D.C. Scholars Reap Benefits of Funded Summer Internships

In 2016, 10 Posse D.C. Scholars received the Posse Summer Leadership Award (PSLA), which provides important funding for summer internship opportunities. These recipients explored careers in medicine and finance, completed research in South Africa, interned at the U.S. Department of State, and worked at nonprofit organizations focused on empowering youth, to name a few. Below are highlights of two of this year’s PSLA winners.

Bucknell University sophomore Gissell Botero, who is majoring in neuroscience in a pre-med track, participated in the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. The enrichment program aims to strengthen the academic proficiency and career development of students underrepresented in the health professions. Gissell learned medical school-level physiology and anatomy, met doctors in a range of fields, dissected real cadavers, and spent clinic hours doing rounds and patient interviews at the surgical ICU.

“It gave me a lot of perspective and knowledge about the medical field that I would not have been exposed to by just going through the motions of undergraduate education,” Gissell said. “As a first-generation student, I didn’t understand what being in the pre-med track really meant, and all the hard work and responsibility that is coming my way is now clearer.”

Noah Wossen, a junior at Pepperdine University, received an opportunity to intern in London with Travelport, a travel and tourism company. For Noah, the internship provided meaningful opportunities to strengthen his technical finance skills and enjoy the British culture.

“I had the chance to work on high profile material and analyze critical data in an effort to make educated forecasting evaluations,” Noah said. “This work is highly relevant to business and provided me with indispensable tools that I will take down the road. I also made connections with professionals that I plan to keep in the years to come.”