 Working with computers one day and then jetting off to tour the Great Barrier Reef the next might not seem like your average internship, but Laura Berstis, '06, a bioengineering major, loved every minute of it.
Last
summer, Berstis traveled to Melbourne, Australia, as part of Pacific
Rim Undergraduate Experiences (PRIME) through the
Academic
Internship Program (AIP). She spent her time
working with chemistry computer programs simulating experiments in
a wetlab. But during her free time, she soaked in the country’s
natural attractions.
“The work experience was very positive,” Berstis says. “And
I was able to visit many amazing places while
I was there, too.”
On this side of the hemisphere, Lindsay Morrone, ’06, a literature/writing
major, had the same positive experience even though her internship
was only a walk away. Morrone worked for Writer’s House LLC
combing through and critiquing manuscripts submitted to her boss,
literary agent Steven Malk, ’95.
“If it hadn’t been for this internship I wouldn’t have
known about opportunities out there,” Morrone says. “I
didn’t even know how jobs were configured in the publishing
world.”
Lindsay Jenkins-Stark, ’06, a sociology major, found herself
battling through stifling heat while she interned for the Attorney
General’s Office of the District of Columbia last summer. Jenkins-Stark
wrote legal briefs and got some valuable advice from the lawyers
she worked with.
This year, AIP celebrates 30 years of helping students like Jenkins-Stark,
Morrone and Berstis find internships they can take for academic
credit. Started as a Warren College program in 1976, AIP now
serves the whole
campus with a database of about 5,000 internships, placing about
500 to 700 students each school year. AIP students meet with counselors
and faculty advisors throughout their quarter-long
internships. Course requirements vary with the number of units
sought and may include writing a research paper or creating
a project related
to the internship and turning in evaluations from supervisors. “This direct work experience allows students to get a taste of their
field of interest,” AIP Executive Director Elise Tiregol, ’96,
says. “It gives them direction on where they want to go. It
also puts academic learning into practice.” 
— Marnette Federis, ’06
|
