{"id":73420,"date":"2023-08-28T11:08:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T15:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/?p=73420"},"modified":"2023-09-22T14:11:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T18:11:53","slug":"connector-summer-internship-support-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/connector-summer-internship-support-program\/","title":{"rendered":"CAS Experiential Learning Connector\u2019s new Summer Internship Support Program"},"content":{"rendered":"
Emilia Wisniewski (COM\u201925)<\/h6>\n

When neuroscience major Nzna Nguyen (CAS\u201926) secured an internship with Generation Teach, a non-for-profit that serves children of color in public schools, she wasn\u2019t sure how she would afford housing for the summer.<\/p>\n

Then she learned about the CAS Experiential Learning Connector\u2019s<\/span><\/a> new Summer Internship Support Program, which provided campus housing and a meal plan to a group of students with unpaid or low-paid internships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have to worry about housing or meal costs,\u201d said Nguyen, who earned a small stipend teaching sixth grade students. \u201cBecause of the Connector program, I was able to focus on my work, getting to know awesome students who expressed themselves through mediums as funny and relatable comics!\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to covering essentials, the Summer Internship Support Program provided a space for participants to connect and reflect about their internship experiences. The six students met regularly to discuss what they were learning, how they had acclimated to their professional spaces, and how their summer work connected to their Arts & Sciences education. They also completed short assignments, including a pre- and post-internship self-assessment, as well as an end-of-summer video.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really appreciated the questions asked and the opportunity to reflect,\u201d said Political Science major Caroline McCord (CAS\u201924), who worked as a programming and media intern at Concord Prison Outreach, an organization committed to helping people who are incarcerated build better lives for themselves and their families. \u201cBouncing ideas and reflections off each other was super helpful and interesting, and I really appreciate growing as a community through these meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CAS Experiential Learning Connector<\/span><\/a> was created in 2022 to empower undergraduate students to identify and access the many experiential learning opportunities available to them. It is supported through a $2.5 million anonymous gift from a generous donor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Erin Salius, the inaugural director of the Experiential Learning Connector, said the idea for the Student Internship Support Program came from years of hearing how hard it was to find affordable housing in Boston during the summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Erin Salius, director of the Experiential Learning Connector<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cStudents would have to turn down fantastic opportunities, simply because they couldn\u2019t afford the high costs of summer housing,\u201d Salius said. \u201cThe support provided by the program enables students to take internships that they wouldn\u2019t otherwise be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salius said she\u2019s energized by the students, who, in addition to Concord Prison Outreach and Generation Teach, are working at organizations including the Boston Preservation Alliance, the Boston City Council, the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and the MGH-neurology lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lively, fun, and supportive atmosphere,\u201d Salius said. \u201cThey\u2019re all doing such fascinating work \u2014 from research in professional labs to prison outreach \u2014 and learning so much. And what\u2019s most exciting for me is that they\u2019re all thinking really hard about how to give back to the CAS community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sean
Sean Waddington (CAS`25) spent the summer interning for a Boston City Councilor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nguyen said she enjoyed getting to know Salius and connecting with students in other majors \u2014\u00a0 including Architectural Studies, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Architectural Studies, Political Science \u2014 who are also going through internship experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to have my program director and other people to give insights and advice and just listen when people were talking about the highs and lows of the weeks as an intern,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re all here doing some pretty difficult work and we\u2019re all interns and we\u2019re all contributing a lot to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCord said the free housing and dining enabled her to focus on the experience itself, rather than how she would afford the summer, giving her time to better understand her future career goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would highly recommend it to any student who wants a strong experiential learning experience, a tight-knit community, and the financial freedom to succeed during their summer,\u201d she said. \u201cThis program directly allowed me to focus on my career goals and develop a stronger connection to the world outside of academia, and I am very happy that I was able to benefit from it! The support was imperative to my success this summer and is truly a reason that I am now so passionate about and prepared for my upcoming career.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Experiential Learning Connector\u2019s new program provides housing and meals to students with unpaid or low-paid internships.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20868,"featured_media":68723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73420"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74110,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73420\/revisions\/74110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}