Chicago Semester Launches New Summer Program

Update: The pre-application deadline for the 2016 Chicago Semester summer program has been extended to June 1, 2015. Trinity sophomores and juniors are encouraged to pre-apply. Contact Phil DeBoer at phild@chicagosemester.org.

Follow on Twitter @chicagosemester, #CSSummer2015

After working with organizational consulting students through a class project, Chicago Semester Executive Director Mackenzi Huyser ’98 and her staff have launched a new pilot summer program.

The summer program aims to reach students interested in Chicago Semester but whose curricular requirements, athletic commitments, or other responsibilities have made it difficult for them to participate during the fall or spring semester.

Students earn 3 course credits and 6 internship credits during the eight-week program. They will intern at their internship sites four days a week and take a cross-cultural foundation course that will help them explore issues of diversity and inequality specific to Chicago.

Additionally, students will participate in a practicum group experience that encourages them to reflect on what they are learning through their internship. Several social outings are planned as the summer is a wonderful time to explore the city.

Several Trinity students are participating in the program this summer and will live on the near north side of the city where semester students live during the academic year.

Trinity junior Evan Geels of Sheldon, Iowa, is a business/entrepreneurial management major and will be working at the American Medical Association as a marketing and communications intern.

“One of the things I found most appealing about the new pilot program was that they connected me with a company and secured an interview for me, which in turn allowed me to secure my internship,” said Geels. “Chicago Semester will also provide me with the experience to live and work in the city.”

Ally Otto ’15 of Brandon, Wisconsin, will put her entrepreneurial management degree into practice as a sustainability intern at the Rogers Park Business Alliance.

“I was originally drawn to this program because I am very interested in urban farming, specifically in the Chicago area,” said Otto. “I also understood that businesses really value previous internship experience when hiring new employees.”