The first day on the job, I headed for home… and my work came with me. My brother pulled up in the Willamette University parking lot to find me sitting on the concrete, my backpack at my side, and a vase of purple flowers nested between my feet. I was in charge, along with the four other members on my field team, of flower-sitting.  We each brought home a vase of camas flowers, plucked from southern Oregon the week before, over which we had agreed to watch carefully. That night, every hour on the hour, I recorded the number of new flowers on each stem that had opened and how many had closed, tying colorful string to closed flowers, hoping they would all close early so I could go to sleep before midnight.

My summer research internship continued along in this manner as we worked diligently anywhere from 5 to 9 to 13 hour days. This is how field season works, when researchers live at the beck and call of the organisms they so dutifully observe and manipulate in order to collect data they may analyze during the remainder of the year. Of course, for me, field season was my life for only nine weeks. But while the internship lasted, we worked as a unit – professor, post-doc, and three students – and tackled our research goals in concrete ways.

Marked by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rented vehicles, meter sticks, and mosquitoes, days in the field consisted of driving followed by collection. We all performed similar duties, collecting data on the morphological, genetic, ecological, emergence, and reproductive distinctions between the species and subspecies of the camas flower, native to my home in the northwest. After driving anywhere from twenty minutes to eight hours to get to the sites, I would  either help measure features of the camas flowers at random in a population, collect leaves for genetic analysis, gather stems of fruits and seeds for restoration work, catch pollinators, or perform crosses by hand between species. When doing this work, I wore the clothing we jokingly called our “field line”: zip-off hiking pants, graphic tees, bandanas, thick wool socks, and hiking boots or rain boots.

Barbara Kingsolver, in her essay “The Forest in the Seeds” from her book High Tide in Tuscon, describes her work as an ecology graduate student watching lizards sitting in the sun doing almost nothing. After detailing the boredom of the work, she remarks that at least her “subjects had heartbeats, and pity my botanically inclined colleagues who were counting pollen grains under a microscope, or literally watching the grass grow.” The latter was my summer experience, and yet it was not so deadening as Kingsolver’s description makes it sound. My research internship this summer was enjoyable and satisfying, full of enthusiasm, and more than a bit of quiet observation. It was one of the best summers I have had, and I cannot be anything other than grateful that I was able to have this opportunity.

I would like to end by thanking Barbara Bice, whose generous Internship Grant in Public Interest supported my research this summer and allowed me to pursue my biology interests. In addition, many thanks to CP&R for facilitating these grants, allowing so many Scripps College students to participate in internships they otherwise might not be able to. I only hope these opportunities continue to expand so that all Scripps students that wish to can benefit from them. I had a wonderful summer and am ready to go enjoy another rewarding year at Scripps!

My internship with the Sierra Club this summer advanced many of my professional, personal, and intellectual goals, and in the most incredibly dynamic and fulfilling way possible. I learned about a profession that interests me, I cultivated skills and knowledge relevant to the work I hope to do in the future, and I was able to work with issues I care about alongside a group of equally passionate individuals who are actually working in the thick of things to enact change and make progress. I did not realize just how plugged into international, national, statewide, and regional issues the Sierra Club (through its extensive network and coalition partnerships) really is, and I had the privilege of working intimately on campaigns and with people at each of these levels. Weaving through the many different programs (from ones that focus on coal to international trade agreements to land use to super PAC candidate endorsements) is, I noticed, an overarching consciousness that reminded me of the mission at the heart of the Sierra Club that John Muir founded in 1892.

Working with the media team helped me to develop a skillset and understanding of issues and practice inherent in the worlds of environmental policy and nonprofit communications. I learned about how to cooperate with an internal team of communicators to coordinate myriad efforts and maintain consistency in messaging. I learned how to conduct media outreach, pitch stories to reporters via email and phone calls, and gauge interest in potential stories. I learned about how to monitor certain policy issues, election races, and hits in the news. I practiced building press lists and doing demographic, political, and location-based research. In addition to this, I practiced and enhanced different kinds of writing than the typical academic and journalistic writing I am accustomed to – I worked on blog writing, op-ed writing, and even prescriptive (and, in some cases, critical) writing targeting certain issues, opponents, etc. This holistic approach reminded me of my liberal arts education and gave me the chance to see how such an influential nonprofit organization can operate so successfully and cohesively.

I was most surprised that my supervisors entrusted me with such high-profile work. They gave me a project that I saw through beginning to end, involving a new wind energy advertisement initiative launched by the Sierra Club; my chief supervisor, the National Press Secretary for the Club, had me research key media outlets in certain districts where the ads would be launched; I then put together a reporter/press contact list, drafted a talking points memo based on the new campaign, then actually called the reporters and pitched the story about the initiative directly. It was so fulfilling to correspond with reporters to see some articles written in response to my pitch.

After a few test-runs, they gave me big blog pieces to write about endorsed candidates, trusted me to research daily updates on key midterm election races and send reports to the whole political/lobbying/media team, ghostwrite first drafts of articles for campaign directors and chapter leaders, and interact with Sierra Club press secretaries across the country. They sent me to EPA hearings to provide live updates and photos, to hear the President speak when the Sierra Club was invited to one of his speeches, and to various events around Washington. They always wanted to be sure that I was having the experience and doing the work I wanted to do – they assured this in weekly check-ins. The most fulfilling (and unexpected) moment came during my exit interview, when my supervisors told me that I was going to be missed and that my work really assisted them this summer.

I had the best summer of my life in DC, and leaving in August was incredibly difficult – I almost wanted to start my professional life immediately! My advice to any Sierra Club media intern is to go for everything wholeheartedly; this internship was a dream come true for me, in that in gave me exposure to and real-world applicable skills for a field that interests me, allowed me to work on issues I’m passionate about, and helped me to begin forming an incredible network in a city and industry I can see myself entering post-college. Every intern should jump at the chance to work on any projects that the media team offers, propose new ideas he/she is interested in, constantly ask for feedback, and propose assisting in any capacity needed – simply providing support to various members of the media team proved to be incredibly enriching and eye-opening to the realities of work in this sector. Be open, be engaged, be inquisitive, be thorough, and do not be afraid to be passionate! Giving 110% every day may be exhausting, but I believe doing so paid major dividends, and I would do it all over again if given the chance.

Hard work is a quality that has been ingrained in me since I was very young. Being raised by a single mother, I always admired the late hours she spent at the office, knowing that she was working so I could get a great education. At the boarding school I attended, Northfield Mount Hermon, every student had a required 20 hours of work job every week. Working on the farm, in the dining hall, and as a tour guide helped me realize that I relish opportunities where I am depended upon; to be responsible for a job getting done didn’t feel like pressure, it felt rewarding. Since I was 15 I worked in the community every summer, from Stop & Shop to Tedesco Country Club. This summer, I interned for the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus (MWPC). MWPC is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that encourages women to be politically active. Since its foundation in 1971, the core mission of MWPC has been to increase the number of women elected to office. I worked mainly in the sphere of their MWPC Political Action Committee (PAC) because many elections are going on this year. The MWPC PAC supports qualified women who are pro-choice and pro-equal-pay in local or statewide races. Some weeks I would assist MWPC’s Young Professional events, which attract many young, politically engaged women in Boston. Though I would work these events, usually at the registration desk, I did not miss anything going on! Seeing young women gathering for a book release, rally, or speaker, talking about their professional goals and their weekend plans, made me feel like I was getting a glimpse of my future.

Though the MWPC events were crash courses in presentation, communication, and networking, I learned even more key skills working in the office. Throughout May and June, MWPC’s two full-time employees needed information on every woman candidate in Massachusetts for the upcoming November elections in order to choose whom to endorse. From State Senate to Treasurer, State Auditor to Governor, all races in Massachusetts needed to be thoroughly researched. So for the first two months I learned how to follow MWPC’s research guidelines, by being concise yet detailed, in order to write 4-5 pages of research on numerous women candidates. Reading about where candidates stood on these issues and why helped shape my own views on these political issues. Overall, campaign research was the most challenging, but most fruitful task at MWPC internship.

I learned so much from my MWPC internship: how to write a press release, research candidates, write compelling blog posts about women’s issues, work with others to find quick solutions, delegate and divide work, be diligent and precise with data entry, and throughout work be personable and reasonable. But the curiosity and excitement I felt hearing Massachusetts’ leaders explain vital legislative reform that needed to be done taught me even more about myself, and what I want for my future.

I wake up to the misty chill of an Inner Richmond morning.  I walk from the guest cottage where I sleep to the neighboring house to listen to eggs sizzle on the stove.  After packing up my lunch for the day, I load my things onto my bike and start the trek to work.  I’m interning at a nonprofit in downtown San Francisco, and I live in a residential part of the city near the charming, foggy Golden Gate Park.  I bike through the park, down a bike path called The Wiggle, and onto busy Market Street.  Though my commute starts with the gentle dappled light of the Panhandle, it finishes in the brisk, swanky financial district.  I squeeze my bike into the elevator and prop it in a corner of the office while I change into business casual attire, trying to match my bosses’ wardrobes of slacks, nice jeans, skirts,
and blouses with sweaters or blazers.

The other Undergraduate Intern and I have desks in the entrance area.  Everyone in the office uses Skype chat communicate, so before I check in verbally with someone on an assignment I Skype them asking if it’s a good time.  Each week, we have a conference Skype call with another staff member and a law fellow in the South Asia office.  The law fellows and interns listen to get a gist of the cases and take turns updating the team on what we’ve been doing in the past week. 

For most of the summer I worked on research memos.  I read reports from cases and summarized the relevant aspects in a legal memo format.  Sometimes I had a lot of trouble reading through ‘Legalese’ documents to find useful information.  By the end of an assignment, I learned a lot about each case, and after a round or two of detailed feedback I felt capable of compiling a clear, useful memo.  My favorite part of memo assignments was when a supervisor explained the context of the memo by sharing the progress and history of the case.

It was inspiring and challenging to see the AC team’s conscientiousness on every level of the work.  My favorite assignment of the summer was to prepare materials for major edits to the organization’s new promotional video.  The Executive Director of AC talked me through the video and which parts they wanted to change.  I was delighted when she paused the video after two seconds: “We’re changing that text from ‘Who will speak for them?’ to ‘As they raise their voices in the face of abuse—who is listening?’  We don’t speak for our clients.  They speak for themselves.”  The edits they had planned produced a video of a completely different framework, from a sob-story charity model to a refreshing and unique advocacy approach.  My assignment entailed sifting through thousands of photos of cases for the best images to fit with particular parts of the video.  I observed that my boss was careful to not take up too much space and to emphasize the power of community members to choose how to proceed.  She was clear about the services that AC did and did not offer (AC supports communities in a complaint process for access to remedy rather than litigation), and when talking separately to women who had been sexually abused, she was clear that each women could choose whether or not to share their experiences with the complaint investigators, acknowledging that they may not feel safe.

My first office job confirmed that I like group work more than individual and that I love creative work.  Trust in the workplace made me comfortable; I trusted the organization, its mission, and the other team members to make smart and conscientious choices, and I was trusted to update the website, hear case updates in staff meetings and in-office eavesdropping (which was explicitly welcomed), and send emails on behalf of AC.  We could arrive and leave work when it worked best for us—I got an office key—so I could plan for a safer bike commute to avoid traffic and take a lunch break whenever I needed it.  The level of respect for everyone in the (all female!) team was amazing, and the work centered on respecting the rights and choices of people negatively affected by neoliberal power structures.

This summer I was so fortunate to intern with the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) in Washington D.C. Through my internship I was able to get a first-hand view of what the general public cannot see, which consists of the inter-departmental network of various divisions that comprise the Smithsonian Institution. I valued my behind the scenes perspective viewing the Smithsonian and its many museums as a whole. I now have a great sense of how these museums are organized through their many departments all cooperating together.

During my time at OFI I acquired many new relevant skills including data entry analysis in Microsoft Access, content creation for the WordPress Smithsonian OFI blog, event planning for the various internship programs, communication skills with internal office staff, and external phone-based customer service questions. I participated in weekly staff meetings, drafted award and extension letters for various Smithsonian Institution appointments, created OFI newsletters, helped brainstorm for the OFI Exit Survey, digitized academic appointment files, updated online content for the Katzenberger Art History Internship Program, and planned videos for parting intern interviews.

I also had the opportunity to work closely with various internship programs that I helped manage including the Minority Internship Program, Katzenberger Art History Internship Program, and the Project Search Internship Program. I was tasked to track the progress of other interns so as to update their internship program’s online content and requirements. As a direct result of my cross departmental work, I saw my communication skills improve.

One of my a-ha moments that took place during my internship this summer was when I attended a naturalization ceremony at the National Museum of American History. Only a select few of Smithsonian employees and staff were allowed to enter. I knew that the event was displaying the recently conserved and original Star Spangled Banner Flag, which seen flying over Fort McHenry in the Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore of the War of 1812. It was this very flag that inspired the national anthem of the United States. As I was waiting for the ceremony to begin, I saw Hilary Clinton walk through the museum lobby, in addition to the Smithsonian Institution Secretary, and Ralph Lauren who donated to the conservation of the flag, as well as other officials. Hearing the former First Lady of the United States discuss the importance of art conservation, in reference to the Star Spangled Banner Flag was extremely inspirational. She discussed the importance of this national symbol of America and how its preservation was essential in remembering the foundation of our country. Hearing about the intersection of cultural heritage and art preservation made me realize the importance of the field of art conservation, which I am considering studying. It was a day I don’t think I could ever forget.

My time in Washington D.C. was a pivotal experience and one that I owe to Scripps for providing. I cannot be more grateful to Ms. Barbara Bice for funding my experience at the Smithsonian through the Barbara Bice Internship in Public Interest. Without my Internship Grant, I would have been extremely difficult to afford the costs of my learning opportunity, so thank you again to both Scripps College and Ms. Bice for funding my fantastic internship this past summer!

Below is a video that showcases my internship experience at the Smithsonian. I helped create this video documentation from OFI, which was the first of its kind. I worked with my fellow interns to create questions and used my video editing skills for this project, which showcases other interns who are part of the Smithsonian Institution as well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByWB4L5hzS6MdFNWTVpnbzAzNFU/edit?usp=sharing

A link to my online blogging work and website content I created for the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships: http://www.smithsonianofi.com/