Tag: #mypennpath

Justice for Women

This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the Career Services Summer Funding grant.  We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending the summer.  You can read the entire series here.

This entry is by Sarah Elnahal, COL ’16

When I accepted the internship with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, I was not sure what I want to do as a career. As a feminist, I knew I wanted to help women in some capacity, and I had been interested in law ever since I joined the mock trial team in high school. After spending three months working in the Juvenile Department and the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Department, I found my calling; I want to help women find justice for the wrongs they have faced.

As an undergraduate intern, my daily activities were pretty clerical. I would print out discovery (a collection of all the evidence in a case, interviews, police reports, and other relevant documents), approve charges, update statistics, and file. Although these tasks seem menial (and I have to admit, at times I did feel bored), they taught me so many important aspects of law. I learned about various charges and their definition, even correcting ADA charging mistakes. I saw the type of information needed to move forward with a case as well as the inner workings of the information collecting process.

Most importantly, however, I was able to read the cases and discuss them with the ADA. Most of the cases that came across my desk involved domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and child sexual assault. It was very difficult to read the cases and the testimonies, especially when it involved children. I was particularly passionate about working with ADA’s on sexual assault and child sexual abuse cases. Many of the children were so young that they did not have the vocabulary to be able to describe the sexual incidents properly during their interviews. I went with the ADAs to meet the victims, and it was so powerful to see these their strength to go through the laboring legal process.

After shadowing the lawyer’s and learning how they prepared for these cases, I would go to court with them. This was the hardest part of my summer experience. Defense attorneys often grilled adult women, and I could not imagine what it would be like to have someone invalidate a trauma you experienced. When children were questioned in court in sexual abuse cases, defense lawyers would often confuse the children, leading them to alter their testimony. Many of the children struggled to even tell their story, and the ADAs worked very hard to make the children feel comfortable in a courtroom setting.

Throughout this whole process, I saw how passionate the ADAs were. They worked long hours to make sure these women and children got the representation they deserved. In court, their passion came through in all their objections, cross examinations, and direct examinations. When I watched them, I realized I wanted to be them. I want to aid these women and children seek justice in a time when they may be feeling helpless or scared. My summer experience helped me form a specific goal, and I would like to thank Career Services for providing me with this life changing opportunity.

Can(nes) I Do It Again

This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the Career Services Summer Funding grant.  We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending the summer.  You can read the entire series here.

This entry is by Pauline Schreibmaier, COL ’16

CANNESThe 68th annual Cannes Film Festival began on May 13th 2015, providing its cinephile audiences with new films, ideas and directors, tourists with slight sightings of famous stars and beautiful weather, and businessmen with a market to buy and take home films to their native countries. On the outside, the festival appears to be one of enjoyment- a destination that provides a journey of pleasures and process of commodification for the 200,000 filmmakers, film fans, and stargazers alike to absorb. I am just one of the many people who wake up two hours before a screening to run into long lines, hoping to make it through 4 screenings in a day. I realize how much of a  festival town Cannes is- the bus stations have photographs of actors, directors, and producers. Charlie Chaplin and Jacques Tati appear on walls, movie theaters line every block, and the face of the beautiful Ingrid Bergman appears in every store I pass. The restaurants stay open for hours on end, and La Croisette is filled with slow moving black cars holding everyone who is anyone.

As I try to make my way through the multiple reporters, bicyclists, and tourists, I realize that the next 2 weeks are going to be some of the most of the most hectic, exhausting, and thrilling moments in my life as a film student. I watched documentaries, dramas, animated stories, but mostly movies that make you walk out of the theater, sad and distressed. Cannes sure makes you think and feel. Filmmakers from all over the world use their art to highlight social issues and captivate audiences while reflecting upon the international anxieties that lie in the human experience.

Apart from the 30 movies that I had the opportunity to watch, I noticed the peculiarity of the people around Cannes. I’m walking towards the beach and in the distance appear a little carnival with people on pedestals and clowns painting faces. There are half naked men running around, and crazies that are jumping out in front of cameras. A girl has hair down to her ankles and it has become increasingly hard to escape any of these people. Cannes is definitely alive and well. While standing in line for a screening, I take notice of the rather common Cannes specimen, the French Cinephile. This kind of woman always looks the same: a bit older than middle aged, often short and fit, with a nice straw like blonde bob, wearing khaki pants and a button down shirt. She is quite slow to her seat, but is easily angered when she does not get the one she wants. And if she does not like the movie she is seeing, has no problem leaving. If the festival allows for a short break in your day, people watching is definitely high up on the list.

Cannes long

Towards the end of the festival, you realize how special and important it is to watch films in a theater. Films were made to watch in an audience- to feel emotion alongside others, whether it is laughter, fear, or sadness. This is why Cannes was so great, overwhelming, and exhausting. We watched films with large amounts of people. Strangers. People who had opinions about what they were seeing. They would feel the sadness with me as you hear the sniffling in the background, and the booing from some disappointments. At the end of the day, Cannes is a business. And you learn that quickly. The festival is continually changing and doing new things to stir up commotion. These two weeks were incredibly eye opening and I only hope to come back within the next decade and experience something totally new and different. After all, film itself is a forever changing.

There is such thing as free lunch, and it’s growing outside my apartment

This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the Career Services Summer Funding grant.  We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending the summer.  You can read the entire series here.

This entry is by Catherine Darin, COL ’16

When I tell people I spent my summer working on an urban foraging project in Berkeley, CA, they are typically pretty confused. Once I explain urban foraging – it’s harvesting and consuming edible invasive plants (weeds) growing on sidewalks, yards, parks, empty lots, and other public land– they’re still a bit perplexed. I tend to get asked three questions. Do people really do that? Isn’t it unsanitary – what about dog pee? What are you even majoring in?

Dandelion greens growing on a Berkeley, CA sidewalk. When foraging for dandelion greens, it’s best to look for young, big leaves, typically without any flowers.
Dandelion greens growing on a Berkeley, CA sidewalk. When foraging for dandelion greens, it’s best to look for young, big leaves, typically without any flowers.

To answer the first two questions: yes, there are thriving urban foraging communities across the US, including Philadelphia, and no, urban foraging isn’t unsanitary. Don’t worry about dog pee – it’s water soluble, so if you wash your plants, you should be fine.

My answer to the third question tends to surprise people the most. I’m actually studying Economics. But, although it was a bit unconventional for an Econ major, (it’s not finance or consulting) my summer internship with Berkeley Open Source Food very much complimented my Economics coursework at Penn, and also allowed me to pursue my interests in food and agriculture.

A farmer at a small urban farm in Richmond, CA, showing my internship supervisor, Dr. Philip Stark, mustard greens growing abundantly on her land.
A farmer at a small urban farm in Richmond, CA, showing my internship supervisor, Dr. Philip Stark, mustard greens growing abundantly on her land.

Through an economic lens, urban foraging yields a positive externality on society. When people forage, they are consuming fresh, nutritious plants that benefit health and the environment. Foraged foods are filled with vitamins and micronutrients, and have virtually no carbon or water footprint, (which is particularly important with California’s current drought), and pose no financial cost. One of my research tasks this summer was to try to quantify the economic impact of bringing foraged plants into the supply chain, particularly in low-income “food deserts”. This involved lots of data analysis and academic research.

But, there’s obviously a big stigma attached to eating food growing on the street. The other work of my internship was focused on actually building a supply chain between weeds and consumers, so that the potential benefits of foraging can be realized. I loved this part of my internship. One day I might be visiting an urban organic farm, seeing what weeds are growing there that local restaurants may want to buy to serve on their menus. Another day I may be contacting plant nurseries, inquiring if they carry certain native edibles that could be used in an edible garden on the UC Berkeley campus. Other times I would get to play around with cooking dandelions greens, nasturtium, radishes, and many other weeds, to give people ideas on how ways of incorporating these plants into their diets.

A delicious dish I made with fresh pasta and foraged nasturtium flowers and greens.
A delicious dish I made with fresh pasta and foraged nasturtium flowers and greens.

I feel very lucky that I was able to work with Berkeley Open Source Food this summer.  I think that learning about foraging, which is definitely unusual, has piqued my curiosity as a student and as a person, leaving me very excited and motivated to for my last year of classes at Penn. It has also left me inspired to continue to pursue my interest in food systems, as I am actively looking into pursuing an agricultural economics degree after I graduate.

Your Path, Your Future

Today is the first day of classes. There isn’t a handy word for that. We mark graduation with a ceremony, Commencement. The name means a beginning, in this case of the next phase of life for the graduates. We mark the beginning of the academic year with another ceremony, Convocation, which means a calling or coming together. We held our Convocation last night. Among the many wise words were those of our Chaplain, Charles Howard. He urged the entering class not to blindly conform. He reminded them that they were admitted because they stood out from the crowd, and hoped they would not be afraid to do so at Penn as well. Wise words indeed.

Chaplain Howard’s message resonated with me here at the start of the year as we in Career Services see many hundreds of students who are preparing for the future. We have, as it were, called them together to prepare for interviewing or graduate school applications. They hurry along well-trod paths. This may be fine, but too often we see students who are following the herd to particular employers or career fields. Here at the start of the semester, we urge Penn students to find and take their own path.

As you begin what for many of you is your final year at Penn, don’t be afraid to blaze a trail, or take a risk. Wherever your dreams may take you, you will be armed with the power of your Penn education. Find your path. We are here to help you.

On behalf of all of us at Career Services, have a great semester!

Limited Edition Cheesesteaks

This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the Career Services Summer Funding grant.  We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending the summer.  You can read the entire series here.

This entry is by Sarah Schuster, COL ’17

Some interns get coffee. I got limited edition cheesesteaks, chicken parmesan-filled dumplings, and whole-pig roasts. Mine was a job where a second (or fifth) lunch was considered “training” for the big leagues. I was sent to restaurant openings and reported on brunch, and spent my afternoons in the office talking menus and food trucks. For something as mundane as food, it would seem almost absurd to spend an entire summer devoted to the culture around it, but the food scene in Philadelphia is vibrant, energetic, and honest. Yes— we all eat. But Philly really eats.

For this young writer and food fanatic, the dedicated people behind Philly eats quickly became my family throughout my two positions (I wrote for Foobooz at Philadelphia Magazine, and blogged/worked part-time for the demonstration-restaurant, COOK). Each and every person I worked with treated me as an equal and a professional, handed me a knife or a camera, and set me to work.

It was in these two very different settings that I spent my time tasting and writing about food. During the week, I worked primarily in the Philadelphia Magazine offices. I’d call new vendors and restaurants and ask them for their stories, or I’d research little-known pop-up events and write posts about them. When I had downtime, I’d scour Instagram in search of awesome food photos to round up. In the evenings, I made my way across Rittenhouse Square to COOK where I welcomed and served guests, photographed, and occasionally prepped food alongside chefs for the dinners they held each night. Given my time at Foobooz, I had the opportunity to interview many of these chefs in my magazine position, making working with them hands-on all the more exciting.

The learning was often explicit: re-familiarizing myself with WordPress and learning how to properly edit photos were skills that needed honing, and working on multiple projects at once while in the office let me flex my journalistic muscles. Further, the office setting surrounded me with other professional writers, meaning there was never a dearth of inspiration.

Implicitly, I picked up hosting and management skills by throwing myself immediately into work at COOK, and picked up more information than I thought I could ever remember about the food world of Philly. While I’ve lived in Philadelphia for two years now, before this past summer I had very little knowledge of the world on the other side the Schuylkill River. Now I know the dim sum scene at Passyunk Ave, the pizza in Fishtown, and even the brewers in Phoenixvillle. The city opened up it’s heart and it’s kitchen to me, and there were no invites I refused.

Whether it was practicing plating with Jose Garces in his kitchen or grocery shopping with chefs at the Fitler Square Farmer’s Market before blogging late into the night for COOK, my summer constantly offered me new experiences in the food and journalism world that is undeniably central to Philadelphia. I’ll be continuing part-time work at both places in the fall, and longterm friendship, too: if I learned nothing else after this summer, I now know without a doubt that those who eat together, stay together.

And that where there’s good food and good company, there is always a good story.