Pomona College View Book [pdf]

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Jana Sims
Senior Economics Major
from Los Angeles, California
“Carbon markets are
Home: Los Angeles—I went to a private boarding school in Claremont
near Pomona College.
Pomona: I came and visited and loved it. It was beautiful and very
similar to the academic environment I’d become comfortable with. Being
able to find a college like Pomona on the West Coast was great, because I
don’t do cold very well.
Major and Minor: I wasn’t set on an economics major when I
came here, but I’ve really liked the courses and have had some
outstanding professors who’ve taught me how to think on my feet. It was
tough at first, but I’ve really pushed myself and can’t believe I’m the same
person who started here. Black studies was something I fell into—so
many classes have interested me, and now I’ve taken enough of them to
fulfill the requirement for a minor.
Internships: I worked at the Career Development Office in the
summer after my freshman year and started doing some research on
different career possibilities. I tried to figure out what it is I really enjoy and
decided that one big thing is sports, especially basketball. I’m also a
people person. There are so many careers out there, but I wanted one that
would give me a chance to be part of the sports industry and interact with
people. PCIP [Pomona College Internship Program] didn’t have anything
like that on its list of internships, but they worked with me on two that I
found—one with the Los Angeles Avengers and a second one this year
with the Clippers. Both internships were unpaid, so the PCIP subsidy made
it easier to take advantage of those opportunities. It also was a fairly long
commute to the Staples Center, and they reimbursed me for some of my
travel time.
Clippers: I was one of five communications interns and we rotated
jobs, basically dealing with the media at home games and making sure
things ran smoothly—getting them credentials, supplying broadcasters
with stats and going to the press conferences or locker rooms to get quotes
from coaches and players after the games. I’m not a basketball groupie,
but it was fun to get quotes from the opposing team and to talk to players
like Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant.
Career: It was great to get the experience for my resume but, even
more important, were the connections I made. I came in contact with a lot
of people from the media and the sports industry. The internship also gave
me a chance to figure out some things about myself and what I want to
focus on. I’ve had a chance to assess the industry while I’m still in college
and can decide whether or not this is what I really want to do as a career.
On Campus: I’ve always been a dancer and have taken classes at
Pomona in jazz, ballet and African Dance and have been in three concerts.
I also helped start the Hip-Hop Dance team and performed with them
through my sophomore year. When I’m not dancing or working, I’m
usually in the fireplace lounge at the Smith Campus Center, studying or
watching TV. I also like spending time at the Motley—their chai tea is 10
times better than Starbucks.
Off Campus: I go to the open-mic poetry readings at A Mic and Dim
Lights in downtown Pomona. The host is BessKepp, who has been on Def
Poetry Jam. I love taking the train to Los Angeles and being in a different
environment, seeing how people exist outside the imaginary gates of
Pomona. It’s not that it’s new to me, because I grew up in L.A., but it’s
something I’ve been removed from for awhile. I like to go to the Ladera
Center in Los Angeles. It’s a real relaxing environment with people sitting
outside playing chess or listening to music or just hanging out.
The Answer: When I’m asked what stands out for me about
Pomona, there is one thing I always mention. If you have a little initiative
and there’s something you want to get done, you can always get it done
here. When I wanted to take some special public relations writing classes
at UCLA I was able to get funding from the Dean of Students’ Office. If you
put it out there, there are people here who will help you out.
Practical
Experience
REAL-WORLD CHALLENGES, PART 3
really exciting,” says
senior Samuel Meehan, an intern for EcoSecurities in
Claremont, a leading company in the business of developing
and trading carbon credits throughout the world. “It’s a
window into green financing, which is going to be one of my
generation’s callings. It’s also a cutting-edge financial market
that I wanted to get involved with. EcoSecurities has three
interns from Pomona and has hired a couple of graduates.”
Researching carbon credits, staffing community health
clinics and getting post-game locker room quotes from the
Clippers are just a few of the remarkable experiences of the
many students who participate annually in the Pomona
College Internship Program (PCIP). Taking full advantage
of Pomona’s location, the College makes internships
available during the academic year in a wide range of nonprofit,
for-profit and public settings, some of them right at
the College’s doorstep, others at places like the Santa Monica
Pier Aquarium, the Museum of Tolerance, Bravo Television,
The Trust for Public Land and City of Hope Cancer Center.
Because so many internships are unpaid positions, Pomona
pays an hourly wage to all PCIP participants, so that every
interested student can afford to take part.
www.pomona.edu/admissions
A Sampling
of Recent PCIP
Internships
Ability First
American Museum of Ceramic Art
Asian Pacific Family Health Care Venture
Blank Theatre Company
Brave New Foundation
Bravo Television
Center for Community Action and
Environmental Justice
Children’s Defense Fund
Coalition for Clean Air
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los
Angeles
City of Hope
Di Novi Pictures
EcoSecurities
Gould Asset Management
Fashionable Earth
Helping Out Pets Everyday
Inland Valley Justice Center
International Trade Education Program
John Tulac Law Offices
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed
Council
Machine Project (Art Gallery)
Mt. Baldy Visitor Center
Museum of Tolerance
New Wave Entertainment
Pomona Economic Opportunity Center
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center
Portable Wellness Clinic
Prison Library Project
Rosen-Obst Productions
San Antonio High School
Santa Monica Pier Aquarium
Shoes that Fit
Stone’s Throw Records
The Trust for Public Land
Waddell & Reed
Whereabouts Press
Public Policy Internships
Public policy analysis majors have a chance to put theory into practice by
participating in an internship program, in which they spend about 16 hours
a week working in courtrooms, health clinics, community organizations and
other private and public settings that have a link to public policy.
“The internship is the capstone of our program,” says David Menefee-
Libey, professor of politics and coordinator of the program in public policy
analysis. “It gives students an opportunity to try out a professional job and
to see how that experience is related to what they’ve learned in the
classroom.”
Some students discover new interests, while others find that the
experience solidifies their plans for careers or graduate school. David
McDevitt, who interned with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s
Office in Pomona, gathered data on prosecution patterns that he also used
for his thesis. Other students have worked for public schools, advocacy
groups, consulting firms and even in Washington, D.C., where Nora Becker
interned full time in the office of then -U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
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