moda Operandi Marketing Department. My duties are split between two aspects of the marketing division’s initiatives; editorial marketing for the site (which includes [curating looks and stories for the site, and online visual merchandising]) and completing data analytics for the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) division of the company.

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

The summer’s going great! I’m interning in the marketing department at Moda Operandi’s NYC headquarters, with a focus on the elements that make up the company’s dynamic visual web merchandising presence. In particular, I’ve been charged with helping to create revolving editorial looks for their e-commerce website. I’ve really connected with this element of the business, which involves both “imagining” and then technically producing individual fashion “vignettes” that feature a particular product or line that the company wants to highlight in order to drive sales. I assemble images of these featured items and then create a variety of curated ensembles using additional pieces from related collections and complementary accessories. Although this exercise has a highly creative aspect, I am also responsible for staying current on the life cycle of each item and trying to create mini collections that both represent the Moda Operandi brand and also yield the desired sales results.

Last summer I had the privilege of interning with the renowned fashion designer/house, Carolina Herrera. Very traditional in both aesthetic and company structure, outward appearances and a high level of formality were a priority within this work environment. Details such as dress code, strict rules regarding appropriate areas to eat lunch, and keeping an impeccable desk at all times were deeply ingrained in the organization’s culture. This summer I have replaced heels with sneakers or flats, and being able to eat lunch or a snack at one’s desk is commonplace. The look and feel of the office is causal and instead of the standard office cubicles, Moda Operandi’s setup is open and expansive. The majority of the employees work in the center of the office with the executive offices on the outside. This physical layout fosters a very collaborative environment and also supports the rapid-fire demands of the e-commerce company. Along with the physical setup of the office, the nature of a tech driven business also promotes a much more innovative and fast paced environment than a traditional designer, especially in regard to planning strategies and response implementation during the high-stakes fashion weeks.

This summer is turning out to be the ideal melding of my previous internships with my current experience at Moda Operandi. My first internship at Seattle based e-commerce company, zulily, followed by an invaluable stint at the luxury fashion house of Carolina Herrera, were instrumental in preparing me to take full advantage of my current internship at Moda Operandi. Combining my background in the explosive, fast-growing, start-up e-commerce business at zulily, with the thoughtful and carefully crafted traditions of Carolina Herrera’s iconic couture brand has provided me with a strong foundation and realistic perspective on the business that drives the fashion industry. I’m grateful for all the elements that have led up to my summer here at Moda Operandi; a summer that has not only been incredibly rewarding but also allowed me to feel that I have added value to the organization.

Summer Internships 2015

Sun-soaked postcards from Bryn Mawr students

A Postcard From: Tina Xu ’16

A Postcard From: Julie Henrikson ’16

A Postcard From: Kathy Kimpel ’16

A Postcard From: Bridget Murray ’17

A Postcard From: Emily Geoghegan ’17

A Postcard From: Amelia Brady-Cole ’16

A Postcard From: Claire McLeish ’16

A Postcard From: Lindsey Foster ’16

A Postcard From: Georgina Dominique ’16

A Postcard From: Maddie Mark ’17