Oh, the places you could work!

Ten of the hottest internships in Rhode Island

by Celeste Perri

"I don't know what the interns do. Wash and wax their boss's car?"

--Providence employer.

True, internship can be a code name for slave labor. Interns, after all, are usually college students working for little pay or college credit, and they do everything from stuffing envelopes to practically running the office they're working in to, yes, washing and waxing their boss's car.

Still, there is something of an aura around the word "internship." It is a buzzword on many college campuses. (Example: Joe to Susan: "What are you doing this summer?" Susan: "Oh, I have an internship." Nod and wide eyes from Joe.) College career-planning offices often tell students that an internship can be as, if not more, important to their futures as course selections or campus extracurriculars. Stuffing envelopes, for instance, can translate into "promotions manager" on your resume -- not to mention the connections you could make in the mailroom.

But more important, internships can be good for you right now. Depending on where you look and your financial situation, you might actually (gasp!) enjoy your job. From hobnobbing with the rich and playful in Newport to plowing a farm right here in Providence, Rhode Island offers a plethora of opportunities to the ambitious

college student. To help you on your way, the Phoenix interviewed a dozen or so interns at their various jobs and asked them to rate their experiences. Below is a brief description of each position.

PROVIDENCE MAYOR VINCENT "BUDDY" CIANCI'S OFFICE
City Hall, Providence, 421-7740
Those of you who are new to Providence might not know Buddy yet. You will. Our beloved mayor is somewhat ubiquitous. In fact, you may actually get to know him better than the interns working in his office do. "I thought I'd see him more, but he's always out doing something," says Katherine Kappler, a Brown University senior who works in the special events department.

Kappler's job is basically "making sure all the right people show up" to mayoral events and press conferences. The office expects 12 hours a week from their interns, whose skills and interests range from marketing and education to (duh) politics. The internship, for which you can get credit, has been a real learning experience for Kappler, a political-science major. "I'm getting a real feel for politics, how decisions are actually made," she says. "If I was getting paid, this is all I'd ever want to do."

Resume Potential: 9
Boredom: 0
Networking: 9
Learning Experience: 9

RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC DEFENDER'S OFFICE
100 North Main St., Providence, 277-3492
James Turillo went to prison this summer. As an intern in the Public Defender's Office, the Pawtucket native and Boston College junior went to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston every week to do intakes, a procedure to determine if a client is indigent and thus eligible for the Public Defender. At first, Turillo says, he was hesitant to do this type of work, because "who wants to defend guys who beat their wives? But I realize there's value to everything and that these cases are really sad."

Some of Turillo's other duties included following up claims of police brutality, explaining the court system and decisions to people ("some people don't know that a no-contact order means no phone calls," he says), and filling out the usual paperwork. Turillo, a history major, says his summer internship was fantastic and "got me really excited" about law.

Resume Potential: 9
Boredom: 4
Learning Experience: 10
Pay: N/A

WDGE 99.7 FM
255 Quaker Lane, West Warwick, 823-3343.
You get to go to concerts. You get to drive the Hummer. Okay, so you also "get" to label CDs, file, and make phone calls, but if they "like your voice," you also may get a chance on the air as an extra in a commercial -- or, with enough experience, a chance to write a commercial yourself.

John Allers, assistant program director and promotions director, admits that some interns think the job will be "more glamorous, like a lot of rock stars hanging out," than it actually turns out to be. But Liz Pais, a University of Rhode Island senior who is earning course credit for her work at the radio station, says she is thrilled just at the opportunity to attend marketing meetings, where "ideas are always welcome," she says. "You just have to take the initiative."

And sometimes, rock stars do hang out at the Edge: this summer, Veruca Salt strolled into the office for a massage. But, as Allers says, "that's a perk. This is a business. A fun business, but a business."

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THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME
194 Bellevue Ave., Newport, 849-3990
Newport. Celebrities. Rich people. "A lot of interns come here because it's Newport," admits Mike Bridges of the Tennis Hall of Fame, a museum/tennis center with world-renowned grass courts. "So we let them out an hour a day to get some sun." Although internships are offered throughout the year for course credit, only the ones during the summer tourist season are paid.

Many of the summer interns help coordinate the Newport Tennis Week, selling tickets and "making sure the seats have cushions on them," says Bridges. Others get experience in public relations and museum gallery assistance. The internships do involve a lot of "flat-out dirty work," says Bridges, but in the end, interns can make important contacts, since "my interns are extensions of me. They go where I go."

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TRINITY REPERTORY COMPANY
201 Washington St., Providence, 521-1100
When Kate Solmssen took time off from college, she worked in dance and theater, so interning at Trinity Rep. this summer was the next logical step. As part of her paid internship, Solmssen worked on Project Discovery, Trinity's initiative to get every public-school student in to see a play.

One useful (and often not talked about) aspect of internships is that they also can point out the directions in which you don't want to go. In Solmssen's case, she is fairly certain now that she doesn't want to work on the administration end of theater. Still, she says, "my boss is incredible to work with. I'm learning all about how Trinity works."

Resume Potential: 10
Boredom: 0
Contacts: 4 (not really something Solmssen set out to do)
Pay: 9 ("Very satisfactory, not $20 an hour, but very satisfactory")

CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF RHODE ISLAND
100 South St., Providence, 273-5437
The mission of the Children's Museum is to inspire learning through active play and participation. The mission of its internship program is much the same. "It's a learning environment," says director Nancy Smith-Worthen. "We are geared toward education."

Now in the process of moving to a new location in Providence's Jewelry District (it will reopen in October), the Children's Museum relies a lot on college students. Interning here could mean anything from working with families at risk to designing exhibits. Rhode Island School of Design sophomore Mikiko Kamihara even had to get down and dirty and build tree structures for a "Little Woods" exhibit. "It was cool to work in 3-D," says Kamihara, a graphics-design major, "since so much of school is 2-D." Hmmm . . . .

Resume Potential: 7
Boredom: 4.5
Contacts: 7
Education: 6

RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
70 Elm St., Providence, 421-2552
The smallest state in the union is not too small to have its very own magazine. Best known for its annual "Best of Rhode Island"recommendations, Rhode Island Monthly offers one paid internship. According to senior editor Sarah Francis, the job is "what you make of it."

Outgoing intern Liz Krieger says she basically "ran the gamut" of tasks, from typing to interviewing such local personalities as a 17-year-old Block Island gin brewer. A self-described "obsessive reader of anything media-related," Krieger says the internship allowed her to "channel my energies in a constructive way, rather than just sitting around reading magazines."

Krieger was allowed to attend story meetings, where she could voice her ideas, she says, and where she always felt like a staff member and not a peon. Although the magazine's required 20 hours a week can be a strain for a full-time college student, Krieger says that leaving is a bit like "leaving the nest. It's just such a great environment."

Resume Potential: 8
Boredom: 2
Contacts: 6
Education: 3

SAVE THE BAY
434 Smith St., Providence, 272-3540
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be a marine-biology major to intern at Save the Bay. You just need a desire to keep the water clean. In fact, Amanda Cole, a recent graduate of Eastern Illinois University, had never seen the ocean prior to interning at Save the Bay this summer.

According to Kathryne King, the nonprofit's internship and volunteer program coordinator, Save the Bay needs interns to work in everything from communications to policy and advocacy and habitat restoration. Since the agency relies so heavily on its interns, King expects them to be able to "hit the ground running. We take people with the smallest learning curve," she says.

Cole, who needed the internship hours to complete her degree, spent the summer as a habitat intern, doing fieldwork in area marshes. "It was a summer of firsts -- first time on the East Coast, first time I saw the ocean, first time I worked in an office. It was the greatest thing I ever could have done."

Resume Potential: 9
Education: 8
Boredom: 3
Pay: college credit

SOUTH SIDE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST (SCLT)
288 Dudley St., Providence, 273-9419
Nancy Johnstone, a Brown University senior, grew a purple "French fry" garden in South Providence this summer. As an intern at SCLT, a not-for-profit agency boasting 15 community gardens that serve more than 200 inner-city families, Johnstone worked as an education coordinator at the Children's Garden.

Paul Connolly, director of SCLT, says that interns are drawn to the program because it offers them a unique factor -- "a farm within a city. You can get here on your bike." The internship (paid only for Brown students, because the university funds SCLT through its service center) is fairly open. One intern spent the summer compiling oral histories of community gardeners, while Johnstone dedicated her time to working with children. What attracted Johnstone to the internship? "I like to watch things grow."

Resume Potential: 10
Education: 9 Contacts: 5
Boredom: 0

PROVIDENCE-WARWICK CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
1 West Exchange St., Providence, 274-1636
Want to tour the city for free? As an intern at the Convention & Visitors Bureau, you have to, according to Tom Silvia, its tourism marketing manager. Interns here often staff visitors information desks during various conventions that come through the city. Brittany Lee, a recent graduate of the travel department at Johnson & Wales University, says the internship helped her to "get to know the city. I didn't know about half of the stuff going on."

And since many VIPs attend these conventions, you can make some fairly decent contacts, particularly at the receptions to which interns are invited. The Convention & Visitors Bureau also offers an internship to high school students, which lets them know that there's "more to life than flipping burgers at McDonald's," says Silvia.

Resume Potential: 10
Education: 8
Boredom: 1
Contacts: 10