TUFTS’
TOP 10 INTERNSHIPS
Domestic Violence Counselor with RESPOND Justin Zaslavsky ’19
Constituent Services in the Office of US Senator Christopher Coons Jordan Siskin ’19
Booking Researcher for Conan Jocelyn Contreras ’18
Equity Researcher at Brazil Plural Bank Gabriela Delela ’21
As an intern with the Survivors of Abuse Feeling Empowered for Reentry (SAFER) Program, which is designed to provide support to incarcerated survivors of domestic violence, Justin is responsible for individual counseling, consisting mostly of providing emotional support and safety planning services. Justin cites as his greatest takeaway “not only insight into the lives of those detainees and inmates who shared their stories with me, but through those stories, [seeing] the ways in which public policy and the criminal justice system profoundly and disproportionately impact certain populations. No matter what I do, I know that I want to fight injustice.”
“My summer internship with Senator Coons was absolutely incredible,” Jordan recalls. “The Coons Team was kind, caring, and hardworking, always going the extra mile in the service of others. Not only were my colleagues amazing, but I was given real responsibilities that made a real impact.” Jordan explains that her parents have always encouraged her to get politically involved in her home state, Delaware. Her main responsibilities were in constituent services, but Jordan also helped with press releases. As her internship progressed, she was able to propose and develop projects that would best ser ve the needs of Delaware. “This internship taught me that I am happiest when helping people,” she concludes. “While I am still uncertain of my career path, I know I want it to involve creative problemsolving and working with others.”
Following in the footsteps of one of her idols, Mindy Kaling, “who is known to have been an intern for Conan when she was an undergrad,” Jocelyn reached out to Conan and landed herself a full-time internship for the talk show, researching booked guests and using her best judgment to find interesting talking points that would become part of the script. Above all, she remembers the most important lesson was to be honest, upfront, and specific about her personal goals as she worked to continuously network with professionals. Her summer on the Warner Bros. lot and the day-today familiarity with the celebrity host redefined her interests in her major, film and media studies, and helped her focus on building her career amidst a constant demand to build the script.
Gabi hails from Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. A double major in economics and international relations, she founded the Brazilian Student Association and is the lead analyst for the Tufts Trading Fund. This summer she interned with the equity research team at the bank Brazil Plural in São Paulo, selling stock to clients and making recommendations. Working for the energy power desk, Gabi was able to do research on emerging companies, learning about the energy market in Brazil. “You have to study the market in order to make recommendations,” she says. “But you also get to meet the clients and explain why you think the market is going to react in a certain way. I learned so much about economics, but most importantly, I got the experience of interacting with the clients.”
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