From KIPP Students to KIPP Employees: Our Intern Experiences
My name is Miriam Fernandez, and I’m one of the eight KIPP alumni who interned with the KIPP Regional Support Office (RSO) this summer in Oakland. Since 2013, KIPP NorCal has hosted the summer Alumni Internship Program to help jumpstart KIPP alumni’s career by offering a variety of paid internships across fields. This year, we all had the opportunity to support and give back to the community that watched us grow and reach our goals.
Some of us stayed in the Bay Area to attend college; others moved away. Nonetheless, our paths intertwined once again when we began interning. As I reflected with my fellow interns on our summer experience, three key themes continued to ring true for us—career goals, new career possibilities, and giving back to the community we grew up in.
As a rising third year at UC Irvine majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting and a minor in Statistics, Accounting Intern Kassie recognizes how this internship aligns exactly with what she hopes to work in the future—accounting. She shared: “I wanted to take this opportunity to learn how accounting is in the real world instead of seeing it through textbooks and lectures; it’s very different when you have hands on experience.”
Similarly, Finance Intern Janelle is a UC Berkeley senior who majoringed in Data Science and Film and Media Studies with a minor in Science, Technology, and Society. She notes that this internship has given her the chance to discover more about finance. As a UC Berkeley senior majoring in Data Science and Film and Media Studies with a minor in Science, Technology, and Society, she’s interested in working in the financial technology industry.
“I’m learning the fundamentals of what it takes to work in finance—how to use models, how to forecast, how to invest well, and how to make data-driven decisions.” she said. “I’m learning these fundamentals to implement the tech when I start applying to full time roles.”.
While some interns’ work directly aligns with what they hope to work in after college, others have found that this internship has guided them towards other career possibilities that they hadn’t thought of.
Development Intern Laura is a rising second year student at UC Berkeley majoring in Psychology with a minor in Linguistics. She hopes to become a speech pathologist in the future. Even though her internship in fundraising isn’t exactly related to her career goals, she recognizes that she has been able to gain valuable experience: “The team is focused on researching and organizing data, which is something that I’ve always wanted to gain more knowledge and experience on.”
Operations Intern Daniela recently graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Biology and relates to Laura’s relationship with her intern role and career goals. “Even if you major in something super specific and super different, you can open other doors not related to your major.”
Laura and Daniela aren’t the only ones who have found their internships valuable in shaping their skills and opening doors to new career possibilities. Human Resources Intern Miranda is also exploring unexpected paths through her experience. A rising senior at Chapman University, Miranda is double majoring in Political Science and Global Communications and World Languages with an emphasis in Spanish. While she had originally planned to pursue immigration law, this summer has offered her a fresh perspective.
“This internship is helping me broaden my horizons,” Miranda shared. “My previous internship was about politics, and this one is very different, and I’m much happier in this internship.”
As the summer progressed, many of us found ourselves reflecting on the impact KIPP has had on our lives, especially the lasting support we received from our teachers and school communities. Two interns who highlighted this were Aldair Mireles, the People Initiatives Intern and Mohammad Sultan, the Talent Intern.
Aldair is a rising third-year student at USC majoring in Communications, and Mohammad is entering his third year at Cal State East Bay, majoring in Data Science. Both spoke about how the encouragement and mentorship they received at KIPP helped shape their post-secondary journeys.
Aldair spoke fondly of the counselor who supported him through the college application process. He recalled a moment when he was unsure about applying to USC, and his counselor told him, “If you don’t apply, you’ll never know.” That simple piece of advice stayed with him. He also credited the structure and support from his KIPP teachers for helping him succeed in college.
“KIPP will help you out,” he said, reflecting on how those early experiences continue to guide him today. As the People Initiatives Intern, he is now learning about the administrative side of education.
“I can learn a ton of new skills from it,” he shared. “And also master and hone in on my own skill set that I brought into the internship.”
Mohammad echoed Aldair’s sentiments about his time at KIPP. “Some of the people there were my closest friends,” he said. “And sometimes the teacher wasn’t just a teacher; they were someone you could have a real conversation with.”
Feeling seen, supported, and valued made a lasting impact on Aldair and Mohammad, and continues to motivate them in their current work and studies.
From meeting lifelong friends to joining soccer teams or cheerleading squads, many of us hold onto powerful memories from high school that still shape who we are today.
We each carry with us not just our KIPP education, but the relationships, values, and confidence that came with it.
As we have wrapped up our time with the Alumni Internship Program, all of us can agree that some of the biggest takeaways have been the chance to explore different career paths, build meaningful relationships, work as part of a team, and learn how to ask the right questions. This internship has given us the space to grow both professionally and personally.
Now, as we prepare to return to school and take on new opportunities, we leave feeling more connected to our community, to each other, and to the futures we’re working toward.
Click here to learn more about our interns!
