Name: Kelsey Donnellan
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Just Food UMBC | Title of Your Position: Founder and Director
Major(s)/Minor(s): Interdisciplinary Studies, Degree title: Community Health and Nutrition
Expected Graduation Year: May 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I launched Just Food UMBC, an organization to promote a just and sustainable food system at UMBC. Along with three interns, I work with various stakeholders in our on-campus food system. Each week I am tasked with establishing goals for each of the interns, reviewing the intern's work, hosting staff meetings, and arranging 1:1s with each intern.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
The project has been a passion of mine for over a year, but I struggled to gain traction. As I transitioned out of a leadership position with The Garden, I focused on our campus food policy. I met with Vivian Armor and Christine Routzahn to discuss getting internship credit, which was a different structure as I started the organization. With their approval, I went to other departments to recruit interns. Two interns are fulfilling their Health Administration and Policy Program internship requirement and the other intern is completing an independent study in Political Science. From there we asked Jill Wrigley to serve as a faculty mentor, and she graciously agreed.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
Faculty Connections
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
Launching Just Food UMBC has pushed me to think critically about long-term goals and my management strategies. The staff works hard week in and week out to develop our research, write policy reviews, and connect with the community. While I am the Director, I prefer to work collaboratively with the interns and actively listen to their ideas. I believe allowing them to use their strengths has only made our organization thrive.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I learned management skills and effective communication skills, which I could not have gained from another opportunity. If I do not communication the weekly goals well, the interns may do redundant or incorrect work. Much of the responsibility falls on me, and I take it seriously. In the beginning the interns were given the opportunity to advise me on what platforms and methods of communication they preferred. Now I am able to create their goals list with their preferences in mind.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
Think creatively about opportunities and ask for support.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
"I feel it is an obligation to help people understand the relation of food to agriculture and the relationship of food to culture." - Alice Waters
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Name: Anisha Khandelwal
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Maxim Healthcare Services | Title of Your Position: Corporate Compliance Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Psychology, Health Administration and Policy, BA/MPP
Expected Graduation Year: May 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
As the Corporate Compliance Intern at Maxim Healthcare Services, I assist with both compliance trainings and policy development. I assist with organizing and implementing campaign ideas. I create communication posts which are included in Maxim's newsletters are e-mailed to over 40,000 employees. I prepare outlines and test questions for compliance trainings. I proofread, edit, and revise documents, forms, and presentations. I revise and compare current and prior policy implementations. I also provide assistance with other assignments when needed.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I found my internship with Maxim's Healthcare Services and research opportunity with UMBC's CWIT on UMBCworks. For the internship, I first submitted an application on UMBCworks. The initial interview was conducted over the telephone and was with an HR representative. I was interested in three internships with Maxim Healthcare Services but it was during this conversation that I decided compliance would be the best for me. This was followed by an in-person interview with one of my current managers. The third interview was an in-person interview with the Vice President of Compliance at Maxim Healthcare Services. A few days after, I received a telephone call and was offered the position. Similarly, I also found my research assistantship for UMBC's CWIT on UMBCworks. There was only one interview for this position and it was a telephone interview. I also notified of my offer for this position by a telephone call.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
UMBCworks
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
What I have enjoyed the most about both my positions are my managers. I have been fortunate to have managers who truly care and who are truly interested in my success. My managers are extremely supportive, are like advisors, and even help me prepare for future positions.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I believe that both my internship and research assistantship have provided me with an array of skills, practice, and experiences that will surely be beneficial for helping me succeed in future jobs and duties. This compliance internship is my first health policy internship and has allowed me to learn about the development of compliance trainings, campaigning in a corporate setting where there are limitations, and policy development. My research assistantship has improved my skills in conducting focus groups and exit interviews, organizing events, increased my knowledge of qualitative data, and how to use WordPress to update a website.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I highly encourage other students to apply and obtain internships, research experiences, and other experiences.These experiences may further increase your interest in your academics, help you realize what kinds of experiences and duties you are interested in, help you realize your strengths and areas of opportunity, will help you learn more about the industry and field that your experience is in, and will definitely help with applying for future positions.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
I believe that if you find positions that you truly are passionate about then you will never have to work a day in your life. That is how I feel with this research assistantship and internship. I have had other internships, research assistantships, and jobs that I was not as interested in but these other experienced helped me obtain skills to be successful in my current positions and to realize what kinds of duties I am indeed passionate about.
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Name: James Ebong
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Discovery Communications | Title of Your Position: Global IT Business Operations Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Information Systems
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 a Global IT Operations Intern, I have an awesome opportunity to work for the headquarters of the #1 Distributed Television Company in the world. My day-to-day tasks include supporting the Quality Assurance and Business Application teams. My main projects involve providing technical and business solutions for applications dealing with international contract management and domestic distribution. These applications are responsible for tracking over a billion dollars annually.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I applied for their summer internship in my final semester at Montgomery College. I went through 3 stages of interviews before I received an offer.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
Montgomery College
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
The thing I enjoyed most about my organization is that they kept the interns involved. The internship program created plenty of tours, workshops, networking, and charity events which helped us all bond and learn more about the company through former interns in other departments.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
The experience of working for a Fortune 500 company and seeing everything that goes into making a media giant like Discovery stay successful. I was also given the opportunity to get my certification in automated testing during my internship which I received before the beginning of the Spring Semester began.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
As I talked to HR managers in the company they stressed that grammatical errors in your resume are one of the biggest things that could stop you from getting to the next stage of the hiring process. With that being said, make sure you thoroughly review your resume and make sure you stand out during your interview.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
Definitely the opportunity to earn internship credit while working. It's a great opportunity due to how much you learn and the fact that you will be even more prepared for your career field.
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Name: Danielle McGrogan
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: International Rescue Committee (IRC) | Title of Your Position: Development Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Global Studies
Expected Graduation Year: December 2016
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I have been interning at the International Rescue Committee since September. Originally, during the fall semester, I was a Case Management intern. My main responsibility was to assist Caseworkers resettle newly arrived refugees. I would take clients on important medical and social services appointments, and be their advocate anyway possible. I would also manage client flies and track necessary services that were reported to IRC headquarters and other international organizations. Currently, for the spring semester, I am interning under the IRC Development Coordinator. My day-to-day task include writing donor thank you letters, editing grant proposals, and looking for possible donors. I'm also helping plan the Baltimore's World Refugee Day event in June!
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
After discovering the IRC website, I searched for current internship positions available. After reading through the directions, I emailed my cover letter and resume to the volunteer coordinator, and heard back within a few weeks.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
I volunteered with Refugee Youth Project prior to my internship.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
Without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect of interning at the IRC has been working with the clients (refugees). I have met so many wonderful and humble people who deserve the life they have built in Baltimore. One of my most memorable moments was picking up a family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the airport and showing them their new home. It gave the IRC's statement mission statement, "from harm to home", a true meaning.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
Working in an international non-profit has been rewarding in so many aspects. Everyday, as I walk through the office, I hear at least 3-4 conversations in different languages. All of the IRC staff are passionate about helping clients reach their fullest potential and sustain themselves. The amount of diversity and love in the office creates a family like other!
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
If you want to intern at the IRC or a related office, be prepared to learn not only about challenges refugees face and the resettlement process, but about yourself and your role in society. Although it may be hard and tedious at time (especially writing case notes), it's important to remember how your small acts impact a larger picture! The IRC also prefers to hire interns (and past interns) for employment openings, which is a huge plus!
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
The International Rescue Committee is an awesome non-profit with a family-like atmosphere. If you're interested in understanding more about global issues, social work, and/or non-profit management, I highly suggest you apply!
* Danielle is also a part of the Shattuck Family Internship Program
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Name: Ben Lasher
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: dlr | marketing, inc. | Title of Your Position: Design and Social Media Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Media and Communications Studies
Expected Graduation Year: December 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I worked directly with dlr's only two employees, as well as another intern. I was assigned various tasks, including research, graphic design, social media, and administrative items.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
Dr. Jason Loviglio sent an email to the MCS listserve that forwarded the company's search for interns. My supervisor, Maria Satyshur, attended UMBC as an MCS student. I contacted Maria after receiving notice of the position and things transpired pretty standardly from there.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
Faculty Connections
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
Maria and Diane were fantastic bosses. They were never anything but friendly and supportive of me and my endeavors.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I think dlr provided me an interesting insight into the marketing industry because of the way they structure their business. They work in a sort of free-lance style, taking assignments from various clients. So I got to work with a wide variety if organizations in the greater Baltimore area.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
dlr was a fantastic place to have my first internship. If all you think you know of what you want for a career is "uh...something about marketing?", then I highly recommend dlr.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
This internship really provided me with much more insight and confidence than I could have ever expected.
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Name: Hiba Zia
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Federal Reserve Board | Title of Your Position: Graphic Design Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Graphic Design
Expected Graduation Year: May 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
Being an intern for the Office of Inspector General at the Federal Reserve Board for the summer was an outstanding experience and I was extremely heavy hearted that I was only there for the summer. Luckily, I landed an opportunity to be an intern for the year at the Board but for a different division. I am now interning at the Office of Chief Data Officer. What I love most about my internship are the people I encounter everyday. They have insightful advice and are always willing to help. Some of the assignments I complete include website implementation, branding and marketing, and also developing templates for reports and documents.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I obtained my internship by applying to every opportunity that was relative to my major.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
I love that I work on varieties of projects. I enjoy coming into work not knowing what assignments I will work on. I also love the office side of my internship as opposed to working in a studio. Even though I take three trains and a shuttle to get to my building, I enjoy my commute I wouldn't trade it for anything.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I have gained the experience of working as a graphic designer in the office environment. Other internships I have had, I worked from home or a studio.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I advise that you apply early and don't wait til last minute. The federal Reserve board is always looking for interns!
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Name: Clare Dowley
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Major(s)/Minor(s): Mechanical Engineering
Expected Graduation Year: May 2016
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
Despite being extremely busy working over the summer, I had an amazing intern experience. Unrelated to the actual work, everyone I worked with is very nice and friendly. That makes a huge difference when coming into a new workplace. They treated me like a fellow employee instead of an intern to give all the busy work. While I did have some filing and meaningless tasks to do, I was actually given a significant amount of real work. I handled invoices daily, processing things to be paid, as well as work on the Project Completion Report, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Materials, and even some work inside the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. I even got an inside look at the other WT projects on UMBC's campus, such as the new gateway entrance and Lot 29, the new parking lot by Walker field. I am very happy with my internship and the experiences I had this summer.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I found this internship on UMBCWorks. I applied online over the winter break and got a call from the woman who was to become my Project Manager. She called to set up an interview for when I was back on campus for the spring semester. I came to the trailers for the interview, we talked for a bit, and then she gave me a tour of Phase 2 of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, which was then not yet open to the public. A couple weeks later she called again to offer me a position for the summer. The resources I used to get this internship was the resume check at the Shriver Center and the database of UMBCWorks.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
UMBCworks
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
I have enjoyed seeing the changes to the campus where I go to school. Having an internship with WT allowed me to have inside looks at the Performing Arts and Humanities Building as well as the new Gateway entrance project and Lot 29, the parking lot next to Walker Apartments. It has been interesting to see the changes as they happen and have the insider information.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I have gained knowledge of the construction industry. I never knew about the engineering and design side, only the labor. There are some aspects of the projects that require such detail and I did not know such things even had to be considered when designing a building. Walking around the projects with the WT employees caused me to see them from a whole new view that I would never have had walking around a building with anyone else.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I would tell others to apply to everything, especially if you're not certain what you want to do after graduation. While I still do not know for sure, I am much closer to that decision after this internship than I was before. I believe the key to that decision will be experience.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
What I liked most about my internship was the level of success with creating positive change around my campus paired with the extreme friendliness of everyone I worked with.
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Name: Benard Onyango
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Pennsylvania General Energy | Title of Your Position: Software Developer
Major(s)/Minor(s): Information Systems
Expected Graduation Year: Master Student, May 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I interned at Pennsylvania general Energy as Software Developer. It is such a nice place to work. I particularly enjoyed the friendliness of my fellow programmers. They were very helping in answering any questions that I needed answered. My daily routine began with programming in ASP.NET(C#) using MVC framework.My first assignment was to create of an app for the PGE legal department. In addition, I was also I asked to help with the completion of a web based application which was about 80 % done. Despite some challenges, I really enjoyed my internship. I gained a wealth of knowledge from it.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
A friend of mine told me that there was a position open for software developer intern. I immediately went online to learn something about the company. While I was waiting to hear from them, I spent some time reading about some of the requirements(technologies) for the job that were not very familiar to me. This was very helpful on the day of the interview. Something I would like to mention is that they were asking for 1.5 years of experience to be hired. Even though I did not have that much experience, I did not shy away from applying.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
Network
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
The Employees at PGE were very friendly especially the programming team and my supervisor. They made sure I did the work. However, they were very kind in answering any questions that I may have had.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
By working on real, hands-on project, I was able to gain in the following technologies. - ASP.NET MVC 4 and 5 Framework - Visual Studio 2012 IDE, Entity Framework 5 with Migrations - HTML5, CSS, JavaScript (JQuery and Ajax), GIT Repository Secondly, I build good professional networks that may become relevant especially in my job hunt after graduation.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
My advice would be to make sure you distribute copies of your resume to people. You never know when an opportunity may become available.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
This internship brought the best out me! It taught me that all I needed was an opportunity and a challenge, to fully comprehend my capabilities.
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Name: Jonathan Luckin
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Asymmetrik | Title of Your Position: Software Engineer Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Mathematics, Physics
Expected Graduation Year: May 2017
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I work with software developers in order to create, update, and test new applications. This requires me to use several programming languages as and a wide variety of existing libraries as well as good engineering principles. Since most of the projects I have worked on have been long term, day to day operations are mostly identifying small sections which need to be developed and then creating and testing those sections. I also assisted in writing a white paper, a paper used to describe a possible application which was then sent to possible clients.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I found out about the internship opportunity at one of the career fairs sponsored by UMBC during the school year. I talked with company representatives and submitted a resume with them. Several weeks later, I received an e-mail from the company, expressing interest in my application. After conducting a phone interview, I was asked to complete a programming challenge, demonstrating my coding knowledge. I was then brought in to have several in-person interviews. The day after my interview, I was offered a position as an intern. Careers Center helped a lot. I had my resume looked over and edited before I submitted it. Career Center also told me about the career fair where I found out about the company.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
Career Fairs
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
I have really enjoyed learning new technologies and methods of development. I have been working with tools and technologies which I was not too familiar with before I started the internship, and it has been very rewarding to learn and apply new knowledge. I also have enjoyed working with such a talented company. My co-workers are very skilled and talented and I am glad for the opportunity to learn from and help them to accomplish tasks.
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I have learned how to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical and professional environment. The lifecycle and development of applications cannot easily be taught in the classroom or in a book. I have learned more about application development and engineering principles by working with experienced professionals in the last few months then I have from classes or my own research. I have also had access to programming tools and environments that I was not aware of and would be difficult to access or discover by myself. My mentor helped me set up several of these systems and I have gained a lot of valuable experience. Without this internship, I would not have discovered these programming tools, environments, or methods.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I would advise students to start looking for internships very early. Internships can be very competitive and positions fill up very quickly. Since the hiring process can take a while, looking for a summer internship is not something to put off into the end of the school year, but something that takes place throughout the entire year. I would also recommend that students take an active role in the hiring process. Students should make sure to keep in regular contact with companies to make sure that their applications are being considered. Without regular contact, the company might assume you are no longer interested and just put your application at the bottom of the pile. I recommend that students make sure to research the companies which they apply. Applying for a position which you are not really interested in or qualify for just wastes everyone's time and effort. Make sure that you know your skill set and have a resume and application which reflects your abilities. Finally, it is important to present one's self in a professional manner. Dressing properly and speaking clearly and politely can go a long way in leaving a positive impression on potential employers.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
My internship with Asymmetrik has given me valuable hands-on experience from working alongside talented and experienced professionals with cutting-edge technologies.
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Name: Minhaz Mahmud
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: LinkedIn | Title of Your Position: Site Reliability Engineering Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Science
Expected Graduation Year: May 2015
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
I worked on LinkedIn's Mobile Site Reliability Engineering Team. The team supports all of LinkedIn's mobile apps including the main LinkedIn app, LinkedIn Jobs, LinkedIn Connected, and more. I worked on building a framework that would assist in monitoring the mobile apps to detect failures in production as soon as they happen so user impact is minimized. Each day I looked at my goals for the week and figured out what I needed to do that day and began working. The project was prototyped and presented at the LinkedIn Intern Fair and to the VP of Engineering.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
I applied for the position through LinkedIn's careers page. I prepared for the interview by going through Cracking The Coding Interview and doing practice problems. The process consisted of several rounds of technical phone interviews. Since the position was for LinkedIn, I made sure my LinkedIn profile had as much information as it could and was a good representation of me.
Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
LinkedIn Careers Website
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
LinkedIn had a great culture. Help was always available when I needed it. There were a ton of intern events to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. I got to work on an interesting project and I was given any software or hardware I asked for if it would help me with my work. For example, I requested an iPhone 5S with a data plan to test some functionality and I received it just a few hours later. Then of course there is the free food and snacks!
What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?
I met a lot of smart people and built some great relationships. I met some of the smartest people in the computer science industry and got to experience first hand what it was like to work in Silicon Valley. I think the experience was definitely unique. I was also able to attend various speaker sessions and company all hands where the CEO and famous authors and influencers spoke.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
Apply to a lot of positions and polish your resume, have some personal projects on there! Really understand data structures and algorithms for the technical interviews.
Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.
LinkedIn had a great culture where I felt I could do my best work but still have fun at the same time.
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