Sophia Senhaji, COL’24, Queens, NY
My summer in Philadelphia with my team at the African American Resource Center of Penn was very fulfilling, enlightening, and fun. Although I also work closely with my bosses during the school year, the summer offers more time and opportunities for working with the community more closely.
A typical day in the office consisted of meetings with leaders from other organizations on and off campus to help plan events and fundraisers. We also participated in meetings with local government officials to address issues in the city of Philadelphia, such as gun laws, access to education programs, drug abuse, and other important topics. These meetings gave me an opportunity to not only learn political relations but be able to network with leaders in the city.
A highlight of my summer was helping to plan a trip to the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. Although I was not able to attend, being able to plan such an educational trip on an extremely important subject in American history is fulfilling. I developed better organizational skills, network with influential leaders, and spend time with a team I consider family. Thank you to Career Services for giving me the opportunity to spend my summer in Philadelphia.
This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2022 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here.
