Name: Mariel

Year: Junior

Major(s): Cultural Anthropology and Science in Human Culture

Minor(s): Global Health Studies

CFS Program: Field Studies in Humanities

When I started looking for summer opportunities this year, it became clear that I wanted/needed a little more guidance with the internship process. Unlike many Northwestern students, I hadn’t done an internship during the summer yet. The summer after my freshman year I went on a trip with my sister to celebrate her college graduation, and last summer I did a public health program in Cuba to fulfill the study abroad credit that accompanies the global health studies minor. So, I started looking for internships that “fit my interests.” The issue was, I didn’t really know what that meant. I study Cultural Anthropology, Science in Human Culture and Global Health (as aforementioned). Mostly, when I asked about these fields, people suggested I look into nonprofits, NGOs etc. While most of those organizations are wonderful, and make sense with the humanities line-up that is my academic transcript, I wanted to explore other avenues.

This past “semester” – aka winter and spring quarters – I went on a study abroad program focused on Social Entrepreneurship. Through a comparative curriculum that utilized experiential learning across 4 continents, I realized that the “doing good” sphere included so much that I had never even thought about. This was both exciting and daunting. I now knew that I wanted to look into all different kinds of fields where I could apply the knowledge I’ve gained so far at Northwestern, and where I could bring in my newfound fascination with the social business world. This led me to look into programs that had both academic and working aspects. I knew I would need a space to unpack what I was doing in my internship, and also learn more about the work world in an analytical sense. Social business kind of tends to be self-conflicting. The ideas of “doing well by doing good” and figuring out ways to benefit entire populations without sacrificing one’s own monetary success do not necessarily fall in line with the breed of capitalism most of us in the US are used to.

This is what led me to CFS. Of all the programs that I looked at it felt the most geared towards what I wanted, and needed, in order to have my best learning experience all around. So far, my CFS experiences has exceeded expectations. My internships is fascinating, and the material I’ve been assigned for class has been engaging. The best part of the class is the fact that you get to hear about other internship experiences. It’s vicariously doing 14 internships in one summer. How many people can say that? I never really knew about the history of the workplace, but learning about it through different stories and excerpts has been an interesting guide for navigating an otherwise foreign world. I know that when I look back on it in the future I’ll see CFS as an important shaping experience. I feel like after having gone through the internship application process, and then actually doing an internship with a group of peers, I’m prepared to give it a go on my own.