Princeternships 2010-2011

Jason Adleberg '14, City of Ocean City

2011-05-26T14:53:51Z

For my Princeternship, I shadowed Arthur Chew, P.E. ('95), the Chief Engineer for the beach town of Ocean City, NJ, and I got a comprehensive overview of what it means to be a municipal engineer. Whereas before, I thought he would be in charge of laying out the city and zoning areas, his job is a lot more technical than I had expected. For example, we spent the second day working on a project to calculate approximately how much sand was on a ten-block area of beach (in cubic feet), and then reported this volume to a company in charge of refilling the amount of sand on the beaches. Other projects included repaving a neighborhood road and attending a meeting on the multi-million dollar bridge construction into town.

My Princeternship was an invaluable experience, because now I have a much better grasp on what it truly means to be a civil engineer. I am happy I learned that civil engineering is much more technical than it is architecture.

Cameron Hough '13, The Brooklyn Latin School

2011-05-25T13:27:04Z

On the first day, Mr. Jason Griffiths ('97), Head Master, showed me around the school and gave me an extensive run-through of The Brooklyn Latin School's history; I learned about the school's policies all the way from admission, hiring and fundraising to curriculum planning and college matriculation. Jason also holds a wealth of knowledge about graduate programs and rising issues in the world of education, so we engaged in lots of conversation about the before and after of his work, as well. Needless to say, I learned a lot even in those first few hours.

Walking through the halls, one can't help but notice the inspirational and thought-provoking Latin quotations that line the hallways, each a symbol and reminder of the School's classical curriculum. Jason is also the school's founder and has modeled the School's curriculum after the model of Boston Latin, offering Latin to all students and intent on building its student's skills in the liberal arts from public speaking to structured writing and analytical thinking. While taking a tour of the building, everything from those quotations to the teachers' nameplates prefaced with Magister/Magistra (Latin for male or female teacher) serves as a quirky reminder of that mission.

That morning, I sat in on a conference call with the School's board of trustees as they discussed plans for the year's fundraising efforts. The School's faculty and trustees are all young professionals filled with vibrancy and a passion for education and the future of the School. Founded in 2006, the School is still in the process of planning its next moves and expanding its vision every day, which made it a wonderfully exciting place to visit. By the time I visited the classrooms, I was fully able to see how all of the meticulous planning that Jason and his colleagues have put into creating the school has come together to create such a wonderful learning environment for the students.

I spent most of the second day exploring classrooms and I was particularly impressed by the variety of teaching styles practiced throughout the school and how they all focused around The Brooklyn Latin School's central values. I sat in on multiple grade levels and subjects and instantly recognized common themes and continuity throughout disciplines and levels.

The faculty and administration put a lot of effort into making sure that the curriculum is cohesive and that every student is able to walk away from classes with skills that are applicable to a host of disciplines. The students truly appreciate and acknowledge the effort that goes into planning such a structured and specific education experience and I enjoyed talking to them about their experiences.

On a particularly exciting note, the School had recently received a grant allowing it to create two new computer labs and I happened to visit during the time that they were planning and mapping the details for the new spaces. Still a new institution, the school had renovated its library just the year before and Jason is constantly thinking of ways to enhance the school's facilities.

On the last day, I sat in on a faculty meeting for the Art History Department and listened and contributed to their conversation about how to restructure the curriculum while mapping the balance of skills and content taught throughout the course. That attention to balance is a large part of what I believe truly makes The Brooklyn Latin School special. Along with their staple traditions like declamation competitions to practice public speaking and Socratic seminars to practice seminar-style participation, ensuring that every student has a voice and is well-equipped to articulate their ideas in a classroom.

No question was off-limits and I felt completely comfortable around Jason and the faculty. I had plenty of questions and the faculty and staff took an interest in hearing my observations and were open to discussing the "why" of nearly every aspect of their method.

It was inspiring to see a school so young that has such a clear plan for its own and its student's futures. The faculty and especially the founding administrators have obviously worked tirelessly to make sure that their vision is carried out with precision and grace and the atmosphere for students, faculty and visitors is beautifully pleasant because of it. I was fascinated by the wonderful progress and enthusiastic cooperation that comes from a new institution without the impediment of long-standing administrative politics. Everyone admits that the New York City public school system isn't without it's flaws, but it was wonderful to get a first-hand look at the efforts that the faculty gladly put into their work everyday to further the school's mission. All of that hard work clearly paid off, too: during my visit, four students had gotten into their top-choice colleges and I watched them proudly put up pennants for their college destinations on the wall outside of the college office.

I would certainly recommend this Princeternship to interested students. My time at The Brooklyn Latin School certainly affirmed my interest in exploring teaching and administration and I'm extremely grateful to Jason for the opportunity to learn more about both the classroom and broader policy aspects of school administration.

Cindi Yim '12, Baylor College of Medicine

2011-05-20T19:23:43Z

Monday, January 24th, 2011
Preparation for my Princeternship really began last night when I climbed in bed at 9 p.m. In order to beat the morning rush into the Texas Medical Center, I was out the door by 5:30. It was overcast and rainy, but that certainly didn't drop the number of patients visiting the hospitals. Despite the dreary weather, Dr. Debra Palazzi ('92), was energetic and eager to begin her morning rounds at the Texas Children's Hospital. We headed straight to a conference room to receive the weekend report from the attending who had been on call. There, we learned about all the patients we would be visiting throughout the day. Their ages ranged anywhere from two months to 18 years old and their lengths of stay spanned from a few days to three weeks.

Dr. Palazzi introduced me to her current team: Jill, a second year resident, Angela, a nurse practitioner in cardiology, Kemi, an intern, and Rebecca, a fellow. They were kind enough to introduce me to their patients throughout the day. The amount of enthusiasm and dedication that they showed to each patient was amazing--I almost wondered if Dr. Palazzi had told them to act super excited, but she joked, "I wish I had met with my team before rounds to tell them to act normal!" We saw a premature infant with meningitis and polydactyly, patients with ulcers, cystic fibrosis, toxic shock syndrome, and numerous infectious diseases.

Their work seemed very much like detective work--fellows, interns and residents viewed new consults and then presented them to the rest of the team. Together, they hashed out the details of the case, reviewing a patient's medical and social history. Based on the patients symptoms, different tests would be run to check for the presence of different bacteria. Combining their own assessment of the patient with lab results allowed the team to collaboratively reach a decision for the next steps. What drug regimen would the patients be on? Was a hospital stay necessary? If so, for how long? All of these questions were answered and discussed with the patients and their parents.

The saddest case for me was a young girl with leukemia and Listeria, a gram-positive bacteria that can contaminate food, causing a potentially lethal infection. She was noticeably upset and complained about being bored in the hospital, wanting to leave as soon as possible. I was really impressed to see how Dr. Palazzi interacted with the patient and all the other children. She always ended the discussion by asking if the parents, and more importantly, if the patient had any questions. As long as the patient was old enough to talk, Dr. Palazzi made a pointed effort to see if they had any questions or concerns. (See photo on right: one of the kids let me take a picture of all the flowers, cookies, and balloons that had piled up in her room during her stay. Thankfully, she was looking better with each day, and she'll probably need a truck to bring all these gifts home).

Besides a lunch meeting from 1:00 - 2:30, we were shuttled up and down different floors within the hospital and bustling in and out of patient rooms, learning about new consults, and reviewing lab results. It was a hectic day, but everything was fresh and exciting. I left the hospital feeling charged for day two!

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
I began the day by visiting some patients with Rebecca before meeting with Dr. Palazzi and the rest of the team. As I could already tell from day one, each patient was a unique case which ensured that the doctors were never bored. Since several of the patients had been in the hospital for an extended period of time, I got to see many familiar faces as we continued rounds. It was great to be able to follow up on patients. The young girl I met the day before, in particular, seemed to be in a much better mood: "Can't you guys skip all the other kids and just stay with me?"

In between seeing the patients, we went down to the labs for "micro-rounds" where we learned about the science behind potential infectious diseases. We got to see Gram stains and actual bacterial colonies from patients we had seen earlier. It was interesting to see where all the tests were being completed. There was a lot of discussion about Chediak Higashi syndrome, a rare inherited disease of the immune system, that Rebecca was convinced one of the patients might have. We left the land of microscopes, soft-agar, and petri dishes to see some human faces.

The last case of the day was particularly heart-wrenching; a little girl who had three teams working on her: infectious diseases, orthopedics, and cardiovascular surgery. All three teams wanted what was best for the patient to occur and as a result, there was a lot of serious discussion. Day two concluded with just as much excitement as day one. At night, Alex Landon '12 and I made cards to give to all the kids the next day.

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Today was my last day, and I got a ride from Dr. Palazzi into the medical center. On the way, she talked to me about her experience at Princeton, medical school, and residency. Far from the horror stories that most people talk about when it comes to medical school, Dr. Palazzi was enthusiastic and reassuring. It was really helpful hearing her perspective. When we got to the hospital, we kicked off the morning with cupcakes and muffins since it was nearing the end of the rotation, and Dr. Palazzi would be meeting with a new team soon. We checked up on Ashley early in the morning to see how she was doing post-surgery.

Around noon, the residents and I headed to the Citywide Meeting on Infectious Diseases in which representatives from different hospitals presented their most interesting cases from the previous week. It seemed to be a great forum for different doctors to discuss alternative treatments and for medical students to see collaboration amongst hospitals in practice. Following the meeting, Dr. Palazzi and I made social visits to hand out cards to the patients. Several of them were really excited, and it felt great adding some color to their rooms--not that the Texas Children's Hospital isn't colorful enough (all the walls contain artwork done by children and the elevators are color coded).

After reviewing some new consults and checking on new patients, we wrapped up the day by saying goodbye to the team. Dr. Palazzi was kind enough to drive me home again. We talked about everything from her visit to Taipei (my hometown) after freshman year at Princeton, the Nude Olympics at Princeton, to her life outside of medicine--she used to be an international competitor representing the USA for taekwando! Over the last three days, I have learned so much from Dr. Palazzi and her team. Seeing the dedication they have shown to each patient has given me an example of the type of doctor I hope to be someday. I am so appreciative of the time and patience they showed me in answering all my questions or simply sharing their advice. I hope that I'll get to visit Dr. Palazzi again sometime soon!

Victoria Worthen '13, University of Richmond Athletics Department

2011-05-20T19:19:05Z

My Princeternship took me to the University of Richmond to shadow Ms. Maura Bolger ('03), who is the Assistant Athletic Director at the University and in charge of compliance. She was very welcoming and gave me a lot of information in just one day as well as some hands on experience. First in the day I talked with Mike Sheridan who is in charge of the monitoring aspects of compliance. This includes monitoring the amount of phone calls that coaches make to recruits and athletes' practice hours. Next, Ms. Bolger gave a presentation about all of the rules of compliance, illustrating the many bylaws with scenarios. These examples forced us to think in an analytic way as people in compliance would. She then showed us the online database LSBDi (Legislative Services Database interactive). This is an online database of the compliance rulebook, as well as a history of the infraction of different rules and interpretations of rules. My favorite part of the day was using this technology to actually try to answer questions that coaches may ask in a compliance office. After this we went on a tour of the athletic complex and met many people in different parts of the athletic administration at the University. After lunch we talked with Sadie Simmons who works with compliance in recruiting. She explained the process of checking potential student athlete's eligibility and recruitability. I then sat in an individual meeting between Ms. Bolger and the tennis coach about the tennis team as they entered the next semester. We finished the day by watching some of the men's basketball practice. This is actually an important part of Ms. Bolger's job to ensure compliance is happening in practice as well as in theory among all the sports teams. Overall Ms. Bolger and the staff were very friendly and helpful, answering all of my questions throughout the day and making it an incredible and enjoyable experience.

Zachary Wolens '14, The Brooklyn Latin School

2011-05-20T17:48:08Z

I had to wake up early in order to be at the Brooklyn Latin School at 8:30, the time that I had agreed upon the day before with the Head Master and Princeton alum, Mr. Jason Griffiths ('97). Getting to Princeton station at 6:15am allowed for ample time in case I got lost in the city, which surprisingly did not happen as I looked up the straightforward subway schedules and routes beforehand.

Once at The Brooklyn Latin School I was greeted by David Easton, the de facto Vice Principal, who gave me a tour of the school before I would meet Mr. Griffiths. Along the tour he told me all about how the school was started (for instance, its roots coming from its brother school, the Boston Latin School, such that students from this branch go there every year for inspiration). Further, he discussed with me the school's curriculum and its reasons for having the controversial International Baccalaureate, and the ways in which the school reinforces the name of Latin by way of declamations and Socratic seminars to strengthen public speaking abilities.

After the tour I had the opportunity to watch in on classes and observe teachers use their own tactics to get the students to pay attention, behave, and generally learn in class. Throughout the teaching Mr. Easton was providing me with a running commentary of what exactly the students were doing at the point in the course and how the teacher likes to teach. The whole experience illuminated what goes on in the teacher's mind during a lesson as opposed to the student's, a useful thing to learn about given my interest in teaching.

Finally, I was given a brief period to discuss with the principal a few technical questions as well as more specific details on certain decisions that he made and why he made them. Further still, I got the opportunity to learn of his motivations for becoming an educator, an invaluable thing to have.

Joy Wan '12, Cosmederm Bioscience

2011-05-20T17:44:18Z

Today I visited Cosmederm Bioscience and Evofem, Inc., two companies that share the same office in La Jolla, CA. I arrived at the office around ten in the morning and was greeted by Ms. Quimby, the Vice President of Product Development at Cosmederm. She introduced me to the other employees, who were quite friendly. Although Mr. Sean Edwards ('92), the President/CEO of Cosmederm, was out of town, I was still able to learn more about both companies and their products. Cosmederm Bioscience is a "cosmeceutical" company that has pioneered specialized and patented anti-irritant skin products created by Dr. Hahn, founder of Cosmederm Technologies. Evofem, Inc. has developed SoftcupTM and AmphoraTM, two products designed to promote women's health. After the introductions, I attended an operations meeting around 10:30. During the conference, Mr. Guthrie, the Chief Operations Officer of Evofem, and the other employees discussed modified specifications of the SoftcupTM product as well as marketing updates both in the United States and abroad. Once the meeting was over, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Pike, the Executive Vice President of Evofem Inc., explained their roles in the company and prospective plans for product development and marketing.

The highlight of my day was the two hours I spent talking to Dr. Hahn. A Stanford alum and a graduate from the UCSD medical school, Dr. Hahn discussed his interest in immunology, specifically nerve receptors in the skin called nociceptors, and the development of his products, which contain the element strontium. He then described the process of obtaining a patent and even took the time to go through the patent application he filed for the topical use of strontium for skin irritation. Not only did he answer any questions I had, but he also engaged my interest in his field of research. I am glad that I was able to meet him - his intellectual curiosity has inspired me to pursue science and his extensive knowledge of patents gave me a better idea as to what my future career in intellectual property law will entail. In addition, I was able to take one of his published papers and a copy of his patent application, a total of thirty pages!

I enjoyed this Princeternship overall, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in marketing or intellectual property!

Ellen Tung '14, Butler Rogers Baskett Architects

2011-05-20T17:38:06Z

Monday, January 3, 2011 (at BRB Architects)
9:30 am - Arrived at BRB Architects to meet with Partner Mr. Robert Vuyosevich ('76,*79 ). During this time Bobby told Vivian and I about the history of the firm and his educatinal/work experience too. We also talked about Princeton - dormitories, courses, famous professors, exams, etc.

10:30 am - Met w/ Mark Maljanian, Design Director/Associate Partner, to review two projects: Trinity School Chapel and Molloy College Student Center.
Mark is really involved in designing the projects. He has a minimalist style, which I really liked. He had just finished a project at Trinity School, where he re-did their chapel. He showed us the development of the design, from hand sketches to computer graphics and finally to the real thing.

11:00 am - Attended weekly partner/associate partner meeting. This meeting involved the social aspects of the firm, whether they should have more meetings or lunches with junior architects, and how they wanted to bridge the relationship gap between them.

12:30 pm - Lunch and studio tour with Junior Architect, Osamu Osawa, to discuss transition from academic to professional environment and to learn about typical workday. We went to a bistro right next to the office building and grabbed some lunch, then we talked and ate in the café area in the office with other junior architects. Osamu is the youngest employee - he just graduated from VTech. I discussed with many the difference between school and real work, different degrees/education plans, whether or not graduate school was worth it, and just in general what it was like working at BRB.

2:30 pm - Met w/ Partner Bob Vuyosevich for review of Qualifications package for job at Williams College. Here we learned about how to make a sales pitch, because architect firms have to compete against other firms to win projects/clients. Bobby showed us how they managed public relations (sending postcards, publishing a book to send to clients), and also showed us a Qualifications package and how they laid out their firm profile and 'sold' themselves.

3:30 pm - Met w/ Project Architect, Yuan Diao, to review construction drawings of Molloy College Student Center and Dorm. We learned about an ongoing project - Molloy College - and Yuan showed us all the construction documentation, which are basically HUGE books with large sheets of paper that had details of every single room, pipe, and air vent drawn. There was a lot of text and a lot of codes. We also talked with Richard, who is the main overseer of the Molloy College project. We talked about the difference between engineers and architects, and how they worked with each other.

5:00 pm - Met w/ web-site designer (with partners/associate partners in attendance) to see new web-site. This was a very interesting experience. I learned that architects are very focused on design, and perfecting designs. The partners spent a lot of time asking the website designers about the aesthetic details. Through my observations I found that there are fundamental differences between engineers and architects regarding the level of emphasis on aesthetics. I think I may be the former and so I found myself wondering if architecture is really right for me.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 (Various sites in and around NYC)

8:00-11:00 am - Bob Vuyosevich accompanied us as we met Project Architect, Richard Snyder, on the site of a new student center at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY.
This was a very cool experience. Both physically and mentally. It was freezing, but we walked around the construction site at Molloy College, where Bobby talked about structures, and what the engineers were doing. We also learned that sometimes projects cannot go the way architects want them to be. For example, there is one wall where all the doors to a room are slightly aligned incorrectly, because of a worker's misreading. We learned that this could cost the company a lot of money and time, but mistakes always happen some way or the other. I really liked the experience, and I definitely think I want to work with architects and building structures, but I probably want to do the engineering side of the work.

11:00am-1:00pm - - Returned to NYC and Lunch
On the car trips and during lunch, Bobby told us a lot about working dynamics. He had a lot of anecdotes about people who dropped out of architecture, handling unhappy clients, and working with difficult personalities. We also talked quite a lot about Princeton. He was in the Nassoons, which is pretty cool!

1:00 pm - Visited Trinity School Chapel, Upper West Side, NYC. After lunch we visited Trinity School and looked at the chapel that Mark designed. It was even more beautiful than the photographs! We saw how some things just can't go the way as planned. For example, there had to be a RED fire smoke detector that clashed with the color scheme of the room. Also, some lights could not be fixated in the desired places and had to end up elsewhere. The ventilation system of the room was very clever - it was covered by a bed of rocks. Also, the skylight and the secret doors were very impressive.

2:00-5:00 pm - Visited The AIA Center for Architecture to view current exhibitions.
Finally, Bobby dropped us off at the AIA Center for Architecture, but before he did that we took a quick tour around NYC to see the "cool" buildings today. There was one by Frank Gehry, which was amazing. We also passed by the Chelsea Piers where BRB has done some work. At the AIA Center, Vivian and I walked around the museum, enjoyed the exhibits, and then headed back to Princeton.

I definitely enjoyed this experience! It has taught me that I am an engineer rather than an architect, but also that I want to work with buildings in my future. I think that it has helped me choose my major at Princeton, and I will be doing the Civil Engineering/Architecture program!

Emily Trautner '11, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

2011-05-20T17:34:27Z

When I arrived at 10 am Wednesday morning at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, I was met by the alumnus sponsor of the Princeternship, Ms. Susan Zilber ('76). She was friendly and disarming, and greeted me and my fellow Princetern, Teguru Tembo, with a schedule of the events for the day. The day began with a meeting with Elizabeth Nunez, the manager of Human Resources, who gave us an overview of the structure of PPFA and its relationship with the 85 affiliate organizations and approximately 850 clinics nationwide.

After receiving a brief overview and access badges, we were off to speak with Destiny Lopez about her work as Director of Latino Engagement. Although 25% of the population served by Planned Parenthood is Latino (which is similar to the demographics of the United States), there is strikingly limited involvement of Latinos in community organizing or advocacy for PP. Thus, there is a discrepancy in representation of the served population in advocacy numbers and PPFA is trying to change that.

Next, we met with Elizabeth Talmont and Montsine Nshom who were a part of the Consortion of Abortion Providers Services. Planned Parenthood may be synonymous with abortion services to many people, we found out that abortion services are actually only 3% of Planned Parenthood's services. Additionally, there is not access to abortion services across all affiliates, so PPFA has set long-range requirements for the services that each affiliate must offer (not every clinic within an affiliate though).

After a nice lunch break with Susan, we learned about the evaluation and accreditation process for affiliates nationwide with Deborah McHugh followed by an introduction to Development operations with Beth Friedmann. Development work entails the coordination of donors and donations. The current big project is a streamlining of PP funding with the Collaborative Fundraising Initiative, which will create a pooled fund for donations to both the federation and affiliates and will cut down on paperwork and duplication.

The last meeting of the day was with Jeanne Ewy, the Managing Director of PPFA-International, a sub-division of PPFA, not to be confused with International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). PPFA-International currently works mainly in Latin America and Africa and provides support and expertise to help develop family planning services abroad with the goal of building system capacity so that the support can be removed eventually.

After a packed day in the office, I headed home with plenty of reading material for the train back. Perhaps the most surprising fact of the day may have been that less than 80% of employees of PPFA were female (all employees polled believed the number to be higher)!

Kees Thompson '13, Cosmederm Bioscience

2011-05-20T17:29:49Z

Today I went to the office of Cosmederm Bioscience in San Diego, CA in order to shadow the company's CEO Mr. Sean Edwards ('92). Although I had never seen the office before, I was very familiar with the area - having attended high school a mere five minutes away. As soon as I arrived in the office, I was greeted by Mr. Edwards and introduced to the staff. The office space was very impressive, complete with its own laboratory for research. In addition to Cosmederm, also working out of the office is a company called Evofem, for whom Mr. Edwards is the senior legal advisor. Cosmederm is a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of cosmeceutical over-the-counter and prescription topical dermatological products. Evofem is a biotech and consumer products company specializing in women's health.

After touring the office, Mr. Edwards and I sat in his office and discussed his professional background and the two companies he oversees. Mr. Edwards was not only knowledgeable about the business, financial, and legal aspects of the company but the technical as well; he was able to explain to me in detail how the products of both companies worked, complete with samples and models in his office. I was impressed by the depth of Mr. Edwards' knowledge of the products and their distinct marketing potential, which is indicative of his increased responsibilities as the CEO of a smaller firm. I was especially interested in Mr. Edwards' explanation of how decisions in marketing and operational strategy are shared among the executives in both companies.

Mr. Edwards and I also discussed his recent trip to London to meet with members of Evofem's Board of Directors. The purpose of the trip was to finalize the proposed plan for Evofem's purchase of Cosmederm Bioscience as a wholly owned subsidiary. Although both companies are owned by the same two individuals, Mr. Edwards explained the difference in investment prospects and immediate revenue potential between the two companies that prompted the plan for a synergistic acquisition. After our conversation, I listened in on a conference call between Mr. Edwards, Mr. Wendell Guthrie (the COO of Evofem), and Mr. Joseph Pike (the majority owner of both companies). Mr. Pike was still in London, and he described an additional meeting he had in Europe regarding Evofem's growth. Also briefly discussed was the need for plans to be drawn up regarding the executive positions in the new Evofem, Inc. - which as the umbrella corporation for the two merging companies would now include the management and board members of both firms.

Mr. Edwards then gave me a couple of materials to look over at a work station, which included a PowerPoint presentation concerning the Evofem/Cosmederm acquisition, a PowerPoint presentation outlining the new marketing campaign for Evofem's Softcup, and an endorsement contract between Evofem and Olympic-level swimmer Amanda Beard drawn up by Mr. Edwards. Nevertheless, I did not have much time to review the material as I was busy throughout the whole day! I next sat down with Dr. Gary Hahn - the Chief Scientific Officer of Cosmederm and the company's original founder. Dr. Hahn discussed his extensive experience in pharmaceutical research and product development. Despite having a strictly scientific academic background, Dr. Hahn was very knowledgeable in the challenges of small business entrepreneurship due to his firsthand experiences. Likewise, Dr. Hahn and I discussed matters of innovation, patenting/licensing, and intellectual property - both as they applied to Cosmederm and the pharmaceutical industry in general.

After my discussion with Dr. Hahn, Mr. Edwards and I walked to lunch at TGI Fridays. In addition to talking about his work, we also chatted about Princeton and his legal career prior to his joining Cosmederm and career as a business executive. Especially noteworthy was the apparent versatility of a law degree, as it can lead to so many different career paths - evidenced by that of Mr. Edwards. Not only were his experiences instructive, but Mr. Edwards took a personal interest in my own academic and career aspirations and offered his advice. On a personal level, we had a lot to discuss as fellow San Diego natives and Princeton athletes. As President of the Princeton Club of San Diego, Mr. Edwards has stayed very connected to the university and its community.

When we arrived back at the office, I listened in on a meeting between Mr. Edwards, Mr. Guthrie, and Daniel Pike - Executive Vice President of Evofem. The meeting concerned the international trademarks that Evofem wanted to file or extend on two of its products, the Softcup and the Amphora gel. It was very interesting to see the strategy inherent in the decisions, especially in terms of where Mr. Edwards and the others viewed the growth of the company and when the appropriate time to secure trademarks would be. Further, there was the issue of translation; for example, questions arose concerning China, from whether or not to patent the English names as well as the Chinese characters to whether or not a term like "Softcup" would even translate the meaning of the title correctly.

After the meeting, I stayed with Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Daniel Pike, discussing the history and the growth of Evofem. In talking with Daniel, I came to better understand the challenges involved in marketing and distributing a product, especially regarding the complex relationships with manufactures and the medical professionals who act as distributers; indeed, simply creating a perfect product is not enough to ensure the product's success on the market. I also learned a lot about the challenges of expanding a business overseas - from finding reliable partners to dealing with foreign governments' standards, especially in the health care business with the standards for products varying so much among nations.
By that time the day was nearly over, after flying by. Mr. Edwards likened my experience to "drinking from a fire hydrant" - and I think this is an extremely apt description. Diving right in and trying to learn all I could was a fantastic experience, and it was only made possible by everyone in the office being so generous with their time. After saying my goodbyes, I left Cosmederm a little bit more knowledgeable in the vast areas of business management, intellectual property, marketing, and cosmeceuticals, and a lot more excited about all of them.

Teguru Tembo '13, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

2011-05-20T17:24:36Z

When I applied for the Planned Parenthood Princeternship I was a bit nervous. I walked into their New York City headquarters with only a spotty idea of what it might be like to work in the nonprofit world. However, I learned so much in my two days tenure that I feel I left with a much more complete view of work outside the corporate sector. I am grateful to my Princeternship host, Ms. Susan Zilber ('76) for this opportunity.

Everything from the introductory video that Elizabeth Nunez, the Internship coordinator, showed us, to the meeting with Jeanne Ewy, a member of the International Department, to the casual lunch conversation with some new employees, was not only informative but also entertaining.

I applied for this Princeternship because, while I've always wanted to work outside the country and in a health-related field, I had only recently developed an interest in working in the nonprofit world. Planned Parenthood's focus on resolving global health issues specifically made it seem like the perfect place for me to wet my feet to work outside the corporate sector.

During my visit, I learned about how Planned Parenthood utilizes a corporate structure that emphasizes accountability--specifically through its accreditation board-- with a nonprofit delivery of services to achieve a type of synergetic success that neither strategy could achieve by itself. I also found my meeting with Destiny Lopez, the Director of Latino Engagement, very helpful. She spoke about how Planned Parenthood takes into account how sensibilities change from culture to culture when engaging with clients. One example I remember is that Tupperware parties are used to create a space where Latinas can talk openly about sexuality and sexual health.

I am also appreciative about the transparency and frankness with which the members of Planned Parenthood spoke to me. They told us about all the negative consequences that result from the opposition that Planned Parenthood faces. It never occurred to me to think that all the money Planned Parenthood spends defending itself should be viewed as opportunity cost. Every dollar spent fighting the slander and libel it is subjected to is a dollar taken from an HIV-infected girl in Ethiopia or a struggling teen mother in Mississippi.

I was also disappointed to learn about the negative effects that an adverse political climate has on Planned Parenthood's international mission. During a teleconference with Chloe Cooney from their DC office, Emily and I learned how foreign countries' health care systems end up being affected by American politics.

Meicen Sun '12, Princeton Project 55 with North Lawndale Employment Network

2011-05-20T17:12:48Z

My first day as a Princetern started off with the weekly Princeton Project 55 seminar in downtown Chicago, which was attended by other PP55 fellows and staff. The seminars were intended to be educational, informative, and at the same time a means to keep everyone in PP55 connected as a group. This week's seminar featured guest speaker, activist Bill Ayers, who gave us a talk on public service in today's U.S., especially with regard to the role of the individual in a democratic society. After the talk, I followed my coworker Andrew Kinaci, a PP55 fellow at NLEN, to take the blue subway line which would take us to the neighborhood of North Lawndale--one of the most poverty-stricken and crime-infested areas of Chicago.

The office of NLEN was a small and compact house that stood alone in a fairly deserted and worn down district. It also served as the factory and workshop of Sweet Beginnings, LLC--a social enterprise under NLEN that employed the formerly incarcerated to manufacture its unique beeline® skincare products with locally produced organic materials. My direct supervisor, Development & Program Associate Michael Malecek ('09), proceeded to show me around the office and acquainted me with staff members and clients. He also gave me a tour of the office's backyard where beehives were kept. Michael then introduced me to Ms. Brenda Palms Barber--Executive Director of NLEN and CEO of Sweet Beginnings. Before long, I began working on my main project as a Princetern--drafting a policy paper addressed to Chicago government, to appeal for a revision of a recent ordinance that would restrict urban agriculture in Chicago, and to explain the advantages of urban agriculture which provided the basis for many small-scale social enterprises like Sweet Beginnings. The day culminated into my making a closing announcement through the general paging system at the end of the day, as Michael suggested. Andrew jokingly said that I was now officially an NLEN employee.

Today, my first task was to help our clients with their resumes. I stayed in the computer lab where they worked on their resumes and took any questions they might have. It was a delight to see that my limited knowledge nonetheless proved helpful to them. Since the clients' employment with Sweet Beginnings was only transitional, another big part of NLEN's work was to impart essential job search and interview skills to the clients to facilitate them in their long-term career plan and reentry into society. In the afternoon, I continued working on the policy paper in Michael's office, where he would patiently take any questions I had regarding the history and background of NLEN. Later in the afternoon, I had a very pleasant and inspiring talk with NLEN Executive Director and Sweet Beginnings CEO Brenda, who shared with me her mission and vision of Sweet Beginnings, and basically anything and everything on social service in today's world. Both Brenda and Michael pointed to me the immediate dangers that surrounded our office--drug-dealing and violence that happened literally right next-door. Yet in the middle of this there was Sweet Beginnings which served as a shelter and more: Even some patrons would not have imagined that the beeline® products they used were manufactured in this tiny office building, by people who, if not for this employment opportunity, might be (re-)exposed to the dangers of drugs and violence any moment. I was thrilled to know that Michael and Brenda would forward the edited version of my policy paper to be presented at an upcoming Chicago Zoning Committee meeting. It was an incredibly fulfilling two days that I spent at NLEN as a PP55 Princetern but more importantly, it touches my heart to know that however little I have done, it is having an impact. I am very glad and grateful for this invaluable opportunity to have worked with such amazing people for such an admirable cause.

Alex Stokes '13, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

2011-05-20T17:05:25Z

Princeternship Day 1

I met Dr. Erika Petersen ('96) on the second floor lobby at 5:45 in the morning on Monday. It was early and we hit the ground running. She had already had a trauma case to work on from earlier the morning and had been in the operating room (OR) already that day. She greeted me and introduced me to the case at hand while we walked toward the OR. I changed into scrubs before entering the sterile areas leading up to the OR. We proceeded to enter the OR and I got my first taste of surgery. We walked over to a computer and Dr. Petersen explained the basics of reading a CT scan and how what she did surgically would fix the problem. I learned a lot here about how to read CTs and translate that into the anatomy of an actual patient. I was immediately impressed by Dr. Petersen's knowledge; she answered all of my questions about CT scans comprehensively and even would go on to describe things related to my question, aiming to give me an immersive experience as possible.

After some prep with the CT scans, we went to a lounge to wait while other technicians were prepping the OR for the next patient. I asked Dr. Petersen about the path she had taken to become a neurosurgeon and she described her experience at Princeton, subsequent time in health management consulting, and then her return to medical school to become a neurosurgeon. Soon, we were ready for surgery.

The first patient had a cranial stenosis (or narrowing) of one of the canals in one of the vertebra that allows the nerve to pass from the spinal cord to the location it innervates in the body. To fix this, Dr. Petersen and her resident put a plug into the vertebra in question to give it extra support such that it won't crush the nerve and then put a titanium plate across the vertebrae in question and its neighbor above. This would relieve the symptoms the patient was complaining about by allowing the nerve adequate space to function properly. This first surgery introduced me to the mechanistic workings of an OR. It is a team of medical professionals all in place to do key tasks to support the surgery going on. I realized the dynamic nature of a neurosurgeon's job, interacting with a variety of individuals to solve medical problems in actual people. For this prospective neurosurgeon, it was an awesome experience.

After this first surgery, we went to rounds to check on all of Dr. Petersen's patients. These people were mostly people Dr. Petersen had operated on the day before and she was watching them to monitor their recovery from surgery. After rounds, we grabbed lunch in the cafeteria and went back to another OR lounge to eat. I talked to Dr. Petersen about the health care profession some more and we started talking about her thoughts on health care reform, a subject I had been interested in since my PACE Center Breakout trip studying health care last Fall Break. I especially appreciated Dr. Petersen's views given her fellowship in England in functional neurosurgery. She trained there after her residency to become specialized in functional neurosurgery and she said that part of the reason she chose England was to see a socialized health care in practice.

The next surgery after lunch was fairly simple, but was definitely the most exciting surgery of the day. A patient needed an antispasmodic medication to help with muscle tightness from an injury sustained the prior year. Instead of taking a large amount of this medication orally, Dr. Petersen had decided to implant a pump that would supply the medicine directly into the spinal canal, helping to deliver the medicine in a very regular way. For this surgery, I got to stand right at the patients head near the anesthesiologist, getting a front row seat to the show. First, Dr. Petersen made an incision to put the tube into the spinal canal. This process was similar to an epidural. Then the abdominal cavity was opened and some fat removed to make a pocket for the pump. Then a hollow rod was used as a tunnel connecting the back to the front. This technique surprised me with its simplicity and cunning. Instead of having one large scar where the pump cable would have to lay if Dr. Petersen had to cut front to back, this tunneling method simple reduced the scarring to only two small scars on the front and back.

We finished the day with a few more rounds, checking on patients and then I left for home. Dr. Petersen introduced me to her resident and another doctor and I was supposed to meet them early in the morning to go on the resident's rounds. I had an early day in front of me.

Princeternship Day 2

This morning was earlier than the previous one, but the events of today more than made up for it. I met a team of residents and interns in the neurology wing and the chief resident had each other resident or intern present each patient that the team had been taking care of. While this might be seen as tedious or routine, it was very engaging for me because rounds are a critical part of the process of becoming (and then being) a doctor. I got to see a variety of patients in a variety of conditions and any questions I had were answered by Dr. Ghandi, the resident that had been working with Dr. Petersen.

After rounds, I followed Dr. Ghandi until we met Dr. Petersen at a gamma knife conference later that morning. On the way to the conference, Dr. Ghandi and I had to get consent for the day's surgery: Deep brain stimulation to relieve Parkinson's symptoms. The idea behind neurofunctional surgery is to implant some sort of medical device to alter the brain state in some way with the goal of producing a (hopefully) positive effect on a neurodegenerative disorder. After getting consent from the patient, we continued on to the gamma knife conference. Here a panel of doctors looked at prospective cases (various patients with various types of brain tumors) with the task of determining which patients would be good candidates for the surgery (i.e., which patients would benefit the most from it). Gamma knife technology allows for precision ablation of certain tumors but there are many important factors to consider including location of the tumor and size, along with the type of cancer as some cancers are more resilient to radiation than others. I appreciated the chance to sit in on this panel because it helped emphasize the collaborative aspect of the medical profession.

After the gamma knife panel, Dr. Petersen and Dr. Ghandi prepared for the DBS surgery. The patient at hand had already had this surgery done once (but the electrodes weren't placed optimally) so first the old electrodes had to be removed. Then, an MRI was taken of the patient to get a three dimensional image of the patients brain. An external frame was placed around the patient's head with a metal ion solution that would show strong signal on the MRI such that a three-dimensional reference frame could be generated from the measurements. The location of the right neural locus (the brain spot that had been damaged and was causing the Parkinson's symptoms from this disruption) could be calculated relative to this external frame and then the placement of the new electrodes (depth into the brain from the frame) could be calculated to see how far into the brain Dr. Petersen needed to go in order to hit the right target. Cutting edge surgery!

After the electrodes were placed, each implant was tested by stimulation with a test device such that placement could be checked. If the electrodes were in the right place then the patient should report a relief of symptoms when the test current was applied. Dr. Petersen would go in another day once the electrodes had healed into place and connect another electric source that would provide the constant voltage required to suppress Parkinson's symptoms.

After the electrodes were placed, Dr. Petersen and I visited the family to update them on how the patient had done and answer any questions the family had about how the DBS technology would work once the new electrodes were up and running. I was introduced to the personal aspects of medicine here. At the end of the day, surgeons are working with real people with real lives and real family. Patient care arguably becomes the most important part of medicine as a practice and being able to lessen the anxieties of a family and their concern for loved one can supersede knowing every last intricacy of the interior globus pallidus (although this knowledge is pretty important too!)

Princeternship Day 3

Today was spent in the clinic. It was low key compared to the adrenaline rush of surgery in the operating room but was still quite interesting as it presented yet another important part of being a doctor: solving medical puzzles. Dr. Petersen and her nurse spent the day seeing a list of patients. They grabbed a room with a couple computers for viewing MRI/CT scans of patients they were about to see and used that as a base of operations of sorts. The typical process went like this: Dr. Petersen would retrieve any records (primarily MRIs) the patient had and used this to get an idea of what the problem may be. Scans were from all different parts of the head and neck depending and abnormalities in a certain area would correlate with a certain symptom that Dr. Petersen could use to diagnose the problem and then suggest a treatment. After getting an idea of the patient's health, Dr. Petersen would go talk with the patient, ask them their medical history and a description of what was wrong, then perform a series of neurologic tests, such as having the eyes follow Dr. Petersen's moving finger, to determine function. Damage to a certain part of the brain or spinal cord would hinder a patient's ability to, for example, move their arms up against resistance and in this way, Dr. Petersen could confirm any suspicion she had as to the problem associated with the symptoms the patient was presenting.

I got to see a wide variety of people, several of whom had traveled from fairly far areas of Arkansas to come visit Dr. Petersen in Little Rock. I got to hear theirs stories and gain a little bit of insight into their lives. The clinic experience in this way helped to put a "face" to medicine, reinforcing the holistic approach to patient care that is essential to being a successful physician. I highly recommend this internship for any interested in the medical field and especially if you have any interest in neurology or neurosurgery. I have a much better idea of the demands (and rewards!) of being a neurosurgeon and this experience has helped me confirm my decision to go into medicine. This Princeternship was highly rewarding and provided a lot of insight into the medical profession. It was immensely interesting and furthermore, simply just a lot of fun!

Christian Smutherman '14, U.S. Department of Education

2011-05-20T15:44:26Z

Day I
Hello everyone!
My first day at the United States Department of Education was absolutely amazing. I arrived in the capital not knowing what to expect. Marveling at the landmark government buildings just blocks away, I walked nervously up the steps that lead to the Department. I had no idea that I was going to have the opportunity to see internal government affairs as well as have the opportunity to meet top government officials, all during the hectic time period before the President's State of the Union Address.

Everything moved very quickly that day. The air of excitement surrounding the President's speech was virtually tangible! During that day, a plethora of events were occurring as the Department of Education prepared for Tuesday evening. Mr. Massie Ritsch ('98), my mentor during the Princeternship, brought me to an array of top government meetings within his department. I was given the wonderful opportunity to sit in on a confidential debriefing between top White House officials and the Department of Education's political appointees. I was then whisked away to another important meeting where the department discussed an upcoming international summit for education. I was able to listen as the Department's leaders talked to representatives from all over world about this upcoming event.

The rest of the day proved even more exciting as I had the opportunity to meet, speak to, and take a picture with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan! He was a pretty cool guy. After our brief discussion, I sat in on an amazing talk between the Department's teaching fellows (a select group of the best teachers in the nation) as they discussed pertinent issues in education policy and government implementation of programs.

All in all, the first day was more than I could have ever asked for or expected. Things moved so fast, I barely realized that I'd been in the nation's capital for an entire day. It felt great to watch the President's speech and hear him talk about education reform, knowing that I had just been right in the middle of all the excitement.

Day II
Day two proved to be another amazing day at the Department of Education. We had a shortened schedule due to an impending snowstorm, but I had the opportunity to do a lot for the time that I was there. This day, I was actually given some tasks to complete. I wondered how useful I would be, seeing as I had no experience in government affairs. I worked on a letter for the Deputy Secretary of Communications and Outreach, congratulating a school that had just won the Blue Ribbon School Award for academic excellence. Truthfully, I was surprised to see that Mr. Massie actually used the letter that I wrote! It was a very rewarding experience.

I also did some awesome work for the upcoming International Summit on the Teaching Profession. I was given the task to call the offices of top American educational leaders and invite them to the summit. I spoke to the offices of the NAACP, the offices of governors, and the offices of top education-based nonprofit organizations. It was amazing getting the chance to actually work directly for the department and have an instrumental role in setting up the event.

Day III
The snow fell relentlessly the night before, blanketing Washington DC. I wondered if my day would be shortened, or worse, if my schedule would be cancelled. Thankfully, that was not the case. A few of my appointments were cut short due to the weather, but I still had a lot to do my last day.

Specifically, I was given the task to conduct research on a legal case in Arizona. Mr. Massie, my mentor, wanted to know more about a recent conflict between Arizona taxpayers and a government program that backed up donations to Student Tuition Organizations. I learned a lot as I compiled the data on this case.

I was also able to meet one-on-one with some surprisingly young political appointees. One thing that I learned at the Department was that a lot of people were very, very, young. I spoke to two recent Harvard graduates who worked on policy for the Department of Education. They described to me in great detail their journeys to becoming political appointees and their passion for the work that they do. It was inspiring to see such young people doing amazing things in the nation's capital!

Even though the Princeternship experience was short, I felt as if I had been there for weeks! I learned so much during this time period and would love to do something like this again. I am inexpressibly thankful for this opportunity and thank Princeton, Mr. Massie Ritsch, his assistant Kim Morton, and the rest of the department for this fantastic opportunity!

This was one of the best experiences of my life! I've learned so much about the government and my perspectives have definitely changed about how the government works. I now see that everything works very fast-paced and is extremely energy-filled. As a freshman, this has helped me to see that I want to continue learning about policy and education reform. This experience has reinforced my desire to further change in my own community and provide resources for the students who are fighting for a better education.

If you're a freshman interested in government, policy, or just education in general, go for this opportunity!

Anna Simpson '14, SRI International

2011-05-20T15:37:13Z

I met Dr. Dennis Matthies (*70 *74) at Frist Campus Center for a short drive down Washington Road to Sarnoff's laboratories (the official name of Sarnoff Corporation has been changed to SRI International). As we entered the building, he told Josh Chen '14 (the other Princetern) and me about the rich history of the laboratories. Sarnoff was formerly part of RCA Corporation and the location of innovations such as the color television, liquid crystal displays, high-definition television, and many others.

Dr. Dennis Matthies showed me some pieces of Sarnoff's history as RCA Corporation, which included the invention of color television and the design of television's Emmy awards.

We went from the past to the present as we went through an iris scanner that identifies employees as they walk through it and over to Dr. Matthies' office, where he told us about his current responsibilities in the company. Dr. Matthies is Senior Program Manager of Products and Services for Sarnoff; his job involves coordinating projects with clients and Sarnoff's engineers. A typical day for him involves responding to issues that appear on email, monitoring project progress, communicating with clients to learn about requirements, and organizing engineers to develop the products and software necessary to meet these requirements. It is not all sitting at a desk, however; while we there, Dr. Matthies helped an engineer prepare and pack for a trip to California for testing.

Since 2001, Sarnoff has primarily done contracting for the Department of Defense, making use of their expertise in vision systems to help the military. Dr. Matthies told us about TerraSight, Sarnoff's software suite that helps the military make use of video information from stationary cameras and Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs). A key component of this is geo-locating the video so that people can determine whether they have seen a certain spot before. Later, one of Dr. Matthies co-workers, Ric, showed us a computer model similar to Google Earth where they can overlay the live video onto the model to monitor places like airports.

An example of the TerraSight system as it would look in the field. These boxes can coordinate video from multiple video sources such as UAVs and ground cameras as well as displaying inputs from non video inputs such as radars. (Photo from Sarnoff's website.)

Before lunch, we met Dalton Pont, who is working to establish Sarnoff as a Center of Excellence in Augmented Reality. He described applications of virtual reality for training soldiers and first responders, but also for education and even the fashion industry! As a Center of Excellence, Sarnoff would coordinate with researchers around the country to further the field. After lunch, we followed Dr. Matthies to two meetings, a light day for him. Dr. Matthies meets with other managers and engineers to coordinate proposals for the future as well as hear about progress on current projects.

Dr. Matthies got his undergraduate degree in physics and started working at Sarnoff while he was a graduate student in Device Physics at Princeton. One of his early projects was a video disc, a precursor to the DVD. He was soon put in charge of a large aspect of the project, creating the disc, and even got to ride the corporate jet when he flew from RCA to the manufacturing plant! He worked on a number of projects afterwards, doing research that won him a number of patents. Dr. Matthies worked on projects with applications in many different fields from large screens for projectors to medicine to the defense projects he works on now. He strongly believes that his education prepared him to learn about many different projects and become an expert in several different topics. On the job, Dr. Matthies learned more about how business is run and dealing with many different people as he found projects for his research group. To him, "work is just the next phase of learning" and he encouraged us to seek out challenging opportunities to learn new things.

The most valuable part of the day for me was hearing about Dr. Matthies' experience and the range of his projects. From his perspective the world of defense contracting made a lot more sense and I have garnered a much greater appreciation for the work of managers. I would enthusiastically recommend the Princeternship program to anyone curious about a career path or industry; as Dr. Matthies pointed out, Princeton alumni are very eager to share their expertise and experiences with current students!

Dipika Sen '13, CitiGroup

2011-05-20T15:32:44Z

Tuesday, March 15th 2011

This morning I arrived at Mr. Timothy Douglas' ('86) office in the Citigroup building in New York, NY. Since this was my first experience in the financial world, I felt a strange mix of nervousness and anticipation upon my arrival, but Mr. Douglas and his colleagues were very warm and graciously welcomed me to their workplace. While I arrived to his office at 9 AM, Mr. Douglas began his day at 7 AM, and had already participated in two conference calls with international clients. As the Managing Director and Global Head of Securities Finance, he must be used to working long hours to attend to the needs of clients located in diverse areas of the globe. Since Citigroup caters to client's interests in emerging markets like India, Mr. Douglas and his colleagues collaborate with a team in place on the ground in Mumbai, who help them understand day-to-day changes in financial markets and regulatory decisions. During the Princeternship, I was able to sit in on Mr. Douglas' conference calls with Citigroup personnel in London and Mumbai. While I wasn't sitting in on back-to-back meetings and calls, I was able to visit different areas of Citigroup's building, including the trading floor. Through this tour, I learned how divisions of these firms worked together to deliver comprehensive solutions for clients. Later, I sat in on a meeting where Mr. Douglas' team made an informal presentation regarding a potential merger and acquisition deal. Participating in this meeting helped me understand how critical interpersonal and teamwork skills are in the financial world. Undertaking a merger and acquisition requires a large number of professionals who work on specific aspects of this project, and subsequently collaborate with others to work out the specifics of an arrangement. Throughout the day, Mr. Douglas also gave me great advice on how to break into the financial services industry and helped me understand the current global financial climate. Listening in on conference calls, participating in meetings, and learning about the different divisions of Citigroup has furthered my interest in finance and has affirmed my future career goals. By participating in this Princeternship, I gained unique insight into a field in which I am interested and I am so grateful for the opportunity to shadow Mr. Douglas!