Anita Shenoi ‘20 — Claremont Canopy (Claremont, CA)

This past summer, Anita Shenoi interned for Claremont Canopy, a local grassroots organization that serves recently resettled refugees in the Inland Empire. Anita was attracted to Canopy’s quest to support newly arrived immigrants by providing valuable resources for education, employment, and community integration. The internship provided an active learning environment for Anita, where she was able to explore the financial logistics and other aspects of what makes Canopy successful.

Anita enjoyed spending time getting to know many of the families, sharing delicious meals together, attending community and religious events, and even dancing at a wedding reception! Asked of her experience this summer, Anita responded, “with its newly established non-profit status, Claremont Canopy is a wonderful example of a social organization that incorporates the vibrant talents of a community to integrate and uplift its newest members.”

Owen Dubeck ‘19 — Living on One (Los Angeles, CA)

“During the summer of 2018, I interned at Living on One, a documentary media company located in Los Angeles, California. Living on One has two award-winning documentaries on Netflix and has changed the lives of thousands through their activism efforts. This summer I worked as a video editor for the company and was part of a team that developed a new video series. We created 1-2 minute pieces on a range of issues including: poverty in Central America, women’s education in Guatemala, deportation from the U.S., and local culture. In total I completed six videos over the course of the summer and am happy to say that I was asked to come back and will be continuing my work in the fall.

Living on One took me from a student who makes videos in college to a professional filmmaker. Chris Temple ‘12 and Zach Ingrasci ‘12 (co-founders and pictured with Owen, back right) challenged me to create draft after draft before everything was absolutely perfect. Working at Living on One was the best company experience I’ve ever had. After working this job, I now have a vision of where I want to go in this space and feel I’ve been given the tools to get there.”

Gabrielle Clouse ‘20 — Child Family Health International (Quito, Ecuador)

“This past summer, I spent eight weeks in Quito, Ecuador working for Child Family Health International. In the mornings, I would shadow in different hospitals and clinics, and in the afternoons, I took Spanish classes. My rotations were a combination of government-run healthcare facilities in both urban and rural settings, as well as private facilities. This schedule was especially valuable for me because I have always been interested in the government’s role in healthcare.

Seeing the benefits and challenges of the different options (public or private) in Ecuador allowed me to
better understand the ways healthcare in the U.S. could continue to improve to provide fair access to all. In Ecuador, instead of having healthcare plans similar to Medicare, there are entire hospitals that are government-run, as well as private options. I felt that this allocation of resources was much simpler and more efficient than the government support in the U.S. I especially enjoyed learning that in Ecuador, women’s reproductive and maternal care is ensured in the constitution and guaranteed as a right.

Coming into the summer, my Spanish wasn’t great and the language barrier was my biggest challenge, particularly following and understanding doctor/patient interactions. But, as my internship finished, I could have conversations with relative ease – thanks in large part to my host mom who patiently helped me through my broken Spanish until my sentences flowed more easily. By living with a host family, I learned so much more than if I had been on my own, and eventually built the confidence to speak more frequently in Spanish. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience medicine in another country, because it allowed me to grow professionally and emotionally.”

Laleh Ahmad ‘20 — POLIN Museum (Warsaw, Poland)

“I was an intern in POLIN’s education department helping with the Polish Israeli Youth Exchange. I was working under the Internship Coordinator and the director of the exchange program. I would help to design flyers and ID cards, craft messages to send out to the participants, manage travel and accommodation logistics and attend seminars. I would also frequently be asked to help other people within the education department or to proofread English and transcribe videos into English.

I enjoyed my experience at the Museum because I’m deeply interested in human rights
and the museum had a lot of resources that allowed me to research human rights topics. For example, the museum had a resource center where I was able to gain access to thousands of interviews of people involved in various human rights violations, such as the Rwandan Genocide and the Holocaust. It contained a very diverse set of interviews, and each one lasted
hours, so I was able to follow individual experiences of people who first-hand witnessed genocides occur and survived.

My experience working at the museum helped me to realize that I am passionate about human rights and would like to work in the field of human rights after I graduate. Working at POLIN was a truly valuable and positive experience, and clarified for me that I am interested in pursuing human rights research in the future.”