This post was written by Gabrielle Johnson after her Princeternship.
For my Princeternship, I spent three days at St. Luke’s Orthopaedic Specialists in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. There I shadowed Orthopedic Physician Dr. Nicholas Avallone ’97. While this was not my first time in a clinical setting, it was my first time in an actual doctor’s office—all of my clinical shadowing experience has taken place in a hospital and this opportunity enlightened me on the other main medical setting.
Princeternship
Princeternship stories: Brandon Zamudio ’14, New York Public Radio
This post was written by Brandon Zamudio after his Princeternship.
It was a chilly Friday morning when I got off the E train at Spring Street in Lower Manhattan, just two blocks away from the headquarters of New York Public Radio. As I approached the nine-story building on Varick Street, I noticed a scrolling marquee near the front doors that read “WNYC Radio 93.9 FM | AM 820.” After signing in at the security desk in the lobby, I made my way up to the eighth floor (one of three floors that New York Public Radio occupies) and was greeted by my host, Mr. Ivan Zimmerman ’80.
Princeternship stories: Michelle Nedashkovskaya ’16, World Monuments Fund
This post was written by Michelle Nedashkovskaya after her Princeternship.
During the Spring Break of my junior year, I had the opportunity to spend three days as a Princetern at the World Monuments Fund (WMF) office on the twenty-fourth floor of the Empire State building.
Princeternship stories: Jack Moore ’15, Will Staples – Freelance Screenwriter
This post was written by Jack Moore after his Princeternship.
When you want to write professionally, there is no clear path to accomplishing that dream. There’s no equivalent to law or medical school, no test you can take to prove that you’re a good writer, no entry level positions at large writing companies. But still, somehow, people become writers. For Will Staples ’00, my Princeternship host, I learned, that path involved leaving investment banking, packing up a U-Haul, moving to Los Angeles, and starting to write.
My day took me to a variety of Will’s regular haunts: his house, two nearby coffee shops (the first one was completely filled with writers, so we had to find another), his favorite noodle restaurant, and his office, a small room on the top floor of church in Santa Monica, which he shares with another writer. But where we went wasn’t that important: it was all about the stories.
From when we first sat down in that second coffee shop, Will was sharing details from his life. Whether offering an anecdote about spending an evening with Navy Seals or talking about the various projects that he has worked on, every story he told taught me something about what it’s like to actually write in the real world. You have to put everything you have into each project. You have to do the research, plan, and edit. Then edit again and again and again. And then, if the project doesn’t pan out, you have to let it go. It’s a rough world; even when a script is sold, even when directors and actors are attached, it’s still a long way off from getting a movie made. It can dangle in development limbo forever, a fate worse than death. That’s why you should be careful about making it too autobiographical, Will told me, because it will be too hard to let go of, a piece of advice I certainly needed.
But under everything else, the most important element to Will’s world is friendliness. While this seems odd given Hollywood’s reputation, being an outgoing, trustworthy, loyal individual has helped Will more than a competitive attitude ever could (although there’s still a touch of that). Will’s expertise is in action movies, but he has an angle no one else has. A self-professed research junkie, Will had never fired a gun before working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. While other writers might’ve been content to make it up, to copy other movies or games, Will needed to experience it firsthand. This led to him reaching out to military experts: Seals, Delta Force operators, Special Forces, and more. Today, not only does he know how to shoot (with night-vision, no less), but he also has a host of contacts that he can reach out to at any time. Because he commits to his research and honors the stories of men who have risked their lives around the world, these soldiers, his friends, offer Will insights and details few writers have access to. They know that he will use their information to tell the best, and most honest, story possible. This is Will’s edge: not the ability to undercut or slander another writer, but to show up at a pitch with a folder full of information and say, “I know how this works. I am the right man for this project.” Which is not to say that Will is always the right man for the job. Sometimes, a job comes up that you have to pass on, because you have to be honest with yourself and not make promises you can’t keep. But when the right idea does come along, Will can put himself out there, knowing that he really will do the job better than anyone else.
During my day with Will, I got to sit in on a phone call with TV producers, read screenplay drafts, and discuss possible future projects. But the greatest thing to me were the stories. A man who has made it where so few have was willing to take the time to share his thoughts on writing with me, and I cannot be more grateful. Will’s commitment to research, to editing, and to fostering strong relationships will influence my own writing process for years to come. Entering the world of freelance screenwriting is a daunting prospect, but it didn’t stop Will Staples, and thanks to the time I got to spend with him, I hope it won’t stop me.
Princeternship stories: Arianna Brown ’18, Heartland Payment Systems
This post was written by Arianna Brown after her Princeternship.
I had a great three-day experience at Heartland Payment Systems with Adrienne Rubin ’88. In such a short period of time, I learned a great deal about the company and spent a lot of time with the employees. I learned about Heartland as a major payment processor company and gained some clarity on how that works.
As a Princetern, I even gained some rare insight on how companies like that deal with fraud. After the three days, I came out learning much more than I had ever imagined. I learned about the work atmosphere and work conduct as well as tricks to help in understanding how to analyze data. In addition, I learned new ways to think about product launches and brainstorming. Surprisingly enough, however, that was not the most important thing that I learned from my experience. The most important things that I expected to learn were concerning the company system and the intricacies of marketing.
Yet, while those were major things that I did learn, my greatest “take away” from the experience was how to determine whether or not a career is a compatible fit for you. I learned that the happiness or unhappiness that you find in a job is heavily influenced by the people you work with and the overall work environment. That was my greatest take away because it put things into perspective. When making job decisions in the future, I will heavily consider those factors.
With that being said, I have only positive things to say about Heartland and my host Adrienne. Every day I walked in the door, I looked forward to completing the task at hand which involved a lot of data analysis. In addition, I also had an opportunity to brainstorm ideas to more effectively launch and promote new Heartland products. This experience was my first time applying the things that I have learned in the classroom to the real world. Being able to use my critical thinking skills in order to impact the launch of real products was a really neat experience and one that I hope to have the opportunity to do again. Overall, the experience was a priceless one that taught me new things about not only Heartland as a company, but also about myself as someone who could one day be potentially working in this field.
Princeternship stories: Vivian Yao ’17, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital
This post was written by Vivian Yao after her Princeternship.
I met Dr. Shah for the first time in the lobby of the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester County, New York, and Day 1 officially started with “Grand Rounds.” These weekly lectures are held by academic departments on subjects related to their specific medical specialty. The presentation focused on how hospital care can be strengthened through improved national standards and better communication within the often disparate divisions in the medical system. For the remainder of my Princeternship, the idea of effective communication resonated.
Princeternship stories: Michael Zhang ’17, DonorsChoose
This post was written by Michael Zhang after his Princeternship.
I remember thinking to myself on my morning commute to DonorsChoose.org headquarters that this Princeternship was going to be my first real glimpse of what my future may look like. For a brief train ride, I felt like I was walking into the “real world,” as it occurred to me that I was experiencing what every worker from Long Island experiences on a typical workday, even though the morning felt particularly special to me. Continue reading
Princeternship stories: Summer Ramsay-Burrough ’17, Cornea and Laser Eye Institute
This post was written by Summer Ramsay-Burrough after her Princeternship.
When I tell people that I am studying chemistry, they often assume that I’m on a track right to medical school. For most of my life, though, I never considered going into medicine. Working in a lab has always sounded more appealing to me — perhaps developing pharmaceuticals and creating novel compounds. It’s only recently that I even began considering changing my plans and studying medicine. However, I had no sense of what a doctor did on an everyday basis. What were the interpersonal dynamics of a doctor’s office like? Was the stress worth the reward? To answer these questions, among others, I decided to apply for a Princeternship with Dr. Peter Hersh ‘78, a corneal surgeon specializing in well-known procedures like LASIK and less-familiar procedures like INTACS and collagen crosslinking.
Princeternship stories: Jennifer Bu ’17, Massachusetts General
This post was written by Jennifer Bu after her Princeternship.
Day 1
On the first morning, I met Suzanne Morrison ’89 with my fellow Princetern Ryan at 8:30 a.m. sharp in the Massachusetts General Hospital Yawkey Center Orthopaedic Trauma Division. After conversing with Suzanne in her office, we went on a tour of the hospital. I couldn’t help but be impressed, not only by both the towering glass buildings and the original Ether Dome, but also by the ever-bustling activity.
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