Skidmore-funded summer experiences growing fast, still available

Did you know that around 200 Skidmore students participated in Skidmore-funded internship, research, workshop, and community-service experiences last summer? Five years ago the number was closer to 100, and this summer it tops 200. And there is still time to apply! (See https://www.skidmore.edu/career/internships/listings.php.)

Allison Gretchko '17, an Elizabeth Marie Glotzbach Film Industry Award recipient last summer, says, "It is impossible to put into words all I that learned about the film and music industry." In her internship at Chicago-based Closed Sessions, she worked with prominent music videographers and their clients, which paved the way to her own work getting published.

One of 20 SEE-Beyond grant recipients, Kevin Wang '17 taught English to low-income middle-schoolers in Hong Kong; he also taught a public speaking course and his very own Frisbee elective. Says the English major, "I love how much liberty I had to create lesson plans and to engage and inspire my students. We played Taboo, turned Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech into a song, and held a tongue-twister contest." This summer Wang will teach at a Massachusetts boarding school, Northfield Mount Hermon, now that he's clear that "education is a career path I can embrace."

At Cornell University's Rose Lab, biology major and math minor Berke Tinaz '16 studied glycosyl hydrolase proteins, under the supervision of a postdoctoral associate. The proteins, results showed, function as xylanases, breaking down a plant cell-wall component called xylan. One of 26 recipients of a Skidmore Summer Funded Internship Award, Tinaz says the experience had a "huge effect on my future goals. This fall, I'll start a Ph.D. program in plant biology at the University of Vermont. Working with grad students last summer taught me a lot and helped solidify my decision to pursue an advanced degree."

In all, during summer 2015:

• 84 students received grants through Skidmore's longstanding Summer Collaborative Faculty-Student Research Program; they worked with 42 faculty members on 59 studies across a wide range of disciplines.
• 4 engaged in off-campus student-faculty research at a New York 6 consortium college through the NY6 Upstate Global Collective.
• 26 earned Skidmore Summer Funded Internship Awards. The awards began in 2009 as a way to help students take unpaid summer internships or other experiences; for some awards, preference is given to those with high financial need.
• 20 received grants through SEE Beyond (Summer Educational Experiences-Learning Beyond Campus), begun in 2012 to support research, internships, residencies, workshops, apprenticeships, or productions.
• 18 received Student Government Association Responsible Citizenship Awards to participate in unpaid internships that advance their studies as well as Skidmore's mission to encourage service and citizenship.
• 18 participated in top-notch Skidmore-hosted workshops, from the New York State Writers Institute to intensives in dance, music, theater, and Shakespeare.
• 10 joined Skidmore's new Storytellers' Institute, a documentary-studies experience for students to engage with professionals in master classes and focus on their own documentary projects.
• 10 earned paid internships at Skidmore's renowned Tang Teaching Museum.
• 3 earned internship funding through Skidmore's Environmental Studies Program, which places students at area conservancies, ecology centers, and other agencies.
• 3 received funding from Skidmore's Sustainability Office to work as North Woods stewards and manage the campus community garden.
• 1 received a funded Parents Council internship.
• 1 won a Davis Project for Peace Award. The awards allow students to design grassroots projects, anywhere in the world, to promote peace.

New this summer are experiences supported by the Parents Fund 2017, as well as the Thorne Family Award, which specifically funds first-generation college students. For the most comprehensive listing of internships, click here.

Skidmore's strategic plan calls for significant expansion of several hands-on programs, with the goal that all students engage in at least one such experience during their college years.

Tips for students with summer on their minds:

• Apply by March 25. That deadline applies to Skidmore Summer Funded Internship Awards, SGA Responsible Citizenship Awards, SEE Beyond, the Parents Fund 2017, and other programs.
  Keep in mind that for most awards, you do are not required to have a placement secured by March 25. That's only the application deadline for Skidmore funding.
• Apply for several. Apply for each and every award for which you're eligible-more than one might think. Full listing here. 
• Essays matter. Compelling, well-thought-out essays, linked to your academics and describing specifically how funding will help, are a big deal.
• Talk with professors. Though this summer's collaborative-research deadline has passed, now is the time to ask faculty members if they'll have opportunities in the fall or next summer, or if they can suggest other opportunities.
• Make an appointment with Career Development. CDC staff can help with planning and landing a huge range of internships and similar openings.