Supporting the Scripps College Internship Grant Program helps students like Rebecca Hoving ’21 (center) gain real-world professional experience to help them thrive in the 21st century workforce.
By Emily Glory Peters
By kindergarten, some of us can proclaim our future profession with confidence. Most of us require a longer exploration period before our eureka moment.
Antonia Capossela ’21 was in just such a period her first year at Scripps. “I was very interested in women’s health and cancer research, but I also love the humanities,” she explains. A conversation with an advisor at Scripps led her to pursue human biology, a major that combined all of her interests, and she thrived under its nonformulaic approach to studying science, anthropology, politics, and public health. When she was later offered the opportunity to participate in a rare—and unpaid—internship at NYU Langone Health this past summer, a generous internship grant from Scripps donors unlocked a chance for her to explore how those fields intersect outside the classroom.
“Dr. Young’s is the only OB/GYN lab in the world that’s doing stem cell research from amniotic fluid, which perfectly combined my interest in cancer research and women’s health,” says Capossela, adding that the internship influenced her decision to pursue studying public health in Chile. While abroad, she saw how medical research shapes policies that in turn impact the community.
“What’s exciting is [these experiences revealed] two options for me to consider after graduating from Scripps: medical research as an MD/PhD or supporting public health and human rights through policy,” she says. She credits the donor support she received for illuminating her possible career avenues.
“When a donor funds an internship, they give value to the start of a student’s career in a material way,” she says. “They’re helping us believe we deserve a chance to try different paths.”
Exploring More Than One Path
Across New York City’s east river that same summer, Rebecca Hoving ’21 was reflecting on the generosity of two paid internships she had benefited from. As a first-year student, the legal studies major with a minor in writing and rhetoric had received a grant which funded a behind-the-scenes look at magazine publishing. As a sophomore, a second extraordinary grant opened the door to her gaining criminal law experience with Brooklyn Defender Services. Receiving the second grant to intern in Brooklyn was especially eye-opening for Hoving.
“It gave me my first full-time job and first time living on my own, which was a huge growth experience,” she says. “At Scripps I’d learned to advocate for myself and not to be intimidated by power dynamics, and in interning I gained so much more independence.”
To further dispel post-college uncertainty, internship grants help students build confidence by allowing them to explore diverse careers without the burden of figuring out how to support themselves.
“In the fields I’m interested in, it is so difficult to find the right internship, let alone ones that are paid,” Hoving says. “If I hadn’t received these grants, I would have had to turn down the magazine and Brooklyn Defenders and miss out on those opportunities.”
Impacting Students Now and in the Future
Now outfitted with skills from their experiential learning opportunities, both students are honing future plans. Capossela is narrowing down graduate programs, while Hoving joined Scripps’ Career Planning & Resources Emerging Professionals Program this winter, an intensive program to sharpen professional visions and values. In shaping their career goals, both students regard their internship experiences as vital to the process—as are the donors who made the internships possible.
“Internship grants from donors enable students to take a chance, to try something nontraditional,” Capossela says. “The more opportunities you can give to help us follow new ideas, the more people you empower to do incredible work.”
Internships are one of the most effective ways to prepare Scripps students for professional life. Jump-start their careers by making a gift here. To learn more about the Scripps College Internship Grant Program, please contact CP&R at [email protected].
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