The Off Season: CJC Students Spend Summer Around the Globe
A student’s work doesn’t end with finals. Between internships, fellowships, travel, and jobs, the calmest point of the summer might just be the plane ride home. This summer CJC-ers scattered from the Hilltop in every direction, with destinations ranging from rural Appalachia to cosmopolitan Singapore. The Center for Jewish Civilization prides itself on guiding individual students through the research and application process for internships and jobs. Here’s what a handful of our students have been up to since leaving campus:
Rising Seniors
After returning from a semester abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tianna Mobley began exploring her interest in public policy as a Public Policy & International Affairs Junior Summer Institute Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The seven-week program includes preparation for graduate school, a qualitative research methods course, economics, statistics, and a race and policy seminar. As part of the seminar, Tianna is collaborating on a project to analyze the defunding of minority-focused NPOs in the Twin Cities. From this experience, Tianna hopes to determine the best trajectory for graduate school in order to pursue her triple interest in education policy, non-profit management, and academia.
Rachel Angle is spending summer in D.C. working on a research project, which will be the basis of her government thesis. She is looking at the intersection of gender and religion as it manifests itself in the eleven Jewish women of the 116th Congress. Her decision to research this group was inspired by her experience observing the American political conversation around Israel foreign policy after spending a semester studying abroad there. She is hoping to examine how the Jewish and female identities affect the policy priorities of our elected representatives. Rachel is especially interested in any places where these two identities may conflict. Her research is funded by the Kalorama Fellowship.
Anya Ahuja is working as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Lazard in New York. Her internship serves as a rigorous introduction to investment banking, specifically within the Private Capital Advisory (PCA) group. PCA raises capital, executes secondary transactions, and provides capital for private investment funds.
Zachary Thompson is in Kenya doing clinical research. Specifically, he is collecting samples to be screened for tuberculosis. His team is compiling data about the total number of tuberculosis cases and the total number of drug resistant cases in Kisumu county, located on Lake Victoria.
Jake Galant is working at the United States Embassy in Prague. With the Public Affair Section, Jake engages Czech citizens and spreads American values through speakers, cultural events, and grants. As pictured, Jake recently helped the American Ambassador at an event to mark the beginning of a basketball camp run by two former NBA players in Kralupy nad Vitavou.
Tanner Larkin is a Goldman Fellow with the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C. This fellowship is designed to develop future leaders in the areas of international and domestic politics, diplomacy, public relations and management. Within AJC, Tanner is working with Project Interchange, an Institute which brings global decision-makers to Israel to learn about its reality and complexity first-hand. Tanner is also studying for the LSAT and plans on attending law school after graduation.
Rising Juniors
Marie-Ann Wells‘s passion for education and Veterans’ affairs has led her to an internship in the Director’s Office at the Smithsonian National Museum for Natural History in D.C. Her responsibilities include organizing and assisting with a variety of projects that focus on enhancing diversity, inclusion, and equity at the museum. Her favorite project thus far has been visiting the Veteran Curation Program, which provides employment, vocational training, and technology skills to veterans returning to the job market. Marie-Ann looks forward to using her newly-developed skills in her future service as a commissioned officer in the United States Military.
Cheyenne Martin is getting her hands dirty (and probably building lots of muscle) in Appalachia this summer. A student in the College of Arts and Sciences during the year, Cheyenne is learning mechanical engineering outside the classroom. In addition to rebuilding a motorcycle, she is unearthing and restoring mechanical objects such as lawnmowers and lamps left to decay in the wake of a devastating local flood in 2010. In her free time, Cheyenne is repairing homes.
Rising Sophomores
Zev Burton is interning for the US Green Building Council in the Department of their CEO in D.C. The US Green Building Council gives out the premier sustainability certification of green building processes and management. Zev is creating and applying their market research and development communications strategy to further their reach in the US, then is working with the CEO and his team to put it into action. Much to the chagrin of the facilities team, Zev’s cubicle is loaded with whiteboards detailing different strategies. He looks forward to helping create a sustainable and environmentally-friendly country.