Summer 2017 Internships in the City

“The city is the campus” isn’t just a slogan for King’s students; it’s a reality. In the midst of living side by side with New Yorkers and everyday exposure to the vast riches the City has to offer, on clear display is the wide variety of internship opportunities in New York, in business and banking, politics and publishing, art and museum studies, and much more.

Students find internships in a variety of ways: through connections with King’s professors, the Office of Career Development, and the broader King’s community; through their involvement with their own churches; and through following their own interests and experience in the myriad of cultural, business, and nonprofit enclaves that find their life and work in and around the City. A recent sampling of King’s students interning in the city include Kaitlyn Hasegawa and Emily Sanborn at The Grace and Mercy Foundation; Tendai Savage with the Justice Film Festival; Joshua Sampson at SB Nation; Kathryn Brooks at the Brooklyn Home of Music; Julia Briggs with charity: water; Carter Fletcher with PEI Funds, LLC; Elon Wood at Gavekal; and Madeleine Castle at Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund.

Often students thrive at internships where they can use and develop their skills and talents but also receive hands-on experience in a world or industry they particularly care for. Audrey Cooper (PPE ’18) interned with the Iraqi Christian Relief Council May to August 2017, where she “wrote press releases, pitched stories to media contacts, and managed social media accounts.” Working at ICRC, she says, “was a great fit for my interests in foreign policy and international relief work, giving me an insider’s perspective on how charities can effectively assist refugees in resettling and finding security in the aftermath of conflict.” She found working with the small but energetic team at ICRC an “exciting new challenge,” and the independence of her position allowed her to “take ownership of various projects.”

Anna Bennett’s (BUS ’18) passion for mathematics education led her to a summer communications internship in Washington, D.C., with Discovery Education. “I’m a Business major so working in a company (and in an internship program) as established as Discovery Communications is amazing in and of itself,” she says, and the Discovery Education division provided an “extremely diverse experience.” The internship allowed to her “to talk to people in an industry that I hardly knew existed.” Initially, “I thought that to be interested in education meant that you had to be an educator, but I learned that’s not true.” She connected with people who are pioneering an “industry I was interested in.”

In addition to building skills and relationship for the future, King’s interns invest in places that make a difference in small but foundational ways. In 2016, Iain Coston (PPE ’19) began his internship with Redeemer Presbyterian Church, West Side Children’s Ministry. Already serving on Sundays, Iain says he wanted to more deeply invest in the community. His tasks ranged from planning Vacation Bible School (with 300 kids attending), planning and preparing curriculum for the forthcoming school year, and implementing improvements to the children’s ministry. “Working for a nonprofit like Redeemer will help you know institutions and people,” says Iain. “Because of my work at Redeemer, I can clearly see what makes a functional team and a non-functional team. I have seen first-hand how good structure and leadership can cause a team to be friendly, hostile, or simply lackadaisical.”

Many students find that their internships provide opportunities to implement what they’ve learned in the classroom. Anna Bennett cites four King’s courses that made her a “stand-out intern”: Business Communications and Presentations, Organizational Change, Decision Analysis, and Hebrew Literature. About Hebrew Literature, she says, “This class was the King’s class that taught me how to write well and succinctly when communicating with people.”

Hannah Silver’s (HUM ’19) summer communications internship with the Acton Institute gave her the “chance to engage in the great conversation surrounding the dignity of the human person as created in the image of God – a theme repeated again and again in my coursework at King’s.” She’s “grateful for the good work both institutions are doing to affirm human dignity. It is exciting to be a part of the conversation.”

Student interns have insider advice for thriving not only at an internship, but in future careers and responsibilities. At her time at Discovery, Anna Bennett recognized “how important prioritizing is. Deadlines exist for a reason and to not meet one can make or break an internship.” Iain Coston says his work at Redeemer “helped me to be disciplined in work I didn’t want to do. Every job done will include some work that is not interesting.” Iain’s internship prepared him for his current job as Children’s Ministry Operations Coordinator at Redeemer Lincoln Square. Now, he says, “I have more responsibility and am doing more of what I love with operations,” but “I would have much less patience to do the boring work if I had not spent those previous hours upon hours cutting out sunsets, bees, and Adam and Eves.”

This fall King’s students continue to be involved in the City: Jordan Chin is interning at the National Christian Foundation; Enoma Osakue is at the brand agency Five Stone; Esther Lee is working as a Showroom Manager at FTL Moda; and Jessica Mathews is interning at CNBC.