What did you do over summer break?

I am currently working as an alternative investments post-trade solutions intern at CAIS in New York City. CAIS connects independent or enterprise financial advisors with leading alternative asset managers, empowering them to engage and transact at scale. This summer, one key project I am involved in focuses on connecting the ecosystem. The business of alternatives has many revolving parts, including custodians, advisors, asset managers, reporting providers, admins, and the end client. My co-interns and I are working to make this process more efficient by undertaking data-driven decisions and talking to advisors about their pain points and needs to enhance their trading experience.

Additionally, I am preparing for my CFA Level 1 in the evenings after work. Learning the material provides me with a lot of practical knowledge that I can apply in my workplace and personal life. Passing the exam in November will give my application a boost when applying for full-time positions.

As an aspiring documentary filmmaker, I was incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to work for a documentary production company in Manhattan this summer! As a production and development intern for 4th Row Films, I have been busy at work helping the company organize its research archive, reaching out to venues for potential shooting, and acting as a production assistant on an interview shoot. I have gained invaluable insights into this rewarding industry, specifically with how a professional documentary studio goes about telling and structuring the stories of its subjects. Through the Knowlton Center internship stipend’s generosity, I have been able to rent an apartment in Brooklyn with my girlfriend, Katherine Mims ’25. I have had the most amazing summer soaking up all New York City has to offer — from going to two Mets games and seeing my Denison friends in the city, to attending a few Broadway shows and the world premiere of M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap. It has been an incredible experience, and it has helped me to cement myself in this industry and show me how much I love this city and want to be here in the future!

This summer, I was part of the Summer Teaching Fellowship 2024 cohort for Uncommon Schools in Brooklyn, New York. During this fellowship, I led my own class in ancient world history for 16 rising sophomores. This experience provided me with hands-on experience working for a public charter network in an urban center. Additionally, I reviewed and applied lesson plans, various pedagogical techniques, grading, assessments, and student support. I am grateful to have been part of this experience as an aspiring educator and look forward to exploring more opportunities as I enter my senior year at Denison!

This summer, I am interning at Ernst & Young, or EY, one of the world’s largest professional services firms. I work in their New York City office (U.S. headquarters) on the Transfer Pricing team, a service line within the firm’s International Tax and Transaction Services division. Transfer pricing, a niche concept within international tax, is the practice of setting prices for transactions between related entities within a multinational company to ensure compliance with tax regulations across different jurisdictions. My responsibilities include conducting detailed financial analyses, benchmarking studies, and preparing comprehensive documentation to ensure compliance with international tax regulations. I have also been fortunate enough to sit on client calls with some of the biggest companies in the world. One of the coolest parts of the internship has been seeing the connection between my global commerce major at Denison and the job itself. The internship has not only enhanced my technical skills but also provided me with an understanding of the global tax landscape and its impact on multinational corporations. I am grateful to have gained hands-on experience working alongside seasoned professionals at a Big Four firm.

Over my summer, I have been fortunate enough to work as an intern for the ticket operations team at the Chicago Sky (WNBA). It has been a fantastic experience to gain insight into the business side of sports. My primary responsibilities this summer included collaborating with our sales department by helping organize and distribute large group ticket sales, advising customers on mobile ticketing issues, and supporting the organization by building rapport with season ticket holders and players. Through my experiences, I have learned various software applications such as Archtics (Ticketmaster), Salesforce, and ScoreCRM while improving my Microsoft Office and communication skills. It has been fascinating to forge connections from what I have learned in the classroom at Denison with real-life experiences. My highlight from this internship has been watching the impact players such as Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have created in women’s sports. As a ticket operations intern, I have been able to experience firsthand their positive influence on attendance and support of the league.

Donna Chang ’26 worked with her mentor, professor Alina Haliliuc in the Department of Communication, on field research into the material rhetoric of Easton Town Center. Chang is one of about 140 students across all disciplines who participated in Denison’s award-winning Summer Scholars research program this summer.

Jason Chen ’26 spent his summer as a DAAD-RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) intern in Germany.

Valentina Mendoza Cruz ’27 spent a month at the University of Exeter participating in the Fulbright UK Summer Institute on Global Sustainability. The Lisska Center supports Denisonians applying for Fulbright UK Summer Institutes and more than 30 other nationally competitive fellowships.

During my summer marketing internship at Energy CX, I gained valuable hands-on experience and learned a wide range of skills. I became proficient in using HubSpot for managing marketing campaigns and analyzing marketing data. My role involved developing and producing marketing content and analyzing data and graphs to inform our strategies. I also conducted daily research, wrote reports, and crafted communications for marketing initiatives, while also getting to learn more about each department at the company. I received this incredible opportunity through a connection with a Denison alum, Sabrina Rice, and the Denison internship stipend fund helped make it all possible!

This summer has been very eventful for me! I started out attending the Black Student-Athlete Summit at USC. This summit was a great opportunity to network with several hundred black athletes and professionals from various fields. Then, after the summit, I started my internship at a law firm, and I had the opportunity to work on the NFL litigation regarding Sunday tickets in the U.S. central district of California for about a month. Following that, I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in the Stanford Law Scholar Institute, a program offered by Stanford Law School. In this program, I was one of 20 students who spent a week at SLS at the end of June. I gained knowledge about the law school application process as well as how to position myself as a strong applicant to the universities I am targeting. I had the chance to network with current SLS students, Stanford staff, prominent legal scholars, and attorneys from various professions. Finally, for the last month of summer, I have been finishing up my internship in Washington, D.C., at Wilkinson Stekloff LLP and getting ready for senior year!

I worked at Messina Group Consulting Solutions, focusing on their data analytics department. My primary responsibilities included cleaning datasets for analysis and developing a Power BI dashboard to assist a client in selling their business. My task was to highlight positive sales trends to secure approval from the bank and facilitate acquisition by a third party. This project provided invaluable exposure to Power BI’s capabilities and honed my skills in presenting dashboards to clients.

Additionally, I enhanced my Excel proficiency through data cleaning and contributed to preliminary research on an AI agent designed to automate proposal writing. I am immensely grateful for the hands-on office experience this summer, which has offered valuable insights into my post-graduation career aspirations at Denison.

This summer I am interning in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., with Congressman Troy Balderson, who represents the 12th district of Ohio, which Denison is in. My experience has been fascinating as I have learned a great deal about how legislation is developed and was empowered by the office staffers to share my opinions and ideas. Being in the room where decisions are made has been amazing ,and I will remember this summer forever. Whether it’s running into random politicians like Raphael Warnock and Bernie Sanders in the United States Capitol or talking about sports with Congressman Balderson, it has been a summer to remember!

This summer I had the opportunity to live and work in Manhattan as part of my participation in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Quantitative Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (QSURE). As a QSURE Fellow, I worked in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. My research project utilized Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer patient data in order to investigate how long-term patient-reported outcomes were affected by travel distance for breast tissue expander reconstruction patients. This interdisciplinary project involved collaboration between the Biostatistics and Plastics departments, aiming to contribute meaningful insights to patient care practices. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship experience! It has allowed me to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-world setting and see firsthand the impact of statistical analysis on medical practices and patient outcomes.

I’m spending this summer working as a technology sales intern at IBM in New York City’s East Village. I work on a team that sells IBM’s data & AI products to the financial services industry, which means I spend a lot of time talking with enormous companies about some of the coolest and shiniest AI tools in existence. As a data analytics major at Denison, I spend a lot of time in the classroom communicating the value of my work with technology and making policy recommendations, which translates to technology sales really well.

So far this summer I’ve generated $2 million in qualified sales opportunities for my team, and I’ve attended client-facing product demo meetings to get a live look at some of the impressive tools I’m selling. I’m currently assembling a rundown of IBM’s business (across all brands, not just my data & AI portfolio) with a large financial organization for their new CIO, to form a relationship with a huge decision-maker for the foreseeable future. And soon I’ll travel to Dallas for a client prospecting boot camp with all Technology Sellers in IBM’s Financial Services division. It’s been a busy summer, but I’m loving the work.

I’ve been spending my time in New York playing ultimate frisbee and eating good food.

These past eight weeks, I have been in Washington, D.C., with The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), an academic internship program. The experience has been invaluable, providing networking opportunities, site briefings, courses at George Mason University, and an immersion in international affairs. I am currently interning with Developing Radio Partners (DRP), a media development nonprofit partnering with community radio stations in African countries to disseminate reliable news and train youth journalists. As a business development associate, my primary responsibility is writing grant proposals, which involves researching potential funding sources and crafting research-based concept applications. This role has allowed me to refine the research skills I acquired as a Denison Summer Scholar in 2023. The opportunity to write about and explore social issues in Malawi that impact the well-being, equality, and sustainability of communities while further honing my professional communication skills makes it a privilege to intern with DRP.

I am interning at the HQ of Morningstar Inc., a Fortune 500 fintech company based in Chicago, under the Deal Design team. I conduct price point analysis, manage client deals, and general deal analysis. I also have a case study project with other interns where we are creating a presentation to roll out a new product. I have been able to meet so many amazing people, and talk to people from all ranks and all over the world, including the CEO! I have made many amazing relationships with Denison alums and beyond, and I hope to return next year!