Culture & Community | Education & Youth | Arts & Culture | New Haven Public Schools | New Haven Academy
From left to right: Maurice Washington, Skylar Takacs, Priya Sasidharan, and Randy Sebastian. Contributed Photos.
Hunched over a microscope, Priya Sasidharan lifted a small forceps and made her first cut in the Emerald Ash Borer. Adrenaline—and a little squeamishness—pumped through her veins. She had been dreaming about this kind of work for years, and couldn’t believe she was getting to do it.
And she suddenly wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Sasidharan is one of 53 New Haven Academy (NHA) juniors heading to internship placements this month, as part of the school’s annual junior internship program. As students fan out across New Haven, four sat down to talk with the Arts Paper about their experience. They include student architects, illustrators, scientists, lawyers, and budding entrepreneurs.
The junior internship program was born 16 years ago, as the brainchild of NHA Co-Founder Meredith Gavrin. Initially, Gavrin saw it as a way for students to explore career paths they might be interested in. She noticed that young people often didn’t have a chance to learn workplace responsibilities, including how to get to a place on time, dress appropriately, and deal with distractions and multiple projects. She said she chose juniors because they are fairly independent and have had the opportunity to think about what their future might look like.
Since 2006, it has grown into a robust program with sites across New Haven. At NHA, juniors try to match their career interests with a College Bound Seminar taught by Fana Hickinson. Each year excluding 2020 and 2021, they spend three weeks at a site to which they are matched, doing internship work Monday through Thursday before returning to the school on Friday.
Some placements last well beyond the three weeks: Gavrin mentioned one student who started at a placement in 2009, stayed on for the summer, and still has a relationship with the site 13 years later. In addition to Gavrin, the program has received input from internship coordinators Lynn Gabbard and Sara Armstrong. Armstrong currently fills the role.
“It's a matchmaking gig,” she said in a recent Zoom interview. “It is about career interest but it's [also] about what host and what student would be a good fit together. ”
She added that she does her best to place students with sites that fit their interests, but sometimes has to get creative. Junior Jake Granoff, for instance, would like to become a surgeon—but NHA couldn’t find a surgical placement this year. Instead, Armstrong placed him at a veterinary office. In the absence of human surgery, animal patients are filling the gap.
The pandemic has also affected the way the program is run. In 2020 and again in 2021, NHA paused the program, although the school had some students work virtually with mentors in the summer of 2020. This year, some sites had very strict rules about student internships while others still had staff working remotely. Students also had to be vaccinated to participate, leaving about 20 juniors without internship placements.
Those students are doing community service hours and learning about careers instead, Armstrong said. She added that the school is figuring out summer opportunities for them.
Learning On The Job
In mid May, the 53 students in the program hit the ground running. Sasidharan, who is interested in microbiology, began her internship in the Entomology Department of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
The first order of business, she learned, was the basics of bugs. By her second day on the job, Sasidharan was learning about the Emerald Ash Borer, an Asian jewel beetle that arrived in the United States in 2002, and has since become responsible for the widespread death of ash trees across the country. Taking tips from her internship advisors, she drew out and labeled the deep green beetle and later was able to dissect it. While inspecting it beneath a microscope, she was able to find a tiny seminal seed.
For Sasidharan, the internship provided the kind of context that biology classes alone cannot. She discovered, for instance, that she is not a huge fan of bugs (they are kind of appalling, she said)—but would still love to pursue microbiology. She’s learned that she would rather stick to studying microscopic organisms instead.
"Try your best to adapt to your environment and ask a lot of questions,” she said. “So you can learn more about the profession so you can learn more so that you can see if you're interested or not.”
Across town from the Agricultural Experiment Station, Maurice Washington’s internship takes place in Erector Square at Studio i New Haven with artist and graphic designer Jennifer Rae. Before the internship began, he and Rae met to talk about the kind of work he would be doing. During the three weeks of the program, he is working on illustrating a character to life.
Rae has been a mentor throughout his journey, he said. While his interests range from architecture to international affairs, he wants to be able to expand his skills through art and design. In the studio, Rae walked him through Adobe Express and digital editing tools, with which he’s been able to animate photos and text. He’s now able to capture moments and stories through new perspectives, he said.
He added that the internship experience has rekindled a love for art that slowly froze during the pandemic. One part of that, he said, is the fact that he can expand his understanding of art and design. Another is that he’s able to share his journey with another artist. He is so grateful for this opportunity, he said.
“Anywhere you are, if you have an interest a hobby or anything that you would just love to do don't be afraid to get out the door,” he said.
Skylar Takacs’ internship takes place at Havenly, a community cafe, kitchen, and takeout operation run by refugee chefs on Temple Street in downtown New Haven. Her site placement, which Armstrong orchestrated, grew out of her interest in business and customer service. For three weeks, she is helping take orders and working in the cafe. In addition to takeout, Havenly runs catering services, meaning that it is rarely not busy.
Her first day began with a hiccup: she sold cookies intended for the front counter display to a customer. It didn’t dampen her excitement to be at Havenly, which provides job training, language and education classes, and professional development to women refugees who live across the city and in West Haven. She said that staff has welcomed her warmly into the space—and made sure she doesn’t go hungry on the job.
In her first two days, staff members fed her a falafel wrap with hummus, tabbouleh, and babaganoush. She said she loved all the flavors mixed together and recommends it.
“It’s a coffee shop with a greater cause they are working towards,” she said.
For junior Randy Sebastian, the internship program is a chance to learn firsthand about a career in law. Sebastian has wanted to pursue a career in law since he was a kid, he said. Placed at the law firm John R Williams & Associates, he was able to observe a discussion around a divorce case and learn about the work that paralegals do. On his first day, he helped out around the law office, clearing out cabinets and organizing hundreds of papers.
By the second, he was able to look over a 400-page hospital file from a previous case. He learned about hospital charges and how it is expensive to even get over the counter medication, he said. His internship host has also suggested job opportunities for people interested in law and law enforcement, including working as a crime scene photographer.
This experience has shown him what he likes and dislikes, although he wishes he could help out more. He likes being able to understand what people in a law office do on a regular basis.
“Be ready for the unexpected because you don't know what work you might have to do until you do it,” he said.
Juliette Lao is a junior at New Haven Academy doing her three-week internship at the Arts Paper.