Exploring Internships with Help from the Center for Career Design
From embassies to hospitals, Dartmouth students turned summer internships into career-shaping experiences.
Every summer, Dartmouth students fan out across the globe to take on internships that challenge, inspire, and shape their career goals. For many, funding from the Center for Career Design makes those experiences possible by opening doors to opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
Support from donors has helped increase funding for student internships by 400% and applications by 180% in the last year. To keep that momentum going, a $15 million challenge gift from an anonymous alumnus will provide a dollar-for-dollar match to help raise an additional $15 million.
We spoke with four students who turned their summer internships into defining experiences that helped them build skills, discover passions, and shape their future paths.
Emma Cory ’26: Medicine and Advocacy at a City Hospital
Emma Cory, a senior from Portland, Oregon, spent the summer in an internship that combined her scientific interests with her passion for helping people. Through Project Healthcare, a program at NYU’s Bellevue and Brooklyn hospitals, she worked as a patient advocate in the emergency department.
“Three days a week, I worked in the ER as an advocate. I would talk to patients, bring them food or blankets, and help communicate their needs to doctors and nurses,” she said. “The goal was to make sure patients felt seen and heard.”
Emma also got opportunities to observe in the operating room and ride along with EMS teams across New York City.
Beyond working on the hospital front lines, Emma’s intern cohort also conducted research on social determinants of health in the emergency department. “We screened patients for housing insecurity, food insecurity, and domestic violence,” she said. “About half of the patients screened positive for at least one of these. If someone was food insecure, we gave them a food bag. If they were experiencing domestic violence, social workers were there to help immediately.”
The summer confirmed her plans to attend medical school, where she’s considering focusing on emergency medicine. “The internship experience made me realize I want a career that combines medicine with advocacy and policy,” she said. “It’s not just about treating symptoms; it’s about addressing the social factors that affect health.”
Funding from the Center for Career Design covered her New York City housing and made the opportunity possible. “It was life-changing,” Emma said. “Being in a city hospital showed me how powerful compassionate care can be.”
Angel Castillo Mojica ’28: Diplomacy and Research in South Africa
For Angel Castillo Mojica, the summer meant stepping into the world of international diplomacy. Originally from a small town in the Dominican Republic, Angel interned at the Dominican Republic Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, as the embassy’s first intern.
“The embassy is very new. They didn’t really have a structured program, so I helped build one,” Angel said. He rotated through several divisions, including assisting with the consular and commercial sections, handling academic visa matters, and conducting research. Much of his work focused on understanding political and economic landscapes in African nations where the Dominican Republic has had limited presence.
“Our embassy in South Africa covers many countries, including Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Angola. We did a lot of research on those places to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back home,” he said.
Angel’s time in Pretoria coincided with a historic moment: the first visit to South Africa in 20 years by a Dominican minister. “That day we worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” he said. “It was hard work but meaningful. I realized my contributions were actually useful to the ambassador and the minister.”
Funding from the Dartmouth Center for Career Design made the experience possible. “The Dominican Republic doesn’t pay interns, so without Dartmouth’s support, I couldn’t have done it,” Angel said. “It was an incredible opportunity to represent my country abroad.”
Back on campus, he’s now deepening his focus on African politics. “I’m taking Politics of Africa and minoring in African Studies,” he said. “This internship showed me how countries in the Global South operate. Not just in terms of economics, but through education and cultural exchange. I know I want to go back to Africa one day, maybe to work in diplomacy again.”
Program Growth at a Glance
The program is off to a strong start, expanding rapidly and helping more students access meaningful opportunities.
Students funded:
- Fall ’25 number of students funded increased 280% over Fall ’24
- Winter ’26 number of students increased 211% over Winter ’25
- Overall 400% increase in students funded
Student applications:
- Fall ’25 number of applications increased 65% over Fall ’24
- Winter ’26 number of applications increased 114% over Winter ’25
- Overall 180% increase in applications
Ivie Aiwuyo ’26: Behind the Scenes in the Theater Business
Ivie Aiwuyo is a film major modified with African and African American Studies. She spent her summer working in New York City with Dartmouth alumnus and theater producer Luke Catler ’15. “I met Luke at a Hop networking symposium in New York,” she said. “Later, my professor, Dr. Monica White Ndounou, with whom I’d traveled to Ghana for the International Black Theatre Summit, mentioned Luke was taking on interns. So I applied and got the position.”
Assisting a producer building a new theater company in Brooklyn gave Ivie a crash course in the business side of the arts. “I didn’t know what a theater producer really did,” she said. “There’s the creative side, but a lot of it is about managing people and finances. I helped by organizing files, reading scripts, sitting in on meetings with investors, and helping at events to attract funding.”
Ivie also got to see firsthand the early stages of constructing a new theater space. “The building used to be a factory, and they were figuring out how to transform it,” she said. “I got to listen in on architecture and design meetings, see models of the space, and learn how every decision, down to the choice of materials, affects the budget.”
A major takeaway for Ivie came from observing Luke’s leadership style. “He had this way of handling tension between collaborators, including directors, writers, marketing teams, where he affirmed everyone’s perspective but still guided the conversation toward solutions,” she said. “Watching him manage conflict with grace and empathy was something I’ll carry with me. That’s a skill that will serve me in every area of life.”
Still, the summer strengthened her resolve to pursue arts entrepreneurship. “I want to create something like a preparatory program for first-generation and low-income students interested in the arts,” she said. “I want them to see that success in creative fields is possible, and that there are pathways to get there.”
Joshua Brant ’28: The Intersection of Sustainability and Entrepreneurship
Joshua Brant, an environmental studies major from Connecticut, spent his summer as a sustainability and marketing intern for Earth Brands, a startup that creates compostable cups and cutlery. Founded by two Williams College graduates, the company targets college campuses and events to replace single-use plastics with eco-friendly alternatives.
“The company’s mission is to make sustainability fun,” Joshua said. “Their branding is all about having fun while being green—think ‘drink responsibly’ but in a new way.” Working in a hybrid role between his home and the brand’s New York City headquarters, Joshua built the company’s sustainability webpage, helped the business prepare to obtain a sustainability certification, and created marketing decks highlighting partnerships with Princeton reunions and Boston breweries.
One highlight of the experience was a creative, hands-on marketing activation in Bryant Park. “We held a cup-stacking competition, and whoever built the tallest tower won $100,” he said. “We were out there for hours, and it drew a crowd. It was fun, creative, and totally in line with their brand.”
Joshua discovered the internship through networking on Dartmouth Connect, and Dartmouth funding helped cover his costs. “The work was really hands-on,” he said. “It taught me to think creatively and collaborate in a small, fast-moving team. I realized I want to stay in the sustainability space rather than a traditional corporate path.”
The Center for Career Design is Building Futures—and Funding Possibilities
Dartmouth students are exploring career paths worldwide and gaining real-world skills in their fields of interest. For many, the center’s funding is the key that makes these experiences possible, allowing them to focus on learning rather than logistics.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support,” Angel said, echoing a sentiment shared across the group.
Whether building a greener future, fostering global relationships, advocating for patients, or shaping the arts, these four students used their internship experiences to grow, supported every step of the way by the Dartmouth Center for Career Design.
Support Students Through the Center for Career Design
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