{"id":84098,"date":"2013-10-01T09:46:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T13:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=84098"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:12:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:12:46","slug":"student-interns-learn-from-alumni-mentors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/10\/student-interns-learn-from-alumni-mentors\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Interns Learn from Alumni Mentors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This<\/a>
Sharon Hwang, left, a senior human rights and international relations double major, and Molly Rockett, a junior political science major, spent this past summer doing internships in the nation\u2019s capital with alumni as mentors. (Samantha Ruggiero ’14 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard it many times: the economy is tough, the job market is even tougher, and the number of good, available jobs just doesn\u2019t match up with the number of qualified college graduates.<\/p>\n

But many former students in UConn\u2019s extensive alumni network of more than 225,000 alumni are giving current students invaluable opportunities to get relevant work experience on their resume before venturing out into the real world \u2013 all while building a professional relationship with a fellow Husky.<\/p>\n

This summer, Molly Rockett, a junior political science major, and Sharon Hwang, a senior human rights and international relations double major, each participated in internships spearheaded by UConn alumni in the nation\u2019s capital, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

The business side of politics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rockett was an intern with Washington Analysis, a private sector company that produces research on the effects of federal policies and regulations on corporate investments. The company\u2019s executive vice president is a 1966 graduate of UConn.<\/p>\n

Ira Loss \u201966 (CLAS) says he was impressed with Rockett\u2019s boundless energy<\/p>\n

\u201cMolly is energy personified,\u201d he says. \u201cShe was always asking, \u2018Is there anything else I can do?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

From her very first day, Rockett says Loss encouraged her to participate as an equal member of staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIra was incredible. He oversaw the entire program and he very deliberately made sure that it was an enrichment program for all of the interns,\u201d says Rockett. \u201cHe made sure to include us in all these conversations about how the firm worked, and meetings about what was going on for the day. He really brought us in to the loop and that\u2019s exactly what I was looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockett says she was excited to expand her political portfolio. Having worked in the offices of U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, she had experience in the government campaigning side of politics, but was looking for something more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never been exposed to the economic and business side of politics,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted a challenge that would really push my boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockett was responsible for gathering information about recent energy research and policy. She says that by the end of the internship she was conversational in energy sector lingo, and could attend committee meetings at the Capitol and follow what they were saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to navigate the industrial and highly competitive political landscape of D.C.,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Says Loss, Rockett has \u201csuccess written all over her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practical experience in human rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Less than a mile away from Washington Analysis, Hwang participated in an internship program at the Freedom House, the United State\u2019s oldest bipartisan human rights organization dedicated to the spread of democracy through advocacy and research.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Smith \u201904 (CLAS), \u201907 MA, a political science graduate, started the Freedom House Internship Program with the UConn Human Rights Institute because he wanted UConn students interested in human rights to gain practical experience in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that interns take advantage of the opportunity to spend time in an organization that is stocked with some of the world’s foremost experts on democracy promotion, as well as longtime activists who have literally put their lives on the line to fight for something bigger than themselves,\u201d says Smith. \u201cI hope interns leave inspired and even more impassioned about human rights than they were when they first arrived in DC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hwang worked in the Emergency Assistance Program, a branch of the Freedom House that assists human rights advocates whose efforts have been suddenly halted due to unexpected and often tragic circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, a family member was killed for their role in a human rights organization and the rest of the family would be left without any income,\u201d says Hwang. \u201cSo a humanitarian grant would cover school fees, food expenses, or money to flee the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shocking news that the Freedom House received on a daily basis was an emotional experience for Hwang, and she admired the resilience of the staff in consistently promoting human rights around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took so much out this experience because the employees are so dedicated and passionate about human rights issues,\u201d she says. \u201cIn dealing with such difficult stories every day, the natural thing to do is just to desensitize; but my co-workers were truly empathetic toward these situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a network<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Hwang and Rockett enjoyed positive experiences with their co-workers at their respective internships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very shy at first, but I broke out of my shell with my co-workers,\u201d says Hwang. \u201cThey gave me advice on what kind of graduate programs were in D.C., and they were so willing to share their advice with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockett says she has acquired a \u201cteam of allies\u201d among the staff at Washington Analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe networking that Washington Analysis opened me up to was just phenomenal,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was unbelievable how willing and interested they were in developing my personal career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loss says his company has been accepting interns for the past 30 years and values the ideas that they contribute to Washington Analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know [the interns] are going to learn a lot about the intersection of public policy and finance,\u201d he says. \u201cBut my feeling is that they teach us a lot too; they\u2019re our connection to tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many students are benefiting from opportunities to gain relevant work experience, thanks to UConn’s extensive alumni network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":83820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2226,1,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[63],"class_list":["post-84098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-clas","category-uncategorized","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 19:04:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84098"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107080,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84098\/revisions\/107080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/83820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84098"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=84098"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=84098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}