The power of internships

Students, alumni reflect on transformational experiences

By Kathy Andrews

“A great internship is one where a student is trained really well and given the independence both to learn and to fail,” says Trinity College Career and Life Design Executive Director Joe Catrino. “And if they build their network, develop further skills, and understand the culture of an organization—when a student comes away with those things—that’s a successful internship.”

The Reporter checked in with students and alumni about internships that have proven to be a vital part of their time at Trinity and have helped to develop and prepare them for life after college.

Class-to-Industry Connection

“There’s a big difference in me before internships and me after internships,” says Enock Niyonkuru ’24, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar from Kigali, Rwanda.

A computer science major with minors in applied mathematics and formal organizations, Niyonkuru says applying what he learns at Trinity to the research setting of The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX) in Farmington, Connecticut, has been transformative. After pitching himself by email to a JAX professor of computational biology, he landed an internship sophomore year. Ever since, he has interned there, contributing to projects involving bioinformatics and machine learning as part of a team developing algorithms and software for the analysis of exome and genome sequences.

Niyonkuru’s Trinity adviser, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Chandranil Chakraborttii, helps him connect his coursework to his work at JAX. Says Niyonkuru, “I can apply my experience in class to JAX and my experience at JAX to class—it’s the best way to understand the material.”

His internship has brought fulfillment and a potential career path, too. “I was building software to be used to predict cancer, so I worked on that knowing I could help save people’s lives.” His latest JAX project, a database to help doctors diagnose rare diseases, will be his senior capstone project at Trinity. Best of all, says Niyonkuru, it will use artificial intelligence to advance health care, which he has been curious about ever since shadowing Rwandan hospital physicians during high school and seeing a need for more technology in that setting. “Now I’m looking into Ph.D. programs in bioinformatics and computational biology,” he says, adding, “I think this was a life-changing opportunity for me.”

International Inspiration

Returning last March to Trinity’s Rome Campus for the program’s 50+3 anniversary celebration was special for Annalise Welte ’12 in at least two ways: she traveled with her mother, Patricia Gallucci Welte ’79, also a Trinity Rome program alumna, and she visited a former internship supervisor at Biblioteca Angelica.

As a Trinity junior—a classics major, minoring in Italian and philosophy—Welte was passionate about her studies but unsure of her career aspirations. In Rome, she spotted the opportunity to intern at one of Europe’s oldest libraries and was drawn to immerse herself in speaking Italian while surrounded by rare manuscripts and books. She anticipated running errands and picking up coffee, but instead, her supervisors asked what interested her in their collection and encouraged her to select items to focus on for a project.

The internship became a significant highlight of her global study experience, inspiring her to research library and museum jobs in the United States and to set her sights on this field professionally. Back on campus in Hartford, she took a “History of the Book” class with Jonathan Elukin, associate professor of history. “That cemented everything,” says Welte, noting that the class brought her to Trinity’s Watkinson Library, where she discovered its depth of rare book and special collections.

Now the recipient of two master’s degrees, one in art history and one in library science, Welte is an art librarian and tenure-track faculty member at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts Library; previously, she held positions at the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the Getty Research Institute. “I’m so lucky to have had incredibly supportive supervisors during my internship experience,” she says. “It completely inspired me, personally, academically, and professionally.”

Alumni Support

Zachary Logan Gould ’07, assistant vice president and assistant general counsel at Symetra Financial Corporation’s New York City-based benefits division, looks back fondly on two summers in Washington, D.C., when he was among the throngs of college interns.

After his sophomore year, Gould interned for New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, who became a U.S. representative after her husband was killed and her son was injured in a shooting. Gould was proud to support her efforts toward stronger gun control. The next summer, he researched policy positions and helped draft legislation as an intern with Connecticut Senator Christopher J. Dodd. “It was the summer leading up to Dodd announcing his run for presidency, and it was exhilarating,” says Gould. “For me, the ability to help shape public policy that impacted individuals living in more urban environments was especially important. It was critical to help those who may not have access to the public infrastructure, programs, and support that allow Americans to be successful where they live and proud of what they’re doing.”

Combined with his public policy and law major and Afro-American studies minor [now African American studies], supportive faculty, and his campus service with the Student Government Association and the Honor Council, Gould’s internship experiences led him to law school.

Of his time on Capitol Hill, Gould also well remembers the honor of receiving a grant from the William R. Cotter ’49 Scholarship Fund, named for a Trinity alumnus and U.S. House of Representatives member from Connecticut. That support made Gould’s second summer internship a little easier, expense-wise. “I distinctly remember writing to Mr. Cotter’s family, thanking them for that support and being able to honor his legacy.”

Practical Connections

Aarti Lamberg ’24, a Presidential Scholar from Amherst, Massachusetts, majoring in human rights with a community action minor focused on performance in the community, says, “I feel driven to take what I read and study at Trinity into the real world.”

Internships have been a big part of her college career, enabling her to explore topics about which she is passionate. With support from the Catalyst Summer Internship Fund, Lamberg—who is a dancer—completed an internship with the Justice Dance Performance Project (JDPP), a Hartford organization founded by Judy Dworin ’70, professor of theater and dance, emerita, that examines social issues through dance-theater performance and engagement with the arts. “I think that Judy will be a lifelong mentor for me,” says Lamberg, who is excited to be on track to earn an experiential certificate in carceral systems and social change, with her JDPP internship counting toward that.

More recently, as a participant in the human rights/international studies global migration and refugee internship seminar, Lamberg interned with Greater Hartford Legal Aid (GHLA), where she worked with immigrants, sitting in with staff on client-intake meetings and helping clients edit paperwork associated with filing cases. Because immigration and refugee resettlement constitute another of her focus areas, interning at GHLA was ideal.

When Lamberg considers the skills she contributes as an intern, she says, “They include communicating efficiently and getting things done on time; asking questions when you need to; and especially writing, editing, and researching. I’m so grateful for Trinity and the people who’ve taught me these things.” She notes she is thankful, as well, for a summer job in Admissions, which included the benefit of campus housing, making it possible for her to complete one of her Hartford internships over the summer. “It really was all sides of Trinity helping me out.”

Opportunities Close to Campus

Adrian West ’97, managing director, investment banking, at NextGen Capital in California, says of internships, “You can put yourself on a path to something you want to do, or you can check a box about something you don’t want to do. Both are valuable, and in my case, I was fortunate to do both.”

With his first internship, at a stock brokerage firm in downtown Hartford, West learned that individual investment planning was not what he wanted to do. An economics major and formal organizations minor, he realized investment banking was where he saw his future. He says he feels certain that his second internship in Hartford—with Roosevelt & Cross, whose services include investment banking—was an important factor in helping him land his first job on Wall Street with Lehman Brothers.

“There were other components—I had a Trinity alumni connection, a decent story to tell about what I was studying, and with my participation on the rowing team, there was the work ethic, dedication, and teamwork involved in that—all the different things you weave into an interview. But being able to talk intelligibly about the field and use some of the experiences I’d had was absolutely critical,” says West. “I don’t think I would have stood out and gotten the job offer without it.”

West stays involved with Trinity by volunteering as an admissions interviewer in Southern California. As he speaks with prospective students about what makes Trinity distinct among New England liberal arts colleges, he always emphasizes Hartford. “There’s so much opportunity to intern right there in the city. Whether it’s in law, politics, health care, finance, insurance—there’s just a lot of opportunity for Trinity students.”

For more information about internships, visit https://careerlifedesign.trincoll.edu/. Trinity alumni, family, and friends with information to share about available internship opportunities are encouraged to email Severn Sandt, senior assistant director of strategic partnerships and outreach in the Career and Life Design Center, at [email protected].

In the header photo: Enock Niyonkuru ’24 at The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut. Photo by Joanna Chattman