Yale and New Haven Promise: National Intern Day

National Intern Day on July 26 was a time for Yale, New Haven Promise (NHP), and internship organizers to celebrate and acknowledge the important work that interns do at the university.

This summer, 94 interns secured positions at Yale, an increase of 20 from last year.  

“Internships help develop quality candidates and support the New Haven community,” said Alina Colossale, Yale’s internship coordinator, who helped organize National Intern Day.

The event was conceptualized by New Haven Promise intern Olivia Buckholz, who arranged a day full of bingo, cornhole, a photo booth with Handsome Dan, and refreshments. View photos from event.

Although a majority of NHP interns are college students, there are also New Haven high school students who can benefit from internships early on.

Nyla Conaway, a senior at Wilbur Cross High School this upcoming fall, has interned in various IT departments in Science Park over the last two summers. Nyla noted that she gained a lot of new skills specifically in Excel as she helped create a spreadsheet for an important IT Finance project for her team. One of the biggest things she learned was effective communication, and the importance of doing things outside of her comfort zone.

Important to Matthew Duhaney, graphic design major at Southern Connecticut State and Yale University Art Gallery intern, was getting more adept at noticing mistakes and being productive.

“I’m happy to get experience that I can apply to my own career,” said Matthew. His advice for other NHP scholars is to take the opportunity because “it’s worth it.”

A freshman digital art and design major at Eastern Connecticut University, and Yale Center for British Art intern, Amariah Rodriguez, said the most important assets to have when interning is an eagerness to learn and willingness to take direction because interns are a great help to many departments, often doing essential background tasks.

“What you may think is a small task,” Amariah said, “really helps the bigger picture.”

Shirley-Ann Feliciano is a senior at the University of New Haven studying criminal justice. At her internship in The Center for Science and Social Science Information, she can apply knowledge from her major for crime analysis in mapping.

A major part of Shirley-Ann’s work was creating videos that demonstrate how to use Geospatial Technology (GIS). She was able to lead a GIS information session alongside other colleagues at the Bass Library on July 31. She pointed out that the most valuable skill she has been learning is the ability to multi-task, completing a task quickly and efficiently simultaneously.

The National Intern Day event also included interns and their managers taking the microphone and sharing their internship experiences, often praising their departments for providing invaluable experience, new concepts, and even friendly work environments.

With this sharing exercise, and the event in general, Alina said NHP “Wanted to recognize the hiring managers and their dedication to the NHP program.”

Written by Melanie Espinal, New Haven Promise Intern 2018
Photos by Shayne Lang of New Haven Promise