This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at the International Rescue Committee, a refugee resettlement agency that resettles refugees in the Atlanta area, my hometown. The international rescue committee is an international organization that works in both crisis mitigation and resettlement.
I worked as a financial capabilities intern within the Economic Empowerment branch of the Atlanta office. As a financial capabilities intern, we worked to help newly arrived refugees develop financial capabilities and understand the daunting United States financial system.
The main goals of my department were to offer loans, including auto loans, credit-building loans, and small personal loans. These loans are intended to help clients gain low-interest access to capital and credit. Our department also offers financial literacy classes in clients’ native languages. These weekly workshops cover topics like credit and loans, savings and banking, and budgeting.
My largest responsibility in my internship was conducting budgets for clients, to assess both their self sufficiency and their eligibility for loans. For these budgets, I was assigned to work with French-speaking clients, as I had taken French in school. This was incredibly daunting because I had never spoken French outside of the academic context, but speaking French became incredibly rewarding as my conversational skills began to progress. I was able to assist many French speaking clients whom our department would have been otherwise unable to serve without an interpreter.
As an intern, one of my other primary responsibilities was to contact clients who needed help understanding their IOM loans, a mandatory loan covering each refugee’s cost of travel, and work with them to set up repayment or deferment. I spent a lot of time working one-on-one with clients and helping them understand more about what these loans are, helping clients set up loan repayment, or helping them defer the loan.
One of the most rewarding parts of my internship was simply speaking to clients, as working with them on budgets and IOM loans also allowed them to raise other concerns or questions. Each day brought an unexpected new task, like helping a client order a debit card, translating mail, or connecting them with employment or medical services.
As an economics and urban studies student, I was able to experience firsthand how personal finance can empower economic development. I have learned a lot about the resettlement process and how necessary and meaningful resettlement support is for clients. I hope to continue this work in future economic development roles, and I would like to thank the Honors Program for this incredible opportunity.
This past summer, I was fortunate to intern for Interfaith Works, a non-profit organization providing refugee resettlement services in Syracuse, New York. Interfaith Works provides government-regulated and funded resettlement services. It is their mission to provide these services with respect and dignity. The organization relies heavily on generously donated time and goods to facilitate resettlement and the future success of individuals and families. I interned with the Match Grant program, which offers new Americans additional support to develop self-sufficiency through the means of employment services, budgeting guidance, and basic needs assurance such as housing and food.
At the beginning of my internship, I focused on learning the ins and outs of the Matching Grant program and learned how to manage and organize client paperwork and files. I then contributed more profoundly to the program by crafting resumes, leading job searches, and translating enrollment and self-sufficiency meetings for Spanish-speaking clients. Interacting with the Matching Grant team and its clients in various ways taught me a lot about professional teamwork and time management. For example, managing housing or employment concerns often requires teamwork to overcome language and cultural barriers to reach solutions. With over 100 families and individuals in unique situations arriving at the agency monthly, I have learned how essential each member of the Matching Grant team and their communication is to assure proper support for each client.
As a psychology major, Spanish minor, and pre-law student, this internship and the Honors Fellowship have been incredible opportunities to immerse myself in a personally fulfilling and intellectually exciting environment.
Personally, I enjoyed supporting clients and watching them flourish. I had the opportunity to work with clients who arrived in the United States and began in our programs around the same time I began my internship. I felt a sense of responsibility and compassion toward them and took care and attention when providing employment services.
Academically and professionally, I have learned much about the resettlement process for people with refugee and special immigration (SIV) status. This has encouraged me to explore social psychology and immigration law opportunities for the upcoming year.
Thank you to the Fordham Honors Program for this opportunity!
This summer, I had the privilege of working as a visiting researcher in Dr. Juan Del Valle’s lab at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. The Del Valle lab is part of the Notre Dame Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a major focus of the lab is peptide and protein mimics. My specific project concerns an interaction between two proteins, Tau and Fyn kinase, that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. I am working to develop peptides, or small protein fragments, that inhibit the Tau-Fyn interaction and therefore slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. This summer I have focused primarily on creating an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that will be able to test whether or not the peptides I make are effective inhibitors. I will be using this assay back at Fordham as I continue my project in Dr. Nicholas Sawyer’s lab, which will ultimately provide a central focus for my senior Honors thesis.
The Del Valle lab group is composed of mostly graduate students and a few undergraduate students. Because Fordham does not have a chemistry graduate program, working among graduate students and having one of them as a mentor was a novel experience for me. I gained exposure to several new laboratory techniques, while increasing my competency as a scientist and helping with other Tau-related projects. I received valuable guidance as I navigated the numerous roadblocks of assay development, as well as academic and career advice from colleagues currently on the PhD track I hope to pursue. I also exercised independence when it came to the progression of my project, taking responsibility for experiment workflow and data analysis.
In this position, I have met fascinating people from around the world and become immersed in the campus culture of Notre Dame. I spent the summer surrounded by the cutting edge of scientific research and had the opportunity to envision my future life as a chemistry graduate student. I am beyond grateful to the Honors Program for making it possible for me to engage with the Del Valle lab and dive into my research that ultimately seeks to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern for ExCELL (Excellence in Children’s Early Language and Literacy) because of the generous grant given to me by the Fordham Honors Program. ExCELL’s goal is to improve the literacy rate of young children in Richmond, Virginia, and help prepare preschoolers for success in kindergarten. The program works with the Richmond Public School system to run a summer school program called Ocean Adventures for children who have just completed preschool and are headed to kindergarten in the fall. There is also a strong focus on strengthening relationships between the children, families, and teachers through family engagement events. Some aspects of ExCELL’s summer program reminded me of the FCRH Honors Program because of the Honors Program’s emphasis on education, connections with professors, and small, seminar-style classes.
ExCELL provides all materials needed for the summer school program, including books, classroom decorations, arts and crafts, learning materials, games, lesson plans, and more. Without ExCELL, the program would not exist, and many children would go into kindergarten underprepared and set up for difficulties in school. For my internship, I helped organize the office and prepare the Ocean Adventures materials to be sent to the schools. I worked alongside another intern to plan and prepare materials for family events and brainstorm ideas for increasing family attendance and involvement. I also occasionally communicated with Spanish-speaking children and parents, as many people in the program are ESL learners, and I am pursuing a minor in Spanish.
I had a wonderful experience working for ExCELL, and I am so thankful for the incredible opportunity given to me by the Honors Program. Through my work, I learned so much about the literacy crisis in Richmond, the importance of starting education in the household and focusing on reading and writing, and the effort that goes into planning events. It was very fulfilling to see my hard work and the work of the organization pay off in the joy of the children’s faces in each summer school classroom. I am leaving ExCELL this summer feeling inspired by my coworkers and their passion for supporting literacy and the children of the greater Richmond area. I cannot wait to follow along and see the program grow.
Authors: Isabella Alcantara, Quinn Burke, Andres Caballero, David Cepeda, Reese Dains, Adriana Duran, Isaac Forson, Julia Gudis, Sean Huynh, Natalie Loo, Claire Murphy, Jolie Robison
All participants, including the group chaperone, Frances Tiburcio, at Hospital Castañer
This past June, the Fordham Honors Program sent twelve students on a Global Outreach (¡GO!) trip to San Juan with the goal of learning about Puerto Rican culture and the social justice issues present in Puerto Rican communities. Throughout the two-week trip, a mix of community engagement opportunities, reflective moments, and competitive Exploding Kittens games brought us together to create an unforgettable trip.
In the semester before our trip, our team met weekly to learn a little about Puerto Rico’s history, fundraise donations for the organizations we were working with, and practice our Spanish. By the time June rolled around, we were excited and ready to go. After a smooth flight over, we were immediately thrust into a hectic schedule. The average day looked something like this: wake up for breakfast at 6:30am, head to the first activity by 8am, break for a quick lunch around noon, then head to our second activity until dinner at 6pm, followed by a group reflection and an early bedtime to make sure we were ready to do it all again the next day.
Julia, Andres, and Claire with doctors at the Dr. Garcia Rinaldi Foundation
Most of our mornings were spent with the Dr. Garcia Rinaldi Foundation, shadowing neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons as they operated. We were particularly inspired by the passion of all the medical professionals in the neurosurgery rotations. Everyone cared about their coworkers like family and readily welcomed us into the surgical rooms as if we were their own students. The Foundation also took us to the San Juan Bautista Medical School, where we attended talks with professors and met with current students. Another day was spent touring Castañer Hospital, a hospital serving Lares and the surrounding mountainous area. There, we heard from more doctors and learned about the history of Lares, which played a pivotal role in the resistance movement against Spanish colonial rule.
Natalie and Adriana at ACUTAS
Through the places we visited and doctors we spoke with, we had the chance to learn firsthand about the Puerto Rican health system. Many of the doctors would talk about Puerto Rican “brain drain,” a term referring to the mass exodus of medical professionals from Puerto Rico to the States, largely due to the struggling higher education system and the difficulty of pursuing a fulfilling, well-paying medical career in Puerto Rico. We also discussed the health insurance system, learning that Puerto Rico insurance reimbursement rates are drastically lower than in the mainland. All these issues are largely tied to the island’s history of colonization and current problematic status as a U.S. territory. We continued to see the effects of brain drain beyond the medical field when we spent a morning in Ceiba volunteering with geriatric patients. Many had not seen their children and grandchildren in years as they, like so many others, had left the island in search of better professional opportunities. It was a privilege to eat, talk, and even dance with these elderly Puerto Ricans, many of whom were almost 100 years old.
Andres, Sean, Natalie, and Reese at ACUTAS
Our afternoons were typically spent at ACUTAS, or Asociación Comunidades Unidas Tomando Acción Solidaria, a community center founded in the wake of Hurricane Maria to serve the Toa Baja community, which was largely neglected in the government’s recovery efforts. As the community continues to recover from the 2017 hurricane, with the local public school reopening only last year, we got to help revitalize the organization’s space by scraping off old paint and mold and laying a fresh coat of paint on their walls, ceilings, and fences.
Isaac at ACUTAS
Amidst the sweaty, physical activity, we got to hear about the personal experiences of those working and volunteering at ACUTAS. One woman, who has struggled firsthand with the flawed healthcare system, has dedicated her entire life to serving her community through ACUTAS. She and many others had personal experiences with Hurricane Maria and were passionate about the political and social change they hoped to see and create in Puerto Rico. Like with the neurosurgeons, we were struck by the strong sense of community at ACUTAS and their initiative to take care of one another. We’re glad we got to contribute a small part to this organization filled with people who so clearly love their community and are committed to serving others before themselves.
Julia, Claire, and Quinn during a rest day
Between our time at ACUTAS and with the Foundation, we found time to visit the island’s beautiful beaches, grab some ice cream at a local shop, and take a tour of Old San Juan, where we learned more about Puerto Rico’s history, visited an art gallery, and did a bit of shopping. Throughout all our activities, the eventful van rides between them, and the meals we cooked together, our team formed lasting friendships and countless valuable memories.
This trip was an incredible opportunity to immerse ourselves in Puerto Rico’s beautiful culture — from the music and food to the warmth of the community — and learn about the history and inequities on the island. We are grateful to our ¡GO! leaders for all their planning, our chaperone for her patience, and of course Global Outreach and the Honors Program for making this all possible.
This March, the Fordham Honors Program funded a small student group to view Carnegie Hall’s performance of “America in Weimar: On the Margins” by the American Composer’s Orchestra. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, and a student from Oklahoma, I petitioned for this concert trip because of its important representation of contemporary Indigenous Classical music through family friend Jerod Tate’s performance. Two other students, Natalie and Andy, came with me to view the performance, and I’m so grateful I was able to share this unique musical experience with them.
Olivia, Natalie, and Andy with Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
The theme of the concert, “America in Weimar,” provided an eclectic and diverse selection of music. The Weimar era, which was roughly 1918 to 1933, revolutionized a new musical style in an “experimental laboratory” of sound that transformed classical music. Black American music influenced the region, particularly by artists like Duke Ellington, who brought jazz into conversation with European classical composers. The first few songs of the concert focused on songs from this era; for example, George Antheil’s A Jazz Symphony, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady and Solitude, and a jazz opera- The Threepenny Opera. After intermission, the concert shifted thematically towards contemporary American music inspired by Weimar. Tonia Ko premiered her piece Her Land, Expanded, which was inspired by Swiss church bells and featured a video of jungle foliage. However, the finale was my favorite performance, as it resonated with my roots in Oklahoma and championing Indigenous culture.
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a family friend of mine from Oklahoma, had his New York premiere of “Clans” from his Lowak Shoppala‘ album. Tate is a Chickasaw classical composer who is extremely innovative in his expression of native culture through the Western music tradition. The Washington Post has selected him as “22 for ‘22: Composers and Performers to watch this year” and he is a Cultural Ambassador for the U. S. Department of State. His performance was a reimagined ancestral meeting of the Chickasaw animal clans: Bird (Foshi ̍), Alligator (Acho’chaba’), Squirrel (Fani’), Skunk (Koni), Panther (Kowishto’ Losa’), and Raccoon (Shawi’). Each clan was represented through a model wearing Chickasaw regalia designer Margaret Wheeler’s creations. It was incredible to see Jerod and his son on stage performing, and the audience thought so too as they erupted into a five minute-long standing ovation for him. I was filled with pride at seeing an audience full of fellow natives, including members of the Chickasaw legislature! We mingled with audience members after the show and heard from the organizers of the American Composer’s Orchestra. Overall, it was an honor to represent Fordham at this hub of new culture and music. Thank you to Dr. Meneses and the Fordham administration who made this opportunity possible!
This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at Jonas Bronck Academy (JBA), a middle school located in the Bronx, through the non-profit Friends of JBA (FOJBA) because of the generous fellowship grant given to me by the Honors Program. As a psychology major, I aim to help others through personal connections and advocating for mental health. After a whole academic year of helping out my mentee at JBA through the mentorship program offered through the Honors Program, I knew I wanted to keep impacting students’ lives in the summer.
The mission of FOJBA is to enhance the academic and social-emotional growth of JBA scholars, which was certainly something I wanted to be part of. My time during the internship was divided into three main tasks:
Working with my mentee and other students during summer school.
Researching and planning ideas that could be implemented in the school.
Planning long-term ideas to collect donations for the organization.
During the first three weeks of the internship, much of my focus was on writing documents of ideas I wanted to implement in the school; one could say “proposals” in some way. The three papers I spent most of my time writing about involved mindfulness, meditation, and journaling; implementing positive habit formation; and a college preparation program for the future high school.
I also helped with researching companies we could contact and apply for funds, prepared and sent emails, and brainstormed and planned ideas that could be executed within the school to raise money. It is essential to establish long-term partnerships and school fundraiser ideas that bring a satisfactory amount of money for expenditures within the school that could be used, such as for the future college preparation program.
The work I have mentioned above is most of the work I have done behind the scenes. The other part of the internship was working with the kids during summer school, which was my favorite part. Seeing the students making progress daily was very satisfactory. After the internship, seeing my work over the summer was very fulfilling. I am very grateful for the Honors Program, the staff at JBA, and the donors who made this experience possible.
This summer, I interned with the World Youth Alliance, a non-profit organization seeking to promote human dignity in education, policy, and culture.
The organization is a coalition of young people from developing and developed countries united in solidarity for this cause. It has over one million members from over 160 countries and is present in every continent of the world.
As the Project Management Intern, I had the opportunity to assist the European sector of the organization with day-to-day tasks, as well as important projects. One project I helped spearhead is the Dignity Defenders Campaign, which helps raise funds for the organization.
Being in Brussels, I was able to attend a multitude of conferences at the European Parliament, where I monitored and took part in the conferences. I was able to bring the importance of human dignity and the role of young people in protecting it into the discussions. My experiences as a dignity defender at the World Youth Alliance echo my experiences as a scholar for justice in the Honors Program.
My internship at the World Youth Alliance this summer greatly contributed to my professional growth. I was able to hone my communication skills by networking with numerous people of all backgrounds, as well as by advocating for human dignity in the European Parliament and with other international organizations.
I also cultivated a deep sense of responsibility during my internship, as I was trusted with important tasks such as representing the organization at conferences, as well as leading important projects such as the Dignity Defenders Campaign.
Overall, I am pleased with how my summer internship went. I gained a great deal of professional experience in a rewarding internship. I am very grateful to the Honors Program for giving me the opportunity to go to Brussels for this internship through their generous fellowship. I look forward to utilizing the new skills in my repertoire during the upcoming school year.
This past summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern with The PVBLIC Foundation, which is a media, technology, public advocacy, and sustainable development-focused registered 501(c) nonprofit. This organization “mobilizesmedia, data, and technology for sustainable development and social impact.” For example, working with the UN Department of Global Communications, the PVBLIC Foundation has created the SDG Media Zone. This zone, constructed as a physical space for the United Nations General Assembly, advances the 2030 Agenda out of the policy sphere and into the public discourse through impactful in-depth interviews and conversations on global issues. My internship began the week of June 7th, and I split my week assisting with communications work for the Media Zone and the parent, PVBLIC.
In my role assisting with the Communications team, I was able to apply my media knowledge and develop my interpersonal soft skills with fellow interns and my superiors. Something I especially valued was that interns were offered the opportunity to be connected with people, offices, and organizations that we were interested in, and PVBLIC found connections to those bodies and coordinated mentorship sessions. I was provided a mentorship with someone highly involved in ambassadorial work in the United Nations, and they provided me with invaluable insight on the networking and career-building process within the UN. In fact, since my internship, I was offered a job with PVBLIC Foundation, and have since been helping the group with their initiatives as well as prepare for this year’s United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York City in September.
I am incredibly grateful for Dr. Keller for encouraging me to apply, and Hannah for her guidance throughout the Fellowship process. The Honors Summer Fellowship allowed me the freedom to look at unique work opportunities and provided me with the opportunity to work for an organization that does incredible work towards issues I care about. It is because of the financial support from the Honors Program that I was able to explore professional and academic interests and consequently secure a job at a positive mission-driven organization. I highly encourage students to pursue opportunities within the Honors Program because they open doors for invaluable creative, academic, and professional endeavors.
Authors: Natalie Loo, first-year; Andy Diaz, sophomore; Olivia Griffin, sophomore; Harry Parks, junior
This spring, the Fordham Honors Program sent four students to Los Angeles for the annual America Jesuit Colleges and Universities Honors Conference. Held at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), the conference brought Jesuit Universities Honors programs from across the nation together. However, our travels from New York to L.A. took an unexpected turn, leaving us with an exciting story to tell.
Harry, Olivia, Natalie, and Andy at Loyola Marymount University
With just an hour left in our flight, the plane emergency landed in Albuquerque (firefighters even boarded the plane!) and we remained grounded from 7 pm that night to 2 pm the next day. Although we missed a portion of the conference, we like to say that our adventure taught us to apply our Jesuit Honors values in an unpredictable context. Not every experience in life will go perfectly according to schedule, despite the number of hours spent planning. As Jesuit Honors students, it is our responsibility to set an example of patience, wisdom, and kindness that we would like to see in the communities around us.
We eventually arrived in Los Angeles where we listened to passionate student speakers at Loyola’s gorgeous hilltop campus. Then we had an amazing meal at Grand Central Market where we made friends with various students from around the country. In fact, our group was able to connect with an Honors cohort all the way from the University of San Francisco!
Director of LMU Honors, Trevor Zink, hosting a session at the conference
During our time at the conference, we specifically focused on the theme of curiosity. Curiosity drives us to devote ourselves to the pursuit of knowledge. But we also learned that university-level intellectual cultivation isn’t tied down by your major or classes. Jesuit Honors students from across the country presented about the niche research projects they’ve embarked on, such as redefining story narration through stop-motion or designing a new public transportation system for rural areas. As we listened to these talks, we felt inspired to impart similar creativity and playful curiosity to the Fordham Honors community.
Andy at the Albuquerque Airport during the delay
Additionally, we discussed our role as Jesuit Honors students in being catalysts for change in the institution, as well as being motivated by compassion and wisdom. The tagline “scholars for justice” embodies this commitment to thoughtful involvement in the university and surrounding communities. In collaboration with the other students at the conference, we revised the “Essential Characteristics of Jesuit Honors Institutions,” a document that lists core values shared by Jesuit Honors programs across the country, to align with our modern ideals of justice. This practice of reflection was helpful in evaluating the aspects of our own community that we want to change or implement throughout Fordham’s Honors Program.
This trip might not have been what we expected, with an emergency landing in Albuquerque and 45-degree rainy weather in Los Angeles. However, the sense of tenacity and friendship we developed, as a result, was incredibly valuable. We’ve discussed the trip many times since, and none of us would give up the formative experience that this AJCU conference granted us. Going forward, we hope to inspire Fordham University with the new patience and compassion that we learned, in tandem with the ever-present goal of cura personalis.
