Caroline Cioffi, Reporter
@cciofficourant
With a majority of the senior class gone, the halls are a lot quieter, classes are a lot smaller, and the parking lot (especially senior lot!) is a lot less crowded. But, what have the seniors been up to? Over the past few years, the senior internship program has been steadily growing; this year, 94% of the senior class partook in one of the various internships as part of the program.
Kaitlyn Kearns – Chamber of Commerce
Each morning, Kaitlyn Kearns heads to the Chamber of Commerce clad in business attire and ready for a day of attending meetings and working on her database project. Kaitlyn, a prospective business major, sees her internship as an opportunity to practice the professional skills she will need in the business world. “I definitely hope to take away a foundation of how to thrive in a business environment and how to conduct myself professionally in any capacity,” Kaitlyn said. “I’m learning that you have to be on time and that you have to be polite, and I think that’s important.”
For the past two weeks, Kaitlyn has been working on the town’s tourism database. “The idea is that if someone came to Connecticut and wanted to tour New Canaan, they would have a collective site to look at,” Kaitlyn said. “We’re going to have three different sections: eat, shop, and explore. The database lists all the important restaurants, schools, and other stuff in town. The idea is to stimulate tourism.”
When she’s not working on the database, Kaitlyn is able to sit in on the Chamber’s meetings with local businesses and nonprofits. “I get to take notes and listen to the problems that these businesses are experiencing and how the Chamber can help to rectify them. It’s really interesting!” Kaitlyn said. “I get to listen to and experience stuff that most people don’t get to experience at 18-years-old!”
Jane Jiang – LiveGirl
While many students find their internships on the school internship website, Jane Jiang chose a different path. Jane, a passionate advocate for women’s rights, chose to self-design an internship at LiveGirl, a local nonprofit. LiveGirl’s mission is to “empower girls through a year-round leadership development and mentoring that builds self-confidence and fosters diversity,” according to the LiveGirl website. “I truly believe in LiveGirl’s purpose,” Jane said. “I want to contribute to LiveGirl because I believe in its mission to make girls feel more confident.”
Most recently, Jane was tasked with building a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) for LiveGirl. The board met for the first time on May 31st and Jane was able to experience the impact of her work first-hand. “Due to my preparation, the meeting ran very smoothly,” Jane said. “The girls were genuinely excited about the future. I felt positive energy flowing and it was extremely fulfilling.”
In addition to the impact she is having on LiveGirl, Jane hopes to learn other skills during her internship. “I wish to learn more about time management and organization,” Jane said. “The thing with an internship is that you have greater freedom. However, you also have greater responsibility. It’s really important to be self-driven and dedicated.”
Eva Pace – New Canaanite
A Courant alum herself, Eva Pace saw her internship at the New Canaanite as a way to experience journalism in a “real world” setting. “Working for the New Canaanite was my top choice,” Eva said. “I really wanted to explore journalism from a real-world perspective.”
As with any workplace internship, Eva has been able to experience what it is like to work under a boss. “I think I’m really learning to adapt to my work environment and understand how different bosses want different things done,” Eva said. “I’m learning how to behave in an office and I will likely carry this into all of my work experiences.”
Along with adapting to the workplace environment, Eva has learned to keep up with the fast pace of the New Canaanite. “I write an article a day,” Eva said. “It sounds like a lot but, if you focus, it actually can get done pretty fast.”
Eva described the process for one story she worked on that stood out to her in particular. “I had to go to find this random lady’s house deep in the East side of New Canaan, knock on her door, and ask her to take pictures of her donkeys, which apparently were therapeutic,” Eva said. “It was definitely an out-and-about perspective on being a reporter.”
Jai Ansh – Dr. Braddock
Unlike many seniors, Jai Ansh chose to intern with a doctor who he had already worked with this past summer. Over the summer, Jai helped in Dr. Braddock’s lab as part of a program run by the Discovery to Cure foundation. Now, Jai is focused on researching a rare disease called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria (Jai remarked that the disease is the same disease featured in the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).
As part of his project, Jai has been working with and examining RNA samples collected from mice in the lab. “By looking at these pathways, we can hypothesize other treatments,” Jai explained. “We can also determine if the treatment we are researching can be used to treat other diseases.”
Aside from the actual research, Jai hopes to improve his technology skills. “I hope to become a proficient coder,” Jai said. “I think being able to program computers is a very useful skill that can be infinitely applicable to other areas.”
In order to improve this skill, Jai has been working with the lab’s supercomputers, a unique experience for a senior in high school. “I get to use Yale’s clusters, their supercomputers, to sift through the genes and look for any irregularities,” Jai said. “I am learning how to code, something new for me, and applying it in interesting ways.”
