In perfect design, internships are career steroids–designed to muscle up resumes with invaluable, firsthand experience. Even at their worst - say, a case in which an intern discovers he thoroughly dislikes the tasks that are biding his time for minimal, if any, pay–the seemingly flawed internship can still prevail a hero, having saved said intern from running into the clutches of an unsatisfying, post-graduate career.

Claremont McKenna College was recently ranked first among liberal arts colleges for its commitment to community service-based federal work study opportunities, which among other things ushers CMC students into area junior high and high schools to work with children in after-school activities such as Upward Bound for homework assistance, and in countless youth sports, math, and literacy programs. So it should come as no surprise that numerous CMC students seek internships (either foreign or domestic) as another way to log in valuable work-related experience throughout the school year.

With help from Career Services, we tracked down just a handful of the CMCers who elected this summer to trade in days at the beach for days at the office, and here’s what we found out:

Law

A true multi-tasker, Jacob Loshin ’03 is riding the metro headed for Georgetown University when he rings us on his cell phone. In less than an hour, after putting in a full day as in intern at the Institute for Justice in Washington, D.C., Loshin will be judging a debate on policy issues between teenage summer school students enrolled in college-level American government courses.

Loshin, who should write a book on how to make law work ‘for the people,’ says he never felt stronger about using law for the higher purpose of “helping those who genuinely need it.”

“I know I want to go to law school and become a lawyer,” Loshin says over whirring background noise. “But I want to make a difference beyond the corporate litigator's desk. I’m at a crossroads between action and ideas, and law and politics.”

An internship at the nation’s only libertarian public interest law firm “jived with my interests," said Loshin, a PPE major (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics). Entrenched in helping the Institute’s legal team research its cases, the CMCer has a particular interest in eminent domain litigation, which often leads to court battles over public benefits vs. private property rights.

The research requires Loshin to unearth the original intent of state constitutional language and then compile case facts from stacks of documents. “That’s something I’ve learned as a PPE major,” he says with a laugh, “the skill of processing enormous amounts of information very quickly.”

The reward is being able to work in an office of “fascinating, brilliant” lawyers and law student interns who all have political and ideological differences, despite their agreement on issues such as eminent domain. “It gives me a pretty good idea," he says, "of what to expect in law school."

It’s not as if Spain is the kind of place you say no to, but even halfway across the globe from Washington, D.C., Spanish/government major Amy Walter’s experience interning at the Civil Courthouse of Madrid was surprisingly similar to Josh Loshin’s experience at the Institute of Justice: both CMCers (and hopeful lawyers) want to represent the system’s overlooked and underpaid.

Says Walter, “The internship has confirmed my desire to attend law school with the end goal of providing legal services for indigent Spanish-speaking immigrants who similarly struggle within the U.S. justice system.”

Walter, who will be a junior this fall, says her Career Services-sponsored internship in the courthouse’s department of translation and interpretation enabled her to attend trials and declarations involving foreigners; assisting with court decision translations between Spanish and English; and interpreting for English speakers. “Most of the cases we dealt with involved Arabic-speaking Northern Africans, or English-speaking Nigerians–-two immigrant groups that frequently face discrimination in Spain,”Walter said.

Like Loshin, Walter says watching courtroom proceedings and discussing relevant issues with her supervisors in the department has been invaluable. “It’s given me a greater understanding of the ways in which immigrants and minorities struggle to receive justice under a foreign system.”

Healthcare

Picture the stark, clean walls of a hospital and a flurry of doctors and nurses responding to the cries of newborns. Adriane Tuttle ’05 was in this environment all summer. Through the Community Service Internship Program, she designed an internship at the Oregon Health and Sciences University that combined her interests in medicine, Spanish, and community service.

Tuttle spent her days in the neonatal intensive care nursery working with a neonatologist and a respiratory therapist on their research in determining effective ways to care for premature babies with lung diseases. While shadowing a medical interpreter at the hospital, Tuttle also learned to effectively relay information from doctors to Spanish-speaking parents. The unpredictable hospital environment was intimidating, but as the summer progressed, Tuttle says she established a niche, finding that her internship was “a positive introduction to the medical atmosphere,” and that it amplified her “ambition and determination to go to medical school.”

The daily exposure to high-risk, premature babies was an emotional experience. There was sadness in observing the severity of the infants’ illnesses, and anger in knowing that parental drug use sometimes contributed to those defects. Tuttle says she found consolation in helping babies recover, and was “surprised and touched” by the positive atmosphere that doctors and nurses maintained in the nursery.

“I also realized exactly how important preventative and prenatal care are,” she said.

When Kevin Kam ’04 decided to spend his summer working for the Care-A-Van program in Waikiki, he didn’t know what to expect. The program provides social and health care services for the homeless living on Oahu, as well as supplying them a mailing address, phone service, and counseling and referrals for jobs and housing. Kam quickly put to use CMC-sharpened interpersonal skills for the outreach and social service aspects of his work, which largely involved winning the trust of clients.

“If in a previous encounter I promised to bring blankets or a particular canned good to someone, the clients would hold me accountable,” Kam said.

In terms of the low-cost health medical services provided by Care-A-Van, Kam says he soon learned that the island’s transients fair better in Waikiki’s mild climates, as “health problems, particularly chronic illnesses and pains, are exacerbated by extreme weather.”

Kam says this kind of volunteer work is best approached with an open mind and a thick skin. “Some clients were cooperative and gracious,” he says. “Others were greedy, selfish, and demanding.” And then there was the bleak reality of “seeing continual improvement from a client, only to see that person then spend their welfare check on drugs or alcohol,” he says.
But the experience wasn’t without its rewards. “Once I could gain our clients’ trust, they felt comfortable sharing their problems and conditions, which enabled me to help them,” Kam said. “At that point I ceased being their outreach worker, and started being their friend.”

Jacob Loshin '03 was a summer intern at the nonprofit Institute for Justice in Washington, D.C., helping lawyers research cases.

A McKenna International Internship Scholarship from Career Services enabled Amy Walter '04 (front row, left) to work at the Civil Courthouse of Madrid.

Adriane Tuttle '05 spent her summer working in a neonatal intensive care unit in Oregon, and assisting in research on ways to effectively care for infants afflicted with lung diseases.