Virtual Internship Stories: Samantha Harrienger

Name: Samantha Harrienger
Center: Nairobi
School: Teachers College
Major: Sociology and Education
Center: Nairobi
Internship: Regional Intern at CGC | Nairobi

Tell us a bit about yourself and the nature of your internship.
Hi, I’m Samantha Harrienger. I’m actually a Masters Student at Teachers College and I’m studying sociology and education. This summer I worked with Columbia global centers Nairobi. The official title is Regional Intern. More or less, I’m there as a liaison between the students and the Center itself so I’ve helped plan programs for students and alumni. A lot of what we are doing this summer is kind of new for the Center so we’re building a student database. We started with 5 kids and we have 20 now, which seems not that crazy but it was a long road to get there.  

How has your experience been so far?
I was afraid with it being virtual that it would kind of be like waiting for an answer for 24 hours and not being able to get anything done. But there was just endless support from people I've only ever met through zoom. There've been a lot of pros because the Center themselves have been really willing to work with my schedule. So, they'll do meetings that they’d normally have in the morning, in the late afternoon so that I can be there and interact with them. And they were so supportive cause they were like ‘we want you to try things that you are excited about’ where I feel like when I think about things I did in the past it was a little more regimented and and more ‘ok we need you to do XYZ’ and there was less of a creative outlet.

What kind of skills have you learned?
With it being online, I’ve had to learn a lot of technology skills. I’m not very tech savvy. I’ve never made a poster online before and it sounds so little but there are so many nuances that go into planning that I just never really thought of. It’s really neat to kind of see how all these little things come together to create such a large project, and successful projects in the end. 

How have you dealt with the transition to virtual internships?
I definitely try to take me time. It’s really hard because I’m very social, so that was really a struggle for me when everything started happening. I was like ‘how am I going to talk to people and see people?’ but I really tried to take the time to focus on myself and what I need, which was a learning curve. I know it sounds so silly because it’s yourself, but it was definitely a learning curve to listen to my body and be like ok I need to sleep or I need to go for a run--Just something to keep myself in check and so that way I feel like when I talk to other people it’s a lot easier to have a conversation where before there were a million things in the back of my mind. 

What are you passionate about?
Many things, but probably most, I’m just passionate about quality education for students. In America, we have a lot of issues with the education system and it’s very bothersome because these kids did nothing to be getting the type of education that they’re getting. And I work in an urban area, so I see how it’s different from my own experience growing up in a suburban area. I’m very passionate about making sure that these students learn and that people know that they can learn despite what they look like, or talk like, or where they originate from. That’s something that I wish people outside of education cared about on a more cognizant and deeper level. 

What inspires you?
Not to sound cliche, but my dad really inspires me. He came from nothing. He lost both his parents when he was really young so him and his brothers and sisters just lived together in their house just trying to manage as children. And he now owns his own small business and he’s always trying to help us to be the best that we can be. He always taught us not to expect handouts and to work hard for everything. Even when he didn’t have, he was always trying to help other people. I know it sounds cliche because everyone always chooses a parent, but he definitely inspires me. 

Do you have any book recommendations?
I’ve been reading the book A Man Called Ove. It’s a really interesting book about this old man and his life. My mother actually recommended it and when she did I was like OK, I guess I’ll give it a read, but it’s definitely worth it so I widely recommend that. 

If you could meet anyone from the past, present, or future, who would it be and why?
I was an orientation leader so I actually have my answer to this prepared. It would be Ken Kesy, who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I watched a documentary, but the whole point of the story was that he went from California-him and his friends-on a bus to New York. It was about their experience and traveling to New York and it was just so interesting. He ended up getting arrested for, I think, possession of marijuana. And everyone was like ‘how did this happen to you? You were this crazy guy doing all this stuff! How’d you get caught?’ And I think it would be very interesting to hear from his perspective how he went from being this pretty well known author to going on this crazy drug-filled trip across the country.