How Five SESP Students Landed Summer Internships
Five SESP undergraduates were selected for the 2019 Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP), which provides students $3,000 for completing an unpaid summer internship, while simultaneously participating in a professional development program offered by Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA).
The program is administered by the NCA and financially supported The Alumnae of Northwestern University, other generous alumni donors, and the President and Provost offices.
SIGP applicant numbers have soared since the program’s first year, when grants were awarded to 10 students out of 90 applicants. In 2019, more than 800 students applied for grants to support summer internships; almost 400 were awarded.
Overall, The Alumnae selected 18 recipients from a pool of 58 highly qualified applicants. SESP students made up more than a quarter (27 percent) of this year’s internship winners.
SESP's 2019 grant recipients include:
Elizabeth Blair, from Portland, Mich., is a junior who is majoring in secondary education and minoring in linguistics. Her internship is with the James R. Jordan Foundation in Chicago.
Hailey Cox-Montijo, from Chicago, is a junior studying human development and psychological services, as well as minoring in sociology and gender & sexuality studies. She will be at Loyola University in Chicago assisting with data collection and research with Psychology Professor Pamela Fenning.
Mari Hernandez, from Okemos, Mich., is a sophomore studying learning sciences and minoring in mathematics. Mari will be interning at The Academy Group in Chicago, where she will be providing support and analysis to the education nonprofit firm.
Dayanara Padilla, from Chicago, is a junior studying human development and psychological services and psychology. She will be interning at Advocate Children's Hospital Pediatric Development Center, where she will have one-on-one sessions with children and use play-based therapy to come up with a developmental profile for each child.
Simon Su, from Crystal Lake, Ill., is a sophomore majoring in social policy and minoring in Spanish. He is working with the Illinois Coalition Against Handgun Violence and its Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, spreading awareness for current gun legislation such as the Firearm Restraining Order Education Campaign and advocating for legislative action such as the “Fix the FOID” campaign by providing support for their social media presence.
The Alumnae of Northwestern University is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit the University and showcases the University’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program.