Between the first and second years at Sanford students go off on their own to practice growing up. It’s called a summer internship. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. There’s more to it than the Admissions Blog though. Take a journey with me. Take a journey with us…
…all the way back to the summer of 2014. Most of us were in Washington D.C.
The epicenter of U.S. public policy drew in Suraj, who worked for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. It got Caitlin (not Kaitlan), who was at State (with a bunch of other Sanford students). We had some folks at various national security organizations (can’t say which). Laura was at HUD. Val hung out at the Small Business Administration. Connor, Kaitlan (not Caitlin), and Daniel were at the Government Accountability Office. One of the Robins was at the Office of Management and Budget.
Some second-years took high-powered consulting positions with big firms. Becca, Vivian, and Jane worked for Deloitte. Max and one of the Robins spent time with Booz Allen. Jessi was at Gallup…which led her to UNC?
We weren’t all in D.C. though. Sanford had several folks in India and several more in Geneva. Tim was in Indoneva. No, wait, Indonesia. We had people working all over the U.S. too; Sheldon was in Portland, Peter was in San Francisco, Adriana was in Memphis.
There was a strong Triangle contingent. Sachi, Brianna, Katie, Rachel, and Emily held down the fort for us. Steph Brown sold cotton. Ask her about it.
Me? I was in New Orleans, Louisiana. I worked for 4.0 Schools, an education startup incubator. It was a terrific experience.
I led a data project over the summer, for which Sanford prepared me pretty well. I helped the organization decide what was measurable, gathered the information, and displayed some trends in a creative way. I think they appreciated the work.
While I was there I worked with nine entrepreneurship teams embedded in 4.0’s lab for the summer. Each team worked on a new education venture aimed at solving distinct problems. I learned about user-centric design, prototypes and iteration, and how to reassess after failing quickly. I produced weekly podcasts on the history of education. I felt like a member of the team.
Best story of my summer? It’s a tie between this, and this.
So there you have it. The Sanford summer internship. Well, a long list and one example. So maybe you don’t quite have it.
Hey second years, tell us about your summer. What’s your best story?