Diana D'Souza
You are here
My Winter Break Externship
The Center for Professional Development (CPD) posts winter break opportunities offered by Dartmouth alums on DartBoard. Students can participate in a Career Day (a one day shadowing experience) and/or an externship (mini internship). During finals week, I reached out to Colette Ellis '84, a life coach who aims to improve mental health in businesses and schools. She offered me a three-week externship at her company, Start Within Consulting LLC, in New York City, NY.
I faced many hurdles prior to starting my internship. First, I had foolishly packed seven pairs of jeans instead of my flats and button-up shirts. This meant I had to frantically drag my mother out (the day before my externship began, of course) to buy professional clothing and shoes. The second and more pressing problem was that my parents and I had no confidence in my ability to get to New York.
Now, you may be wondering how a New Jersey native doesn't know her way around New York. (In fact, I actually spent my junior summer of high school in New York.) I must confess that I spent many years aimlessly following others around, paying little attention to how the trains or subways worked. Luckily, with the help of the GPS and after asking many strangers for directions, I successfully arrived at Penn Station. After getting lost several times, I emerged victorious from a brutal 30 minute walk: I had finally arrived at Colette's office, which was located at the Centre for Social Innovation.
![blog_1000x750_cis](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/cis.jpg?itok=2XgilVYC)
The Centre was aptly named with a large kitchen area filled with blue and green chairs, an enormous chandelier, and oddly-shapped couches. There were also conferences rooms and an office area for those that preferred a more traditional work environment. I met Colette and the other interns (Mustafa and Kate, boths '23s) in the kitchen area. We spent the first couple days creating a list of goals and tasks, meeting other people that worked at the Centre, and asking Colette questions about Dartmouth and her role as CEO.
Eventually, we settled into a routine. We, the interns, would start the day by working on our personal projects. After Colette finished making calls or writing a script, she would drop by for a quick meeting to clarify any lingering questions. Around 1pm, we would break for lunch. The latter half of the day was devoted to presenting our work to the group, correcting any errors, and setting goals for the next day.
We were able to accomplish a lot during our three weeks together. I worked on podcast development by putting together bi-weekly podcasts: "Wellness Wednesday" and "Financial Fridays." I also worked on strategies for marketing her services to schools. Some of my responsibilities included composing emails, researching potential clients, and editing the Partner Empowered Education and Resources (PEER) Database. Kate served as the graphic designer—developing merchandise and stickers as well as updating the company website—whereas Mustafa served as the social media strategist.
My externship experience spoke to the strength of Dartmouth's alumni network. Even though I was a freshman in my first semester of college with little working experience, Colette graciously trained me and allowed me to shadow her. Thanks to Colette, I got my first stepping stone in my career and conquered my fear of taking the train alone.
Posts You Might Like
The Lunar New Year festivities continue! Here's a photo gallery of Korean Student Association, Malaysian Student Association, and Vietnamese Student Association's celebrations!
A weekend of embracing the cold and finding fun activities to do! From winning money at a game show to the Annual Snowball Fight, this weekend is a core memory of my experience with Dartmouth winters!
"Only three classes?!" The typical response I get from someone outside of Dartmouth. Come and join as I describe how those three classes actually feel in a ten week term!
Where can I find internships? How do resumes and LinkedIn work in college? Am I behind if I do not have it all figured out my first year? All great questions so let's get them answered…
The first-generation community at Dartmouth is an extremely tight knit and supportive community! This past week, we celebrated first-gen week, with a myriad of activities and lots of chances to meet new people!
You have to see it to believe it—my Winter Carnival scrapbook
One of the most important aspects of being a Dartmouth student is knowing how to be a college student and manage your time effectively. As a first year student, these are resources that have helped me.
In this post, I write about what the culminating experience is as a part of Dartmouth's major requirements.
In this blog, I'm discussing the two-course term and why students would choose to pursue two-course terms