Remember those essays you had to write the first day of school back in your elementary days? We thought it would be fun to show you how each of our new editors for The Delphian spent their summer. Write to tell us your story and we might publish it on our website at www.thedelphianau.com.
My Experiences in My Summer Internship
By Nicolas Rontanini
This summer was surprisingly eventful for me. I reached out to several people to check for any available positions. After searching for a summer job, I was able to work for a company I had previously interned for, called Vibrnz, an online digital solutions company. My position, which I continued from my last internship at the company, was as a content creator. My job was to write articles for the website about a variety of topics, focusing predominantly on event management and marketing.
Though fulfilling, I did experience some difficulties, namely with the concepts I wrote about. Having not learned about these topics before, researching and understanding them was somewhat difficult. As such, writing these pieces was tricky as well, since I was writing about topics I was not familiar with, topics like marketing strategies for events or event management skills. I had an overall sense of what I wanted the article to say, but expanding on specific areas required significant research and could be slightly nerve wracking.
While this was the case, it proved to be extremely beneficial. This allowed me to expand my knowledge base, especially going forward as a journalist. It gave me the chance to work on my research skills for the future. Even though this took most of my time, I was still able to reserve some time for myself, and my family, celebrating my brother's birthday and my parents' anniversary.
As my internship ended, I focused my attention on preparing for my new role as Editor-in-Chief of this paper. Though still adjusting to the new responsibilities, I have been learning how best and effectively to carry out my duties. This of course included learning about setting meetings going forward, paper layouts and requirements for the organization to meet.
Nicolas Rontanini is Editor-in-Chief of The Delphian.
Literature, Theater and Political Work
By Joanna Reid
I mainly spent the summer back home in Maryland. I interned with the Montgomery County Union for a couple weeks, canvassing for politicians running in the county-wide election. I also served as an election judge, working at the polls for the primary election in Maryland. Additionally, I took an online summer class at Adelphi called “Women and Literature.” In the class I learned a lot about female writers like Margery Kempe, Virginia Woolf and Zora Neale Hurston and the misogyny they faced.
After that, I spent a lot of my time relaxing with family, practicing guitar and piano, and going to see musicals. This summer I saw “Six” on tour in Washington D.C. I’ve seen the show on Broadway, but I really enjoyed the touring cast's fresh portrayal of the characters. I also saw an American Sign Language production of “The Music Man,” and the “Little Shop of Horrors” off-Broadway revival. I wrote about all of these shows on my theatre blog: https://joannareid56.wixsite.com/jojosblog. I started my blog a few months ago as a way to document my theater experiences. I like to review the musicals and plays I see and I hoped that by creating this blog I could share my reviews and interests with like-minded people.
Overall I had a good and fulfilling summer.
Joanna Reid is News Editor of The Delphian
Externship Provides Hard Work and Valuable Skills
By Bianca Viana
This summer was one full of opportunity and experiences for me. I worked as a Student Nurse Externship at NYU Langone Health in the Neuroscience ICU. It almost doesn’t sound real to say that I was one of approximately 50 externs granted the amazing opportunity to learn at not only New York’s number one hospital, but also the number three hospital in the entire USA. This was an experience I would have only dreamed of until it became a reality when I got the acceptance letter in late March.
After a lot of hard work, a desire to learn and an openness to failure, I can confidently say that I finished this externship as a better student and these experiences will help me so much in a year from now when I am working as a registered nurse.
I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from some of the best preceptors this summer. Regardless of how simple a task may have seemed the nurses always took time to go out of their way to explain things to me and always found a way to make things a teaching moment which is something I appreciated so much as a student.
In addition to this I also did some traveling outside of the country for the first time since the pandemic began. A fun fact about me is that I am half Spanish, so it was wonderful to finally see my family there as I have not seen them in nearly four years. It was really nice to get away for a bit before the semester after working tirelessly all summer in my externship and my regular part-time job as well. Although this is my last summer before I graduate I can gladly say it is one that I deeply enjoyed and I came to appreciate just how thankful I am for all those around me and the experiences I have had.
Bianca Viana is Features Editor of The Delphian.
Island Family Trip Offers Rewarding Experience
By Lizz Panchyk
For me, summer is not complete until I’ve gone on a vacation with my family. We take a short trip to Greenport annually, but we decided to add another trip since Covid numbers had gone down and we felt safer about traveling. This trip included a visit to the beautiful islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with the final stop being Cape Cod. Nantucket is filled with history, particularly about whaling, with a cute and welcoming town. In Martha’s Vineyard we got to spend some time with extended family and took a tour of the gingerbread cottages and Aquinnah Cliffs. Although we had to take multiple ferries, even one during a storm, the trip was worth it and I’d go back in a heartbeat. It really was a rewarding experience for me to explore this unique area - so much so that I’d even consider taking a job here during the summers. Traveling gives me the opportunity to keep an open mind about where life takes me and I’m excited for where I’ll end up.
Although I do enjoy the pleasantries of a soothing vacation, most of my summer was spent juggling three jobs that I have had for over a year and will continue throughout this year as well. These jobs allow me to not only make money but to gain experience and people skills which continue to help in whatever job I may seek in the future. Especially as a religious educator, I am able to reach the minds of kids and connect with them through teaching. It expands my horizons and I learn from it as well, which at the end of the day is incredibly rewarding.
The summer I had was full of opportunities such as seeing friends I had not seen in a long while, along with my two other vacations to Montauk and Greenport. I definitely feel as though a lot were accomplished this summer, including the hours I put into working any additional hours I could, but I am also very excited for what awaits me this fall semester.
Lizz Panchyk is Assistant Features Editor of The Delphian.
My Summer at the Cradle of Aviation
By Joseph D’Andrea
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to be selected by Adelphi’s Jaggar Community Fellows Program, which meant that I was able to intern at a nonprofit organization of my choice, here in New York. As a history major in the Scholar Teacher Education Program at Adelphi, I was drawn to the Cradle of Aviation Museum, located in Garden City. Choosing to become a part of the education team there was as ideal of a choice as I could have made.
Over the course of 10 weeks, this internship offered me numerous opportunities, both in fields that I felt comfortable coming into, as well as placing responsibilities on me in which I would learn skills that I never saw myself previously delving into. It’s safe to say that I got the most out of this internship with new skills ranging from preparing a lesson plan for high school students in the form of a tour, to learning the ins and outs of a computer graphics program in order to create my own 10-minute-long, history-based show for the museum’s planetarium, and coding and constructing drones and their remotes to be used for several camp groups.
To call myself a “Museum Educator”—which was my title through the internship— is selling my experience short. Having been surrounded by such supportive co-workers and a personable and trusting supervisor, I became aware of just how important the workplace atmosphere is. I’ve worked in retail in the past. However, an office workplace is quite different, for several reasons; every moment is very much one-on-one, and you feel more open to expressing concerns or questions due to the familiarity with those around you. This was especially significant to me because the warm nature of my co-workers, no matter the age, made the challenges I had to face from time to time all the easier.
To say that I did not run into any issues would be unrealistic. Of course, there were some barriers that I had to overcome—primarily regarding the drones, and I was starting from scratch, and had to teach myself how to program them through tutorials—but I never felt overwhelmed or pressured in any way. The understandings of the others working at the Cradle of Aviation is what accentuated my greatest pleasure working here—the fact that there was something new on my plate each day. For some, this unpredictability may sound unappealing, but for me, I found excitement in the range of duties that were lined up for me to tackle.
Above all, I feel as though I made a meaningful contribution to the museum, learned quite a lot about working with others, and unlocked even more creativity than I once knew I had. The drones that I learned to code are already in the brochure for the next group of students and campers making a trip to the museum. My planetarium show about aviation history on Long Island is going to be played before the primary shows throughout the school year, and the script for the tour I created—which emphasizes the historical contexts of certain pieces of information in the museum’s galleries—is going to be used to educate high schoolers who will be visiting in the future. Additionally, I was able to see firsthand the unveiling of the museum’s new statue of Sally Ride, who was the first American woman to fly in space, as well as hear about what the process of the arrival at the museum of the last F-14 Tomcat to ever fly would entail.
When next summer rolls around, keep your eye out for a possible email from the Jaggar Community Fellows Program–or look it up on Adelphi’s website–and you may just be given an invaluable experience that a college student could hope for.
Joseph D’Andrea is Assistant Opinions Editor of The Delphian.
On the Field Practice in Sports Management
By Andrew Smith
During this summer, I had the opportunity to complete my practicum for my major, Sport Management. I was hired as a field supervisor for the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, NY, which conducts a summer league for approximately six weeks consisting of several Long Island high school varsity soccer teams. In this role, I supervised several fields each night during the game. I was responsible for maintaining the condition of the field and ensuring it was safe to play on. Before the games, I secured the soccer nets, brought out equipment and painted the fields. In addition, I was responsible for keeping track of the score, time and in-game substitutions.
This practicum taught me several important responsibilities of a management role in the sports world. Management roles include responsibilities beyond the desk. You are responsible for laying out all the tools for successful games. Sport management does not just have to be on the professional level. The collegiate and recreational levels offer many interesting career opportunities that I was not aware of until I experienced this practicum.
While I worked with the Town of Brookhaven, I also spent my summer working as wait staff at Atria Senior Living on Long Island. I have never worked in the food industry before so this experience was quite an eye opener. It was very fulfilling serving the elderly each day. The residents appreciated conversation and enjoyed our time together. The elderly are often ignored and are not respected or cared for. I was blessed to grow up with four grandparents and truly enjoyed my time with the residents.
Over the summer, I learned the importance of putting yourself out there and trying new experiences. I was a little nervous about trying new jobs but it all worked out and I had wonderful experiences to talk about.
This summer allowed me to experience the world from two very different points of view. I am looking forward to being the Sports Editor this semester and enjoying a successful semester at Adelphi.
Andrew Smith is Sports Editor of The Delphian.
Getting a Break with Vacations and Work
By Justin Kresse
After an intense school year last year, I was happy to get a little bit of a break this summer.
I worked at a place called Stereo Barn where I also worked last summer. It’s a cool store that sells speakers, stereo systems, TVs and home theaters. I even get to help set up some of the systems at our customers’ houses.
Apart from work, my family went on a few vacations as well. We always try to go on a vacation with my mom’s family, my dad’s family and then one just as our immediate family. With my mom’s family, we went to a town called Moneta, Virginia and stayed at a really cool Airbnb house. There was a pickleball court and a swimming pool, so we got quite the workout, and the house was right by a lake where we went kayaking.
Our next trip was to Boston with my immediate family, my parents and my sister. While there we went to a RedSox game, did a tour of Harvard (don’t worry, I’m not transferring), and went to this really cool SoWa open market. However, my favorite stop was the Leica Camera store.
The last vacation I had before going back to school was in Buffalo with my dad’s side of the family. My dad has four siblings, so you can imagine there’s a lot of us at the reunion, but we all managed to fit in one huge three-story house for a week. We got out a few times to go to a mustard-making experience (it turned out pretty gross) and a food tour. However, I really enjoyed staying back at the house and playing pool with my cousins and just hanging out.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed the summer, but I must say that I also appreciate the balance between summer and school. When I’m at Adelphi, I get to hang out with friends and explore Long Island/New York City. (I’m from Pennsylvania.) On the other hand, the summers are fun because there’s no homework to do, just my job. So, when I clock out at 5 pm, I get to go home or see friends. And there’s my favorite home-cooked meals!
Justin Kresse is Production Editor of The Delphian
Comments