19 states. 12 countries. Over $626,000 in funding awarded.

Each summer, hundreds of Sewanee students travel across the country—and the globe—in pursuit of the same thing: an unforgettable internship experience.

Thanks to the Sewanee Pledge, which guarantees funding for a summer internship or research fellowship, and support from Career Readiness + Student Success, Sewanee students benefit from unparalleled opportunities to gain firsthand experience in their potential career fields. Whether they were involved in groundbreaking medical research, worked behind the scenes on a marketing campaign, or advocated for social good at a non-profit organization, most students returned from their summer experiences with a few things in common. They got a preview of what their professional lives could look like, made connections to help facilitate their future job searches, and—most importantly—had the chance to connect their talents and passions with the opportunities to put them into practice.

Here is a sampling of how some Sewanee students spent their summers as interns:

Liam Selvido, C’25

Clinical Research Internship Study Program, Mayo Clinic
Team Photographer, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Triple-A Baseball Team

Like many students, Liam Selvido sought to make the most of his summer by pursuing an internship. Unlike many students, Selvido didn’t stop at just one. By day, he interned at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, working in the clinic’s Clinical Genomics Department. At night, he traveled across town and joined the media pool as a team photographer for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins).

Kabir Menon, C’25

Research Intern, OrcaLab

Kabir Menon spent the summer in the remote environs of Hanson Island, a small island off the coast of British Columbia. There, he braved extreme conditions—including a near-miss with a grizzly bear—to join the OrcaLab research team in their 24/7 quest to observe and learn more about orca whales.

Jillian Thurston, C’26

Marketing Intern, Skin & Lab

Jillian Thurston was looking for new experiences when she chose to pursue an international internship in Seoul, South Korea. But she didn’t expect that those experiences would include posing in front of a camera with bright lights and twenty pairs of eyes on her as she modeled for a global cosmetics brand.

Marshall Coley, C’25

Investment Banking Summer Analyst, Stephens

At the start of the year, many Sewanee seniors are looking for answers to the same question: What am I going to do next year? Marshall Coley already has his answer. After a summer spent interning in the Atlanta office of financial services firm Stephens, he returned to Sewanee with what he had hoped to have in hand: an offer to join the firm as an investment banking analyst next year.

Jenna Black, C’25

Operations Intern, Vanderbilt University Football

Jenna Black grew up around football. The daughter of a coach, some of her earliest memories are of the sideline scenes at football games. Nearly two decades on, she’s still spending her time on the sidelines of a football field. Only this time, she’s looking for a way to turn her longtime passion into a career.

Nahuel Martinez, C’26

Refugee Reception & Placement Intern, Nashville International Center for Empowerment

As a Sewanee student from Paraguay, Nahuel Martinez knew firsthand what it was like to leave one’s home country and find a new place in the United States. As a politics and international and global studies major, he had an academic interest in immigration policy. But it was his summer internship with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE) that gave Martinez a new perspective on the human experience of being a refugee.