Changing the World, One Internship at a Time

Viewing a full autopsy and holding a human brain may not be up everyone’s alley, but for junior biology major Nootshy Romage, it was the experience of a lifetime. As an intern for the Lions Eye Bank for Long Island, Romage took cell counts with a specular microscope as part of the donor suitability screening process and worked on her research project to determine the variation of corneal cell counts in patients—all fitting preparation for her goal of becoming a physician and someday healing people in developing nations.

Lindsey Scott, a sophomore, spent the summer at Nassau Land Trust Crossroads Farms at Grossmann’s evaluating recycling efforts and was interviewed by and quoted in the LIHerald.com. Germaine Jeanty, a junior studying communications, created a video for the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.

These are just three of the nearly 70 students participating in the Jaggar Community Fellows Program. Hosted by Adelphi’s Center for Career and Professional Development, the program places students in paid summer internships with nonprofit organizations.

Undergraduate and graduate students from various majors, schools and colleges across the University spent their summer tutoring children, engaging senior citizens, evaluating and promoting programs, researching diseases, crunching numbers and otherwise serving nonprofit organizations such as the American Red Cross, Northwell Health, New York Cares and United Way, to name a few. It’s a win-win for Adelphi students and the community: Students make a difference, learn valuable career lessons, build up their résumés—and get paid for their efforts—and nonprofits receive their much-appreciated support.

On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, the interns will present their research at the program’s end-of-year reception.

Andrew Jacobson, a junior majoring in finance, interned for the National Urban League‘s core fundraising operation. The internship was an “amazing opportunity,” he said. “I was treated royally there and know that this experience is one I will never forget. While I invested a lot of time and energy into the past two months, I really feel that my return was tenfold.”

“Every summer, I’m so impressed by the creative genius our students bring to their internships and this year was no exception,” said Bernadine Waller, M.A. ’10, associate director of experiential learning for the Center for Career and Professional Development. “I thoroughly enjoy seeing our students flourish and make substantive impacts on the nonprofit organizations that service our communities.”