Fall 2019 Internships

For college students around the country, interning is essential to gaining experience in a field and building a quality resume. King’s students, however, intern at an unprecedented rate: of the Class of 2018 (the most recent data gathered), 94% completed internships before graduating, compared to a 61% national average.

Students have the option to complete internships for course credit through a program offered by the Department of Career Development. In the fall of 2019, 50 King’s students enrolled in the Internship-for-Credit program, and their internships spanned the fields of business, marketing, and banking, to politics, publishing, and the arts.

Meet some of our internship-holding students below and learn about the important work they are doing in New York City.

Holly Shavelle, Manhattan Institute

In the fall, Holly Shavelle (PPE ’20) worked as a communications intern at the Manhattan Institute (MI), a free-market think tank dedicated to shaping American political culture and disseminating ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility. Shavelle’s job as a communications intern included updating the MI website, drafting press releases for new reports, researching other think tanks, compiling spreadsheets, and making videos for social media.

Shavelle had known of the Manhattan Institute before attending King’s, but considered applying more seriously after discovering that a friend was interning there. Through her connection at MI, Shavelle was able to get an internship offer. As a Politics, Philosophy, & Economics major, Shavelle is grateful that think tanks like MI exist in New York City. Shavelle mentioned, “Besides Washington DC, New York is one of the few options for working in a think tank like MI.”

While interning at the Manhattan Institute, Shavelle learned how to operate the back-end of a website, how to pitch a policy report, and how to manage numerous tasks for different supervisors all with different deadlines.

Isuraoluwa Adedokun, NYC Councilman Rory Lancman

Isura Adedokun (PPE ’20) worked as a constituent liaison intern for NYC Councilman Rory Lancman in the fall. As a constituent liaison intern, Adedokun assisted with event support, spoke directly to Councilman Lancman’s constituents, made calls to city agencies, and maintained the constituent case database.

According to Adedokun, there are 51 councilmembers in New York City, and many of them “openly look for interns.” Adedokun found her internship opportunity through a friend at her church.

While working in Councilman Lancman’s office, Adedokun learned “how to communicate with difficult constituents, [how to] manage complex cases, and how to communicate with city agencies for complaint resolution.” Adedokun also helped to create a new filing system for constituent cases and worked on a project drafting a short synopsis for every case.

Michel Wenzel, BF Bond

This fall semester, Michel Wenzel (BUS ’20) worked as a marketing intern for Bernard Fleischer & Sons, Inc., which designs and sells a range of insurance services and products. Wenzel was responsible for processing AR and AP, for reconciling bank accounts, for billing clients, brokers, and tenants, and for renewing, canceling, and reinstating insurance policies.

Wenzel, who was introduced to BF Bond by a friend at King’s, not only worked in the marketing department of the insurance provider, but, by the end of the internship, performed almost all of the tasks typically assigned to a full-time accountant. Wenzel explained that he was able to gain experience in several disciplines of the insurance domain, and even processed accounts payable one week when his boss had to be out of the office.

Annabelle Kopack, Paramount Pictures

In the fall, Annie Kopack (MCA ’20) worked as a target marketing intern for Paramount Pictures, the second oldest film studio in the United States and the company responsible for iconic films like Titanic, Mission: Impossible, and Shrek. Kopack’s work consisted of compiling features, mentions, and reviews for upcoming films, attending and staffing events such as press junkets and premieres, and brainstorming and pitching college directives for upcoming films, among a host of other responsibilities.

Kopack, who interned at Allied Global Marketing last year, found the Paramount internship through a friend she had made at Allied. After explaining how she got the Paramount opportunity, Kopack said, “Everyone is right when they say connections are everything. Don’t waste any opportunity to make a connection because you never know where it can lead you.”

This spring semester, Kopack will be transitioning to a Field Marketing and National Publicity Internship at Fox Searchlight, another storied film studio. Kopack said that living in New York City “has been essential to the field I want to pursue. Film marketing has a large presence in the city and I don’t know if I would’ve gotten the opportunities and connections I’ve had so far if I wasn’t in the city.”