For Students Going Places, Summer Internships Are Helping Them Get There

Internships are a foundation of an Adelphi education and one of the best ways students can prepare for careers. From shadowing surgical technicians at an eye bank to researching nanotechnology in Poland, our students spent the summer of 2024 having extraordinary internship experiences.

For many college students here in Long Island, summer means long days at the beach or summer jobs in town. At Adelphi, summer brings unique opportunities for career-building internships and research projects, helping students gain valuable skills and apply their knowledge in real-world settings.

Two examples are graduate students Mujjabi Ian Sebbowa and Peace Olutoye. Although they are in very different programs at Adelphi, they each share a common interest in inspiring a love of STEM subjects in younger students.

Teaching the Next Generation of STEM Students

Sebbowa, who will graduate with his MBA in December 2024, and Olutoye, who is getting her MS in Biology, spent the summer as interns at Arthur Morrison Mentors, a nonprofit that holds STEM classes for students in the Hempstead Union Free School District on Long Island.

As program coordinator for the STEMpower Scholars program at Morrison Mentors, Sebbowa led daily sessions to help students develop professional skills and created personalized practice plans for each student.

"Leading personal development sessions for the scholars has allowed me to apply concepts from my organizational behavior and leadership courses, helping me develop my coaching and mentoring abilities," he said. "This experience has been particularly rewarding as it combines the business acumen I'm gaining from my MBA with the opportunity to make a positive impact on young minds in STEM fields."

As a tutor for students from Pre-K to fifth grade, Olutoye designed and delivered lessons and hands-on experiments to help students grasp topics such as scientific methods, weather and climate.

"Morrison Mentors' focus on STEM education for young students aligned perfectly with my desire to promote scientific literacy from an early age," said Olutoye, who will graduate with an MS in Biochemistry in December 2024 and plans to become a researcher and biology teacher. "The excitement on a child's face when they grasp a new concept or successfully complete an experiment is incredibly rewarding."

Paid Summer Internships at Nonprofits

Sebbowa and Olutoye were members of this year's class of Adelphi's prestigious Jaggar Community Fellows, a competitive program that connects students with local nonprofits for paid summer internship placements.

Twenty-five graduate and undergraduate students won fellowships this summer, including Annabelle Ali, a communications major with a media studies concentration, who worked as a production intern at North Shore TV (NSTV). Other fellows interned at a wide range of nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society, the National Urban League, the Northwell Institute for Nursing, Community Counseling and Mediation, the Financial Women's Association and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.

Senior Joe Sawma, a pre-med biology major and marketing minor, used his fellowship to combine his two passions in one internship. At Northwell Health's Lions Eye Bank, a nonprofit fighting corneal blindness, Sawma not only shadowed surgical technicians but also pitched marketing campaigns to the hospital's CFO.

"This internship has been extremely valuable and certainly indispensable to my Adelphi experience and future career goals," said Sawma, who received Adelphi's Outstanding First-Year Student Award in 2022 and won a prestigious Newman Civic Fellowship from Campus Compact the following year. "I've enjoyed coming to work this summer as every day has been a new experience and a new discovery for me."

Researching Nanotechnologies in Poland

Summer internships took Adelphi students abroad as well. Chemistry major Joshuah Tavarez conducted research on nanotechnologies in Poland as part of International Research Experiences for Students (IRES), a program led by Justyna Widera-Kalinowska, PhD, professor of chemistry and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works, and funded by the National Science Foundation. President of the Adelphi Chemistry Club on campus, Tavarez spent his summer conducting research at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences.

"Our lab focused on the use of absorbents to purify wastewater," Tavarez said. "Many people don't realize how polluted water can be; pollutants can range from dyes to antibiotics."

After graduation next year, Tavarez aspires to pursue a PhD in Chemistry and "help the world, using science."

Launching an Accelerated Career in Finance

Closer to home, Monish Churaman interned as a global markets analyst at the financial services company Société Générale in New York City. Churaman, who received his degree in finance this May after completing Adelphi's accelerated three-year business track, shadowed junior and senior analysts, completed his own projects, and participated in "Lunch & Learn" meetings with senior analysts.

"Working as a summer analyst at Société Générale has been nothing but an incredible experience," he said. "I can confidently say that this is one of the best financial firms to work at, and an even better place to build the foundation of a banking career in my short time there."

Churaman has had a great deal of success on the Adelphi campus as well. He received a 2024 President's Student Leadership Award and won the 2023 Business Plan Competition with his partner Amita Radakichenane; they pitched an innovative business called SmileLab Printing Technologies, which would allow dental clinics to print crowns, bridges and dentures on-site instead of in a lab.

"This accelerated three-year business program has freed up a significant amount of time for myself, allowing me to get into the industry as quick as possible," he said. "I can't say enough positive things about the program, as my professors, advisers and other leaders at the business school have all played an integral part in shaping me into the person I am today and helping me move towards the goals I have set for myself."