Around the globe for student summer plans

While Penn sends another senior class off into the “real” world, some undergraduates will be using the summer to work around the country and world.

Check out where some of Penn’s most enterprising students are using their time away from campus.

Megan Downey:

This Wharton freshman will be traveling to Cologne, Germany, with Wharton this summer while earning course credit.

“Basically, I’m going to Germany for a week on a Wharton International Program, which is a half-credit class. After the trip, you write a paper about what you learned about the industry of focus,” she said. “This trip’s focus is on retail, so we’re going to visit German companies like Esprit and Zalando and take tours at their headquarters and hear talks from some of their executives. We’re also going to relevant cultural sites in each city — Berlin, Cologne and Dusseldorf — like the Berlin Wall and other monuments.”

Rohan Shah:

For part of the summer, this Engineering freshman will be interning at Facebook. He’ll spend the rest of his break working on his startup in New York.

“It’s called Slice Capital,” Shah said, “and our mission is to democratize the funding space such that anyone can invest in startups, not just [venture capitalists] and angel investors.

“We have [about] 10K signups already,” he added.

Mara Levy:

Levy, a freshman in Engineering, will be spending her summer in Guatemala with the club Engineers Without Borders.

“We’re going to Tzununa and we’ll be building latrines,” she said. “I’m looking forward to not having my phone for two weeks.”

Angelo Matos:

This College freshman is spending his summer in Chicago, interning with KIPP, a charter school system whose goal is to boost graduation rates and help students go to college in low-income neighborhoods.

“I’ll work as an intern to help ensure the program runs smoothly and also consult on the nature of the program,” Matos said. “It pays well, and I get to be in cities that I hold dear or have never visited.”

He will also be flown to Atlanta to work at the National KIPP Summer Summit, where members of the organization discuss the program’s successes and its trajectory.

“I am a product of the KIPP system. Without it I wouldn’t be here,” he added. “I’ve seen it firsthand. Kids go from gangs to college visits; from aggression to compassion. It’s honestly a sight to see.”

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