Family Weekend: Wilson Student Recipients Discuss Their Internships

Every year during Family Weekend at Grinnell, students are able to present their research and summer internships experiences at the Social Studies and Humanities Divisions Poster Session and Reception. This provides an excellent opportunity to share their work with faculty, staff and fellow students and engage in scholarly discussions. As with past years, this year’s presenters included a number of students who had received internship funding from the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.

Developing Meaningful Relationships and Experiences

Vedika Haralalka ’18 worked as a Corporate Marketing Intern at Save the Children, an organization that focuses on combating child poverty and promoting education and health. Haralalka, an economics major, writes that she was concerned with “reaching out to new corporates to educate them on our existing efforts and partner with them for future projects.” She combines her passions for economics and global development to develop relationships with corporations to further support Save the Children’s missions.

Luc Moisan ’17, a political science major and linguistics concentrator, worked as a Development Intern at the Museum at Eldridge Street in New York, NY. “I came away from this internship with a strong grasp of many of the less visible aspects of nonprofit management,” Moisan says. “I hope to be able to put this experience into practice after my time at Grinnell.

Examining Outcomes from the Internships

Haralalka and Moisan’s internships were different in their substance and scope, but their experiences resulted in quite similar outcomes. Both developed critical leadership skills as well as understandings of their own aptitudes as emerging leaders and innovators. Their experiences helped to facilitate their growth as students capable of change and impact.

Haralalka and Moisan’s internships were sponsored by the Wilson Center, which seeks to cultivate among our students a sense of understanding and awareness of innovation and leadership, as well as to encourage students to embrace the challenges related with these.