Established in 2008 in memory of Richard G. Carlson ’69 by his father and family, this fund supports the student internship program administered by the career services office, with preference for students undertaking internships in the North Country in the field of publications and journalism.
Birdsfoot is an organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Canton, NY.
Birdsfoot was the best possible experience I could have had during my summer going into senior year. It gave me a true understanding of everything that goes into farming from having your hands in the soil to community engagement and marketing.
Over the summer of 2024, I interned as a reporter with my regional newspaper, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. I had three goals for this internship.
First, I wanted to grow experience as a writer, giving me a stepping stone towards my future writing career. Journalism forces you write quickly, concisely, and accurately in real time, which will help me in whatever path I may ultimately pursue with writing, whether that is as a novelist, as a journalist, or as something else.
My key responsibilities during my internship as a Research Assistant at U.S. News included:
1. I was tasked with mining data on related companies for both the Best Hospitals and Best Colleges & Universities Rankings. I utilized complex Excel formulas, and employed various research tools to compile and organize substantial datasets.
2. My work contributed to the company's mission of empowering individuals with valuable information for making informed decisions in the areas of education and healthcare.
As the student manager of St. Lawrence's permaculture garden, I was responsible for daily maintenance of the garden (weeding, mulching, planting), managing weekly volunteers, creating interactive farmers' market displays, and planning, advertising, and running community events at the garden.
Overall, this internship was the most fulfilling and fun experience I've ever had in a work environment. My life goal is to host a annual hometown festival starting in 2027 and this summer definitely helped me towards just that. My three learning goals I chose to execute before this internship were to network with music industry professionals effectively, develop a strong foundation in data analysis and reporting, and understand the revenue streams in the music industry. Some of the tasks I worked on this summer included:
This summer I built a portfolio of professionally written articles covering Westchester County’s business activities and lifestyle and performed outreach projects within two departments for content creation. I also served as a liaison between three editorial staff members on research, writing, communications, and Excel data management for Westchester Magazine and business-to-business lifestyle publication, 914INC.
The Adirondack Review is an online literary magazine that publishes a wide range of work from fiction to translated works and more. Founded close to St. Lawrence University, I was introduced to this magazine through another student at St. Lawrence and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to explore another side of publishing as someone who wants to enter said field. I have had different experiences with other types of publishing, such as on-campus magazines like The Laurentian Magazine and The St. Lawrence Review.
