Real-world experiences

Students worked for corporations, government agencies, political campaigns, museums, nonprofit organizations and game design companies, among others. Partners varied from Fox Chase Cancer Center to the Delaware Department of Justice to skincare company Glow Recipe. Some students worked for entities on UD’s campus, others returned to their hometowns and some worked in other states or countries. 

Kaya Melo-Rubino, a junior biological sciences major, worked in a lab at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She said highlights included building confidence in her lab skills, connecting with other fellows, seeing results from experiments and “contributing to a good cause, because at the end of the day, it is cancer research.” 

Her advice for students looking to apply to an internship? 

“Have confidence in yourself, because I didn't think I was going to get in, and I ended up getting in and having a really good experience,” she said.

Junior history major Liam Trageser spent the summer researching and creating an information board next to a historic air traffic control tower as an intern with the Delaware Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base. Trageser learned about the opportunity through a meeting about internships hosted by the history department. 

“It stuck out to me because I have a natural love of military history,” he said. “The tower has existed throughout the entire history of military airlift, which is the museum’s focus. To have a chance to work on it was really cool.”

Alyssa Napolitano, a senior criminal justice major with minors in forensic science and sociology, gained a wide view of law enforcement as an intern with the Sheriff’s department in Monmouth County, New Jersey. She shadowed deputies and officers during daily operations, including patrols and court security, participated in community outreach programs such as safety presentations and public events, and learned about the 911 and call dispatch process with the communications division. 

Her favorite part of the internship? Working with a gang unit in the county’s correctional facility. “​​There wasn't a single question that I asked that they didn't know the answer to, and I asked a lot of questions,” she said.

She’ll do another internship with the county next summer, this time working in the prosecutor’s office. While she hasn’t figured out her career goals yet, she is grateful for the opportunity as “you never know where a different avenue could take you.”