The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/internship/)
Incoming law student Avalon Fenster, known as @internshipgirl online, shares professional resources with millions of students and young professionals around the world.
I spent eight weeks of my summer in Buffalo, NY as a High Road fellow working for a non-profit known as Partnership for the Public Good that focuses on improving its communities through three main pillars: research on democratic organzations nationally, evaluating the efficacy of experimental models of the law and civic engagement writ large. This was my first experience working a 9 to 5 while commuting and working in a physical office space — it was all new to me. Previous internships I’d held used hybrid structures or were exclusively remote, so this took significant adjustment.
Everyday was a challenge in an unfamiliar city where I was learning to live on my own outside of my usual college campus environment; I had to learn to make compromises and clearly communicate with roommates on setting boundaries. Cooking for myself and making sure I was well-fed was a behemoth of its own, but I found a new passion for culinology that I didn’t know lived inside of me.
Cornellians who were successful in securing competitive internships share their know-how in applying, networking and interviewing.
Why is the reward for acceptance to an Ivy League school working 70 hours a week at Goldman Sachs? Shouldn’t the point of going to Cornell be to earn a decent living doing something less burdensome, even if it involves taking a pay cut?
My time away from Cornell was defined by low stress, great times with friends old and new and a richer connection to my heritage and future ambitions. For those that cannot travel far, I would suggest discovering new perspectives and finding purpose in your local area through volunteer, professional or religious organizations, mentoring younger students or finding local areas that bring relaxation and refuge.
As the summer months continue, many Cornellians have been spending time working internships or jobs for companies across the nation, learning about industries that interest them, gaining work experience and possible post-graduation job offers.
Through a very selective, three-semester internship at NASA in Houston, Nikki Hart ’24 is launching her career in aerospace engineering.
I was a horticulture intern at the Ithaca Children’s Garden, a three-acre public park that includes a life-sized troll house, a giant stone turtle and live chickens
“Given I had never worked for a really large company, I had the image of these large firms as really well-oiled machines where everything was operating smoothly. It was reassuring and almost calming to see that there are mistakes along the way and no one’s perfect.”
“At the end of the day, I had to take a job I didn’t really want coming out of school at a pay rate that I probably didn’t want either,” Nolan said. “But I suppose that’s part of what made me an attractive candidate.”