Career Services
McGill Lawrence Internship Award
The McGill Lawrence Internship Award is designed to offer Reed students the opportunity to complement their academic studies with a summer internship in the public or non-profit sectors. This fund was originally made available by a donation to help cultivate an environment of understanding and respect for multi-cultural issues at Reed. The endowment for this grant has increased during the past years with generous college and Reed student body contributions. At least 50% of the funds awarded will go to proposals that bring students in contact with ethnically and culturally diverse issues and populations. Award amounts for all 2008 recipients will be $3750 for a minimum of 8 weeks of full time engagement.
Students interested in the McGill Lawrence and who also have a commitment to peace making, might consider also applying for the Davis Projects for Peace.
Congratulations to the 2008 McGill Lawrence Internship Award Recipients!
- Xeno Acharya, ’08, Biology
Xeno is a senior Biology major from Nepal. He will return there to work with the Growing Holistic Approaches for Rehabilitation (GHAR), a non-governmental organization that supports under-represented ethnic communities in Nepal. Xeno will act as a liaison between GHAR and poor villagers in order to assess their needs and raise funds for their benefit. Xeno will also recruit and train volunteer teachers to work with ‘untouchable’ children from a damai village in Kathmandu, in addition to teaching English to primary and secondary school children. His long-term goal is to work with overlooked people in developing countries. Xeno writes, “This internship will give me a head start on the basics of my career, and, I believe, fortify my conviction to work with the poor.”
- Danielle Aquino-Roithmayr, ’08, Anthropology
Danielle is a certified yoga instructor and, as such, she will be reaching out to and serving youth dealing with the impact of poverty, abuse, addiction and broken families. Danielle will work with a Portland based nonprofit called Street Yoga. This organization is dedicated to helping homeless youth and youth at-risk of homelessness improve their emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Danielle’s work will include participation in Street Yoga Training in San Francisco, teaching yoga classes to youth from diverse populations, administrative work, and promotional support. She will also conduct Street Yoga training for other Portland based yoga teachers. Danielle writes, “I have seen the emotional and bodily healing effects of yoga, and I firmly believe that yoga can make a difference in peoples’ lives. Throughout my life, I hope to always be able to bring healing energy to people through yoga.”
- Maricela Dorado,’08, Sociology
Maricela, a senior Sociology major, will intern with Justice Now, the first teaching law clinic in the country focused exclusively on the needs of imprisoned women. She will work out of their Oakland, CA office contributing to the "Building a World without Prisons" campaign. In addition, Maricela will regularly visit the two largest women's prisons in the world to provide legal support; including compassionate release, healthcare access, defense of parental rights, sentence mitigation, and placement in community-based programs. Addressing institutional violence against women corresponds with Maricela's academic and career interests in civil rights and human rights law. Maricela writes, “What especially impresses me about Justice Now is its commitment to social change in addition to its function in providing valuable and largely lacing resources to imprisoned women.”
- Sarah Kantrowitz ’09, Linguistics
Sarah will be working with the International Design Clinic to develop a portable schoolhouse through a local organization, Mobile Creches. This non-governmental organization serves some of India’s most marginalized children, the children of Mumbai’s migrant construction workers. Sarah will use this experience as an opportunity to further her training as a responsible designer with aspirations of becoming an architect informed by her belief that quality of life can be enhanced through the built environment. Working in the slums of Mumbai she will learn how the community participation can be engaged as a primary tool for decision-making. She writes “ I believe thoughtful, appropriate design can advance real solutions for underserved or disaster-stricken communities.”
- Aurora Paulsen, ’08, Linguistics
This summer, Aurora will intern with the Humane Society of Southwest Washington (HSSW), a non-profit organization specializing in the rescue of domestic animals, and education about treating them humanely. Aurora intends to peruse a career in animal law and this internship will build in her extensive experience in animal welfare, including work at an animal shelter in Montana, the Cascade Forest Network, at wildlife rehabilitation centers in Oregon and Cape Town, South Africa. At HSSW, Aurora’s internship will focus on reducing the number of animals euthanized. Aurora sees her work not only as assisting animals, but also makes the connection between animal abuse and violence towards elders, women and children. Aurora says, “I believe that an internship with HSSW would serve not only the community dedicated to working towards the humane treatment of animals and the animals themselves, but also those with the commitment to foster a society characterized by non-violent relationships.”
- Lauren Raheja, ’09, Anthropology
Lauren will intern this summer with the Portland based Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO), where she has been volunteering since the fall of 2007. The Center is a small non-profit community organization that focuses on immigrant and refugee rights at the state level, and serves the community through education programs, civic engagement and community organizing. Additionally, CIO collaborates with national organizations to raise awareness about immigration issues in Oregon and beyond. This summer, Lauren plans to continue her involvement with CIO, focusing on research to support the group’s challenge to defeat two anti-immigrant initiatives in Oregon. In addition to this research, Lauren will assist in organizing forums to raise awareness in the community about these initiatives and organize workshops in the Portland community about immigration and race issues that extend beyond Oregon. “Change,” Lauren writes, “cannot happen until ‘we’, as residents of Portland, Oregon, in the United States, in the world, realize that the problems facing particular groups in our communities are problems for us all.”
- Laura Turcanu, ’10 Economics
This summer Laura will return to her native Romania to work with Alburnus Maior, a non-governmental organization founded to oppose a gold mining project the Rosia Montana region initiated by an international mining company. Alburnus Maior contests the project because it poses serious threats to the environment and the health of the local residents and does not satisfactorily solve the problem of relocating the entire community. Additionally, Alburnus Maior is concerned that the mining project does not protect the rich and diverse mountainous fauna and flora or the Roman archeological sites located in the region. Alburnus Maior’s current objective is to promote economic development in the area in hopes of offering economic incentives that deter the development of mining. Laura will work with local residents to develop their business plans, identify potential donors to the support their initiatives, and write grant proposals in order to access European and international funds. Laura sees the benefit for herself in this project, complimenting the rigorous knowledge of economic theory she has gained at Reed and her work with the student environmental group Greenboard, but also to the long-term health of the region. Laura states, “Accessing development funds for the Rosia Montana region as part of my internship will move its residents a step away from the gold mining project and pave the path to long-term sustainable development.”
- Avery Ucker, ’09, Political Science
Avery will work as a public service intern with the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of International Security Operations at the State Department. This office is the primary interface between the Departments of State and Defense on operational military matters. Avery will work with the 24/7 Political Military Action Team to represent the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on Sate Department and Interagency crisis task forces and produce daily summaries of political –military intelligence for the bureaus’ principals and for other government agencies. She will also learn the Diplomatic Clearance Application System software that enables the State Department to receive and clear applications for diplomatic and military ship visits from foreign embassies. Avery writes, “In my community involvement work with Sudanese refuges in Cairo, I learned a great deal about how the US is negatively perceived even when it executes well-intentioned policies. At the nexus of two of the most powerful organization in the world, the State Department and the Pentagon, even a small change can have a great impact.”
Request for Proposals
Proposals will be judged by their relevance to your field of study, quality of design, the ability of the sponsoring organization to support your learning, and letters of recommendation from faculty. Applications will be presented to the review committee anonymously, which means that your name should not appear on the application. Please follow the guidelines carefully.
For your reference, applications from previous years are available at SEEDS in 28 West or Career Services in Greywood. While photocopying or taking these applications out of the office is not permitted, you are welcome to view them in our office. All applicants are strongly encouraged to meet with Career Services or SEEDS staff while in the planning stages of your proposal.
Submission Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2008 by 5PM in Greywood
Download the 2008 McGill Lawrence Request for Proposals (opens a word document).
A complete submission packet includes:
- Six stapled copies of your application without your name on any part of the application (due to the anonymous nature of the review).
- One stapled copy of your application, with your name clearly indicated at the top of each section.
- One completed check sheet, indicating that you’ve included all the necessary pieces.
A complete application includes the following five components:
1. A cover letter that introduces your proposed internship (project) and the benefits that you, Reed, and the community you are serving will experience as a result of your work.
2. A 1-3 page summary that provides details about the internship experience you are planning. This outline should include:
- The desired educational outcomes of the experience and how it applies to your short or long-term academic/professional career.
- How you plan to structure your experience to maximize learning.
- The extent to which your project contributes to the community you are serving.
- Information about the nature of the organization or business you will be working for and elaborate on your responsibilities.
- Name(s) and telephone number(s) of your contact(s).
- How you have been preparing for your internship experience.
- When you expect to have a firm commitment from your internship site to host you for the summer.
3. A resume summarizing your work and volunteer experiences.
4. A detailed budget of your expenses. This should include direct costs for living: travel, lodging, food, etc. List other funding sources that you will be using, including any pay you may receive from your internship sponsor. (This will not affect the amount of your award; we just want you to think through the financial implications of your proposal.) Please explain how you will cover any expenses that exceed the award amount.
5. One confidential letter of support from your faculty adviser, thesis adviser, or other faculty member who can speak to your qualifications. As with all other pieces of the application, these letters should not include your name. If your advisor gives your letter in a sealed envelope, in order to maintain confidentiality, SEEDS or Career Services staff will make the copies of these letters—do not open a sealed envelope. Please ask career services for a handout on requesting letters of recommendation if you would like additional support.
After you've submitted your application:
A review committee of students, staff, and faculty will evaluate the applications. Applicants will be contacted regarding the funding decisions that were made of these awards by Monday, March 31, 2008.
If awarded a McGill Lawrence, recipients will be required to provide a signed statement from their participating organization agreeing to support the project's stated goals, prior to receiving funding.
Important: Recipients of the award will be asked to share their learning with the Reed community in the fall of the following year. This will include an oral presentation. Recipients will also be asked to participate in next year's applicant review process. If you do not plan to return to campus in the fall, explain in your application how you will fulfill these obligations.
Email career.services@reed.edu or seeds@reed.edu for more information and a schedule of information sessions.
Top of Page
