Bard High School Early College Program
LLI received wonderful thank you letters from students in the NYC Bard High School Early College Program (BHSEC). Every year, LLI provides financial help for expenses incurred during summer internships.
The Bard Early Colleges are founded on the belief that many high-school-age students are eager and ready for the intellectual challenges of a college education. The Bard Early Colleges provide adolescents with a rigorous, credit-bearing, tuition-free college course of study in the liberal arts and sciences following the 9th and 10th grades.
Description from the Bard Early Colleges website.
Eliya Ahmad at the Institute for Contemporay Psychotherapy
I would like to thank you and the Lifetime Learning Institute for giving me the opportunity to intern at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, a not-for-profit mental health organization, dedicated to offering high quality mental health services at an affordable cost. My internship was an illuminating experience, and I am incredibly grateful for getting this chance.
I have been interested in psychology for years; as soon as my career aspirations became more realistic than astronaut or full-time author, I realized that I wanted to be a therapist. I had always been interested in people and how we all think, and so psychology was endlessly fascinating to me. I read books, articles, and anything else that I could get my hands on. However, interning at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy this summer was my first opportunity to experience first-hand what a career in the field of psychology might entail, and so it was an incredibly valuable opportunity.
I was one of six administrative interns at the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy this summer. Since there are over 150 therapists working at ICP, within eight separate divisions, there is a great deal of organization that must occur to ensure that ICP runs smoothly. Therefore, I was there to assist the directors of ICP in this task by organizing and maintaining their files and records, and setting up their weekly workshops. In addition to assisting with these day to day operations, the other interns and I undertook multiple lengthy projects that were crucial for the institute’s operation. We catalogued all of the terminated patients from prior years so that the patients’ information could be found even once their files were put in storage. We contacted each therapist in order to update the room schedules, thus freeing up rooms and creating times for new patients to be admitted. We reviewed applications and created contact lists for the training programs run by ICP every year that provide each new generation of therapists with the experience needed to help patients. Working on these projects, among numerous others, showed me what it takes to run a not-for-profit organization like the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.
In addition to performing these administrative duties, I also was able to take part in multiple workshops led by the Director of Operations at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. The first workshop centered on the different graduate options available for careers in mental health. We each researched different degree options, and discussed the relative pros and cons. The five other interns were all entering either their Junior or Senior year of college, and so the workshop was more immediately relevant for them, but I found this workshop incredibly beneficial nonetheless. Being aware of the different graduate opportunities so far in advance will allow me to plan ahead and make decisions now that can affect my path post-undergrad.
The second workshop focused on a series of videos from the 1960s called the Gloria Tapes. In these videos, a woman sees three different analysts, each of whom practices a different therapeutic modality, and tapes each of her sessions. Doing so allows people to see what each type of therapy might look like in practice, rather than just based on the theoretical doctrine. This can be beneficial for future patients, so that they can see which modality might work best for them. For me, watching and discussing these videos provided insight on what the different methods entail, and thus which I might want to look into further.
Lastly, I was also given the opportunity to speak directly with a therapist about her experience in that career. This discussion was illuminating, as it gave me the chance to ask her in depth questions about being a therapist, beyond what I could learn from more technical informative sources. I had always liked the idea of being a therapist, but had never before gotten an opportunity to see what that career would truly be like.
Each aspect of my internship taught me a great deal, whether about clinical psychology or administrative duties or a possible future for me in this field. Overall, my experiences this summer confirmed that mental health counseling truly is the path that I want to follow, while also providing valuable experience that will help me go down this path. Once again, I am extremely grateful for the Lifetime Learning Institute for enabling me to intern at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.
Sincerely,
Eliya Ahmad
BHSEC ‘19
Olive Amdur at the International School of Brooklyn
I would like to give sincere thanks to you and the Lifetime Learning Institute for sponsoring my summer internship at the International School of Brooklyn. Over the course of five weeks, I worked closely with the head teachers of the Spanish Pre-K and Kindergarten programs at the school, developing language-oriented activities for the students and building leadership skills.
The summer programs at the International School are designed to offer an environment of language immersion to young children from all backgrounds and all levels of fluency. There are programs in both French and Spanish, and though much of the time was spent participating in separate activities in order to maintain maximum language immersion, we had all-camp meetings once a week and lots of interactive play time with different groups of children. For the majority of the five weeks, I worked at in the Spanish Pre-K class.The children in this class were three, four, and five years old, with varying levels of Spanish comprehension. One of my primary focuses throughout my time in the class was providing extra support, both moral and linguistic, for the students who had never been in an immersion setting before.
Every day began with an unstructured play time, where I learned skills to aid in language use and development during free play. I often spent this time interacting with the students and playing alongside them to ensure that their use of the various games and toys in the classroom was inclusive and generous, helping prepare arts supplies for an activity later on in the day, or working with a few students who did not yet have quite enough vocabulary to understand important directions. It was during this time that I learned the importance of freedom and imagination in the development of young children.
I saw these young kids use their minds in countless ways over the five weeks, always to create new and intricate worlds. I witnessed a whole group of young chefs bake a complex birthday cake in the small wooden kitchen, a couple of young doctors in lab coats test the reflexes of their classmates, and the first set of young astrophysicists figure out how to send a small dog to outer space in an assembled rocket ship. This past academic semester, I took a speculative fiction class, in which we talked extensively about world-creation and the importance of creation in individual communities and on a large scale. The young children I worked with were true examples of the importance of imagined games in the development of empathy and connection with other people.
Though unstructured time is valued in the pedagogy of the International School of Brooklyn preschool and kindergarten programs, each day there were at least two structured, yet still deeply creative, periods. One of the periods was always spent completing an arts and crafts project. These organized arts activities, often involving paint, glitter, feathers, cardboard, and an excess of Elmer’s glue, always revolved around the theme of the week. The other structured activity each day was the music and motion period, in which we shared other aspects of culture through song and dance.
Over the course of the five weeks I learned a wide variety of skills, helpful both in and out of the classroom. On the logistical side of things, I learned tools to use for scheduling and planning the set of activities for a given day or over the course of a week, and on the creative side I learned how to plan activities that remain both interesting and exciting for a group of students and connected to a set of larger themes. I learned about the importance of imagination and creativity in education, specifically education for young children, and I learned new methods of collaboration with peers and leaders. From the beginning of my internship at the International School I assisted with the planning and execution of activities, but throughout the five weeks I took on increasing responsibility and began to lead and organize periods throughout the day on my own.
My commute to and from the International School of Brooklyn every day required a train ride, so it was thanks to the generous grant from the Lifetime Learning Institute that I was able to purchase the necessary Metro-card fares throughout the summer. In addition to the subway fares, I was also able to purchase lunch for myself during the week. I also purchased a couple of sticker pads to give out to students who were exceptional listeners during activities.
Again, thank you so much to the Bard Lifetime Learning Institute for providing the funding that enabled me to have this incredible opportunity over the course of this summer.
Sincerely,
Olive Amdur
Samantha Drach at Jews for Racial and economic Justice
I would like to thank you and the Lifetime Learning Institute for sponsoring my internship at Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) and The NYU High Throughput Biology Laboratory. Interning at both a social justice organization, and “hard science” lab allowed me to have a multidisciplinary summer where I was able to grow in areas of interests as a student. It was amazing to spend half of the week working for a non profit while spending the second half of the week working inside of NYU Medical Center, enabling myself to explore my curiosity in both types of work.
While I was expecting my internship at Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) to be in their office assisting with projects, my position ended up being so much more. The first surprise I met was that instead of just working with Jews For Racial and Economic Justice, I also worked with JFREJ’s new sister organization The Jewish Vote as they began to launch the organization. While Jews for Racial and Economic Justice is a 501(c)(3) organization, which categorizes it as a non profit organization, the Jewish Vote is a 501(c)(4) organization. It is important that the Jewish Vote is classified as a 501(c)(4) organization because that categorization allows the Jewish Vote to make candidate endorsements in the upcoming state election.
My work with the Jewish Vote through Jews for Racial and Economic Justice involved working with the organization before it technically even launched. One of my first tasks with the Jewish Vote was interviewing a set of candidates running for different political positions in the upcoming New York State election. The first candidate whom I interviewed with the Jewish Vote was Alessandra Biaggi, who is running for State Senate in District 34 in the Bronx. I learned that she is running against the incumbent state senator Jeff Klein who is the founder of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC). I learned through the interview and having a debrief conversation with the other participants in the interview that the IDC is a group of senators who were elected as Democrats, but who actually aligned mostly with Republicans in New York State Senate. The fact that she is running against one of the members of the IDC is a main reason why the Jewish Vote has a lot of interest in her. We interviewed her on many topics including police accountability, criminal justice, housing justice, ethical reform in state politics, her allyship with JFREJ, and finally how she will advocate for elder care justice. The topic of elder care justice was the main issue that we were focusing on. After interviewing Biaggi, we also interviewed Jeff Klein, the incumbent for District 34. We asked him the same set of questions but also asked questions about his role as head of the IDC.
With The Jewish Vote I also interviewed other candidates including Jumaane Williams who is running for Lieutenant Governor, and Cynthia Nixon who is running for Governor. When interviewing each of the candidates, we asked a similar set of questions though depending on the candidate they were slightly personalized. My role within the interviews consisted of taking notes and also asking questions. Also when the interviews ended I participated in the debrief discussions about the candidates with The Jewish Vote leadership.
The next step was the decision making on who to endorse. Candidates chosen based on their answers to the interview question but primarily based of there their commitment to elder care, and advocating for elder care rights. One way we gauged their commitment to elder care was there opinions on the New York State Health Act. The New York State Health Act ensures a health care system that would provide all New Yorkers with comprehensive healthcare by means of single-payer programs, ending co-pay and ending deductibles. The New York State Health Act has still not been able to make it through the Senate. While we were encouraged that many candidates claimed to be in favor of the bill, it barely mentioned elder care. In the process of deciding who to endorse, the Jewish Vote was committed to supporting candidates who would use their power to advocate for more accessible longer term care, and better rights for care workers.
Once the Jewish Vote decided on the candidates to endorse, we began the process of canvassing and outreach. The canvassing was primarily around the issue of elder care, which was emphasized through the candidates we were canvassing for and the canvass location. We were canvassing in Riverdale, which is a District 34 neighborhood with a large elderly population. I was responsible for phone banking to get volunteers to sign up to canvass, organizing materials for canvasses, training canvassers before they go out to the doors, and finally canvassing myself. I ended up canvassing about 2-3 times a week for most of the summer. Other then doing work with canvassing I also helped plan events such as canvasses with speeches from candidates we were endorsing, and bigger endorsement events with a couple of the candidates we were endorsing.
In addition to the work I did with JFREJ and the Jewish Vote, I also worked as an assistant at the Biology lab at NYU Medical Center. The lab was in the Skirball section of NYU, and was labeled as a core facility. Within NYU, being a core facility means that other clients and labs either send us sets of cell lines for us to test, using our robotics and facilities to work with, or people from those labs come into the lab themselves and we assist them. Being a core facility also means that within the lab we do a lot of the data analysis before we send results back to clients. Working at the core facility allowed me to meet many clients and understand the interpersonal aspect of working within the research community. Throughout the summer there was a set of about five clients who I met with and interacted with regularly.
Working in the core facility also allowed me to experience handling different types of cell work and robotics. I learned how to use, prepare, and clean many types of instruments such as the ArrayScan, Seahorse, EVOS, WellMate, and EnSpire. While in the lab, I observed and participated in many advanced procedures, I also handled the day-to-day routines of the lab. Though tasks such as taking inventory, checking freezer temperatures, checking the CO2 levels of incubators, washing dishes, and bringing glassware to the autoclave seemed mundane, to me they were actually quite amazing. These tasks allowed me to experience what it means to work in research and I was so proud to be helping the core facility do its work.
Thank you so much for your grant that supported such an educational and inspiring summer. Working at JFREJ required daily lunch purchases and a vast amount of subway rides, traversing the city from Brooklyn to the Bronx, often resulting in 4-6 rides a train day. My work at the NYU lab also required daily lunch purchases and subway commuting. Both internships this summer were truly life changing, taught me much about two very different work fields and provided me with experiences that will influence my future. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Samantha Drach, BHSEC ‘19
Adib Rahim at American Museum of Natural History
I would like to address and thank everyone at the Lifetime Learning Institute at Bard college for sponsoring my Astronomy Internship with Jackie Faherty (Research Scientist) at the American Museum of Natural History and my other internship at Mamun’s Tutorial.
During my time at the American Museum of Natural History, my peers and I were brought in to test out a new program called “Partiview” and learn about the field of Astronomy in general. Partiview is a 4-dimensional program that lets us see the digital mapping of our current universe. By utilizing Partiview, scientists are able to better conduct science inquiries on our galaxy without venturing into outer space. The program opens up a world of opportunities to our imagination by redefining the perspectives of what we see as our universe. The program is written in the language “C++” and “OpenGL,” which we were taught in order to input 4-dimensional datasets into the program.
The most important thing when looking at our universe is distance; making it a fundamental aspect of Astronomy/Astrophysics. Jackie Faherty gave a lecture on how the European Space Agency is changing the ways we can look at our universe. In 1989 the ESA launched a satellite called “Hipparcos” which was intended to measure definite positions, motions and distances of the stars in our universe. By the time the mission ended the satellite had collected data of about hundred thousand stars. This was considered the gold standard at the time being, but as recently as April of 2018 the same Agency launched a mission called “Gaia” which collected data of an astounding number of 1.4 billion stars! Gaia also revealed a really important aspect of stars not only being the distance relative to these stars but also took in data of how these stars move in our universe. Jackie Faherty also worked with the Agency for about 3 days and she stated that the program “Partiview” really surprised astronomers in its ability to graph large amounts of data, as she also stated that in about 50 years much of the astronomers will adapt to using “Partiview”.
Entering data like we did with small sets of Gaia to Partiview, can answer many questions that eluded people in the past. Partiview showed us how the stars looked millions of years ago, how stars will look like million years ahead of time, what the closest star is in our universe at any time stamp, and how other solar neighborhoods affected our universe and made it what it is today.
Most of the program went around to teaching us how to use and code in Partiview. At the end of our program we had to pair up with one of our peers and was given the task to create our own universe given raw sets of data. We could customize it however we wanted to and had to present it to the Museum. My peer and I relatively focused our presentation on the movement of the constellation “Aries” bound with other constellations. When we finished the program they gave us a premium version of “Partiview” so we can continue our inquiries on our universe. This internship really helped me expand my knowledge on the field of Astronomy, which I have been deeply interested in since the age of ten.
My other internship I did during the weekends where I worked as an unpaid intern at “Mamun’s Tutorial”. This tutorial gave me the task to shadow tutors and instruct small classes of 5-6 people in grades ranging from 3-8th grade. I also helped other tutors with things such as printing and grading.
Both of my internships gave me the skills to really represent what I love to do and learn: Astronomy and Teaching. Again, I would like to personally thank everyone at the Lifetime Learning Institute at Bard College for this opportunity.
Thank you,
Adib Rahim
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