Name:  Kyle Baker

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Federdal Housing Finance Agency

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Graphic Design/Media Communication Studies

Expected Graduation Year: 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

As an intern for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) I specifically worked for the Office of Congressional Affairs and Communications (OCAC). For my duration there I worked under the guidance of my supervisor assisting and in some cases even speerheading a series of informational FHFA video projects that were used both internally and externally. The title of one of the videos was called “FHFA: Strengthening Today and Securing Tomorrow.” This video was to be used for external general audiences looking to better understand what FHFA does and how it impacts them.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I enjoyed the professional nature of the position. It was my first time ever working a federal government job before but it was definitely an experience that was quite unique.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

Federal Government experience. Trust me when I say, that it is without question a different breed of animal when it comes to things such as professionalism.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Never feel intimidated by whatever nature of position you are taking on nor feel that you don't have enough experience to perform well.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Honestly, if I had to describe this position in two words I would say "Rewardingly Challenging." When I was hired my supervisor explained that although I was an intern I shouldn't didn't expect the bulk of my duties to be making copies, taking phone calls or doing anything menial like that can typically come with the territory of being an intern but you don't really get any true experience from. I would be receiving the same caliber of workload and assignments was told from day one that I would be receiving the same caliber of workload and assignments that anyone on their actual staff would be required to complete as well be held to their same standard of performance. So although it was at times challenging, it was definitely the type of challenging that you wanted because you knew you were truly getting something out of it.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

To requote what I said in a previous question mine would simply be the following:

Honestly, if I had to describe this position in two words I would say "Rewardingly Challenging. Because although at times it was challenging, it was definitely the type of challenging that you wanted because you knew you were truly getting something out of it."

Name:  Marissa Pigeols

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Office of External Affairs, Social Security Administration

Major(s)/Minor(s):  English, History, Media & Communication Studies

Expected Graduation Year: 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

My internship is with the Office of External Relations within Social Security Administration. As the name of my position (Social Media Intern) may suggest, my assignments have all been within the realm of social media. Some of my assignments have included: writing blog posts for the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) blog, By the Numbers, designing award certificates for employees, designing banners for web pages, designing info graphics for OIG’s Facebook page, and completing other various editing tasks.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have strongly enjoyed using my design and editing skills in a practical manner. Everything I had designed up to this point had been for personal use. The items I designed for OER were to be used on their main web pages, their blogs, and their Facebook page. The certificate was likely my favorite thing to create, as I knew other people would be directly receiving it. Creating graphics for other people was incredibly rewarding.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Keep an open mind. When I received an invitation to apply for the internship, I was surprised - I had never applied for this. It turned out they’d received my resume from the school and were interested in interviewing me. I was apprehensive at first, considering I already had a summer job, but I went for it and I’m so glad I did! It ended up being such a great opportunity to test my design and writing skills and to learn more about public relations.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Before this internship, I knew very little about Social Security. I knew I had a SS number, and I knew I needed to protect this number to prevent my identity from being stolen. Through writing blog posts and reading testimony, I learned that crimes concerning Social Security can be the kind that destroys lives. As I have many elderly relatives, this kind of information was both concerning and valuable.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

I have always been interested in both writing and design, but was unsure about exactly what I wanted to do in those areas. Working with External Relations made me realize that whatever product you produce, be it a blog post or an info graphic, is useless if you don’t have a message you need to get across and an audience to consume it. The people I worked with understood this perfectly. They needed to help the American public understand the work SSA is doing, and have been adapting social media and 21st century technologies to ensure this happens. I now have a better understanding of the importance of social media and communication in such a plugged-in world.

Name:  Maryann Covert

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Louis Vuitton Corporate Events

Location of the Organization (City, State): San Francisco

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Financial Economics

Expected Graduation Year: 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

As an assistant to the Louis Vuitton's Corporate Events Director, I am spending my summer working on events for the San Francisco-based Louis Vuitton Cup.  I work on each and every detail of our numerous events.  From parties to boat rides to guest transfers, I create and simplify the necessary spreadsheets and documents.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

Helping plan events is the most stressful yet rewarding job I've ever done. The weeks, then days, leading up to events are insanely stressful and busy.  However, the feeling of completion cannot be beaten.  This weekend we are hosting a party for over 700 guests, most of which are not local, meaning I have to help arrange transportation, food, side-events, and lodging.  I not only adore this job because of its level of difficulty, but especially because of the relief and satisfaction of having planned and executed a successful event.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

Louis Vuitton, as the world’s top luxury goods company, offers me more opportunities to make valuable contacts than I would have anywhere else.  This experience has also demonstrated the high value of a positive relationship with an employer; a great recommendation is an enormous piece of any job application.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Networking is key.  When you meet someone, get their name or their card and be sure to follow up!  Sending an email within a day of making his or her acquaintance is a sure way to remind the person who you are and why you're worth remembering.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you've gained, information you've learned, mentors you've connected with, or projects you've completed.

My experience has and continues to be hugely meaningful, as it has helped to show me the corporate world from a very different perspective.  This job has taught me the meaning of hard work, diligence, thoroughness, and the value of a positive attitude, all of which are especially relevant as I prepare to enter the workforce full time.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

Earning credit for this job is absolutely amazing, as it gives me even more incentive to work and work hard!  Knowing that what I do pays off in more ways than one is immensely rewarding, and the Shriver Center made it easy to do!

Name:  Randi Williams

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Jawbone (Code 2040)

Location of the Organization (City, State): San Francisco, CA

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Computer Engineering

Expected Graduation Year: 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

During the working day I am at Jawbone, a San Francisco based start-up that makes incredible products and software to support it. My place at Jawbone is to support the web tools team in maintaining Jawbone's high quality website. Lately Jawbone has been undergoing a renovation of some of the older pages on the website and my assignments this summer include working with the design team to update these pages. My largest project involves completely redoing the Careers Page on the site.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

The San Francisco start-up scene is totally different from the way business is done on the East Coast. Besides the obvious cultural differences working in a start-up is just a totally different experience. The company is doing very well but it is still in the growth stage meaning that everyone who works here is a vital part of the mission. Everyone has a job title and maybe a specific set of assignments to complete but there is so much room for interdisciplinary work. All of the teams get to merge and work together and I've found that my skills in a lot more than computer science are being sharpened this summer.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

Unique to the Silicon Valley is the spirit of creativity and self-confidence. Everyone here is a dreamer and that is encouraged and highly rewarded. There are a lot of daily problems that people have and that they want to solve. Everyone is working to get their ideas and solutions out there by taking the initiative to drop everything and build it. I will go home with a piece of that energy in me, the entrepreneurial spirit that I can build things to make the world better. 

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Come to Silicon Valley! There is so much here for students in every discipline and there is a lot of fun to be had and a lot to learn. I feel pumped up and motivated now to go back to school and be really successful.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

The most meaningful experience I am getting out of this summer is the amazing opportunity to be a CODE2040 Fellow. This program is all about getting more minorities, Latinos and Blacks in particular, involved in Silicon Valley. As a Fellow I have had the opportunity to talk to all kinds of leaders across the start-up world and ask them advice about how to get my career started when I am finished with school. These people are really busy running things like Facebook, Dropbox, Andreessen Horowitz, Twitter, and Square but they think that what CODE2040 is doing is important enough to have these deep, meaningful conversations about how even as a student I can think about things like how to build the next big app or website that is going to change the world.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

Having the opportunity to intern this summer has set me on a trajectory to the stars.

Name:  Michael Moubarek 

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: UMBC Department of Biological Sciences

Location of the Organization (City, State): Baltimore, MD

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Expected Graduation Date (Month & Year): 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I have had the privilege of researching in the lab of Charles Bieberich, PhD. since January 2011.  It was my first research position but since then I've been thrust into the midst of multiple challenging research projects. My daily responsibilities include genotyping and maintaining mouse colonies. I also regularly perform dissections of mice to help characterize the progression of prostate cancer in transgenic mouse models. To date I have been involved in a drug trial and collaborative projects with other universities in the Baltimore area.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have most enjoyed working with the people in our lab. We have many different people from around the world who have a bevvy of interests and talents. Everyone brings an immense amount of specialized knowledge and elements of uniqueness to the lab and I often find myself deep in conversation or doubled over in stitches with laughter. It has been so easy to work past the accents and different cultures to pursue scientific discovery together. I wouldn't have it any other way and I truly believe that the dynamic in our lab would allow us to tackle any problem successfully in our field of focus.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

Dr. Bieberich believes in challenging undergraduates with graduate level research opportunities and often tasks undergraduate students with their own project and a fair amount of autonomy.  This can be intimidating especially when you want results but I thoroughly enjoy the challenge and it keeps me busy and ever-learning.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Take the time to talk to upperclassmen who have conducted research in your field about what they learned and how they sought out their internship. Find labs that focus on something that you find interesting, make a short list, and take the time to read the papers published by the lab. When you contact the principal investigator be respectful yet persistent. Many investigators are extremely busy and receive many requests to join their labs so find a way to make yourself positively stand out. If you receive an offer and end up working in a lab pay close attention to the details, be inquisitive, and always go above and beyond.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

My experience has instilled within me a confidence that with the right team, a little ingenuity, and enough hard work nothing is impossible. I have gone from not knowing how to conduct basic research and being clueless in a wet lab setting to training other undergraduate students excelling in lab work in little over a year. The valuable foundation of lab and animal care skills that I have developed will allow me to chase my dreams without worrying too much about a lot of the details of the work. The incredible mentoring from Dr. Bieberich has been a real blessing and I cannot thank him enough for investing in me.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

Take advantage of all the opportunities open to you at this point and your life. Pick something and run with it until you fail then pick something else and repeat.

Name:  Chris Harried

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: AmeriCorps State & National

Location of the Organization (City, State): Philadelphia PA, Atlanta GA

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Political Science

Expected Graduation Date (Month & Year): 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

This summer, I served as an AmeriCorps Community Service Fellow with HOPE worldwide, an international non-profit organization. As a member of the inaugural cohort of the CSF program, the structure of the internship experience was not only new for the participants, but also those who helped coordinate the program.

The overall structure of the CSF program focuses on preparing individuals to have the necessary skills to be a valuable asset in the non-profit/non-governmental organization sector. This objective is accomplished through a rigorous but highly rewarding schedule compiled with a 2 ½ weeks training period and a 4 week guided service learning experience. During the 2 week training period, I completed day classes in the area of nonprofit leadership and management at Eastern University.  The first portion of my 4 week service period consisted of me serving as a camp counselor for diverse population of youth from across the Eastern United States. The second portion of my guided service experience (called “HOPE Youth Corps”) focused on me working with a group of inner-city youth in Northwest Atlanta.

On a daily basis, my essential responsibilities included:

-Provide instruction using Peacemakers Curriculum

-Facilitate instruction using the Environmental Education Curriculum.

-Plan and implement volunteer events and activities at assigned HOPE Youth Corps Site or summer camp

-Serve as a counselor, facilitator and mentor at summer camp programs

Some of my other responsibilities included:

Organize and Participate in Community Service Activities

Coordinate Functions of HOPE Youth Corps site and/or Youth Camps

Conduct fundraising activities for HOPE Youth Corps

Support functions for the summer programs such as a rotation food or site preparation schedule for the youth and organizing cleaning parties with the youth.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I absolutely enjoyed working as a mentor to the different groups of young people that the program served and learning more about their life experiences.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I’ve learned more about what it means to be a leader and how to engage others in meaningful acts of service. I also gained hands-on experience in program coordination, event planning, and community service engagement. I was fortunate enough to learn more about the importance of humility and what it means to lead others by serving them. HOPE worldwide is a respected and recognized non-profit organization that has helped meet the needs of millions of the world’s most destitute citizens. Their staff and systemic approach to identifying and addressing needs are valuable assets that have helped me to expand my worldview and enhance my problem-solving abilities.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Internships are an invaluable source of real world experience that allots one the chance to explore different career options while still being in school. The Shriver Center at UMBC provides a diverse and engaging portfolio of internship opportunities. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and possess a vast array of resources to help move students forward in the college career.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Being selected to serve this summer as an AmeriCorps Community Service Fellow with HOPE worldwide has allocated me the opportunity to grow immensely in my character, my professionalism, and my overall attitude towards community service in general. As a facilitator of a conflict resolution curriculum, I personally gained a large assortment of tools that I can utilize in my interactions with others. Although I was assigned to be a leader and was expected to be a resource to the individuals I worked with, I felt that our relationship was mutualistic, with me learning as much from them as I hoped they were able to learn from me.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

I am so glad that the Shriver Center staff worked with me to help me earn credit for the time I served on AmeriCorps.

Rebecca Borland

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Studio A101, Globe Dye Works

Location of the Organization (City, State): Philadelphia

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Visual Arts

Expected Graduation Date (Month & Year): 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I am an intern in the studio of Stacey Lee Webber, an artist in Philadelphia. Her primary medium is metal sculpture, which includes the making of jewelry. As an intern, it is my job to complete assigned projects. So far, I have made all kinds of jewelry out of coins and screws. I have also assisted in the design and construction of lids for a collaboration project with a pottery artist.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I've never worked with metals before, so learning an entirely new medium has been a lot of fun.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I've gained experience in an artistic medium that is entirely new to me, and I was able to learn in an incredible environment.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

If you're looking for any kind of internship, the internet is a great source. For visual arts majors, I suggest visiting art shows (there's one in Baltimore in the spring) where you can meet and speak to artists from all over the country.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Though my concentration is photography, my interests still encompass all of the visual arts. Learning how to sculpt with metal is a skill that I was very eager to learn, particularly because I have numerous sculpture designs floating around in my head. Now that I've learned the different techniques, I can start taking those ideas and making them three dimensional.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

My internship position gives me an opportunity to learn techniques from a professional artist, while also allowing me to utilize my own experiences and ideas.