Throughout the summer the news page has featured stories about students who were awarded funding from Hamilton to pursue their career interests through research projects with faculty or in internships that were offered without outside compensation. Many other students pursued summer research and internships that were unfunded.  Some are highlighted below. We invite other students to contribute their own stories which we will add to this article as we receive and edit them.

Although the media bombards us with information through newspapers, magazines and the Internet, people from low-income or immigrant communities may lack the skills to critically analyze all this information.  Seiya Asada-Johnson ’13 is spending the summer with Radio Rootz helping improve media literacy for the underprivileged. His internship is supported by the Couper Fund through the Career Center.

The mathematical field of graph theory is a study of just that:  a study of mathematical figures consisting of points and lines connected to them. Yonghyun Song ’13 is serving as an intern for Associate Professor of Mathematics Sally Cockburn on a graph theory project. His work was supported by the Monica Odening Student Internship and Research Fund in Mathematics through the Career Center.

The Utica area is sometimes described as a food desert, or an area where healthy, fresh food is not immediately available. This lack of fresh food forces residents to turn to cheaper, less healthy options such as convenience store food. Stephanie Ingraham ’13 is an intern with Utica Urban Gardens at For the Good, Inc., an initiative that works to fight poverty and provide low-income individuals with fresh crops while preserving the environment.

David Bell, senior associate director of the career center, was quoted in a July 28 Washington Post article focused on the important role played by funded internships in offering college students career-related summer job experience. Hamilton was included among the colleges that offer funding to support student interns in unpaid positions.

Internships can be invaluable for students speculating about their futures; not only do internships offer an impressive boost to a student’s résumé, they also provide windows into the career world so that students can get a grasp on what types of job would be right or wrong for them.

Bret Lineberry ’11 found success in the post-graduate job search largely thanks to a valuable connection with a Hamilton alumnus. A May graduate with a degree in economics and world politics,  she’ll soon begin working in finance for General Electric in Atlanta.

Climate change is a major topic of discussion among economists, lawmakers, businesses and the general public. As climate change becomes an increasingly pressing issue, environmental law gains importance for society. Victoria Grieves ’12 will spend the summer contributing to environmental efforts by serving as an intern at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C.  Her internship is funded by the Levitt Center through its new Leadership Program.

For students interested in public policy, the chance to spend a summer in Washington, D.C., means an opportunity to be involved in policy making and to observe government officials at work.  Fertaa Yieleh-Chireh ’12 sees the value in this opportunity, and will be traveling to the nation’s capital for a summer 2011 Public Service Internship at the Public Forum Institute.