Adriana Zavala, a senior majoring
in sociology and Japanese, so enjoyed her summer internship at Schenectady Day
Nursery that she signed on to work there 16 hours per week even after her
classes at Union resume this fall.
That's on top of a double major,
an ambitious senior thesis on attitudes toward AIDS in Japan,
a job as a coordinator for Big Brothers/Big Sisters (she has a “little” too), a
DJ position with WRUC, and a term as president of the sociology club.
Esther Bauscher,
a junior pre-med student from Cambridge,
plans to continue working for Habitat for Humanity in Schenectady
once she resumes studies toward her majors in psychology and biology.
Zavala's and Bauscher's
experiences are typical of the six Union students who served as interns this
summer with local non-profits in a program sponsored by FleetBoston
Financial Group.
“They're all hooked,” said Janet
Mattis of the Becker Career
Center, who coordinated the
program. “All of the interns have said it was just right for them and that they
plan to continue in some capacity with their organization after this summer.”
Bauscher
wanted to return this summer to Habitat because volunteering there during high
school was “the greatest experience of my life.” Shortly after she arrived,
however, she found herself replacing a departed project manager. “I expected to
be doing all this menial stuff,” she said. “But I pretty much ran the show.”
Senior economics major Michelle Arcuri interned at
Bethesda House, where she assisted with a newsletter and helped guests of the Schenectady
shelter with budgeting and other tasks. “I wanted to push my comfort limit
while I still had the chance to,” she said of working at Bethesda House. “After
graduation, an opportunity to volunteer at an organization like (Bethesda
House) would not be feasible, if for no other reason than financial.”
Other Union students and their
respective non-profits are: Tanu Chandra '03, Girls
Inc.; Jessica Eaton '03, Schenectady Museum;
and Alyson Ligon '04, Nathan
Littauer Hospital.
The $20,000 grant from FleetBoston covers a $3,300 stipend for each of the six
students. The College has received $75,000 in support from FleetBoston
over the last three years.
“The FleetBoston intern program was an enormous value
not only to the interns, but to the organizations they served as well,” said
Paul Richer, executive director of Habitat for Humanity.
“Union
College has a unique leadership
role in Schenectady,” said Hermes
Ames, president of Fleet Bank of Upstate New York. “We are pleased to support
their efforts to provide local non-profits with the benefits of their students'
knowledge and expertise. This type of collaborative effort will benefit all of
the participants as well as the entire community.”