Whittier Scholars' studies are combined with practical, hands-on experience through internships, community service, and study abroad.
Students can apply their classroom learning to enhance their personal development and better prepare for a rewarding professional future.
Study Abroad
Joey Zou’s passion for urban planning took her far beyond Whittier, to say the least.
Her advisor knew of Joey’s passion well, and helped connect her with a metropolitan studies internship in Berlin, which also organized trips to Istanbul and St. Petersberg. Soon after, she whisked off to study abroad in Copenhagen, where she spent a semester designing her own projects in a studio course, while also taking short trips to Stockholm and Helsinki, Finland. Later, she flew to the other side of the globe to study international business in China and Hong Kong.
Joey returned stateside with enough knowledge and skills to earn a summer internship at an urban design firm in Berkeley, and continued her mastery of the subject at Cornell University’s graduate program.
“(The Whittier Scholars Program) offered me a lot of flexibility to choose my areas of interests and combine them to become my major. And the strong affiliations that Whittier College has with all the study abroad programs around the globe has facilitated me to have a variety of choices to consider for study abroad options,” Joey said.
Students who are interested in studying abroad are encouraged to contact the Office of International Programs. Students interested in traveling abroad through the Office of International Programs can have $2,000 of the trip paid for through the Global Poet Scholarship.
Knocking Out a Winning Internship
When Madison Crimi-DeMichele arrived for her internship at the Viacom office, she took the elevator and walked the halls alongside MTV, Nickelodeon, and BET employees and celebrities.
As she turned a corner into her own office, she got to work promoting the stars of mixed martial arts. During a recent summer internship, she interned at Bellator MMA, the second-largest promotion company for mixed martial arts in the world. As a digital media intern, Madison worked on the website and edited promotional fight videos for their millions of social media followers.
“It’s super cool creating something that everyone watches,” she said. “Seeing it actually posted is what makes it so exciting.”
Madison, who created her own Entertainment Media Management major through the Whittier Scholars Program, learned a lot from her time with Bellator. As she combed through fight footage to find the perfect highlight—like A.J. Matthews’ crazy knockout—she’s gained real-world experience in the film side of her self-designed major, as well as time with a company she could see herself working for after she graduates.
When she considered the tremendous ways Whittier prepared her for the internship, she emphasizes how she’s learned to consider different perspectives.
“Now instead of thinking just one way about a project, I’ll think about it so many different ways,” she said.
Challenging Yourself
Amanda Casey spent a summer writing articles about mobile marketing, branding, and digital advertising for Colure Media—a marketing and advertising firm—sharpening her writing skills, and broadening her exposure to marketing practices.
Amanda, who was studying gender and labor representation in the media, took the internship to gain some practical hands-on experience—but more so, to challenge herself to jump into this fascinating field.
“As a journalist, this internship was very beneficial because it increased my awareness in business and marketing practices and consumer trends,” said Amanda.
Here are just a few places where WSP majors have interned:
- Target Corp.
- Los Angeles Unified School District
- Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center
- Pasadena Symphony Association
- Fiesta Publishing
- Def Tribe, an events/promotion company
- Calthorpe Associates, an urban planning and analysis firm
More Internship Opportunities
To learn more about internship opportunities, visit the Center for Career and Professional Development.
