Princeternship

Princeternship Stories: Irene Hsu ’20, The Dance Institute of Washington

The moment I arrived at The Dance Institute of Washington (DIW), I was warmly greeted by Kahina ‘11 with a scream of “HEY! Welcome!”.

After some brief introductions, Kahina then proceeded to start organizing the supply closet of DIW. Watching Kahina sort through the numerous costumes, ballet shoes, and other miscellaneous dance-related items, I realized that DIW was not just any shabby nonprofit, it was a flourishing center of high-quality dance production and instruction.

On my first day at work, I quickly learned the mission of DIW. In addition to providing some of the finest dance education I have seen, DIW was a place for youth to be invested into, a place where those who are at risk not only find an exciting activity to be passionate about, but also a community of people who deeply care about them. Seeing the staff interact with the youth and encourage them to pursue their academics really inspired me. The people at DIW are all deeply committed to social change, and it was through observing them that I realized how much the nonprofit sector is fueled by the passion of individuals. Without the staff’s whole-hearted commitment, DIW would never have expanded as ambitiously as it did, boasting multiple off-site and conservatory programs, as well as adult and even toddler classes.

In addition to seeing the power of nonprofit efforts, my Princeternship at DIW allowed me to gain many insights into the workings of a successful organization. Not only did I learn about development through researching grants and funds, but I was also exposed to administrative tasks such as scheduling building space rentals and front desk management. In addition, I gained experience in marketing through social media, which was especially important for DIW because dance’s intrinsic nature to be entertainment. Furthermore, I was extremely lucky to have the chance to meet the representative from Fox 5 in charge of running and scheduling TV ads for DIW. He was very kind and even shared his career path and went into detail about strategic media execution.

My time at The Dance Institute of Washington was simply amazing. I gained so many useful skills, tools, and experiences that I can apply to my future career. I am extremely grateful to all the fun, talented and hard-working people I met there, especially Kahina. She not only impressed me with her strong leadership skills, but is also just an extremely enjoyable person to be around.  I loved my time at DIW and I would highly recommend this Princeternship to anyone who is even remotely interested in dance or in the nonprofit sector.

Interested in applying for a Princeternship? Visit: http://bit.ly/princeternship18.

Princeternship Stories: Carla Dias ’21, Swedish Neuroscience Center

My Princeternship at the Swedish Neuroscience Center in Seattle was such an amazing experience that I left wishing I could do it again. Over the course of a week with Dr. Cobbs, I was exposed to so many new aspects of medicine. I came into the internship knowing that I was interested in medicine, but unsure of what direction I wanted to take within this career field. After shadowing Dr. Cobbs, I now believe I want to pursue a career in neurosurgery, especially with some work in research. The experience allowed me to see the reality of what a surgeon does on a daily basis. I am very thankful to have been able to have this opportunity early on in my time at Princeton, a reminder of what I will be working towards over the next few years.

The first day began with a debriefing meeting in which all the doctors of the department collectively reviewed their recent surgeries. We even got to see a case of an amoeba infection that Dr. Cobbs said had only been reported around 100 times in the country. The day was one of his “surgery days” so we got to observe craniotomy to remove a brain tumor. We then got to follow a biopsy of the tumor to the path lab, where the pathologist processed the tissue and viewed it under a microscope to confirm that it contained what was expected to be metastatic breast cancer cells.

The next day was one of his “clinic days.” We followed Dr. Cobbs from room to room as he consulted with new patients and follow-ups. Not only did we learn about patient interaction, but we also learned about different diagnostic techniques, a preview of the kind of things I will be learning in a few years. In addition, we were able to see his research lab that has been making some big strides in the field of cancer research, something that has always been of interest to me. Seeing how someone have a job in both surgery and research has really made me consider it as a possibility.

The final day was my favorite and definitely the most exciting. We arrived at the hospital early and got to sit in on grand rounds. The two presenters were visiting from the Allen Institute (one of the top neuro research centers in the country). After the presentation, we observed a spinal surgery. I even was able to pick the music for the OR. I was so surprised at how much the human body can withstand, especially in an area that I assumed would be so delicate.

The entire week was an overall amazing experience. I would absolutely encourage anyone remotely interested in surgery to apply, I am definitely glad that I did.

There was a second surgery that day, a craniotomy to remove a recurring tumor and tissue that would be sent to the Allen Institute for study. Dr. Cobbs generously got the Allen Institute to agree to allow us to visit and tour the facility. After the tissue reached the institute, we got to see them studying the neurons using some of the best technology available. It is cool to think that we might be some of the few people to ever see the entire process from tissue extraction in an OR to neuron study in a laboratory. The entire week was an overall amazing experience. I would absolutely encourage anyone remotely interested in surgery to apply, I am definitely glad that I did.

Interested in applying for a Princeternship? Visit: http://bit.ly/princeternship2018.

Princeternship Stories: Nathan Alam ’21, Rally Health

Over this past winter intersession, I had the opportunity to shadow Charles Brown, chief of staff at Rally Health in Washington, D.C. Through this experience, I was able to gain valuable insights into the operations of a rapidly expanding tech company with a focus on healthcare.

Coming into this Princeternship, I had never stepped into an actual office environment before. While I had previously explored my interests in medicine and software development, I had yet to see how the two fields work together commercially. My time at Rally was a wonderful opportunity to familiarize myself with the variety of current players in the marketplace related to the intersection between healthcare and technology. After having been through this shadowing experience, I now have a better grasp on the state of these fields and how a private company navigates them.

At the beginning of my Princeternship, Mr. Brown explained how Rally fits into the U.S. healthcare system. While Rally offers a variety of software products, what I essentially got out of our discussion was that the company focused primarily on streamlining the healthcare market for consumers and use behavioral psychology to motivate people to live healthier. What was most interesting to me was how the people working in Rally were able to make the enterprise profitable.

One of the first things I noticed was how casual and friendly the office environment was. The most interesting part of the office was the fact that the conference rooms were all named after superhero characters. This environment made it very easy to engage in conversations with other employees there, and through them, I learned about the variety of career paths that led them to Rally. For example, after speaking with David Dempsey ’00, I learned about the legal team’s large presence in the office. I also learned about the career path of another employee currently directing graphic design and other art related projects, all essential to the company’s marketing and user experience. As I walked through the office with Mr. Brown, I was amazed by the variety of work occurring simultaneously, as the leadership sat on desks right next to software developers and lawyers.

 

Throughout the day, Mr. Brown took me to back-to-back meetings with other departments of the company in addition to third-party organizations related to healthcare technology. It was an eye-opening to see how interrelated and diverse the market was behind the scenes in healthcare. At our first “town hall” meeting, I sat with office heads to overhear discussions about renovations to increase office space and accommodate the ever-increasing size of the company. I sat in on calls between Mr. Brown and a prospective partner company discussing a product to improve sleep health. Mr. Brown also gave me an opportunity to sit in on a meeting with a contact working on a weight loss software tool. Throughout it all, Mr. Brown was always imparting advice about career development in the private sector and effectively managing projects in an unstructured, novel environment.

Before this Princeternship, I admittedly knew very little about the healthcare system and the world of software firms working behind direct consumers to develop intermediate products. After this experience, I know that there is much more than what meets the eye in the healthcare market. Now, I can appreciate the data management, analytics and partnerships that take place each time I visit my doctor. Most importantly, my career possibilities have expanded significantly, as I got to meet people working on projects and fields I never heard of before, using their knowledge in ways I could not have imagined. While I went into the internship looking for exposure in how applied technology could lead to healthcare solutions, I found myself learning a lot about the vast machinery in the operations of a company in a burgeoning market.

All in all, I would highly recommend anyone to get involved with the Princeternship program. I think that there is much more to learn from an actual working environment than what is in textbooks, and education tends to overlook the operations of a private company almost entirely. I would like to thank Charles Brown for his time, advice, and willingness to allow such a great shadowing experience.

Interested in applying for a Princeternship? Visit: http://bit.ly/princeternship2018.

Princeternship Stories: Rohan Joshi ’21, Northwestern Mutual

During intersession, I had the pleasure of shadowing Ms. Cindy Arocho, a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual. Before starting, I had to fill out a culture index survey as well as get fingerprinted. The culture index is a questionnaire that predicts how well you would function in a given workplace, based on your personality. My culture index showed that I value flexibility with my work, as well as having a high affinity for communication with my peers. This combination was well suited for a financial advisor, as they need to be willing to accommodate all their clients’ needs, as well as make sure the clients know what is going on with their money. I had to get fingerprinted because I would be interacting with confidential financial data.

The first day, I met Ms. Arocho and she taught me what a financial advisor does. Basically, advisors are people who manage the money of their clients. The clients set aside small (or larger) amounts of money each month for Ms. Arocho to manage. She allocates these funds into different financial instruments, such as Roth-IRA’s, life insurance and mutual funds. Each of these “buckets” does different things with money. IRAs and mutual funds depend on the stock market. Depending on how risky a client wants to be, the mutual fund will be either bond-heavy (safer) or stock-heavy (riskier).

Another integral part of Ms. Arocho’s job is finding clients. By networking and meeting mutual friends, Ms. Arocho can grow her client base. This is important because more clients mean greater assets under management.

One important thing I learned was that financial advisors help people in the community. Most people have no clue how to save for retirement, and Ms. Arocho was able to give them a detailed timeline describing how much to save and how much the initial seed would grow.

I am very satisfied with my Princeternship experience. I did not really know much about what financial advisors do beforehand, but I learned so much during my few days at Northwestern Mutual. Ms. Arocho was very helpful throughout the entire process, and I am grateful to Princeton for providing me with this opportunity.

Princeternship Stories: David Selwood ’20, MITRE Corporation

For my January 2017 Princeternship, another Princeton student and I spent a day at the MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts. The MITRE Corporation is a not-for-profit, largely government contracted company. It is at the forefront of research in many fields and provides services over a range of areas, though the majority of its resources go to defense work for the United States Air Force.

My host was Kristin Fitzgerald (Goehl), Class of 2016. I believed this was a great fit for me as I am a prospective operations research and financial engineering (ORFE) major and she is one of the most recent graduates of the department. Having been there for less than a year, it was especially great that Kristin could connect us to such interesting people within MITRE. These included another 2016 Princeton graduate (MAE) as well as the Vice President of the Air Force Program. I learned that MITRE does things that I did not expect, such as assessing risk in relation to youth in foster care, in addition to their advertised involvement in defense.

My first goal entering my Princeternship was to determine if I want to continue studying ORFE. During this experience, I learned multitudes of ways that the data science aspect of an ORFE education can be used. Each one of these applications deepened my interest in ORFE much more than I expected. It was certainly a pleasant surprise. What I did not expect to gather from this experience was a potential purpose for my career. Because MITRE is a not-for-profit company and is government contracted, its work is done in the public service. Whether helping foster kids escape certain risks or helping to defend our nation, everything is done for the good of someone else and not for personal or corporate profit. It was certainly noticeable that MITRE employees were passionate about their work, especially the VP of the Air Force Program. I learned that this is the mentality I want to carry through my career.

In addition to these data science applications, we were also allowed to look at certain computer science and programming applications in such fields as virtual reality. However, we were not allowed to see the most interesting projects at MITRE because of their sensitive nature. While there, we had to wear “ESCORT REQUIRED” badges, a neat experience in itself.

Shadowing at the MITRE Corporation for a day showed me how all the technical and theoretical skills I may learn as a Princeton engineer could be applied in a real-world situation. Whether it be in STEM, humanities or anywhere in between, I encourage all students to look into the Princeternship program to see what incredible work is available at the end of an enlightening Princeton career. Finally, I would like to thank Kristin Fitzgerald for her time and willingness to host us at MITRE and give us a great experience.

Q&A with Ji-Sung Kim ’19, Google

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Ji-Sung Kim ’19, a current intern at Google Research. Before joining the Google Research team, he had the opportunity to visit their office during last spring’s Princeternship. In this Q&A, Ji-Sung shares some valuable advice on how to make the most out of your Princeternship and insight on being rejected from a position.

1. Your title and a brief description of what you will be doing at Google

I’m currently an intern at Google Research. The goal of my internship is to study and develop machine learning algorithms — methods which automatically learn information from data. I collaborate with numerous Google engineers and scientists on bleeding-edge machine learning research. I have two mentors: one is a software engineer and the other is a research scientist.

2. Could you tell me a little bit about how you started working for Google? 

I befriended a really considerate and supportive Googler who encouraged me to apply. He offered some helpful advice and was like a mentor to me! During the application process, I completed a coding challenge and a project-interest phone interview. I received an offer a few weeks later.

3. Did Princetership influence your experience in choosing to intern at Google?

My Princeternship did not directly affect my application process, but it definitely helped me get a better sense of the Google culture. I also met some great people who I’ve had the chance to follow up with during my internship.

4. What advice do you have for students participating in Princeternship?

Do not try to network really hard. I think the best part of a Princeternship is creating meaningful (and enjoyable) conversations. Enjoy the Princeternship, and most importantly, enjoy speaking with and learning about the people who work there.

5. Any closing thoughts for students that you want to share?

I was rejected from Google several times before I was accepted for this internship. Most recruiting teams receive thousands of applications and accept only a small fraction of applicants. Rejection and failure are normal — they are an important part of learning and development. During my freshman and sophomore year, I was rejected from around 98% of the internship opportunities I applied to. 

Princeternship Stories: Keeley Walsh ’19, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital

Over intersession, I spent three days shadowing Dr. Shah ’96, a neonatologist at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester Country, New York. Dr. Shah went to Cornell Medical School after graduating from Princeton. He later completed his residency at Duke University Children’s Hospital followed by a fellowship at NYU Children’s Hospital. Not only is he a practicing neonatologist but he also is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as a co-chairman for the Society of Pediatric Research. I was very lucky to spend three days shadowing Dr. Shah because I was able to see the daily life of a neonatologist, a researcher, and an advocate for Children’s health policy.

Day one began with Dr. Shah showing me around the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). He spent time explaining the functions of all the different apparatuses used in the unit. I was amazed that not one baby had the same combination of treatments. Each patient was carefully assessed and given a unique treatment to help improve their health. After touring the unit with Dr. Shah, I completed the daily rounds with the residents and the on-call neonatologist.

During rounds we went through all 48 patients in the NICU, discussing the babies’ measurements and specific treatments. Measurements included everything from the baby’s weight to vitamin intake. The doctors, fellows, and residents would all converse on what they believed would be the best way to treat each’s unique condition and then decide from there. This ensured that every baby received the best possible care. After completing rounds, I could not wait to come back on day two to see the progress that some babies had made. I only interacted with the patients for a short time, maybe five minutes each, but I already felt connected to them and wanted each and every one to get better.

On day two I began with daily rounds with the on-call team. Similar to the day before, we saw each patient assessing their specific needs. This day was by far my favorite because I was able to see the positive progress that many of the babies had made. When some of these babies first came into the unit, they were smaller than three soda cans and had serious respiratory problems. I imagine treating babies with some of the most life-threatening problems is the hardest part of the job. But as the days pass and the team continues to adjust the treatments and medications, the patients get better, which I believe to be the most rewarding part of the job. On this day, many of the babies’ parents were in the unit as we were completing the daily rounds. I particularly enjoyed seeing the happiness on the parents’ faces when the doctor would comfort the parents and let them know that their child’s condition was improving. Day two concluded with me watching Dr. Shah conduct stem cell research at New York Medical College.

Day three was very different than the first two. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Shah is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is very passionate about children’s healthcare and wants to ensure that every child has access to necessary treatments. We traveled to several Congress members’ offices and discussed the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and how they benefited children in particular. It was interesting to see another side of medicine that I never thought of, but is just as important.

Before this experience, I was on the fence about continuing on the pre-medicine track. My goal to pursue pediatrics was solidified after completing rounds with the team and seeing what a neonatologist’s daily life in the hospital is like. I specifically enjoyed the second day of rounds because I was able to see some of the babies’ conditions improve. Dr. Shah was very welcoming and willing to discuss things that I did not understand. I enjoyed all our talks because I not only gained knowledge about neonatology but also about life in general. I am so grateful to have completed this Princeternship because I now have a better understanding of what I hope to be my future career path.

Princeternship Stories: Jaein Jung ’20, Massachusetts General Hospital

Meeting Dr. Sundt and the Cardiac Surgery team at Massachusetts General Hospital was one of the most amazing moments of my life. Although the internship was only two days, I learned so much about the field of medicine and the importance of passion, communication and knowledge. I am so grateful to be able to have this wonderful experience. Continue reading →

Princeternship Stories: Lisa Sheridan ’19, New Jersey Superior Court

Over winter intersession, I had the privilege of spending a week shadowing the Hon. Alberto Rivas ‘82 in his capacity as a presiding judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey. During this time, I gained an invaluable insight into the operation of the criminal justice system, with its many perspectives and challenges.

When shadowing Judge Rivas, our routine was to sit at the front of the courtroom and watch the many different types of hearings he presided over. We saw a full scope of the criminal justice process, from detention hearings to sentencing hearings.

After the flurry of hearings on the first day, I was overwhelmed by a vast and complex prescribed set of legal terms and processes that I was unfamiliar with. My fellow intern and I scribbled pages full of notes, questions and comments that Judge Rivas patiently and enthusiastically addressed between sessions. When we left the court at the end of each day, we would continue excitedly discussing and debating what we had seen until we got back to campus.

Later on, in the week, Judge Rivas arranged for us to sit in on trials in other courtrooms. We learned not just about how a trial proceeds formally, but also about the more implicit agendas and strategies at play. We had the privilege to witness the proceedings with and without the jury’s presence and to speak with professionals such as law clerks, attorneys and judges to gain a complete insight into the situation.

As we watched more of Judge Rivas’ hearings, our questions began to change. We had the rare chance to sit with Judge Rivas after a hearing and learn about his perspective as an authority on the law, asking questions such as, “What made you decide on this particular sentence?” and “What evidence was most pertinent to you for making your decision?” It was fascinating to be able to analyze Judge Rivas’ rulings with him; rulings informed by decades of work in the legal system and a holistic analysis of the situation from many perspectives (the defendant, the defense, the prosecution, the public, his peers and colleagues.) I was amazed at the scope of information that Judge Rivas must consider before making a ruling for which he alone shoulders a great deal of responsibility.In light of this, I came to admire Judge Rivas for his enduring dedication to empathy, fairness and rehabilitation, when he is often subject (as all judges are) to a great deal of criticism in the media for unpopular yet just rulings.

We were lucky enough also to see the newly instated criminal justice reform in action, whereby defendants are scored based on their risk of reoffending upon release from detention. These scores are designed to indicate the conditions under which a defendant could be released pending further proceedings. One of the things I learned from speaking to Judge Rivas is how the law and judicial system is not as concrete as I once thought, and it is constantly open to revision, refinement and replacement.

Overall I had a wonderful experience with Judge Rivas and his chamber team. I learned and reflected a lot about the legal system but also about the essential skills of impartial, logical thought and strong decision making. I am very grateful for these experiences and for the friends and mentors I made at the Superior Court.