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Experiential learning has been a central tenant to ӣ����Ƶ’s educational system since Captain Alden Partridge founded the school in 1819. While educational trends have changed throughout the years, the University’s commitment to preparing students for real-world success has remained steadfast. In that spirit, the Center for Career Readiness has been focusing on ways to increase equity and accessibility to these experiences for all students.

“We have seen increased need for internship support for both domestic and international students,” says Director of the Center for Career Readiness, Meghan Oliver. “An internship is a privilege, and we are committed to breaking down barriers that keep certain students from accepting an opportunity that could set them up for career success in the future. We started the Internship Accessibility Scholarship to address some of the barriers students face, which can include unpaid opportunities, transportation challenges, clothing, housing, or a combination of these, which can lead to them not be able to accept an opportunity.”

This past summer, the Center for Career Readiness was able to provide three scholarships by using a small percentage of their on-campus recruiting revenue. “Over the last few years, the Center for Career Readiness has developed cost-savings strategies for our on-campus recruiting events, while not impacting the cost or the experience for our employers,” says Oliver. Through these efforts they have been able to earmark 10% of every employer registration to help support a student internship. “This will benefit both our students and our employers, who otherwise may not have been able to hire an intern.”

These challenges are compounded when faced by international students who might be living on campus through the summer. “Our food services are not consistently available throughout the summer so students who opt to stay on campus often don’t have an easy way to cook or shop for basic needs” says Oliver. “Most of our international students do not have a license or access to a car or reliable public transportation, so that adds another layer to accessibility.” International students are required to receive credit for their internship as a part of their visa requirements, adding an extra financial burden on top of the housing, food, and transportation costs. For many international students, it can cost upwards of $8,000 to $10,000 to pursue a summer internship in the United States.

Kwame Amo ’25, Spencer Rada ’25, and Samriddhi Manandhar ’27 made up the first-ever cohort to benefit from this scholarship. “I am very thankful for the scholarship money I received, as it helped me afford food and groceries throughout the summer, especially in those initial phases of the research experience before I received my stipend,” says Manandhar.

“I thought summer would be a carefree time for me, but that was not true,” says Manandhar, remembering her difficulties as an international student staying on campus during summer. “I was preparing my own meals every day. That left me thinking about what to eat each day and how to buy it.”

Certain majors are more fortunate than others to have consistently paid internships. “Historically, criminal justice-related internships and many federal internships have been unpaid or underpaid, making it more difficult for a student to accept a position that they would have otherwise taken,” says Associate Director of Academic Internships, Jim Graves. “We wanted to do something to support our students in a meaningful way.”

Amo, Rada, and Manandhar took full advantage of the scholarship, and each took a unique route for their summer of experiential learning: Amo took an internship at the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering firm DuBois & King just a short drive away in Vermont; Rada explored the inner-workings of the federal government as an intern on Capitol Hill; and Manandhar stayed on The Hill and participated in research surrounding serial killers and mass murderers alongside Dr. Elizabeth Gurian, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice.

Kwame Amo '25

“My internship was a transformative experience, both personally and professionally,” says Amo. “As an electrical engineering major, I was excited to dive into the practical applications of what I had learned in the classroom, and working at an MEP engineering firm allowed me to gain a well-rounded understanding of how engineering fits into broader construction and infrastructure projects.”

Amo was able to put his ӣ����Ƶ education into practice and saw immediate growth in his “hard” skills by working on real-world projects. He was able to design electrical systems, conduct load calculations, and learned how to use industry-standard software like AutoCAD and Revit. “These tools were essential in translating engineering concepts into detailed, actionable plans for construction,” he says. “While I had exposure to such software in my academic courses, the hands-on experience during the internship allowed me to fully grasp its importance in professional settings fully.”

While academia exposed Amo to many of the concepts he further explored during his internship, learning how to collaborate in a real-world, interdisciplinary environment was particularly valuable. “I frequently interacted with mechanical and plumbing engineers, architects, and project managers,” says Amo. “It became clear to me that while technical expertise is crucial, the ability to work seamlessly with professionals from other disciplines is just as important for the success of a project.”

“Moreover, I honed my problem-solving skills in a real-world context,” he added. "Unlike academic projects where problems tend to be well defined, the challenges I faced during my internship were often open-ended. This required me to think critically, adapt to new information, and develop creative solutions and skills that are essential in any engineering role.”

The internship expanded Amo’s understanding of engineering in the workforce and allowed him to envision himself as an engineer after graduation. “The experience solidified my interest in pursuing a career in MEP engineering,” he says. “I found that I really enjoyed the collaborative, interdisciplinary nature of MEP work. I am now more confident in my abilities as an engineer and am more certain about the direction I want to take in my career.”

Spencer Rada '25

“Coming into this internship, I was nervous because I have never spent more than two or three days in a city, as I had always lived in a very rural area,” says Rada. “Moving into a big city like Washington D.C. was my biggest concern and truly the only part of the experience I was nervous about.”

Although he was used to living in rural Vermont, Rada felt comfortable stepping into his new role in the nation’s capital because of his background working in state government. “Most of the work in the congressman’s office was very similar to what I did in state politics,” he says. “I responded to emails, conducted legislative research, created memos for legislation and for recent articles in the news, sent out mailers, ran errands to other offices, and answered phone calls.”

The biggest difference between his two positions was the types of communication he received from constituents. While in state politics, Rada noticed that “most, if not all,” of the calls he received were asking for help with the state. “A lot of the phone calls I received in the congressman’s office were either about legislation or were calling to yell at you for working for the specific congressman you work for,” he says, but adds that “I wanted to get better with constituent calls, and I was able to foster my capabilities in that regard.”

Rada continued filling out his political toolbelt by shadowing senior staffers. The four main sectors, managerial, scheduling, legislative, and communications, are each led by one of these individuals and he was able to gain a broader understanding of how all sectors work together. “My objective was to learn more about their positions not only to take experience and lessons from them, but to also see what I would like the most,” he says. “After shadowing all four of the senior staffers, I definitely enjoyed the managerial work and scheduling the most and, in my future, I want to work directly in these sectors.”

Prior to his time at ӣ����Ƶ, he was “truly eager” to run for political office. “Somewhere along the line I began to consider other options for good reason. You lose all of your privacy as an elected official, and you are verbally – and in some cases, physically – assaulted, and that just doesn’t seem like an enticing job application,” he says. When he compares that to his work as a staffer, he appreciates the potential for stability and longevity in his career. “This is a much more enticing job description, and one that I, as a more private person who wants to work in politics, seem more fit for.”

Rada has plenty to think about when he soon chooses where to begin his career following graduation. “Comparing my years in state politics to my internship on Capitol Hill, I did enjoy my work in state politics better because I felt we were doing work that actually made a bigger difference in people’s lives,” he says. “I want to be doing work where I can physically see my impact because of the work I am doing.”

Samriddhi Manandhar '27

“This is the work I had dreamed of doing even before I came to the states,” says Manandhar, who came to ӣ����Ƶ from Nepal. “I had always wanted to be involved in research related to serial killers. It is also one of the main reasons why I chose to come to ӣ����Ƶ. I was so happy that I was able to do it as a freshman! It was a dream come true.”

Although this is Manandhar’s dream field of work, studying serial killers can be mentally draining. “My professor made me start out with the 90 female serial killers first because they were the least gruesome and she wanted me to slowly acclimate to the contents,” she says. “I gave a short presentation about the female serial killers at the undergraduate research weekly meeting, and I got a lot of praise for my work.”

Now that she had her feet wet, she was ready to dive in. “I decided to get into the 426 partnered cases, as there are a lot of people involved in these types of cases, and I wanted to get it done during summer – and I did,” she says. “I found it challenging to read the gruesome details, but I slowly started getting used to it, like my professor said.”

Manandhar has shifted her focus to male serial killers since finishing the previous cases. Fortunately, she has had plenty of time to work on these hundreds of cases since her summer research-based internship was extended through the academic year.

“My first summer in the United States was much more challenging than I thought it was going to be,” she says. “But as much as it was challenging, it was also very encouraging. It not only made me grow academically by helping me know the ways of research, but also helped me grow and mature in terms of finances.”

“It helped me be more responsible by making me face the challenges of the real world,” says Manandhar of the scholarship. “I will always be thankful to the team of people who made this possible for me. I have been called to attend many meetings because of the research I am doing, and it motivates me to keep doing better and to keep making myself and the people around me proud.”

This story was previously published in the spring 2025 edition of the ӣ����Ƶ Record.