’13s Gain Valuable Experience From Internships

Andrew Kartsonis ’13 was excited to tell his friends that he had landed a prestigious, highly sought-after summer internship at Morgan Stanley this summer. After spending all year learning about abstract concepts such as supply and demand and GDP, Kartsonis finally got to gain some more practical skills. Best of all, this internship was located right in his hometown of Toledo, OH.

He explained how this internship was preparing him for life after college, “I’ve only been here three weeks but I’m already ‘getting my hands dirty’ and learning all the skills I need to succeed. And to think that last year I though Excel and PowerPoint were just for middle school science presentations. Thus far I haven't actually found any other skills that you need to make it in finance.”



When interviewed by the Dunyun, Career services employee Vincent Magevney ’01 underscored the importance of internships, “You need internships so that you can prove that you learned these skills from an internship, not just from any class at your average community college or from some bald guy selling DVDs on infomercials.”

Christy Jacobs ’13 worked all of her Dartmouth connections to land an internship at a prominent national newspaper and praised her hands on experience, “I’m getting great exposure to the industry. More importantly, I’m learning to have a mind for detail, even the smallest things. I've gotten to the point that I can remember 8 drink orders and their corresponding names. It took me a few tries to get Amy’s half-caf venti soy latte, but Dartmouth really taught me persistence. I just can’t believe they’re letting me do this for free.”

Looking for some real world experience, Maria Montgomery ’13 naturally chose an internship at an art museum. She explained the practicality of her internship, “There is only so much you can learn by seeing a picture and reading is description in a classroom. It’s a completely different ball game when you see the same picture and read its description in a museum. Extending your education beyond the classroom is what these internships are all about.”

Kendrick Monroe ‘13 explained that his internship at a large corporate law firm wasn’t just teaching him about law, but about compassion “One of the partners in the firm has been having back spasms for the past week, so I get to sit in his office all day and bring him documents from the printer outside his office. We even share lunches after I go out and buy them. This is as much about building relationships as it is learning. Without my help, BP would probably be compensating those fishermen for their losses due to the oil spill. I never thought that they would give this much responsibility to a freshman.”

John Holtz ‘13, who landed perhaps the most sought after internship among Dartmouth students, C&S Wholesale Grocers, shared a token of wisdom from his boss to sum up his internship experience, “John, you might be the smartest person in this office. Unfortunately you're also the only intern and those cardboard boxes aren’t going to break themselves down.” Holtz added that he is now working towards “a joint degree in Economics and Hard Knocks.”