Landing an internship at a place like a New York fashion house, the Zuckerberg Institute or the White House is a daunting task. For most, they’re just dreams. However, for a few university students, these dreams are realities.
Morgan Cofield, an accounting major, interned with fashion company 3.1 Phillip Lim this summer in New York City.
“Going into it, I can honestly say that I was not expecting to get as much out of it as I did,” Cofield said. Her internship lasted a little over two months, but she made connections with fellow employees and became close friends with some. She also earned class credit for her work experience.
“This past summer was the best experience of my life,” Cofield said. “I saw myself grow in so many ways both personally and professionally. I learned so much about myself, relationships with people, my career and life in general.”
Cofield’s internship included sample pulls, social media projects and other office-related jobs.
“At times, it could be stressful because as a press and PR intern, we were responsible for a lot and at the time of the internship, Phillip (Lim) was in the process of moving offices from Soho to World Trade, which to say the least was very stress inducing,” she said.
Caroline Tankersley, a political science major, was an intern in Washington this summer. She interned for the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), which strengthens democracy globally through private enterprise and market-oriented reform.
Tankersley said that her internship was occasionally taxing, but never overwhelming. She also stated that the 10-week-long experience encouraged her to consider a career in the development world.
“Going into the internship, I did not think that I would get to do a lot of the tasks that go along with the projects,” Tankersley said. “So I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to contribute actual work to CIPE’s projects instead of just doing administrative support work.”
A third person whose remarkable career started through Ole Miss opportunities is graduate Daniel Roberts, who interned in the White House for Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s social team for five months. Roberts received his bachelor’s in public policy leadership in 2014, and currently lives in Washington, working in the government relations sector of Facebook.
Daniel Roberts also interned in Washington. Roberts, who graduated from the university in 2014 with a degree in public policy leadership, interned in the White House for former First Lady Michelle Obama. After graduation, Roberts returned to DC, currently working in the government relations office at Facebook.
All of these students sought out and received internships on their own, but they were prepared by using the Internship Experience Program, which is part of the university’s Division of Outreach and Continuing Education.
Tankersley looked into the program once she knew that she wanted to intern in Washington, and she applied during winter break. She said that the Internship Experience Program helped her adjust to living in Washington.
“During the week we went on multiple tours, learned how to take the metro and mapped out our commute so we knew what to do when the internship started,” Tankersley said.
The program began 11 years ago. Washington was the first city included and, New York was added on a year later. The Atlanta option was included two summers ago.
“We’re like a support system for students that are interested in interning in New York, D.C. and Atlanta,” Phillips said.
Roughly 10 positions are available for each city, but Phillips said it’s a moving target. If an above-average amount of prepared, capable students apply, the office will work to accommodate. The cost of housing is included in the program fee, which is billed to the students’ bursar and thus can be paid for with scholarships.
The Internship Experience Program starts in the fall. Students, irrespective of major, apply through the office and are notified of acceptance late in the fall semester. The office then works with the students to determine their academic and professional goals.
“We spend the entire spring semester preparing for the internship,” Phillips said. “We cover topics from, like, how to search for an internship, how to make sure your resume and cover letter are up to speed. We build LinkedIn profiles, and the unique thing in our program is that we have pretty close relationships with Ole Miss alumni in those cities.”
Students also take two classes in the spring to prepare for their internship. Gabby Coggin, the program coordinator, said that the prep courses include mock interviews and an etiquette dinner.
“We talk about situations in the workplace that students should be aware of and how to handle them,” Coggin said. “We’re with the students via Blackboard throughout the whole summer, so if there’s something that comes up in their internship that they have problems with or questions about…they have us to talk to, as opposed to just having to figure it out on their own.”
Students who have previously completed internships through this program have experienced success in the professional world as a result, Coggin said.
“There’s been a bunch that have gone on to either go back to the city that they interned in or met up with someone while they were interned and, you know, exchanged business cards, and it turned into something.”
An upcoming avenue for students to become a “Zuckerberg fellow” is through the Zuckerberg Institute’s upcoming entrepreneurship training program. The Institute was co-founded by Michael Lettig, Ole Miss graduate Brian Murphy and Randi Zuckerberg, who visited Ole Miss when she spoke at a C Spire Tech Event in 2017.
Rich Gentry, co-director for the Ole Miss Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a business professor, was one of the first contacts at the university when the program was offered to Ole Miss students.
Gentry explained that the program was likely ran by larger, art- and literature-heavy schools in New York before being brought up to Ole Miss. Gentry then reached out to department heads throughout the liberal arts division.
“That’s the other part that makes it a little more attractive to us, because it’s not so tech-heavy,” said Gentry. “We’ve done tech start-ups out of Ole Miss before but I think we certainly get more potential students who live over in fine arts and literature.”
The Zuckerberg fellow program is still being developed and the university has yet to confirm funding as student interest is still being garnered, Gentry said, but should operate by each team participating in an online training program. Networking and monthly status updates will be conducted through digital conferences. Each month, he explained, would focus on a unique theme, such as ‘customer discovery.’
This would culminate in a New York presentation, and the winner receives a monetary prize to put towards their business idea. Gentry stated that this entrepreneurial training program will hopefully strengthen nationwide relations, which he feels can be lacking at the University of Mississippi.
“I think what (students) can expect is a lot of exposure to people at other campuses,” Gentry said.
